Wednesday Words for July 9, 2014
From Interim Senior Pastor Len Hoffmann
Scroll down to find the link to your Bethany Weekly Newsletter!
Thought for the Day:
Let anyone with ears listen!
Matthew 13:9
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Kelly, our office manager, will be on vacation July 14 - 18. If you need assistance next week, please call the church office at 815-459-2690 and one of the Bethany staff will assist you.
Christmas in July: It’s the annual Christmas in July outreach opportunity. There are items that are needed this time of year for a variety of social ministry organizations. Please take an “ornament” with a desired gift and return it to the church by the last Sunday in July when gifts will be dedicated and distributed by the Social Action Committee. Christmas Hymns will be sung on July 27.
Seniors Ice Cream Social today, beginning at 6:30 pm. Tickets are available or at the door. Come and enjoy time together and invite some family or friends.
Sunday Morning Announcements: Please consider entering the Sanctuary a few minutes early for Welcome and Announcements. We want to welcome everyone, especially our guests. At the request of the music staff the prelude will precede the announcements. It is very helpful to get announcements into the Bethany Weekly Newsletter and they need to be in the church office by Tuesday morning. If something needs special attention please let Pastor Len know prior to worship.
Sunday at Bethany: A few years ago I had a hearing test. I found out that my hearing was still good and that was a relief. It was a good thing because I was glad to know that my hearing wasn’t failing (yet), but it was also a good thing because when my wife accuses me of not listening I would say, “ I had my hearing checked and it was working fine”.
I really do know the difference, however, between hearing and listening. We can hear lots of things but we can tune them out and not really listen. In Sunday’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that we are not only to hear, but we are to listen. When we listen it means that we will respond with a word or action that demonstrates that we have listened and understood.
Our question for the week then is this, “Do we just hear God’s word, or do we listen to God’s word?” In the parable this week we have a demonstration of the difference between hearing and listening. Take a look at Matthew 13:1-9 and listen for what Jesus is saying to you and to Bethany Congregation.
Pastor Len
Lectionary 15
Proper 10
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, we thank you for planting in us the seed of your word. By your Holy Spirit help us to receive it with joy, live according to it, and grow in faith and hope and love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen
First Reading Isaiah 55:10-13
God's word to Israel's exiles is as sure and effective as never-failing precipitation. Their return to the Holy Land in a new exodus is cheered on by singing mountains and by trees that clap their hands.
10For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Second Reading Romans 8:1-11
There is no condemnation for those who live in Christ. God sent Christ to accomplish what the law was unable to do: condemn sin and free us from its slavery. The Spirit now empowers proper actions and values in our lives and gives us the promise of resurrected life.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law — indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
The Gospel Matthew 13:1-9;18-23
In Matthew's gospel, both Jesus and his disciples "sow the seed" of God's word by proclaiming the good news that "the kingdom of heaven is near." Now, in a memorable parable, Jesus explains why this good news produces different results in those who hear.
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears listen!"
18Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
