Church Bulletin; 28 February 2010
Our Shepherd of The Wilderness Road Church Bulletin;
28 February 2010
In This Issue………
Pastors Corner
28 February Homily
Pastors Corner
Welcome to our new church bulletin, which utilizes the Word Press blogging program. Our old bulletin was in a separate blog directory, but by now creating the bulletin as a separate category in our main blog, the bulletin will show up in our Facebook home page.
It has been a very busy time here at OSOTWR, with many developments and new programs in the planning stages. A couple of important developments regarding the future chapel, (1) we have received a much appreciated and unexpected donation from a friend of OSOTWR whose name we will not release at this time as we have not had the presence of mind with all the happenings here, to even ask him if we had his permission to report his gift. (2) Rev. Ann and I have decided to convert (temporarily – pending the arrival of a larger building) one of the buildings that is already located here, into a chapel. It’s small but will accommodate but should accommodate 10 – 12 people easy. Our thinking is that at least we will have a church home for the time being, without having to use our dining room.
We remind everyone to be praying for the victims of the 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile, with special intentions for those that are alive but still buried in the rubble and debris, and of course the families whose loved ones perished in the untimely disaster.
Finally we remind everyone of our inspirational newsletter “The Way Of The Lord†(TWOTL) which can be found at http://crabtreeinternet.com/newsletters/the_way/ be sure to check out past issues which can be found by clicking on the tab labeled “Index Of Past Issues† You can subscribe to TWOTL by sending a e-mail with the word ‘subscribe’ in the subject field to: the_way_of_the_lord-request@crabtreeinternet.com
…..TWOTL is a publication of our publishing ministry “The Lighthouse On The Corner Ministries http://lighthouseonthecornerministries.org
28 February Homily
Through illustrative metaphor, our Epistle and Gospel readings for today teach each of us important lessons, that many who think they are saved, simply are not.
The apostle points this out in his reference to those that are enemies of the cross of Christ. While we might assume that this refers to non-believers, we also have to consider how it applies to Christians that simply don’t get the point of Christ’s message. Jesus said
When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.
We see a similar message in Matthew 25
Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world.  I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.’  The righteous will then answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?  When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’  The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!’  “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Away from me, you that are under God’s curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels!  I was hungry but you would not feed me, thirsty but you would not give me a drink;  I was a stranger but you would not welcome me in your homes, naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me.’  Then they will answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we would not help you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.’  These, then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life.”
Each and every day we see people doing terrible things to Christ’s followers, those that try to do their best to live by his message. Politicians, Bankers, and captains of industry, men and women who claim to be born again, but none the are like the ones on his left In the passage from Matthew, the ones that ignored or mistreated those that Christ referred to as the least important.
I have maintained and will always maintain that our Father want us to be happy, to have a certain degree of material items, but when greed and lust turn the material into false idols, and mankind tells their young that all that matters is success, regardless of the cost to One Of These Least Important ones, then there is a problem.
Paul tells it like it is when he wrote to the Philippians
Php 3:19 They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world.
So it is not only our duty but in our best interests to set a good example in all things, to lead by precept and example, bearing witness to our Brethren that they need to reconsider, to reevaluate their priorities and decide if short term success on Earth is better than ever lasting life in heaven. Let us remember the words of Christ;
“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able
Amen