Oct. 26, 2014 Pentecost 20

Matt 22:34-40  (The Message)

34 When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. 35 One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: 36 "Teacher, which command in God's Law is the most important?" 37 Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' 38 This is the most important, the first on any list. 39 But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' 40 These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

No one can be commanded to love.
We have to be loved to be able to love.
God loves; therefore we can too!

We love God through loving others as we love ourselves.
Love of self is necessary if we are to love others.
For when I look in the mirror and don’t like what I see, you’re in trouble.





When I look in the mirror
and like what I see, you
are in for a smile.










Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, you love me so I can love myself and others;
help me put a smile on someone’s face every day.”

Oct. 19, 2014 Pentecost 19

Matt. 22:15-22 (The Message)

“15 That's when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. 16 They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod's followers mixed in, to ask, "Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don't pander to your students. 17 So tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 18 Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, "Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Do you have a coin? Let me see it." They handed him a silver piece. 20 "This engraving - who does it look like? And whose name is on it?" 21 They said, "Caesar." "Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his." 22 The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads.”

Life isn’t black or white.  It is made up of the shades of gray.  It is not just having the answers; it is living with questions, struggles, even dilemmas.  When ever we ask a question which begs a “yes” or “no” answer, we are either setting a trap or evading the struggle which is necessary to grow.

Jesus didn’t answer such questions.  When closed minded people asked him a closed question, he gave them a riddle or a parable which made them come up with the answer.  It also reveal their hypocrisy.





It is a dangerous thing to be closed minded.
It just might keep us from ever getting close
to the Kingdom of God.








Prayer thoughts for the week:
     “Lord, keep my mind and heart open to the unexpected, where You are often hidden.
        Help me to not be so closed minded that I cannot see another point of view.
Keep me from hypocrisy, which is born in a closed heart and mind.”

Oct. 12, 2014 Pentecost 18

Matt. 22:1-14  (The Message)

8 "Then he told his servants, 'We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren't up to it. 9 Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.' 10 The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on - every place filled. 11 "When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn't properly dressed. 12 He said to him, 'Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!' The man was speechless. 13 Then the king told his servants, 'Get him out of here - fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn't get back in.' 14 "That's what I mean when I say, 'Many get invited; only a few make it.'"


We are shocked and surprised by the treatment of the one who came to the feast without a wedding garment. We do want to have our cake and eat it too.  As Dr Helmut Thielicke says, “We seat ourselves at the banquet table without a wedding garment when we allow our sins to be forgiven but still want to hang on to them.”
When we have no intention of being changed by God’s grace!

“Christian satiation is worse then hungry heathenism.”  Dr. Helmet Thielicke
Indifference and complacency are both dangerous to faith.  They take the life out of it.

           God expects to see something
           different in our lives because
           we have been to his banquet.









Prayer thoughts for the week:
  “Lord, help me to live as one who is being changed by grace.
keep me from smug complacency which fails to be graceful towards others.
     Let something different happen in and through me because I have been forgiven.”  

Oct 5, 2014 Pentecost 17

Matt. 21:33-46 (The Message)

 33 "Here's another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. 34 When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits. 35 "The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. 36 The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. 37 The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. 'Surely,' he thought, 'they will respect my son.' 38 "But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' 39 They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him. 40 "Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?" 41 "He'll kill them - a rotten bunch, and good riddance," they answered. "Then he'll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it's time." 42 Jesus said, "Right - and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles: The stone the masons threw out is now the cornerstone. This is God's work; we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it! 43 "This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life."


When asked, “what do you think he will do with the farmhands?”, they (the religious leaders) give the right answer.  The right answer that is, for them.  Not the right answer for God. For God is not satisfied with judgment, ever.  Not even with them.  God does not delight in judgment, ever!  This is not Gods nature and it is not Gods liking.  Judgment is always second to mercy and its purpose is only and always to prepare the way for love and grace to flow, full and free.  This is why Jesus tells this parable - to try wake the people up to Gods love, not Gods judgment.  God’s love which is beyond human comprehension!








“God does not delight in judgement, ever!”
God is not like this.













Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, help me to not be so judgmental.
…keep me open to grace happening, even when it seems so unfair.”
…help me to remember that God is more gracious than condemning,
beyond my wildest dreams.”