study and law

Good evening sisters and brothers,
We've talked a little bit about the possibility of a book study on a short and lively book called I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. I'd love to get the details nailed down and I need your help to do that. I have three different possible times in mind. One would be 8:15 pm on Wednesday at the Boulevard, another Sunday after worship over lunch at a diner for lunch and the third would be during the day either on Wednesday or Thursday (maybe 10:30am or 2pm). We could do two out of those three, or possibly all three or something else. Please send me an email if you're interested in being part of this book study. Along with that, let me know if one or more of those times work for you or if not, when you'd like to meet. I'll put it all together and we'll get started. I've got the books in my office, so you can pick one up tomorrow ($11.08 if you don't mind).

Today's reading is part of Moses' preparation of the people of Israel for life in the promised land without him. He lets them know that God's law is important for keeping them on the right track and reminding them that God has set them free. As the people get further from the actual events of the Exodus, the law will be more and more important as a reminder of what God has done for them. God's law still guides us and reminds us of God's love and care today. The more we know scripture, the better we get to know God.

Blessings,
Sam

Deuteronomy 6:17-25

¹⁷You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. ¹⁸Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you, ¹⁹thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

²⁰When your children ask you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?” ²¹then you shall say to your children, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²²The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household.

²³He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case. ²⁵If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right.”

first Passover

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Today as we reflect on labor we're grateful for the labor movement that has furthered the cause of equality for workers. We also remember, especially now, that we have a long way to go. We remember those who want to work but can't and those who work so much that they can't rest.

Moses tells the Israelites how to mark their homes so God's destroying angel won't kill their first born sons along with the Egyptians. It's interesting too that even in the midst of this moment of trial and liberation God has Moses set the Passover up as a permanent tradition rather than a one time thing. The role of tradition is to keep reminding us of how God has saved us in the past to keep us humble and grateful. May we always remember God's love for us.

God bless,
Sam

Exodus 12:21-28

21Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb. 22Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. 23For the Lord will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down.



24You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children. 25When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. 26And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ 27you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’“ And the people bowed down and worshiped. 28The Israelites went and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.