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September 1 Worship

8/26/2013

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This coming Sunday the message will be based on Luke 14:7-14.  Jesus is invited to the home of a Pharisee and delivers remarks to the guests and to the host about etiquette. He invites us to consider humility and to have a concern for the needy in our world.

The text is given below for you to read in preparation.  You may reflect on the questions following and submit input for the Sunday message through the comments.

May God's blessing be upon your reading and reflecting on these words of Scripture.  May you grow in your discipleship as you become engaged with God's saving and life-giving word for you.



Luke 14:7-14  "When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’

 He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."


Discipleship Questions for Reflection


What stands out for you in these verses?
What questions surface for you?
What specific suggestions might you offer as to how we could be a gracious host to those who cannot repay us?




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August 25 Worship

8/19/2013

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For this Sunday, I continue preaching from the book of Hebrews. The author, writing to Jewish Christians, is highlighting the significance of their new faith.  A contrast is made between what God was doing on Mt. Sinai and what is given through Mt. Zion, the heavenly city.

The text is given below for you to read in preparation.  You may reflect on the questions following and submit input for the Sunday message through the comments.

May God's blessing be upon your reading and reflecting on these words of Scripture.  May you grow in your discipleship as you become engaged with God's saving and life-giving word for you.

Hebrews 12:18-29   "You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.’Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.’ This phrase ‘Yet once more’ indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire."  
NRSV

Discipleship Questions for Reflection


What stands out for you in these verses?
What questions surface for you?
The author especially highlights worshiping God with reverence and awe.  How do you see yourself doing this?





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August 18 Worship

8/12/2013

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The message on Sunday will focus on the reading taken from Hebrews 11:29 - 12:2.

The text is given below for you to read in preparation.  You may reflect on the questions following and submit input for the Sunday message through the comments.

The author of Hebrews brings out the fact that in the race of the Christian life we are surrounded by many saints of the past who provide an example of persevering in the faith.

May God's blessing be upon your reading and reflecting on these words of Scripture.  May you grow in your discipleship as you become engaged with God's saving and life-giving word for you.

Hebrews 11:29 - 12:2   "By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God."
 NRSV


Discipleship Questions for Reflection

What stands out for you in these verses?
What questions surface for you?
What things do you think represent a "weight" that would hold one back from living the Christian life?



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August 11 Worship

8/5/2013

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This Sunday the message will focus on the Gospel reading - Luke 12:32-40.  The text is give below for you to read in preparation.  You may reflect on the questions following and submit input for the Sunday message through the comments.


In these words Jesus expresses how much God wants to give the kingdom to believers.  They are a little flock, yet possess a priceless treasure!

May God's blessing be upon your reading and reflecting on these words of Scripture.  May you grow in your discipleship as you become engaged with God's saving and life-giving word for you.

Luke 12:32-40   ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

 ‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’  
NRSV

Discipleship Questions for Reflection


What stands out for you in these verses?
What questions surface for you?
What fears do disciples wrestle with as they live in today's world?
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    I invite you to reflect on these words of Scripture in preparing for worship.

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    Pastor Marty Pauschke

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