Wednesday Words for September 5, 2012
From Pastor Carrie Smith
Thought for the Day:
“I have no pleasure in any man who despises music. It is no invention of ours: it is a gift of God. I place it next to theology. Satan hates music: he knows how it drives the evil spirit out of us.”
Martin Luther
In our prayers: Wendy Stefan, Jean Cima, Gary Summers, Michele Johnson (cancer surgery was successful!), Todd Johnson (healing after heart surgery), Denise Cummings (on a transplant list), Crosby Maddock, Jeanette Odean, Seth Johnson (for healing after surgery), Fred Becker, and many others.
Today at Bethany:
Confirmation Orientation for 7th and 8th graders and their families, 6-7:30 pm (light supper provided)
Bethany Choir begins again! 7:30-9 pm
Tomorrow night: Theology on Tap at Duke’s Alehouse, 7:30 pm. What is Theology on Tap? Pastor Paul says it could also be called: Cocktails and Conversation or the Beer and Bible group! This is an opportunity to meet in a casual setting and engage in some “God-talk”. Beer is optional. All are welcome!
Sunday at Bethany: It’s time for the Back to Church Bluegrass Round-Up! Come for worship at 7:45 am (no bluegrass), 9 am, and 10:45 am. Sunday School Registration begins at 8:30 am, and the Ministry Opportunities Fair will be taking place all morning. Please bring a friend, and celebrate the beginning of Fall!
Monday night Bible Study begins September 10: You are invited to check out a new Bible Study opportunity called “Saving Jesus: an exploration of Jesus Christ for the third millennium”. This is a 12-session class (but it’s ok to miss a few!) and we will most likely be meeting in the “new conference room” (look for signs near the Church Office).
Click here for a preview video: Saving Jesus
McHenry County Heart Walk: Help fight the #1 killer in McHenry County on Saturday, September 8! You can do a 1 mile or 3 mile walk at 9 am, starting at the Historic Dole Mansion. Register now at www.mchenrycountyheartwalk.org
Wednesday Worship coming soon! Join us for a renewing worship experience for midweek on Wednesday, September 12th at 6:30 pm. We will meet for prayer, a little singing, and a Scripture reflection in Luther Hall. All ages welcome!
2012 Bethany Women’s Event: Sunday, September 23rd at 5 pm. A few folks have said to me, “OH, we threw that postcard away, Pastor! We didn’t know it was from Bethany!” If that describes you, please know it is not too late to RSVP! Please let us know if you can come to this exciting, FREE dinner and program for all Bethany women! RSVP to Sandi at sandi.teiken@bethanylc.com
Our guest speaker will be Pastor Katherine Willis Pershey. Read more about her here:
http://www.katherinewillispershey.com/
This Week’s Texts: 15th Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 35:4-7
4Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.”
5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
PSALM 146 (Message version)
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
James 2:1-17
2My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” 4have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
8You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 9But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Mark 7:24-37
24From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
Peace,
+ Pastor Carrie Smith
