Blessed Sunday to you all!

Next item checked off; preached at Hurst Christian Church. The congregation was very warm and welcoming and it was a joy to preach and serve at the table.

Today was Boy Scout Sunday. At the end of worship I walked out to the foyer only to find uniformed scouts standing behind well used dutch ovens filled with warm fruit cobblers. Down another hallway the ladies were selling containers of homemade soups and super bowl snacks. I brought several samples home with me.

Later this afternoon, Bruce and In went to the final Bible Study called Rock Solid Marriage (which was really great). Even those of us who have been married for a number of years learned a lot from the 5 week Bible Study based on scripture. Next Sunday there will be a re-affirmation of wedding vows which should be lovely. Geni and Travis will be giving us away as well as being lectors for the service. There will be a reception following the service. If any of you would like to attend the service will begin at 4:00 at Advent Lutheran Church and you are welcome to attend.

Back to the schedule. Tomorrow I must begin and complete the exegesis of John 9: 1-41. Please pray for my focus as I begin this new type of writing.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the rising of the sun and the promise of a new day in which I may serve You. Grant that Your dear hand may order my steps and that I will honor and please You in all that I do. Give me Your wisdom and discernment that every decision I make today will be centered in Your will. Keep me from presumption. Make me kind and sensitive to all those whom I shall meet. I ask all of this in your holy name. Amen.”

Romans 10: 9 “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Sometimes the Old Testament can be confusing. And sometimes Romans and other books of the Bible can be confusing and seem to explain and re-explain the same thing within the same paragraph.

But the gospel is very clear. The gospel can take things that are hard and makes them easy to understand. When we read the gospel we often read it through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides our thoughts and helps us glean the meaning from the scripture and reveals it to us enabling us to understand.

Tonight my meditation gives the example of the simplicity of the gospel in examples of bread. “Salvation is as simple as eating bread.” Jesus shares the meaning of salvation simply as a hungry man eating bread in “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger.” (John 6:35) Salvation is as simple as drinking water. “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water I shall give him will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4: 14) The gift of Christ is as simple as believing and confessing that Jesus is Lord. The gospel of the extravagant love of Jesus is so amazing and so simple that all we have to do is believe it and tell it to someone else.

Please pray for comfort for the Toombs/Burns families as tomorrow they will bury their mother and grandmother.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all so very much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni aid Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.