Wednesday Words for August 28, 2013
from Pastor Carrie Smith
Thought for the Day:
On Aug. 28, 1963, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Today is the 50th anniversary of this historic event. Here are a few highlights from this famous speech:
“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”
“We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
“Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”
“And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
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Happy Wednesday, Saints!
Attached is your Bethany Weekly Newsletter. Please scroll down to the bottom of this email to find the link to the attachment. Feel free also to print it or forward it to friends!
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Today we mourn the passing of Buck Pearson, a longtime Bethany member who died Monday at age 97. Buck moved to Minnesota last year to live with family, and we’ve missed seeing him sitting out on the couches in the gathering area, greeting his friends. A memorial service will be held here at Bethany on Monday, September 16th at 10:30 a.m. More details to come. Please pray for Buck’s family.
Sunday at Bethany: On Sunday at 8:30 am we will have a special prayer of blessing and sending for Mavis Bagby, who is moving soon to southern Illinois, and for high school student Christopher Vito, who leaves soon for a semester as a U.S. Senate Page in Washington, D.C.!
We are blessed to welcome a guest at both services, the Rev. Neema Ndooki Swai from Tanzania, who happens to be the 2nd Maassai woman to be ordained and is an adopted “daughter” of the Henning family. We look forward to hearing about the Lutheran Church in Tanzania!
At both services we will also have a Blessing of the Hands, in which you will be invited to come forward and have your hands blessed for the work of the coming season –whatever work that happens to be.
Music will be fun this week. Prelude music will be offered by Joyce Meier on clarinet and her sister on flute! And the “Bethany Gospel Singers” will be singing during the offering. We’ll have a chance to sing in Spanish during our opening hymn, “Let Us Go Now to the Banquet”, and then during communion we’ll sing “Precious Lord, Take My Hand”. We’ll be sent back out into the world singing “Guide Me Ever, Great Redeemer”.
Fire trucks at Bethany! Yesterday was an exciting one at Bethany. Our new preschool director, Pam, alerted us that the preschool hallway was filling up with smoke. The church was evacuated, and the fire department arrived quickly. They determined it was a problem with one of our air conditioning units, which was blowing smelly smoke into the building. All is well, however, and we even took the opportunity for the firemen to check our fire alarms! Hoping for a less drama-filled day today.
Rally Day is almost here! Here are the highlights:
- Worship is at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
- Fellowship is from 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. in Luther Hall
- Sunday School begins at 10:15 a.m. in the Community Room
- Special guest musician is Timothy Brinkman. You can hear a bit of his music here: http://www.fishers.com/timothy/
- From 1-4 pm we’ll be celebrating “God’s Work, Our Hands” day with the rest of the ELCA! There’s still time to sign up for one of the service opportunities in our area. Check out the worship bulletin inserts on Sunday. Or…come up with your own way of serving your neighbors, and then tell us how you will be doing God’s work with YOUR hands!
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This Week’s Texts: 15th Sunday after Pentecost
Prayer of the Day:
O God, you resist those who are proud
and give grace to those who are humble.
Give us the humility of your Son,
that we may embody the generosity of Jesus Christ,
our Savior and Lord. Amen.
| FIRST READING | Proverbs 25:6–7 |
The book of Proverbs is part of a collection of writings known as wisdom literature. Wisdom literature gave directions to Israel's leaders and people for the conduct of daily life. Today's reading is about humility.
6Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence
or stand in the place of the great;
7for it is better to be told, "Come up here,"
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.
What your eyes have seen
The righteous are merciful and full of compassion. (Ps. 112:4)
1Hallelujah! Happy are they who | fear the LORD
and have great delight in | God's commandments!
2Their descendants will be mighty | in the land;
the generation of the upright | will be blessed. R
3Wealth and riches will be | in their house,
and their righteousness will | last forever.
4Light shines in the darkness | for the upright;
the righteous are merciful and full | of compassion.
5It is good for them to be gener- | ous in lending
and to manage their af- | fairs with justice.
6For they will nev- | er be shaken;
the righteous will be kept in everlast- | ing remembrance. R
7They will not be afraid of any | evil rumors;
their heart is steadfast, trusting | in the LORD.
8Their heart is established and | will not shrink,
until they see their desire up- | on their enemies.
9They have given freely to the poor, and their righteousness
stands | fast forever;
they will hold up their | head with honor.
10The wicked will see it and be angry;
they will gnash their teeth and | pine away;
the desires of the wick- | ed will perish. R
| SECOND READING | Hebrews 13:1–8, 15–16 |
The conclusion of the letter to the Hebrews contains suggestions for the conduct of a holy life, all of which are shaped by God's love toward us in Jesus Christ.
Let mutual love continue. 2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. 4Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. 5Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." 6So we can say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?"
7Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 15Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Jesus observes guests jockeying for position at the table. He uses the opportunity to teach his hearers to choose humility rather than self-exaltation. Jesus also makes an appeal for hosts to mimic God's gracious hospitality to the poor and the broken.
On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. 7When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, 'Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
12He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Peace,
+ Pastor Carrie Smith
carrie.smith@bethanylc.com
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