Welcome!
I welcome your comments regarding our shared ministry at St. Paul.
If you would rather comment privately please, email me at Prshepherd@westriv.com
"Two are better than one," says Ecclesiastes,
"because if one falls down, his friend can help him up."
I deeply desire to bring Christian comfort and the power of prayer to those who are challenged with sickness or circumstances in life. However, in this time of restricted visitation call me and I will attempt to contact them.
Please, assume that if you don’t tell us, we do not know.
Call me at 301-4956 if surgery or hospital stay is imminent or if a visit could be helpful.
Pastor Dennis
from my perspective…
Breaking News, or Headline News, is updated by the hour and minute. The programs are designed to get our attention and to sell advertising. (Big surprise!) On the other hand, the Good News of Jesus Christ was proclaimed and is proclaimed today for an entirely different purpose.
Mark begins his gospel with “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mk 1:1, ESV) It sounds like Mark is reporting, “Breaking news! Pay attention! Something important has happened!”
Matthew begins his gospel, “The book of genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David.” (Mt. 1:1) It sounds like Matthew is introducing a history lesson whereby we might learn something. Don’t get me wrong – I love history because I believe with George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
John begins his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.” (Jn. 1:1) This is something totally different. John invites us to lay aside our daily concerns and ponder life’s Big Questions concerning God and “The Word of God.”
Each year, we might take a measure of our life on Tax Day, an anniversary, or any number of other milestones. Regardless of the circumstances, we go through a process of reflection, evaluation, and decision-making. We might reflect on the Big Questions of Life, like “Who are we? And “How do I fit in with family and society?” or “What positive difference am I making?”
I will grant that the most common daily question is, “Am I happy.” But I believe the Bible teaches us that happiness results from how we think of ourselves and our relationship with others. Therefore, John invites us to ponder anew our relationship with the One God of the Holy Scriptures, as opposed to mental or emotional gods of pleasure, wealth or self-importance.
In the church year, Lent is the season that encourages us to ponder our relationship with the one and only eternal God and one another or who we desire to become.
Join us as we explore Jesus’ great encounters with religious rulers, a disrespected woman from a disrespected people and His disciples. In John, Jesus, the Word of God, invites people to question who we are in God’s eyes and who He desires us to become to live a fulfilling life. (e.g. John 10:10)
As John informs us, Jesus, the true Word of God, comes into the world to save us from ourselves and the destructive temptations brought on by the evil lies of the great Satan. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17, ESV)
Please join us in our encounter with the Living Word of God, your pastor, Dennis.
Allegory of the parable of the fig tree
by Pastor Dennis on 02/28/13
Jesus has set his face towards Jerusalem where “The Son
of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests
and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:22,
ESV) He takes this time to teach his disciples about living in the Kingdom of
God and hypocrisy.
Some things
to notice about the allegory in the parable of the Fig Tree: the fig tree is
planted by the man (God) in his
vineyard (Israel). It is not wild
growth. The LORD expects the vineyard to produce good fruit but this fig tree
has not produced fruit for an extended period of time. The fig tree then
represents those children of God, particularly in Jerusalem who do not produce the
fruit of the Spirit of GOD. The LORD GOD is engaged in a day of redemption,
desiring to gather all creation back to Him in peace and harmony. Jesus who is
His Christ (the anointed one) is sent to fulfill God’s redemptive plan but as
he tells this parable he is not pointing to himself as the ‘vinedresser’. The vinedresser is one who feeds and cares for
the plants in the vineyard and could be any faithful worshipper of the LORD GOD
who labors in Israel as a child of God. The manure then is any substance that
will encourage and cause the fig tree to produce healthy fruit. In other
parables that substance is the Word of God that carries the creative breath of
God.
Now
read the parable again and consider: are you the fig tree or the vinedresser? Or
both?
