O Great God,
We know You in that which is seen and that which is unseen. You are a mystery, yet Your presence is often times palpable. There are times in our lives when our need for You is great. Come to us in our need, O God. You are eternal. Forgive us, we pray, when we seek solace, comfort and assurance in the temporary and mundane. Sometimes those among us are so distraught by the tragedies of life that they cannot seek You or be comforted by their faith. May our faith be sufficient for them as well as ourselves. May we surround them, the grieving, those in pain, the suffering and the lost, with our love and our faith in You. May our trust in You lift them up so that, eventually, they may come to You again. This is our prayer in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
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Tim Simpson had back surgery on Monday. Please pray for Tim as he recovers.
Birdene Schoonover has fallen a few times in the last few days. Please pray for Birdene.
Sue McClendon is doing some better. Elbert Wheeler is still hospitalized, but no visitors for Elbert. Please pray for Sue and Elbert.
Carolyn and I are struggling with a decision about our 16 ½ year old dachshund. Please pray for us and all those pet owners whose animals are part of the family.
Please pray for those living and working in this heat.
We delivered 37 fans on Tuesday to the Salvation Army. Our church responded in an amazing way, as usual. Our goal is 50 fans. If you would like to drop one off at the church, leave it in the southwest corner of the loggia. If you would like to write a check, just put “fans” in the memo line. We were able to purchase Galaxy box fans for $14.88 each. Of course when the church buys them there is no tax.
The scripture for today is Romans 11:11-24:
So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead! If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut offhand even those of Israel, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
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