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.
The workers in the vineyard
by Pastor Dennis on 09/16/14
Maybe
at heart we are all Pharisees: self-righteous and proud; believing God owes us
and not realizing God owns us. Many hear Jesus’ parable and are offended, “that’s
not fair” they join in with the workers who have labored all day. They think
the “landowner” is unfair.
Psalm 145:8 declares, “The Lord
is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” God
is gracious not fair. Fair is getting what a person deserves and the workers
may not deserve anything more than what was agreed upon. Grace is getting more
than a person deserves which is what the landowner does for those who were
hired later. God merciful. Mercy is overlooking a person’s shortcomings and granting
wages anyway. God is abounding in steadfast love. Love is generous, patient,
and kind to the undeserving. (1 Cor. 13) The landowner (God) can hire and pay
wages as he sees fit. The workers are at his mercy. Even the offer of work is
an act of grace. The workers seem oblivious to this fact of life and judge the
landowner based on a scale of wages for time worked. A scale they have no right
to impose on the landowner. The landowner graciously grants wages to those came
to work regardless of time worked.
Jesus’
point in the parable is that God out of His generosity and grace, opens the
door to the kingdom of heaven, where there is meaningful work, to those who He
seeks out in the marketplace. His wages are a full measure of peace found in
His forgiveness, (Matthew 6:6) hope for the future (Romans 5:2) and eternal
like, abundant life. (John 10:10)
