Pastor Mark's Weekly Blog, Uncategorized

Lent 1, 6th Command: Loving your Neighbors in an Angry Culture

This Sunday, we will be in the middle of the second table of the Law of God given to us in the 10 Commandments.  We will continue to explore the narrow and broad, positive and negative aspects of each of the 10 Commandments.  This Sunday: You shall not kill.  

Increasingly our culture is setting aside God’s command ‘to not kill’ as various forms of killing through violence, questionable ethical decisions, and hate are on the rise.  Cultures and societies disintegrate into chaos when the value of life is diminished.  Issues of capital punishment, uncontrolled anger, war, wars of words, ethnic cleansing, suicide, revenge, gun violence, gang violence, euthanasia, abortion – are only a few of the issues that are on the mainstream of discussion today.  

And Jesus doesn’t let anyone off the hook by expanding this command to include hate, name calling, and general disdain or disregard for another person’s life as a breaking of this command.  For preparation for Sunday, revisit Jesus words from the Sermon on the Mount in Mathew 5:21-26.  Where do all of these things lead?  Death and God’s judgment.  

God gave us the 10 Commands as gracious and wonderful boundaries for our flourishing.  As we move from honoring father and mother, to promoting life, to respecting others property, being truthful and being content – What will we choose? 

Sunday we welcome Marissa Perry Saints to our worship service and download time share information and to lead us in a discussion on immigration. 

Peace in the name of Jesus,
Pastor Mark

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