Wednesday Words for August 14, 2013
From Pastor Carrie Smith
Thought for the Day: A prayer of Augustine of Hippo
O loving God, to turn away from you is to fall, to turn toward you is to rise, and to stand before you is to abide forever. Grant us, dear God, in all our duties your help; in all our uncertainties your guidance; in all our dangers your protection; and in all our sorrows your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Happy Wednesday—it is so good to be back from vacation!
Attached to this email is your BETHANY WEEKLY NEWSLETTER.
You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the email to see the link.
Did you know?
You can always find the Newsletter on the church website www.bethanylc.com. Simply click the “Newsletter” icon on the left side of the front page. No need to log in!
Also:
Printed newsletters are available each Sunday at worship on the Information Desk. We are working on making them more accessible to visitors. In the coming weeks, look for new “Welcome Tables” for our visitors and guests!
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In our prayers: Remember to open your newsletter, where we post prayer requests for members and family every week.
This Sunday at Bethany: We’ll be singing some favorites of different styles: “Rise Up, O Saints of God”, “There is a Balm in Gilead”, and “We’ve Come This Far By Faith”, among others. Special music will be offered by Bethany member Joyce Meier on the clarinet. On a personal note, I’m excited to be home, and am itching to get back in the pulpit. J I hope to see you all Sunday!
Thank you from Pr. Linstrom: “I want to thank you for the opportunity you provided me last Sunday to Preside and Preach. I enjoyed the day immensely, the people were very generous and the Sr.'s even provided a birthday cake!” THANK YOU, Pr. Bob, for being such a gracious presence here at Bethany!
Male Confirmation Guides Needed: Thank you to all who have signed up to be Confirmation Guides for our students this year. Pastor Paul says we are especially in need of a few male guides for our young men. If you are at all interested, please contact Pr. Paul ASAP at paul.cannon@bethanylc.com
Letter coming soon! Please watch your mailboxes for a letter from your Council President and Vice President about all the exciting things planned for the Fall!
Blessing of the Backpacks: Mark your calendars for Sunday, August 25, when we will be blessing backpacks (or lunch boxes, briefcases, laptop cases, iPad covers, or whatever else you will be using at school this fall!) This is a great opportunity to send our kids of all ages into a year of learning. Please bring your family to worship at 8:30 or 10:30 that day!
God’s Work, Our Hands: You’ve probably been hearing about this mysterious “work day” that’s coming on September 8th. Along with other ELCA churches across the country, we will be participating in a day of service on September 8 (Yes, I know this is a Bears game day. Apparently the ELCA doesn’t watch that schedule! )
Now is the time to start signing up! Opportunities include:
- 10 people needed to work at the LSSI Gable Point Senior Housing here in Crystal Lake
- 10 people needed to work at the Queen Anne Home in McHenry
- People needed to wash down and check sleeping pads/pillows here at Bethany’s PADS site
- Workers needed for the community garden
- And…anything else you might choose to do in your neighborhood! Be creative—and get out and do God’s Work with YOUR hands!
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This Week’s Texts: 13th Sunday after Pentecost
Prayer of the Day:
O God, judge eternal, you love justice and hate oppression, and you call us to share your zeal for truth. Give us courage to take our stand with all victims of bloodshed and greed, and, following your servants and prophets, to look to the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
1st Reading: Jeremiah 23:23-29
23Am I a God nearby, says the Lord, and not a God far off? 24Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. 25I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed!” 26How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back—those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? 27They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal. 28Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord. 29Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
Psalm 82 (The Message Version)
1 God calls the judges into his courtroom, he puts all the judges in the dock. 2 "Enough! You've corrupted justice long enough, you've let the wicked get away with murder. 3 You're here to defend the defenseless, to make sure that underdogs get a fair break; 4 Your job is to stand up for the powerless, and prosecute all those who exploit them." 5 Ignorant judges! Head-in-the-sand judges! They haven't a clue to what's going on. And now everything's falling apart, the world's coming unglued. 6 "I commissioned you judges, each one of you, deputies of the High God, 7 But you've betrayed your commission and now you're stripped of your rank, busted." 8 O God, give them their just deserts! You've got the whole world in your hands!
2nd Reading: Hebrews 11:29 - 12:2
29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
32And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— 38of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
12Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Gospel Reading: Luke 12:49-56
49“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
54He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. 55And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. 56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Peace,
+ Pastor Carrie Smith
