It's good to be a part of God's family. All over the world millions of believers gathered to worship in settings and traditions of every kind. But I'm especially glad to be a part of my local church at New Hope, and we had another nice service of worship this morning. Here's a report for those who are away on this summer Sunday.
Our singing was sweet as usual. I appreciate Steve's friend Colby coming to fill in on the drums while the Blumensteins are on vacation--it's tough coming in to play songs that are unfamiliar with band members who are all complete strangers! (Dustin and Beth, we're looking forward to seeing you again next week!) Christie and Cassie did a nice job playing/singing "I Belong" by Kathryn Scott after the message, and it was fun getting my oboe out for the song and playing along with Kim on clarinet (who is a very fine musician).
We prayed for and said good-bye to some of our college students today. Krysta Baglien graduated from Linfield and is heading home to Caldwell, Idaho to fight fires for the summer and then find more permanent work. And Josh and Cassie Kanable, who just graduated from Western Oregon and Linfield, respectively, are soon heading out to Fort Collins, Colorado, where Cassie will be working on her masters at Colorado State. All three of these quality folks have been with New Hope from the beginning and we'll miss them very much! Pray for their job needs as they go.
Dewey is away speaking at a camp, and Gerry Clark filled in as our teacher today. Gerry spoke about Mary and Martha, and encouraged us to "sit at the feet of Jesus" as Mary did. It was a good reminder to me to make sure even in the midst of serving Him that I take that quiet time with Jesus. The sermon was good, and it was only 27 minutes long, so I hope you'll give it a listen on our
Sermons, Etc. page on the website this week!
Our softball venture wasn't quite successful as we lost 10-7 to Carlton Trenching. Our team had to put up with some iffy calls and a pitcher who kept on walking people (me), but I was so pleased to again see good attitudes all around. As representatives of Christ and His church, how we react and interact during wins and losses is what pleases Him and what really matters, and I think our team represents well! I had one of the girls from the other team tell me we were a fun team to play, and that's a good testimony to the world.
So that was the Sunday that was, and we look forward to another one in seven days! Hope you all have a terrific week!
Mention Leviticus to most people and what comes to mind is that arcane tome of Torah devoted primarily to the proper (and gruesome) management of sin through animal sacrifice. Others may recall mind-numbing instructions on how to rightly handle infectious skin disease and mildew, and a mishmash of other commandments about not mixing fibers and seeds and not sleeping with your stepmother or sister or nephew—commandments deemed either irrelevant or plain common sense. Rarely studied and even more rarely preached, Leviticus often becomes that graveyard where read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plans go to die. Skeptics know it as ammunition for homosexual haters or as a target for animal-rights activists. Many Jews regard it as awkward and outmoded. To slog through it can be unbelievably tedious. Which is why most of us don't.
