1.  We’ve come to the fifth commandment this morning. First, God gives the four commandments that focus on the nature of God and our relationship with him. Now the fifth commandment that comes directly after that. What is the nature of our relationship with our family? It’s almost as important as our relationship with God. After the fifth commandment will be the description of our behavior within a broader community or tribe but this relationship – family – is central to our lives and the life of our community. That is why it follows immediately after the first set of commandments. There can be no society without strong families and…

1.  Steven Covey coined a phrase, “Begin with the end in mind” and I think that applies to the Sabbath this morning. What was in God’s mind when he spoke to the children of Israel about a day of rest? Was there something more than a day of rest in His mind? I think there was. I think that end is to be found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Ephesians 2:8: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” I think it was through…

1.  Douglas Taylor-Weiss, a conservative Episcopal priest years ago developed a list of what an observer of our culture might identify as our functional ten commandments: 1. Have a good day 2. Shop 3. Eliminate pain 4. Be up-to-date 5. Relax 6. Express yourself 7. Have a happy family 8. Be entertaining 9. Be entertained 10. Buy entertainment. In other words, live a fairly empty and superficial life. In a way, that is the target of the prohibition in this third commandment. Growing up, I thought this commandment was about using profanity – and a particular kind of profanity. It was concerned with using the name of God, Jesus or…

1.  The commandment recognizes that we were created to worship – to find a god – and that will either be toward the true God or to a worthless substitute. We cannot be neutral. We cannot turn off the “worship gene”. It is permanent and the only choice is to whom or what we direct it and how that either makes us mature or destroys us. 2.  The second and always unpopular fact of any discussion of idolatry is our primary relationship with God. He says he is a “jealous” God and we take that to mean He has moods or is insecure about our love for Him. The word…

1.  Hillary Clinton stirred up some dust this week with her statement that “great nations need organizing principles and “don’t do stupid stuff” is not an organizing principle.” She’s right about nations in particular but also about all organizations in general.  Whatever your organizing principle is will determine how you make decisions.  Your organizing principle defines you. That is why the lesson this week is on the Lamb of God.  That is the organizing principle, the organizing image for the Church.  It is not the Lion of God and the Church triumphant but the Lamb of God, the servant Church.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The Church is the Church only when…

It’s good to have Tom and Jennifer Alden with us this morning to bring us up to date on their work in Portugal.  As well, we are going to have a conversation by phone with Jeremy Courtney, the founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition in Iraq. Jeremy Courtney, founder of Preemptive Love Coalition, moved his family from Turkey to Iraq in January of 2007 to work with a nongovernmental organization, stirred by the overwhelming needs of the people there. It didn’t take long to identify pediatric heart disease as a major one. “Our response to a local request introduced us to a group of 700 other kids…

1.  Read the passage: 4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the…

The lesson this morning is divided into three parts: Caring for the created world; Caring for wealth; Caring for the poor. Let’s look at them individually. 1.  Caring for the created world. A few years ago I saw a movie titled “Food, Inc” about the food industry. It’s pretty rough in its presentation of how we mass produce our food – especially chickens and beef and pork. The images of pigs so large they cannot move in their pens and chickens so heavy they cannot stand is not pleasant. Did you know? – Chickens are being raised in half the time they were in 1950s (49 days vs. 3 months),…

1. Scripture does not idealize or romanticize marriage. It’s not Hallmark cards. In fact, many of the marriages of the greatest figures are difficult. “Marriage To A Difficult Man” is a book about the marriage of Sarah and Jonathan Edwards. He was the great early American preacher, theologian and scholar. “Edwards was less than helpful as a host, for he was still a light eater and would often finish his meal before the others did. He would then slip out to his study, returning to the table only when he was alerted that the others had finished and he was needed to preside over the grace which was always said…

“It has always struck me as remarkable that when the writers of the four Gospels come to the most important part of the story they have to tell, they tell it in whispers. The part I mean, of course, is the part about the resurrection. The Jesus who was dead is not dead anymore. He has risen. He is here. According to the Gospels there was no choir of angels to proclaim it. There was no sudden explosion of light in the sky. Not a single soul was around to see it happen. When Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb afterward, she thought at first that it must be a…