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.
Peter's call to a stranger.
by Pastor Dennis on 05/06/13
Remember
Jonah? He’s the guy the LORD asked to go north to the pagan city of Nineveh and
offer the salvation of the LORD to all who repented? Jonah took one look at the
LORD, decided He was nuts and like a dutiful son headed south – fast. But he
could not outrun the LORD. Finally, the LORD saved him from drowning so that he
could proclaim salvation to those who were drowning in their ignorance.
Remember Saul, the Christian
persecutor? He stood by as the Apostle Stephen was stoned then Paul asked to go
to Damascus to bring back other Christians so they could have a fair trial and
be stoned as well. On the way to Damascus the LORD knocked him off his horse
and made him blind so that he could proclaim salvation to those who had never
seen Jesus. (Acts 7, 9)
Today, Peter has been called by the
LORD to answer the summons of a gentile named Cornelius. (Acts 10) Peter
knows that salvation is for the Jews, the children of God. But the LORD desires
that the whole world hear the saving message of Jesus Christ who suffered for
the sins of the world and was raised by God the Father to judge heaven and
earth in His grace. Peter resists this call for Jewish law forbade entering the
home or associating with gentiles.
Jesus encountered a similar
situation outside the Temple. (John 5) As a Jewish Rabbi Jesus would want to
remain ritually clean for the festival; this meant not coming in contact with
the sick or lame. But when Jesus saw him he had compassion on him and offered
to heal him.
Time and again the LORD calls his
servants to proclaim and give salvation to the marginalized and those who we
might want to avoid. Time and again the LORD calls us to shepherd His sheep.
