As we consider Jesus’ parable of the tenants, and the question about paying taxes, Jesus’ teaching pushes us to consider who is truly in charge of our world, and our lives.

Worship this week:

Saturday 5:00 p.m. in the chapel

Sunday 8:30 a.m. Traditional Worship

9:30 a.m. Sunday School

10:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship

Devotions for this week:

Parable of the Tenants, question about taxes February 28, 2016

SHARE: What was a high point of your day? What was a low point?

READ: Read the following daily readings to deepen your understanding

Sunday, Mark 12:1-12, Parable of the Tenants

Monday, Psalm 86:8-13

Tuesday, Mark 12:13-17, Taxes to Caesar

Wednesday, Mark 12:18-27, The Question about the Resurrection

Thursday, Isaiah 5:1-7, The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard

Friday, Psalm 121

Saturday, Hebrews 1:1-4, God Has Spoken by His Son

TALK: Consider some of these ideas:

In the midst of a controversy over authority, Jesus is unable to provide an answer that would satisfy those who questioned his authority. Rather than continue trying to reason with them, he offered a parable. A little story set in a vineyard becomes a flimsily veiled threat to the chief priests, the legal experts, and the elders.

• What tone do these stories and parables take? How do Jesus’ words shape Jesus’ journey?
• What do you find most challenging about following Jesus? What could you do to make following easier?
• Who in the world suffers because of the lifestyle you lead? What could you do to change how your lifestyle affects the world?
• Write a parable that Jesus might tell to describe your life. Are you the bad guy, the good guy, or a blend of both? How does your parable end?

PRAY: Creative, creating one, let your words challenge us, engaging our imaginations in a revolutionary story that reshapes our understanding of the reality around us. Amen.

BLESS: May God teach you and give you courage to follow. Amen

A man comes to Jesus seeking healing of his physical sight, while others with healthy eyes cannot see who is Jesus is, and what it means to follow.  So how is our sight?  Do we really ‘see’ our selves and who Jesus is?

Worship this week with Holy Communion

Saturday — 5:00 p.m. in the chapel

Sunday — 8:30 a.m. Traditional Worship

9:30 a.m. —  Sunday School

10:30 a.m.  — Contemporary Worship

Devotions for this week:

Bartimaeus Healed                                       February 20-21, 2016

SHARE: What was a high point of your day? What was a low point?

READ: Read the following daily readings to deepen your understanding

Sunday, Mark 10:32-52, Bartimaeus Healed

Monday, Psalm 34:11-14

Tuesday, Psalm 111

Wednesday, Mark 11:12-14, Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

Thursday, Mark 11:15-19, Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Friday, Mark 11:20-26, The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

Saturday, Mark 11:27-33, Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned

TALK: Consider some of these ideas:

Despite repeated lessons, some of Jesus’ disciples continue to seek out a place of honor. They do not see the meaning of what he has been teaching. As they leave Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus sees what they cannot, is healed, and begins to follow.

• How do these stories move people from not seeing toward seeing?
• What blind spots exist in your sight of Jesus? What do you struggle to understand?
• How do you think Jesus heals today? What does it mean to be healed?

See Jesus this week. Notice all the places Jesus is alive and active in your life. Write down all your Jesus sightings. At the end of the week, appreciate Jesus’ presence in your life.

PRAY: Glorious one, help us to focus on your glory and not our own. Help us to discern when to raise our voice, and when to listen to what you have to say to us. Amen.

BLESS: May God give you sight and healing. Amen.

Don’t forget our Lenten worship opportunities this Wednesday:

11:00 a.m. in Fellowship Hall followed by soup and sandwich lunch

7:30 p.m. in Chapel – preceded by potluck at 6:00 p.m.

We focus this week on “Returning to God” and look together at the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness in Luke 4.

Devotions for families or small groups:

SHARE –  Introduce yourself, the share:  What’s been the best thing that’s happened?   What’s the worst thing or thing you’re most concerned about?

READ –  Tonight’s verses: Joel 2:13b Return to theLord, your God for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, andabounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.

Luke 4:3b-4  ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ ⁴Jesus answered him, ‘It iswritten, “One does not live by bread alone.”’

TALK — Tell of a time you felt lost. How did it feel when you returned to where you should be?  What things might tempt you to walk away from God?  How might we find the strength to resist?
PRAY — Give thanks for the good things you shared, and pray for help with the things that trouble your group.  Close with the Lord’s Prayer.

BLESS — Before you go, turn to each other, make sign of the cross on the other person’s head or hand and say:  (Name), child of God, may you turn and return to the grace of God’s love.  Amen.

Like the rich man in Mark 10, we can be tempted to measure our worth by how good we are. Conversely, we measure the worth of others by how bad they are. Jesus saw right through that. He measured worth, not by people’s ability or inability to follow the laws or to give over-generously, but by our very existence. For humans, it is impossible to achieve goodness to the extent that it earns us a spot in heaven. We can never be good enough. But for God all things are possible. We are, in fact, good enough – not to earn heaven – but we are good enough for God’s love despite our limitations and failings.

Worship this week:

Saturday – 5:00 p.m. in the chapel

Sunday – 8:30 a.m. Traditional Worship

9:30 a.m. Sunday School

10:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship

Devotions for this week:

First Last and Last First                                     February 13-14, 2016

SHARE: What was a high point of your day? What was a low point?

READ: Read the following daily readings to deepen your understanding

Sunday, Mark 10:17-31, First Last and Last First

Monday, Psalm 19:7-10

Tuesday, Exodus 20:1-21, The Ten Commandments

Wednesday, Deuteronomy 5:1-21, The Ten Commandments

Thursday, Psalm 52

Friday, Psalm 62

Saturday, Jeremiah 32:1-25, Jeremiah Buys a Field

TALK: Consider some of these ideas:

As his journey of teaching and healing continues into the region of Judea, Jesus continues to confuse and scandalize his listeners. Even his disciples are shocked by the difficult lessons he teaches. An apparently perfect life of following the law is not enough, he indicates. A deeper turning over of one’s life to God is required.

• What do these readings say about the relationship between God and God’s people? In what areas of your life do you rank first?
• Where do you rank last? What do your rankings say about you? What would God say about your rankings?
• What would you be willing to part with to inherit eternal life? What would be difficult to part with? Why?

PRAY: Good and holy teacher, what we understand of your ways is so tiny that it might fit through the eye of a needle. Keep teaching us, we pray, and give us time to catch up to you. Amen.

BLESS: May God invite you warmly into God’s kingdom. Amen.

Most of our days we may not stop to consider our own mortality, but on Ash Wednesday we hear it, feel it, and are marked by it.  As we gather we confess that we really aren’t okay, we need forgiveness and a new beginning.  We need Jesus, and we need each other,  and so we come together to share the Word, and the Lord’s Supper.

Join us for Ash Wednesday Worship – February 10th

11:00 a.m. in the fellowship hall

7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary