Happy Saturday! 

Frogs Win! Frogs Win!  It was a nail biter.  My Daddy always said, “You know they keep stats on all kinds of things, but in football there is only one stat that counts…the final score.”  My Daddy is a very wise man.

Our house has sprung a leak. We have 80 year old plumbing and it decided yesterday was the day to burst.  Bruce is currently under the house fixing the aging plumbing.  (It is currently 9: 58 pm) Say a prayer for this really good man.

Prayer:  Lord, I look forward to another day of walking with You. Because You are Lord of my life, I will follow You wherever You lead me. Sometimes You have led me through difficult places and painful experiences, but You have never let me down. Lead on, O King Eternal!

“Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Luke 6: 37—38

This passage of scripture comes shortly before the story of the “sinful” woman who anoints the feet of Jesus in the home of Simon the Pharisee.  I am preparing a sermon on this text.  As I read this passage from Luke (6: 37-38) I thought about Simon.  Simon, who had always lived a life of rules, thought he was without sin because he was a religious man and believed himself to have lived a good life.  But Simon’s sin was tucked away even hidden from himself.  His had formed a habit of judging others which shielded his neat and orderly life from the unpredictable power of grace. 

Both Simon and the woman owed a debt that neither one could repay.  Simon’s sin was less obvious, but far more dangerous.  Simon was following a path that he thought would lead to heaven, but when heaven walked into his house he did not even know it.  The woman on the other hand knew just how lost she had been and much she was in need of forgiveness. Because she had been forgiven so completely she learned to love much. She found heaven at the feet of Jesus. 

The questions for the night are these…How much debt do we owe and can we repay it?  Do we find heaven in being religious folks or do we find heaven kneeling in the forgiving grace at the feet of Jesus?

Take joy in the journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep (and tonight we get an extra hour!) Count your blessings and say your prayers.  Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and 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.