DEVOTION: (from Lutheran Hour Ministries)
Then the devil ... said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down, for it is written, 'He will command His angels concerning You,' and 'On their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Matthew 4:5a, 6-7
Most of us don't deliberately do sinful things. We just do wrong things, which seemed right.
On the list of such individuals is Dean Suominen of Shorewood, Illinois. In January of 2012, Suominen did a little drinking; then he did a little driving. The data recorder in his car said he was going 142 miles an hour when his car hit the curb, rolled over, and clobbered a billboard. Suominen's car "disintegrated around him."
I'm not surprised.
What surprises me is that Suominen survived that accident with only minor injuries.
Now, if you asked Suominen, he probably would tell you he hadn't planned on doing all that stuff, nor had he planned on making his guardian angels work overtime. With his judgment clouded by booze, Suominen did some wrong things, which seemed right at the time.
He's not alone. When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, Satan succeeded in tempting them to do a wrong thing, which seemed right. When Abraham lied about his marriage status with Sara, it was a wrong thing, which had seemed right. When Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, it was a wrong thing, which seemed right. When David ... well, you get the idea.
Most of us do wrong things, which seem right; most of us, but not all of us. You see, Jesus never fell for that kind of twisted temptation. When Satan urged Jesus to toss Himself off the pinnacle of the temple, it would have been the wrong thing to do. Still, at the time, it might have seemed right. After all, the worshippers would have seen Jesus' miracle. Word of what He had done would get around and maybe, just maybe, Jesus wouldn't have to die, as the prophets had predicted.
The devil hoped he could derail Jesus' work of saving us, by making a wrong thing seem right.
Now, the truth is just because the devil failed at tempting Jesus this way, it doesn't mean he stopped using this well-worn and most useful tool. If you take a look at your life, you will see a great many times when Satan has come and tempted you this way. Of course, you didn't want to sin, but Satan gave you reasons -- seemingly good reasons -- for you to proceed the way you did.
Today, in retrospect, we can see what happened.
Hopefully, we can learn from what happened and avoid a repetition. This is why I encourage you to listen only to the Savior, whose life was given for your forgiveness. Pay attention to the Holy Spirit, who wants us to walk the narrow path of God's will and way. If we do that, we may find ourselves avoiding the devil's suggestions to do the wrong thing, for what seems like the right reason.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, give me a strong faith and some commonsense. Help me to reject the devil when he encourages me to do the wrong thing for the right reason. At such times, may I trust You and avoid tempting the Lord my God. This I pray in Jesus' Name and after His example. Amen __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
WEDNESDAY'S QUIZ: What three tribes received the land east of the Jordan as their inheritance? Reuben, Gad and the 1/2 tribe of Manasseh (Only Terry Mckenzie and Dianne Hance got this one, in that order) Congratulations__________________________________________________________________________________________THURSDAY'S QUIZ: How was Joseph's share of the inheritance split up between the descendants of his sons? _______________________________________________________________________________CALENDAR:
Fri- no school
Sat- work day begins at 8am; worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30- Sunday school 9:45; worship 11am__________________________________________________________________________________________LAST MIDWEEK LENTEN SERVICE THIS COMING WEDNESDAY!!Come and hear about some of the crazy, strange, and wonderful things that happened during the forty days between Christ's resurrection and ascension!________________________________________________________________________________________WORK DAY THIS SATURDAY, March 16 beginning at 8amThere are a lot of little and big things to be done during our work day on Saturday! Come to church at 8am on Saturday ready to work! Everyone is welcome to help!! Let's get this place ready for Resurrection Day and beyond!___________________________________________________________________________________________RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW TO SELL YOUR OWN WARES AT ST JOHN'S ON SATURDAY, MAY 4The ladies aid is expanding their bake and craft sale to include those who would like to sell their own products whether they be homemade crafts or sell from home products like uppercase living, scentsy, Tupperware, etc. Tables are available for $20 a table. Along with that there will again be parking lot spaces available for our 5th annual Flea market. parking spaces are $10 a space. More info below:WHERE??
Basement and Little Lambs Classrooms: The Ladies Aid is adding INSIDE spaces for vendors, crafters, and bakers to their Spring Craft and Bake Sale. You can reserve your own spot to sell your own wares for $20 per table. These spots are open to St. John's members first before being open to the public. If you are interested, call Coleen Bottorff 456-5482 or the church office 456-2888 within the next two weeks.
Parking Lot: The Annual Flea Market will continue as it has the past four years. Parking spaces will remain $10 per space. Proceeds from the outdoor parking space rentals and Little Lambs sale under the pavilion will benefit the preschool. They are raising funds for their new Summer Camp Programs and to enhance preschool. Please call the Little Lambs teachers or the church office to rent a parking space 456-2888
_______________________________________________________________________________________________AVENUE OF THE SAINTS WILL NOT BE HERE AT ALL THIS MONTHDue to the Rowe's baby getting baptized on the 24th at their own church, they will not be able to be here that day.
_________________________________________________________________________________________\
WARREN COUNTY HEALTH FAIR THIS SATURDAY MARCH 13, from 8:30-12:30 at Wright City High School Gym!!
Get your Health screenings, child IDs done, free kid's bike helmets, and much more done. Join in on the hula hoop or the jump rope contest and/or the 5k and 1k walk/run!!________________________________________________________________________________________
PURCHASE AN EASTER LILY FOR THE ALTAR FOR EASTER SUNDAY!!
Please sign the sheet on the counter in the narthex by next Wednesday, March 20. If they are in memory of someone, or for a special occasion, please make note of that on the sheet. They are $12.50 each. You may take yours home after the 10am service!______________________________________________________________________________
PRAYERS:
For RALPH SPOEDE who is dealing with cancer in both his kidney and in his brain.
For KAILYN and HAILEY BLECHLE, grandchildren of the Robines, who will be baptized this Sunday.
For DOMINIC GENTILE, a friend to many at church and in the community, who is suffering with brain cancer and is recovering from surgery.
For LIL WINTER who is doing very well and should come home from rehab TODAY!!!.
For SANDRA PERRICONE'S AUNT CAROL who is dealing with cancer.
For PAUL TOEDEBUSCH, who is deciding whether or not to have surgery to remove his bladder due to cancer.
For CINDY RUST, friend of Pat Jaeger who will be having surgery.
For JERRY AUBUCHON's sister Betty Meyer, who is dealing with cancer.
For KEVIN MCLAUGHLIN, that he would come back to the Lord and that he would quit smoking.
For RUTH YOCUM who is recovering from a terrible fall and two broken legs.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "St. John's Group Email" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to stjohnswarrenton+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit
https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
