"A Servant's Heart" Matthew 23: 1-12

A very hard scriptue for me to understand. We must have ministers to guide us, we must have teachers to teach us, we must have leaders to lead us, but read the sermon text for yourself. Using the Good News Bible. Matt. 23: 1

     Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees are the authorized interpreters of Moses' Law. So you must obey and follow everything they tell you to do; do not, however, imitate their actions, because they don't practice what they preach.They tie onto people's backs loads that are heavy and hard to carry, yet they aren't willing even to lift a finger to help them carry those loads. They do everything so that people will see them. Look at the straps with scripture verses on them which they wear on their foreheads and arms, and notice how large they are! Notice also how long are the tassels on theit cloaks! They love the best places at feasts and the reserved seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the market places and to have people call them 'Teacher.' You must not be called 'Teacher,' because you are all brothers of one another and have only Teacher. And you must not call anyone here on earth 'Father,' because you have only the one Father in heaven. Nor should you be called "Leader,' because your one and only leader is the Messiah. The greatest one among you must be your servant. Whoever makes himself great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be made great.

     I cannot tell you how our minister explained this scripture to us, but I think he said a servant cannot be a leader or a teacher. ???  I guess he was saying that those who always want to make all the decisions in the church, and think that they know better how to do everything, cannot be a servant, therefore they cannot be great because they are not humble. Whoever humbles himself shall be made great. Amen.
God bless
Jean Sharp
    

"Our Heritage"

We were given an interesting lecture this morning by our pastor, on the heritage of our church, Diciples of Christ Christian Church. Many people today are giving up their heritage for a new experience that often leads them to a place of regret and despondency. Just as Jacob was skillful enough to steal Esau's birthright so is the devil even now scheming on how to steal our heritage. Esau sold his birthright to his brother, Jacob, for a bowl of soup. Esau was faint from hunger and the only way he could get food was sell his heritage to Jacob, who had the food right before Esau's eyes. I think the pastor was trying to tell the congregation that we need to hold fast to our heritage, For over a hundred years our fellowship has  withstood  many ups and downs, but it is still a great organization which merits our praise and admiration. Doomed is the day when we give up our heritage for a bowl of pottage.
God bless
Myrtle Jean Sharp

Wonderful Dinner Today At Church

We enjoyed a great time of food and fellowship with our pastor and wife, Dan and Diann, who just returned from a trip to Japan visiting with Diann's family. They shared with us some interesting details about how Dan managed to spend two weeks with a group of people who the only English speaking person was his wife. Dan did learn one word of Japanese. I can't spell it, but it meant, good food. They had a great time. We also had some special guest having dinner with us today. Let us never take our churches for granite. It is a blessed privilidge we have to be able to attend the church of our choice. It may not always be that way. We had a very good visit with our son, Rick, this past week. He is our fix-it guy. He fixed several things for us that somehow was beyond Charles and my understanding. It was quite simple for Rick. God bless him good. He helped me to make his favorite food, berox, so he could learn how to make it himself. We grilled a rack of pork ribs with all the extras that go with them, and just had a good time of, eating it up. We've had beautiful weather lately for which I am thankful, but it is now time to clean all the dead flowers and garden stull off the yard. What a fun time coming up.
God bless
M. Jean Sharp

Sunday Spent At Home Today

Today was a different kind of day than what Sunday usually brings us. Our Pastor is still in Japan, and our church lost a fine Christian man this week, so the monthly dinner and board meeting was postoned until next Sunday. Charles wasn't feeling too well so we stayed home. I needed some time to get the house in good shape since our son, Rick, is coming up tomorrow from Fort Worth. He will be staying about a week. I will be cooking for him some of his favorite foods. Rick likes to just get away from a stressful job by coming home, relaxing on the front porch and gaze across the street remembering all the good times he had going to school there. He spends most of his time here just reminiscencing. We always look forward to his visits. He and I usually have a good lengthly bible discussion also. He is a good challenge for me on bible history. Hope everyone is happy and doing well.
Good bless
Myrtle Jean Sgarp

Reporting good news from Charles last Dr. appt.

Last Friday, Sept. 30, Charles had a colonscopy in Okla. City. Everything was good, and he don't have to have another one for three years. We are praising God for that. Our next Dr. appt will be Nov. 22. He will see his cancer Dr. for an xray and blood work. We will meet Rhonda and Randy at this appt. date so we can have Thanksgiving together. Looking forward to that. I missed putting the pastors sermon on here last Sunday. When I started to post it, my program had been changed and I couldn't get on. I was waiting for Kent to help me get back on when finally the thing fixed its self. I love this brain-racking computer stuff. Some day I will learn the blueprint for the computer. In the meantime just be patient with me. Our pastor and his wife, Diann, left last Monday for a short visit to Japan to see Diann's family. She is from Japan. We wish them a safe and wonderful time.
God bless
M Jean Sharp