Dear Heavenly Parent,
Each Sunday we gather around the Table of Our Lord to share in the bread and cup. We approach that moment with humility and reverence, because it is more than a ritual. It is a holy experience and we give You thanks. Help us to remember that Jesus didn’t die on a cross like those seen on communion tables, between two candlesticks. He died on a harsh, splintered, rough hewn cross on the town garbage heap next to a major thoroughfare and between two thieves. Forgive us when we limit our faith experiences to beautiful sanctuaries with padded pews being served the Lord’s Supper in golden trays. Draw us into the world You loved so much and love so much, dear God. May we express our faith and live our faith amidst the highways and byways of life, in the clutter, even the squalor of human existence, because that is the place where Jesus lived, worked, died and was resurrected. And that is the place we are called to serve in His name. AMEN.
_______________________________________________
Willo Clark was in a lot of pain yesterday afternoon. Please continue to life her up in Prayer. Maggie Bartlett is progressing in her recovery. Ruth Weston is having the stints removed from her sinuses this morning. Kim Price is recovering well. Please pray for all these friends.
I misspoke yesterday. We need to pray for both Charlie Heller, who is recovering from heart surgery and Charlie Holler, who has been ill lately.
We are hosting a Men’s Walk to Emmaus that begins this evening and will conclude late Sunday afternoon. We are having to make a few adjustments. Jack Weston’s class will meet in the Chapel on Sunday morning because the Emmaus group will be in the Multi-Purpose Room.
Please continue to pray for our church. May we following the path God has prepared for us.
The scripture for today is Ruth 1:1-18:
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had considered his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has turned against me.” Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Prayer for Today, Wednesday, March 30
Dear Creator God,
We seek a quiet place where we can commune with You, but our lives and our world don’t easily accommodate that desire. Help us to be intentional about our prayer and devotional life, Loving God. We yearn for You out of the depths of our being. May our hearts be open and our schedules fixed, so that we honor You with moments of prayer and meditation. The spiritual walk is not an easy one, yet Your blessings flow abundantly on us as we accept Your grace and turn into Your embrace. Fill us, O Lord. We pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
_____________________________________________
Willo Clark is recovering from her surgery in Room 241 at Bass. She is alert and said her pain was 4 on a scale of 1 – 10, but she also commented that she “hadn’t moved yet”. Her daughter , Shannon, is with her. Please pray for Willo as she makes this journey to recovery.
Charlie Heller has been sick. Please pray for Charlie and Glennis.
Tonight is WWNF. The Bell Choir will also rehearse at 8:00 p.m.
May God bless us all as we seek to be loving, forgiving, supporting and caring members of this community of faith.
The scripture for today is Judges 16:23-31:
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, and let him entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. They made him stand between the pillars; and Samson said to the attendant who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.” Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson performed. Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “Lord GOD, remember me and strengthen me only this once, O God, so that with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.” And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He strained with all his might; and the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life. Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
We seek a quiet place where we can commune with You, but our lives and our world don’t easily accommodate that desire. Help us to be intentional about our prayer and devotional life, Loving God. We yearn for You out of the depths of our being. May our hearts be open and our schedules fixed, so that we honor You with moments of prayer and meditation. The spiritual walk is not an easy one, yet Your blessings flow abundantly on us as we accept Your grace and turn into Your embrace. Fill us, O Lord. We pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
_____________________________________________
Willo Clark is recovering from her surgery in Room 241 at Bass. She is alert and said her pain was 4 on a scale of 1 – 10, but she also commented that she “hadn’t moved yet”. Her daughter , Shannon, is with her. Please pray for Willo as she makes this journey to recovery.
Charlie Heller has been sick. Please pray for Charlie and Glennis.
Tonight is WWNF. The Bell Choir will also rehearse at 8:00 p.m.
May God bless us all as we seek to be loving, forgiving, supporting and caring members of this community of faith.
The scripture for today is Judges 16:23-31:
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, and let him entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. They made him stand between the pillars; and Samson said to the attendant who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.” Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson performed. Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “Lord GOD, remember me and strengthen me only this once, O God, so that with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.” And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He strained with all his might; and the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life. Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Prayer for Today, Tuesday, March 29
O Transcendent and Immanent God,
You are a mystery to us and yet You are present with us. You are far away and close at hand at the same time. We want You to be the God of the universe, the creator of all that is. We also want You to be near to us and call us by name. There are times when we call You powerful. There are times when we experience You in Your vulnerability. Forgive us when we apply human logic to our attempts to understand and explain You. May Your grace abound within us. May our task be one of faithfulness and devotion to You. May we seek to love You and to worship You, not seek to explain You. We offer this prayer in Jesus name, AMEN.
____________________________________________________
Maggie Bartlett, Ruth Weston and Kim Price all had surgeries yesterday. Please lift them up in your prayers.
Barb Lund will have outpatient surgery on Friday. Please pray for Barb and Rob.
Today is Day 18 of our Lenten journey.
The scripture for today is Judges 11:29-40:
Then the spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering.” So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the LORD gave them into his hand. He inflicted a massive defeat on them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty towns, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” She said to him, “My father, if you have opened your mouth to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites.” And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: Grant me two months, so that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, my companions and I.” “Go,” he said and sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. So there arose an Israelite custom that for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
You are a mystery to us and yet You are present with us. You are far away and close at hand at the same time. We want You to be the God of the universe, the creator of all that is. We also want You to be near to us and call us by name. There are times when we call You powerful. There are times when we experience You in Your vulnerability. Forgive us when we apply human logic to our attempts to understand and explain You. May Your grace abound within us. May our task be one of faithfulness and devotion to You. May we seek to love You and to worship You, not seek to explain You. We offer this prayer in Jesus name, AMEN.
____________________________________________________
Maggie Bartlett, Ruth Weston and Kim Price all had surgeries yesterday. Please lift them up in your prayers.
Barb Lund will have outpatient surgery on Friday. Please pray for Barb and Rob.
Today is Day 18 of our Lenten journey.
The scripture for today is Judges 11:29-40:
Then the spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering.” So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the LORD gave them into his hand. He inflicted a massive defeat on them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty towns, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” She said to him, “My father, if you have opened your mouth to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites.” And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: Grant me two months, so that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, my companions and I.” “Go,” he said and sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. So there arose an Israelite custom that for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Monday, March 28, 2011
Prayer for Today, Monday, March 28
God Who Is Our Light and Our Salvation,
We put our trust in You. You are the author of our lives and the source of our hope. May we be mindful of the influence we have on others, Loving God. Because we carry the banner of “Christian” our words and actions have tremendous influence, both for good and evil. Please forgive us, O Lord, when we are compelled to gossip and carry stories about others. These are evil acts and can cause people to separate themselves from the church and even from You. Cleanse us, Dear God, and heal the wounds of those we have harmed, even when our motivation is couched as “Christian concern”. May we be true followers of Jesus and always seek to serve You by serving others. We pray this prayer in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
_______________________________________________________
Ruth Weston is having outpatient sinus surgery this morning, but should be recovering at home this afternoon. Please pray for Ruth that she might have a successful procedure and full recovery.
Kim Price, Imogene’s son, has been moved to Mercy hospital in Oklahoma City. Please pray for Kim.
CONNECT ALL was a great success. Thanks to all who participated and set things up.
The scripture for today is Judges 4:4-9:
At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
We put our trust in You. You are the author of our lives and the source of our hope. May we be mindful of the influence we have on others, Loving God. Because we carry the banner of “Christian” our words and actions have tremendous influence, both for good and evil. Please forgive us, O Lord, when we are compelled to gossip and carry stories about others. These are evil acts and can cause people to separate themselves from the church and even from You. Cleanse us, Dear God, and heal the wounds of those we have harmed, even when our motivation is couched as “Christian concern”. May we be true followers of Jesus and always seek to serve You by serving others. We pray this prayer in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
_______________________________________________________
Ruth Weston is having outpatient sinus surgery this morning, but should be recovering at home this afternoon. Please pray for Ruth that she might have a successful procedure and full recovery.
Kim Price, Imogene’s son, has been moved to Mercy hospital in Oklahoma City. Please pray for Kim.
CONNECT ALL was a great success. Thanks to all who participated and set things up.
The scripture for today is Judges 4:4-9:
At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Prayer for Today, Sunday, March 27
God of Tender Mercies,
As the season of Lent approaches the half-way mark, we reflect on the journey thus far. We have attempted to set aside those occurrences in our lives that separate us from You. We have been aware of our sin and need for forgiveness. We remember again Jesus movement toward Jerusalem and the cross. For some of us this has been a profound spiritual experience, for others a perfunctory exercise. We pray Your grace will abound for us all, O Lord. May we connect with You and commune with You. In the midst of our unworthiness, You are there. We give You thanks and we pray for courage and strength to continue our journey with Jesus. It is in His name we pray. AMEN.
___________________________________________
Kim Price had surgery yesterday in Edmond. Please lift him up in your prayers.
Ryan O’Banion was taken to the emergency room at St. Mary’s on Friday and admitted. He will probably be dismissed today. Please pray for his continued recovery.
Charlie Heller was taken to St. Mary’s hospital. Your will remember he was dismissed from the Oklahoma Heart Hospital on Monday following by-pass surgery. He is in room 487. Please pray for Charlie and his wife, Judi.
We buried Maude Purnell yesterday. It was a nice service and was well attended for a person who had outlived husband, children and many friends. Rest in peace, Maude.
Tonight is CONNECT ALL, a game night in the Fellowship Hall for all the church, all ages. It starts at 6:30 p.m. Bring some chips and a bottle of pop.
Please pray for our services of worship this morning. May they provide the environment where God is experienced.
The scripture for today is Joshua 20:1-19:
Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person without intent or by mistake may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. The slayer shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and explain the case to the elders of that city; then the fugitive shall be taken into the city, and given a place, and shall remain with them. And if the avenger of blood is in pursuit, they shall not give up the slayer, because the neighbor was killed by mistake, there having been no enmity between them before. The slayer shall remain in that city until there is a trial before the congregation, until the death of the one who is high priest at the time: then the slayer may return home, to the town in which the deed was done.’”
So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities designated for all the Israelites, and for the aliens residing among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so as not to die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until there was a trial before the congregation.
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 18:1-19:
I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water.
Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire.
The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice.
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
He reached down from on high, he took me; he drew me out of mighty waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the LORD was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
As the season of Lent approaches the half-way mark, we reflect on the journey thus far. We have attempted to set aside those occurrences in our lives that separate us from You. We have been aware of our sin and need for forgiveness. We remember again Jesus movement toward Jerusalem and the cross. For some of us this has been a profound spiritual experience, for others a perfunctory exercise. We pray Your grace will abound for us all, O Lord. May we connect with You and commune with You. In the midst of our unworthiness, You are there. We give You thanks and we pray for courage and strength to continue our journey with Jesus. It is in His name we pray. AMEN.
___________________________________________
Kim Price had surgery yesterday in Edmond. Please lift him up in your prayers.
Ryan O’Banion was taken to the emergency room at St. Mary’s on Friday and admitted. He will probably be dismissed today. Please pray for his continued recovery.
Charlie Heller was taken to St. Mary’s hospital. Your will remember he was dismissed from the Oklahoma Heart Hospital on Monday following by-pass surgery. He is in room 487. Please pray for Charlie and his wife, Judi.
We buried Maude Purnell yesterday. It was a nice service and was well attended for a person who had outlived husband, children and many friends. Rest in peace, Maude.
Tonight is CONNECT ALL, a game night in the Fellowship Hall for all the church, all ages. It starts at 6:30 p.m. Bring some chips and a bottle of pop.
Please pray for our services of worship this morning. May they provide the environment where God is experienced.
The scripture for today is Joshua 20:1-19:
Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person without intent or by mistake may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. The slayer shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and explain the case to the elders of that city; then the fugitive shall be taken into the city, and given a place, and shall remain with them. And if the avenger of blood is in pursuit, they shall not give up the slayer, because the neighbor was killed by mistake, there having been no enmity between them before. The slayer shall remain in that city until there is a trial before the congregation, until the death of the one who is high priest at the time: then the slayer may return home, to the town in which the deed was done.’”
So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities designated for all the Israelites, and for the aliens residing among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so as not to die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until there was a trial before the congregation.
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 18:1-19:
I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water.
Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire.
The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice.
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
He reached down from on high, he took me; he drew me out of mighty waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the LORD was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Prayer for Today, Saturday, March 26
Gracious God,
The cross stands before us as the symbol of Your love for all the world. The empty tomb stands before us as a symbol of the new life that is available to all through Your son, Jesus the Christ. Help us to understand Your love and new life can be experienced in the present moment as well as in eternity. When we pray “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” may we realize that we are praying for Your reign to be as much a reality now as in the distant future. Forgive us when we look on the present life as just a “preparation” for heaven. May we be empowered by Your Sprit to work earnestly for heaven on earth. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
__________________________________________
Kim Price is having exploratory surgery this morning as a result of complications from surgery earlier this week. He is at the Summit Clinic in Edmond. Kim is the son of Imogene Price. Please lift him up in your prayers.
Maude Purnell’s funeral is today at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel. Please pray for Maude’s family.
Ruth Weston will have surgery on Monday morning at St. Mary’s hospital. Please pray for Ruth.
Don’t forget tomorrow evening’s “Connect All” party for all ages in the Fellowship Hall. Bring some chips and a bottle of pop and a board game, if you wish. We will start at 6:30 p.m. It will be a lot of fun.
Bring a friend to church with you tomorrow.
The scripture for today is Matthew 16:13-20:
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
The cross stands before us as the symbol of Your love for all the world. The empty tomb stands before us as a symbol of the new life that is available to all through Your son, Jesus the Christ. Help us to understand Your love and new life can be experienced in the present moment as well as in eternity. When we pray “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” may we realize that we are praying for Your reign to be as much a reality now as in the distant future. Forgive us when we look on the present life as just a “preparation” for heaven. May we be empowered by Your Sprit to work earnestly for heaven on earth. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
__________________________________________
Kim Price is having exploratory surgery this morning as a result of complications from surgery earlier this week. He is at the Summit Clinic in Edmond. Kim is the son of Imogene Price. Please lift him up in your prayers.
Maude Purnell’s funeral is today at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel. Please pray for Maude’s family.
Ruth Weston will have surgery on Monday morning at St. Mary’s hospital. Please pray for Ruth.
Don’t forget tomorrow evening’s “Connect All” party for all ages in the Fellowship Hall. Bring some chips and a bottle of pop and a board game, if you wish. We will start at 6:30 p.m. It will be a lot of fun.
Bring a friend to church with you tomorrow.
The scripture for today is Matthew 16:13-20:
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Friday, March 25, 2011
Prayer for Today, Friday, March 25
Divine Heart,
Out of the depths we cry to You, O Lord. Often we are overcome by trials and it seems that darkness is all about us. We long for clarity and clear vision, but we are blinded by our sin. May Your redeeming Spirit come to us in our distress. May the power and compassion of Your grace flow over us allowing the light of Christ to enter our hearts. We know Your judgment is just and merciful. We lay prostrate seeking Your forgiveness and thanking You for Your love. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_____________________________________________________________
Lana Ellis sent the following email:
John, Just learned a good friend of ours has cancer. Could we please list him on our prayers and concerns, doesn't look good for him and he is single and his family does not live close. His name is Bart Wisehart. Thank you.........Blessings to you...........Lana
Please pray for Bart.
Fig Newton, Jim Cox and Don Johnson are going to the Regional Men’s Retreat. Please pray for a successful and spiritually uplifting event.
We are hosting the Men’s and Women’s Walk to Emmaus. The Men’s Walk begins next Thursday, March 31st. All of the leaders will be in our church this evening and tomorrow for a final planning session and Consecration Service. Please pray for the workers and the pilgrims.
Catina Sundvall’s mother, Nicki Adams, is suffering from multiple leg fractures. Please pray for Nicki.
Lisa Estill’s mother has been in St. Mary’s. Please pray for her.
The parking lot resurfacing and sealing begins this Monday, March 28th as the crew works on all the peripheral parking spaces and the southeast lot. Please avoid attempting to park there Monday thru Wednesday. They will begin major work on the southwest parking lot on Thursday, March 31st. It will be closed for a few days. Thank God we have the ability to do appropriate and needed maintenance.
The scripture for today is Matthew 16:1-12:
The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.
When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They said to one another, “It is because we have brought no bread.” And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Out of the depths we cry to You, O Lord. Often we are overcome by trials and it seems that darkness is all about us. We long for clarity and clear vision, but we are blinded by our sin. May Your redeeming Spirit come to us in our distress. May the power and compassion of Your grace flow over us allowing the light of Christ to enter our hearts. We know Your judgment is just and merciful. We lay prostrate seeking Your forgiveness and thanking You for Your love. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_____________________________________________________________
Lana Ellis sent the following email:
John, Just learned a good friend of ours has cancer. Could we please list him on our prayers and concerns, doesn't look good for him and he is single and his family does not live close. His name is Bart Wisehart. Thank you.........Blessings to you...........Lana
Please pray for Bart.
Fig Newton, Jim Cox and Don Johnson are going to the Regional Men’s Retreat. Please pray for a successful and spiritually uplifting event.
We are hosting the Men’s and Women’s Walk to Emmaus. The Men’s Walk begins next Thursday, March 31st. All of the leaders will be in our church this evening and tomorrow for a final planning session and Consecration Service. Please pray for the workers and the pilgrims.
Catina Sundvall’s mother, Nicki Adams, is suffering from multiple leg fractures. Please pray for Nicki.
Lisa Estill’s mother has been in St. Mary’s. Please pray for her.
The parking lot resurfacing and sealing begins this Monday, March 28th as the crew works on all the peripheral parking spaces and the southeast lot. Please avoid attempting to park there Monday thru Wednesday. They will begin major work on the southwest parking lot on Thursday, March 31st. It will be closed for a few days. Thank God we have the ability to do appropriate and needed maintenance.
The scripture for today is Matthew 16:1-12:
The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.
When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They said to one another, “It is because we have brought no bread.” And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Prayer for Today, Thursday, March 24
Dear Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer,
You embrace us in a variety of ways and within the broad expanse of human experience. Forgive us, O Lord, when we seek to define You and limit You to our capacity to understand. It is so easy to mold You into our image of You. Forgive our egocentric ways, Dear Lord. May we be open to your mystery. Touch our hearts and free us from definitions. May we feel Your embrace and know Your love. This we pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
__________________________________________________
Janet Cox is dealing with health issues. Please pray for Janet.
Jeanette Heitfeld asked us to pray for Stephanie Clark, the daughter of a friend. Stephanie has cancer of the eye orbit and it is inoperable.
We had a good Board meeting last night. It was decided to begin two major projects: resealing the parking areas including major repair and resurfacing of the SW parking lot and repair of the kitchen roof. Please pray for the church as we initiate these projects and raise the money to pay for them.
There is an ALL-CHURCH GAME NIGHT this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. It is called “Connect All”. This is for all ages. Bring some chips and a bottle of pop to share. We will have a great time.
Today is the 14th day of Lent. May we all benefit and grow from our Lenten journeys.
The Scripture for today is Matthew 15:32-39:
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
You embrace us in a variety of ways and within the broad expanse of human experience. Forgive us, O Lord, when we seek to define You and limit You to our capacity to understand. It is so easy to mold You into our image of You. Forgive our egocentric ways, Dear Lord. May we be open to your mystery. Touch our hearts and free us from definitions. May we feel Your embrace and know Your love. This we pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
__________________________________________________
Janet Cox is dealing with health issues. Please pray for Janet.
Jeanette Heitfeld asked us to pray for Stephanie Clark, the daughter of a friend. Stephanie has cancer of the eye orbit and it is inoperable.
We had a good Board meeting last night. It was decided to begin two major projects: resealing the parking areas including major repair and resurfacing of the SW parking lot and repair of the kitchen roof. Please pray for the church as we initiate these projects and raise the money to pay for them.
There is an ALL-CHURCH GAME NIGHT this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. It is called “Connect All”. This is for all ages. Bring some chips and a bottle of pop to share. We will have a great time.
Today is the 14th day of Lent. May we all benefit and grow from our Lenten journeys.
The Scripture for today is Matthew 15:32-39:
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Prayer for Today, Wednesday, March 23
Come to us, Lord Jesus.
We open our hearts to You and ask You to dwell there.
May Your presence open our eyes to the boundless love of God,
and may we respond to Your teaching as we seek to serve others.
Calm our troubled spirits, we pray, and as You come into Your Kingdom . . .
remember us.
AMEN
________________________________________________
Maude Purnell’s funeral will be Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in our chapel with interment at Memorial Park Cemetery.
Please remember Harry Hammonds as he travels to his uncle’s funeral in Texas.
Ruth Weston is preparing for surgery scheduled for Monday. Please pray for Ruth and Jack.
If you haven’t picked up the Lenten Devotional Booklet, there are more of them at the Welcome Center. The devotions are very good. Of course we are continuing our Lenten Morning Prayers at 7:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday in the Chapel. All are welcome.
Tonight is WWNF. Interested adults will continue the study on the spiritual life.
There is a Board meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. A number of important items will be discussed. All deacons and elders are encouraged to attend.
The scripture for today is Matthew 15:21-31:
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
We open our hearts to You and ask You to dwell there.
May Your presence open our eyes to the boundless love of God,
and may we respond to Your teaching as we seek to serve others.
Calm our troubled spirits, we pray, and as You come into Your Kingdom . . .
remember us.
AMEN
________________________________________________
Maude Purnell’s funeral will be Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in our chapel with interment at Memorial Park Cemetery.
Please remember Harry Hammonds as he travels to his uncle’s funeral in Texas.
Ruth Weston is preparing for surgery scheduled for Monday. Please pray for Ruth and Jack.
If you haven’t picked up the Lenten Devotional Booklet, there are more of them at the Welcome Center. The devotions are very good. Of course we are continuing our Lenten Morning Prayers at 7:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday in the Chapel. All are welcome.
Tonight is WWNF. Interested adults will continue the study on the spiritual life.
There is a Board meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. A number of important items will be discussed. All deacons and elders are encouraged to attend.
The scripture for today is Matthew 15:21-31:
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Prayer for Today, Tuesday, March 22
O Transcendent One,
In the midst of our busy lives You invite us to slow down and commune with You. Lent is a season of reflection and contemplation, but it is uncomfortable for us. We are not used to silence and the inner thoughts that come to the surface. Reflecting on our sinfulness does not set easy with us. We would rather bluster our way through life, because that is what we have seen and usually experienced. Calm our spirits, O Lord, with Your soothing Presence. Help us to find those quiet places and quiet moments where we experience You. May we understand there is no place dark enough that Your light cannot illuminate. We pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
_____________________________________________________
Goldia Rasmussen and Ona Lee Drassen have been dismissed from the hospital. Charlie Heller was dismissed from the Oklahoma Heart Hospital, but he and Judi will stay with David Larrison in Edmond for a few days.
Barb Newton received good news on her follow-up tests yesterday.
Megan Barr has asked for prayers for her uncle who is very ill.
Harry Hammonds will be traveling back to Texas for the funeral of his uncle.
Maude Purnell’s funeral will likely be late this week or early next week.
May we pray for all of this people and their families.
The Stewardship Committee meets tonight at 6:00 p.m. The Worship Committee meets at 7:00 p.m.
The Board Meeting is tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
If you are going to the Regional Men’s Retreat this Friday and Saturday, please call the church office and let us know. You can register online at www.okdisciples.org.
The scripture for today is Matthew 15:10-20:
Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
In the midst of our busy lives You invite us to slow down and commune with You. Lent is a season of reflection and contemplation, but it is uncomfortable for us. We are not used to silence and the inner thoughts that come to the surface. Reflecting on our sinfulness does not set easy with us. We would rather bluster our way through life, because that is what we have seen and usually experienced. Calm our spirits, O Lord, with Your soothing Presence. Help us to find those quiet places and quiet moments where we experience You. May we understand there is no place dark enough that Your light cannot illuminate. We pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
_____________________________________________________
Goldia Rasmussen and Ona Lee Drassen have been dismissed from the hospital. Charlie Heller was dismissed from the Oklahoma Heart Hospital, but he and Judi will stay with David Larrison in Edmond for a few days.
Barb Newton received good news on her follow-up tests yesterday.
Megan Barr has asked for prayers for her uncle who is very ill.
Harry Hammonds will be traveling back to Texas for the funeral of his uncle.
Maude Purnell’s funeral will likely be late this week or early next week.
May we pray for all of this people and their families.
The Stewardship Committee meets tonight at 6:00 p.m. The Worship Committee meets at 7:00 p.m.
The Board Meeting is tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
If you are going to the Regional Men’s Retreat this Friday and Saturday, please call the church office and let us know. You can register online at www.okdisciples.org.
The scripture for today is Matthew 15:10-20:
Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Monday, March 21, 2011
Prayer for Today, Monday, March 21
Lord of All Creation,
Today we are filled with joy. Your Spirit is moving among us and we see You at work in the lives of the children, youth and adults at our church. We also see You at work in the world and we know You invite us to participate in Your work. Touch our hearts, O God. May our lives be a witness to Your love and grace. May our hearts be warm, open and receptive to You and to those we meet. For it is in Jesus name we pray, AMEN
_____________________________________________________________
Maude Purnell, the oldest member of our congregation, died peacefully yesterday evening at St. Mary’s hospital. Maude would have celebrated her 107th birthday next month. She outlived her children, but is survived by a son-in-law in Tulsa and grandchildren in Texas. Please lift them up in your prayers.
We also pray for 18 month old Mason Klemme, son of Bret & Lindsey, Grandson of Mike and Suzanne Klemme, and great grandson of the Brachers and Bob Klemme. Mason is in St. Mary’s Hospital with RSV. He is doing better but will probably be there until Tuesday.
Judi Heller called yesterday to say that Charlie is doing very well after his heart surgery. All the tubes are out and he will probably come home this afternoon. I plan on seeing him in the hospital late this morning. Please pray for his continued improvement.
Goldia Rasmussen is hospitalized in Bass Hospital. She is only 103. Ona Lee Drassen is in St. Mary’s. Please pray for Ona Lee and Goldia.
Thelma Dodd is having an outpatient procedure today. Barb Newton is having a follow-up on her cancer surgery. Please lift up both of these friends in your prayers.
There are new pictures on the website. It is continually being updated, thanks to Gene and Jeanette Heitfeld. Check it out at www.centralenid.org. The pictures are taken by Sally Wheeler.
REMEMBER: There is a Board Meeting this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Also, the Regional Men’s Retreat is this Friday and Saturday. You can register online at www.okdisiples.org. Registration forms are on the Welcome Center. If you plan on attending, please contact the church office so we can arrange transportation. I plan to attend Friday evening.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 15:1-9:
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’ then that person need not honor the father. So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’”
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Today we are filled with joy. Your Spirit is moving among us and we see You at work in the lives of the children, youth and adults at our church. We also see You at work in the world and we know You invite us to participate in Your work. Touch our hearts, O God. May our lives be a witness to Your love and grace. May our hearts be warm, open and receptive to You and to those we meet. For it is in Jesus name we pray, AMEN
_____________________________________________________________
Maude Purnell, the oldest member of our congregation, died peacefully yesterday evening at St. Mary’s hospital. Maude would have celebrated her 107th birthday next month. She outlived her children, but is survived by a son-in-law in Tulsa and grandchildren in Texas. Please lift them up in your prayers.
We also pray for 18 month old Mason Klemme, son of Bret & Lindsey, Grandson of Mike and Suzanne Klemme, and great grandson of the Brachers and Bob Klemme. Mason is in St. Mary’s Hospital with RSV. He is doing better but will probably be there until Tuesday.
Judi Heller called yesterday to say that Charlie is doing very well after his heart surgery. All the tubes are out and he will probably come home this afternoon. I plan on seeing him in the hospital late this morning. Please pray for his continued improvement.
Goldia Rasmussen is hospitalized in Bass Hospital. She is only 103. Ona Lee Drassen is in St. Mary’s. Please pray for Ona Lee and Goldia.
Thelma Dodd is having an outpatient procedure today. Barb Newton is having a follow-up on her cancer surgery. Please lift up both of these friends in your prayers.
There are new pictures on the website. It is continually being updated, thanks to Gene and Jeanette Heitfeld. Check it out at www.centralenid.org. The pictures are taken by Sally Wheeler.
REMEMBER: There is a Board Meeting this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Also, the Regional Men’s Retreat is this Friday and Saturday. You can register online at www.okdisiples.org. Registration forms are on the Welcome Center. If you plan on attending, please contact the church office so we can arrange transportation. I plan to attend Friday evening.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 15:1-9:
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’ then that person need not honor the father. So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’”
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Prayer for Today, Sunday, March 20
Merciful God,
Spring is upon us and we rejoice at the signs of new life all about. As we move through Lent toward Easter we prepare our hearts to celebrate the ultimate sign of new life, resurrection. There are, however, some difficult places between now and then. Sometimes our sin seems to be too much for your grace and our subtle sins overwhelm us. Forgive us, we pray. Help us, Loving Lord, to be aware of thoughts and actions that harden our hearts. May we trust in the Holy Spirit to lead us in tearing down the barriers and guide us through the difficult places into Your warm, loving, forgiving embrace where we experience renewed faith and resurrection. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
__________________________________________
Please pray for Nancy Jones, John Ingram’s sister, who will be having heart bypass surgery this week.
The Elders meet this evening at 5:30 p.m.
I hope to see you in church today.
The scripture for today is Matthew 14: 22-36:
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 104:24-35:
O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.
There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works—
who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Spring is upon us and we rejoice at the signs of new life all about. As we move through Lent toward Easter we prepare our hearts to celebrate the ultimate sign of new life, resurrection. There are, however, some difficult places between now and then. Sometimes our sin seems to be too much for your grace and our subtle sins overwhelm us. Forgive us, we pray. Help us, Loving Lord, to be aware of thoughts and actions that harden our hearts. May we trust in the Holy Spirit to lead us in tearing down the barriers and guide us through the difficult places into Your warm, loving, forgiving embrace where we experience renewed faith and resurrection. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
__________________________________________
Please pray for Nancy Jones, John Ingram’s sister, who will be having heart bypass surgery this week.
The Elders meet this evening at 5:30 p.m.
I hope to see you in church today.
The scripture for today is Matthew 14: 22-36:
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 104:24-35:
O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.
There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works—
who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Prayer for Today, Saturday, March 19
Loving God,
Many times our hearts turn in every direction except to You. We are easily distracted by the glitter of power, glory, wealth and position. As we look at the ministry of Jesus we see that he rejected these temptations and spent his time honoring You by serving others, often the poor, marginalized and ostracized. May our lives reflect Your love and may we seek Your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. May justice, equality, peace and compassion prevail. This we pray in Jesus name, AMEN.
_______________________________________________________
Today is the tenth day of our Lenten journey. Tomorrow is the second Sunday of Lent. We are one fourth of the way through this time of reflection, seeking forgiveness and doing penance We are still gathering in the chapel at 7:00 a.m. as a part of our Lenten discipline. We can worship this evening at 5:30 p.m. or tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. or 10:15 a.m.
Ona Lee Drassen was hospitalized at St. Mary’s yesterday. Please pray for Ona Lee.
The Elders meet tomorrow afternoon at 5:30 p.m. in the Parlor. All Elders are asked to be present.
The scripture for today is Deuteronomy 34:1-12:
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the LORD showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. The LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.”
Then Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.
Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the LORD had commanded Moses. Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Many times our hearts turn in every direction except to You. We are easily distracted by the glitter of power, glory, wealth and position. As we look at the ministry of Jesus we see that he rejected these temptations and spent his time honoring You by serving others, often the poor, marginalized and ostracized. May our lives reflect Your love and may we seek Your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. May justice, equality, peace and compassion prevail. This we pray in Jesus name, AMEN.
_______________________________________________________
Today is the tenth day of our Lenten journey. Tomorrow is the second Sunday of Lent. We are one fourth of the way through this time of reflection, seeking forgiveness and doing penance We are still gathering in the chapel at 7:00 a.m. as a part of our Lenten discipline. We can worship this evening at 5:30 p.m. or tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. or 10:15 a.m.
Ona Lee Drassen was hospitalized at St. Mary’s yesterday. Please pray for Ona Lee.
The Elders meet tomorrow afternoon at 5:30 p.m. in the Parlor. All Elders are asked to be present.
The scripture for today is Deuteronomy 34:1-12:
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the LORD showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. The LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.”
Then Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.
Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the LORD had commanded Moses. Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Friday, March 18, 2011
Prayer for Today, Friday, March 18
Lord of Life,
You are our God and we are Your people. Grant us, we pray, an understanding of Your abundant mercy. In the midst of our shortcomings and sin, You are gracious to us and You invite us to live with the light of the Christ in our hearts. We can’t transform ourselves, O Lord, but we can turn in to Your embrace, raise our faces to You and surrender all to Your love. Strengthen our resolve, Loving Lord, to allow You to mold us. You are the potter. We are the clay. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
___________________________________________________
Charlie Heller is recovering from quadruple by-pass surgery in the Heart Hospital in OKC. Please continue to pray for Charlie and Judi.
Richard Cook (Bob Parks son-in-law) is our only person hospitalized in Enid. Please continue to pray for Richard.
Today is Madge Loomis’ birthday. May we all continue to life her up in prayer.
The Church Board meets next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Committee chairs need to send your minutes and reports to the church office as soon as possible so we can publish the information for the meeting.
This is not a joy or a concern, but it is an opportunity. Mickie Giberson sent the following email:
FYI - The first ballot for Reader's Choice came out in the Enid News this morning. The committee who is doing the church publicity might want to ask the congregation to either 1) submit their ballots (there are usually 6) or 2) bring them to the church for submission.
Submission deadline is April 8.
Get your ballots and vote for Central Christian Church!
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 30:15-20:
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
You are our God and we are Your people. Grant us, we pray, an understanding of Your abundant mercy. In the midst of our shortcomings and sin, You are gracious to us and You invite us to live with the light of the Christ in our hearts. We can’t transform ourselves, O Lord, but we can turn in to Your embrace, raise our faces to You and surrender all to Your love. Strengthen our resolve, Loving Lord, to allow You to mold us. You are the potter. We are the clay. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
___________________________________________________
Charlie Heller is recovering from quadruple by-pass surgery in the Heart Hospital in OKC. Please continue to pray for Charlie and Judi.
Richard Cook (Bob Parks son-in-law) is our only person hospitalized in Enid. Please continue to pray for Richard.
Today is Madge Loomis’ birthday. May we all continue to life her up in prayer.
The Church Board meets next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Committee chairs need to send your minutes and reports to the church office as soon as possible so we can publish the information for the meeting.
This is not a joy or a concern, but it is an opportunity. Mickie Giberson sent the following email:
FYI - The first ballot for Reader's Choice came out in the Enid News this morning. The committee who is doing the church publicity might want to ask the congregation to either 1) submit their ballots (there are usually 6) or 2) bring them to the church for submission.
Submission deadline is April 8.
Get your ballots and vote for Central Christian Church!
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 30:15-20:
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Prayer for Today, Thursday, March 17
Gracious God,
You brought light and life into the hearts of humankind through the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. Even so, there are times when we are surrounded by darkness and death. Seldom would we choose that path, but it creeps in through the news we read, the gossip we spread, the prejudice we enable, and the hubris we embody. Forgive us, O Lord. Reach out to us this Lenten season, we pray. May the scales that have darkened our vision drop away and the bright light of Your love and grace warm our hearts. May we see Your truth again. We choose Jesus, O God. We choose life. AMEN.
______________________________________________________
Charlie Heller is having bypass surgery at the OKC heart hospital this morning. It was to begin at 8:00 a.m. Please pray for Charlie and Judi during this time.
Madge Loomis is back at Greenbriar. Please pray for Madge. Her 90th birthday is tomorrow.
The Cancer Support Group meets this afternoon. The Kids Central Board meets and a number of our men are going to Hennessey for the NW Area Men’s meeting. It will be a good day at Central Christian Church.
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 26:1-11:
When you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us.” When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the LORD your God, you shall make this response before the LORD your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me.” You shall set it down before the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
You brought light and life into the hearts of humankind through the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. Even so, there are times when we are surrounded by darkness and death. Seldom would we choose that path, but it creeps in through the news we read, the gossip we spread, the prejudice we enable, and the hubris we embody. Forgive us, O Lord. Reach out to us this Lenten season, we pray. May the scales that have darkened our vision drop away and the bright light of Your love and grace warm our hearts. May we see Your truth again. We choose Jesus, O God. We choose life. AMEN.
______________________________________________________
Charlie Heller is having bypass surgery at the OKC heart hospital this morning. It was to begin at 8:00 a.m. Please pray for Charlie and Judi during this time.
Madge Loomis is back at Greenbriar. Please pray for Madge. Her 90th birthday is tomorrow.
The Cancer Support Group meets this afternoon. The Kids Central Board meets and a number of our men are going to Hennessey for the NW Area Men’s meeting. It will be a good day at Central Christian Church.
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 26:1-11:
When you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us.” When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the LORD your God, you shall make this response before the LORD your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me.” You shall set it down before the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Prayer for Today, Wednesday, March 16
Benevolent Creator God,
We pray that our words and meditations are acceptable to You, O Lord. Yet we know that many times they are not. We sometimes choose to be judgmental, condescending, “holier than thou” people. We celebrate Your forgiveness when it is offered to us, but we fail to appreciate Your forgiveness when it is offered to others. Forgive us, we pray. During this Lenten season may we seek to right the wrongs of our daily living and live in the light of Your grace for ourselves and for others. In Jesus name, AMEN.
_____________________________________________________
Connie Koegel has been dismissed from the hospital and is now home. Please pray for her recovery.
Charlie Heller had an angioplasty procedure at 11:00 p.m. on Monday. When I saw him yesterday in the OKC Heart Hospital he was waiting to talk to Dr. Randolph to see if surgery is required. I have not yet heard any results. Judi missed her dialysis treatment on Monday because of what was happening with Charlie. Friends brought her back to Enid yesterday for dialysis and then took her back to OKC. They have made arrangements for her to continue treatments, if the need exists, in OKC. Please pray for both Charlie and Judi.
Tonight is Wonderful Wednesday Night Fellowship.
Tomorrow we will have 16 men going to the NW Area Men’s Meeting in Hennessey. We will leave the church around 5:30 p.m.
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 18:15-22:
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the LORD my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” Then the LORD replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” You may say to yourself, “How can we recognize a word that the LORD has not spoken?” If a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
We pray that our words and meditations are acceptable to You, O Lord. Yet we know that many times they are not. We sometimes choose to be judgmental, condescending, “holier than thou” people. We celebrate Your forgiveness when it is offered to us, but we fail to appreciate Your forgiveness when it is offered to others. Forgive us, we pray. During this Lenten season may we seek to right the wrongs of our daily living and live in the light of Your grace for ourselves and for others. In Jesus name, AMEN.
_____________________________________________________
Connie Koegel has been dismissed from the hospital and is now home. Please pray for her recovery.
Charlie Heller had an angioplasty procedure at 11:00 p.m. on Monday. When I saw him yesterday in the OKC Heart Hospital he was waiting to talk to Dr. Randolph to see if surgery is required. I have not yet heard any results. Judi missed her dialysis treatment on Monday because of what was happening with Charlie. Friends brought her back to Enid yesterday for dialysis and then took her back to OKC. They have made arrangements for her to continue treatments, if the need exists, in OKC. Please pray for both Charlie and Judi.
Tonight is Wonderful Wednesday Night Fellowship.
Tomorrow we will have 16 men going to the NW Area Men’s Meeting in Hennessey. We will leave the church around 5:30 p.m.
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 18:15-22:
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the LORD my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” Then the LORD replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” You may say to yourself, “How can we recognize a word that the LORD has not spoken?” If a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Prayer for Today, Tuesday, March 15
O Divine Presence,
You are with us in prosperity and You are with us during times of want. During this Lenten season help us to realize that prosperity and want are not just descriptions of the material life, they can also be descriptions of the spiritual life. We seek to be refreshed by the waters of the spirit, but sometimes the bucket comes up empty. Help us to realize that life giving water comes only from You through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Fill our buckets we pray, O God. May we stand under the waterfall of Your grace as we surrender ourselves to You. Help us to realize we can’t do it by ourselves. We trust in You, Loving God. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.
_______________________________________________
Please pray for Worth Bracher. His brother, Lowell, passed away. The graveside service will be at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday in El Reno.
Charlie Heller was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital yesterday with chest pains and was transferred to the Heart Hospital in Oklahoma City. Please pray for Charlie and Judi.
The Noon Bible Study meets today.
Lenten Morning Prayers are continuing each morning, Monday through Saturday, at 7:00 a.m. in the chapel.
Remember the Board Meeting, regularly scheduled for this Wednesday, has been moved to next Wednesday because of Spring Break.
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 8:11-18 (same as the one in the Lenten Devotional Book):
Take care that you do not forget the LORD your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
You are with us in prosperity and You are with us during times of want. During this Lenten season help us to realize that prosperity and want are not just descriptions of the material life, they can also be descriptions of the spiritual life. We seek to be refreshed by the waters of the spirit, but sometimes the bucket comes up empty. Help us to realize that life giving water comes only from You through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Fill our buckets we pray, O God. May we stand under the waterfall of Your grace as we surrender ourselves to You. Help us to realize we can’t do it by ourselves. We trust in You, Loving God. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.
_______________________________________________
Please pray for Worth Bracher. His brother, Lowell, passed away. The graveside service will be at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday in El Reno.
Charlie Heller was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital yesterday with chest pains and was transferred to the Heart Hospital in Oklahoma City. Please pray for Charlie and Judi.
The Noon Bible Study meets today.
Lenten Morning Prayers are continuing each morning, Monday through Saturday, at 7:00 a.m. in the chapel.
Remember the Board Meeting, regularly scheduled for this Wednesday, has been moved to next Wednesday because of Spring Break.
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 8:11-18 (same as the one in the Lenten Devotional Book):
Take care that you do not forget the LORD your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Monday, March 14, 2011
Prayer for Today, Monday, March 14
O Most Holy One,
As we enter this first full week of Lent may our priorities be rearranged. May our desire be to love You with our whole hearts. It is easy to say the words and often we let them roll off our tongues without truly meaning what we say. Please forgive us, Dear Lord. May our words be embodied in our thoughts and actions. May our love for You be expressed in our devotion to Your church and our service to others. Move among us, Creator God, and stir us. May our hearts beat with love for You and compassion for all Your human family. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
____________________________________________________
Inez Fisher was released from Bass Hospital. Please pray for Inez and Ron as she recovers at home.
We continue to pray for Connie Koegel, Madge Loomis, Margie Edwards and Richard Cook.
The Noon Prayer Service is today in the chapel.
Lenten Morning Prayers are continuing at 7:00 a.m. each morning in the chapel, Monday through Saturday.
The Lenten Devotional Books are available at the Welcome Center. The daily scriptures are the same ones I am printing in these emails.
The scripture for today is Deuteronomy 6:1-9:
Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the LORD your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children’s children, may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
As we enter this first full week of Lent may our priorities be rearranged. May our desire be to love You with our whole hearts. It is easy to say the words and often we let them roll off our tongues without truly meaning what we say. Please forgive us, Dear Lord. May our words be embodied in our thoughts and actions. May our love for You be expressed in our devotion to Your church and our service to others. Move among us, Creator God, and stir us. May our hearts beat with love for You and compassion for all Your human family. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
____________________________________________________
Inez Fisher was released from Bass Hospital. Please pray for Inez and Ron as she recovers at home.
We continue to pray for Connie Koegel, Madge Loomis, Margie Edwards and Richard Cook.
The Noon Prayer Service is today in the chapel.
Lenten Morning Prayers are continuing at 7:00 a.m. each morning in the chapel, Monday through Saturday.
The Lenten Devotional Books are available at the Welcome Center. The daily scriptures are the same ones I am printing in these emails.
The scripture for today is Deuteronomy 6:1-9:
Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the LORD your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children’s children, may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Prayer for Today, Sunday, March 13
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us,
O Creator, we come to you in prayer on this Lord’s Day. We bring all that we are before You: our joys, our sorrows, our health, our sickness, our strength, and our weakness. Receive us, Dear God and welcome us with Your everlasting arms, we pray. Please forgive us for all the things we have done to separate ourselves from You. May Your Spirit mold us into new creations and may we use our strength and our weakness to glorify You. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_________________________________________________
Our own Meghan McAnally is with a group of Disciples youth touring New York City and Washington D.C. on the International Affairs Seminar. Please pray for the success of this venture.
It’s Spring Break. Please pray for those travelling and those at home. May they be safe and have a joyful break from school.
Men, don’t forget to call in your R.S.V.P. by Tuesday for the NW Area Men’s Meeting in Hennessey on Thursday.
I pray you will make every effort to attend Sunday School and Worship today.
The scripture for today is Deuteronomy 4: 32-40:
For ask now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of heaven to the other: has anything so great as this ever happened or has its like ever been heard of? Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, while you heard his words coming out of the fire. And because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them. He brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, giving you their land for a possession, as it is still today. So acknowledge today and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 7:
O LORD my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
or like a lion they will tear me apart; they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.
O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
if I have repaid my ally with harm or plundered my foe without cause,
then let the enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and lay my soul in the dust. Selah
Rise up, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgment.
Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you, and over it take your seat on high.
The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.
God is my shield, who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.
If one does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and strung his bow;
he has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.
See how they conceive evil, and are pregnant with mischief, and bring forth lies.
They make a pit, digging it out, and fall into the hole that they have made.
Their mischief returns upon their own heads, and on their own heads their violence descends.
I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
O Creator, we come to you in prayer on this Lord’s Day. We bring all that we are before You: our joys, our sorrows, our health, our sickness, our strength, and our weakness. Receive us, Dear God and welcome us with Your everlasting arms, we pray. Please forgive us for all the things we have done to separate ourselves from You. May Your Spirit mold us into new creations and may we use our strength and our weakness to glorify You. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_________________________________________________
Our own Meghan McAnally is with a group of Disciples youth touring New York City and Washington D.C. on the International Affairs Seminar. Please pray for the success of this venture.
It’s Spring Break. Please pray for those travelling and those at home. May they be safe and have a joyful break from school.
Men, don’t forget to call in your R.S.V.P. by Tuesday for the NW Area Men’s Meeting in Hennessey on Thursday.
I pray you will make every effort to attend Sunday School and Worship today.
The scripture for today is Deuteronomy 4: 32-40:
For ask now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of heaven to the other: has anything so great as this ever happened or has its like ever been heard of? Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, while you heard his words coming out of the fire. And because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them. He brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, giving you their land for a possession, as it is still today. So acknowledge today and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 7:
O LORD my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
or like a lion they will tear me apart; they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.
O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
if I have repaid my ally with harm or plundered my foe without cause,
then let the enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and lay my soul in the dust. Selah
Rise up, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgment.
Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you, and over it take your seat on high.
The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.
God is my shield, who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.
If one does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and strung his bow;
he has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.
See how they conceive evil, and are pregnant with mischief, and bring forth lies.
They make a pit, digging it out, and fall into the hole that they have made.
Their mischief returns upon their own heads, and on their own heads their violence descends.
I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Prayer for Today, Saturday, March 12
God of Abundant Grace,
Help us release the bonds that hold us to the material, O Lord, and empower us to be open to Your love and grace. We are spiritual beings in human form, but often we are consumed by the things around us and our spirituality fades. During this Lenten season may our focus be on Your grace and love. May we be grounded in the faith and may our spiritual selves grow and prosper. This we pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
_______________________________________
Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Japan and all those affected by the earthquakes and resulting tsunami. Week of Compassion has and is continuing to respond. If you would like to help, put an extra check in the offering tomorrow and state in the memo line “For Earthquake Relief”. We will send this money to Week of Compassion on Monday.
Josephine Shellady was planning to be released yesterday afternoon. Connie Koegel, Margie Edwards, Madge Loomis, Richard Cook and Inez Fisher are all still hospitalized. Please pray for them.
Congratulations to Kari Evans and Nathan Isaacs on the birth of their son, Sean Carter Isaacs. He was born on March 8th. He weighed 9 lbs 4 ozs and was 21 ½ inches long. Kari was to be released from St. Mary’s Hospital yesterday afternoon.
Today was our fourth day of Lenten Morning Prayers at 7:00 a.m. in the chapel. They will resume on Monday. We have had from 9 to 11 people participate.
Lenten Devotional Booklets are available at the Welcome Center.
Tomorrow is Daylight Savings Time. Don’t forget to “spring forward”.
The NW Area Men are meeting next Thursday in Hennessey. Our bus will leave at 5:30 p.m. Men, please RSVP to Kandy Trojan by Tuesday noon.
Happy Birthday to Don Johnson. His birthday is tomorrow, March 13.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 14:13-21:
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Help us release the bonds that hold us to the material, O Lord, and empower us to be open to Your love and grace. We are spiritual beings in human form, but often we are consumed by the things around us and our spirituality fades. During this Lenten season may our focus be on Your grace and love. May we be grounded in the faith and may our spiritual selves grow and prosper. This we pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
_______________________________________
Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Japan and all those affected by the earthquakes and resulting tsunami. Week of Compassion has and is continuing to respond. If you would like to help, put an extra check in the offering tomorrow and state in the memo line “For Earthquake Relief”. We will send this money to Week of Compassion on Monday.
Josephine Shellady was planning to be released yesterday afternoon. Connie Koegel, Margie Edwards, Madge Loomis, Richard Cook and Inez Fisher are all still hospitalized. Please pray for them.
Congratulations to Kari Evans and Nathan Isaacs on the birth of their son, Sean Carter Isaacs. He was born on March 8th. He weighed 9 lbs 4 ozs and was 21 ½ inches long. Kari was to be released from St. Mary’s Hospital yesterday afternoon.
Today was our fourth day of Lenten Morning Prayers at 7:00 a.m. in the chapel. They will resume on Monday. We have had from 9 to 11 people participate.
Lenten Devotional Booklets are available at the Welcome Center.
Tomorrow is Daylight Savings Time. Don’t forget to “spring forward”.
The NW Area Men are meeting next Thursday in Hennessey. Our bus will leave at 5:30 p.m. Men, please RSVP to Kandy Trojan by Tuesday noon.
Happy Birthday to Don Johnson. His birthday is tomorrow, March 13.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 14:13-21:
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Friday, March 11, 2011
Prayer for Today, Friday, March 11
God of Grace and God of Glory,
We come before You on bended knee seeking Your forgiveness. We realize that we fall short of what You would have us to be. Sometimes we miss the mark because we overlook and fail to follow the example of Jesus. Sometimes our attitude blocks our relationship with You. There are other times in our lives when know exactly what we are doing and we choose the other path. Again we pray, forgive us Lord. Have mercy on us and fill us with Your transforming Spirit. May our eyes be open, our steps sure and our devotion to You complete. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
___________________________________________________
Janet Lohmeyer’s mother is back in St. Mary’s hospital. Please pray for Margie Edwards.
Madge Loomis seems to be improving after her surgery. Please pray for continued strength for Madge.
Laurie Bushman is having oral surgery today in Stillwater. Please pray for God’s peace to be with her.
Also pray for Connie Koegel, Inez Fisher and Richard Cook, Bob Parks son-in-law. They are all hospitalized.
The NW Area Men are meeting in Hennessey next Thursday. All men are invited. We will leave the church at 5:30 p.m. Please R.S.V.P. top Kandy Trojan at 233-1214 by Tuesday noon so we can call in the number.
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS IS THIS SUNDAY! Remember to “spring forward”.
The scripture for today is Matthew 14:1-12:
At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
We come before You on bended knee seeking Your forgiveness. We realize that we fall short of what You would have us to be. Sometimes we miss the mark because we overlook and fail to follow the example of Jesus. Sometimes our attitude blocks our relationship with You. There are other times in our lives when know exactly what we are doing and we choose the other path. Again we pray, forgive us Lord. Have mercy on us and fill us with Your transforming Spirit. May our eyes be open, our steps sure and our devotion to You complete. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
___________________________________________________
Janet Lohmeyer’s mother is back in St. Mary’s hospital. Please pray for Margie Edwards.
Madge Loomis seems to be improving after her surgery. Please pray for continued strength for Madge.
Laurie Bushman is having oral surgery today in Stillwater. Please pray for God’s peace to be with her.
Also pray for Connie Koegel, Inez Fisher and Richard Cook, Bob Parks son-in-law. They are all hospitalized.
The NW Area Men are meeting in Hennessey next Thursday. All men are invited. We will leave the church at 5:30 p.m. Please R.S.V.P. top Kandy Trojan at 233-1214 by Tuesday noon so we can call in the number.
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS IS THIS SUNDAY! Remember to “spring forward”.
The scripture for today is Matthew 14:1-12:
At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Prayer for Today, Thursday, March 10
Saving God,
These forty days we travel through the clutter of our lives, seeking simplicity and grace. During this season of Lent may we allow You to break us apart, disassembling our priorities, attitudes and foibles. As we stand defenseless before You, we pray You will reassemble us into new creations in Christ. It is a risky journey we are on and we can’t make it by ourselves. Bless us, O God, with the guidance and comfort of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_____________________________________________
Please offer prayers for Madge Loomis. She broke her leg and underwent major surgery yesterday at St. Mary’s Hospital.
Please also pray for Josephine Shellady, Connie Coegel and Inez Fisher.
This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:54-58:
He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
These forty days we travel through the clutter of our lives, seeking simplicity and grace. During this season of Lent may we allow You to break us apart, disassembling our priorities, attitudes and foibles. As we stand defenseless before You, we pray You will reassemble us into new creations in Christ. It is a risky journey we are on and we can’t make it by ourselves. Bless us, O God, with the guidance and comfort of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_____________________________________________
Please offer prayers for Madge Loomis. She broke her leg and underwent major surgery yesterday at St. Mary’s Hospital.
Please also pray for Josephine Shellady, Connie Coegel and Inez Fisher.
This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:54-58:
He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Prayer for Today, Ash Wednesday, March 9
Always Patient God,
The journey of Lent has begun. Help us to be honest with ourselves and with You. We come before you as a frayed and disjointed people. Make our hearts whole, we pray. Forgive us, O Lord, for our transgressions. May these forty days be a time of cleansing and healing through the power of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_______________________________________________
Chuck Groves, Roger Groves brother and Jim & Margret Lambke’s son-in-law, died yesterday morning. Please pray for all of Chuck’s family.
Josh Puckett, the Henneke’s son-in-law, is having back surgery this morning. Please keep Josh in your prayers.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. There will be morning prayers each morning, beginning today. The brief service is at 7:00 a.m. in the chapel and will last around 20 minutes. These will occur Monday through Saturday through the Saturday before Easter.
This evening there will be an Ash Wednesday service in the chapel at 6:00 p.m. All are invited.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:45-53:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
The journey of Lent has begun. Help us to be honest with ourselves and with You. We come before you as a frayed and disjointed people. Make our hearts whole, we pray. Forgive us, O Lord, for our transgressions. May these forty days be a time of cleansing and healing through the power of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_______________________________________________
Chuck Groves, Roger Groves brother and Jim & Margret Lambke’s son-in-law, died yesterday morning. Please pray for all of Chuck’s family.
Josh Puckett, the Henneke’s son-in-law, is having back surgery this morning. Please keep Josh in your prayers.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. There will be morning prayers each morning, beginning today. The brief service is at 7:00 a.m. in the chapel and will last around 20 minutes. These will occur Monday through Saturday through the Saturday before Easter.
This evening there will be an Ash Wednesday service in the chapel at 6:00 p.m. All are invited.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:45-53:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Prayer for Today, Tuesday, March 8
Creator of Life and Beauty,
Today is a day of rejoicing. Christians around the world are singing and dancing because tomorrow the season of Lent begins and the mood shifts to introspection and repentance. Even as our attitude changes, help us to keep that spark of celebration in our hearts, for there is much to celebrate. Your grace abounds and we give You thanks. We know, O God, that each Sunday of Lent is a day of resurrection and rejoicing. During the forty days of Lent we pray You will walk with us, Loving God, as we walk with Jesus on his journey toward the cross. This we pray in His name, AMEN.
____________________________________________
Connie Koegel is in St. Mary’s hospital. Her children have come to be with her. Please pray for Connie.
Josephine Shellady had a surgical procedure yesterday at St. Mary’s. Inez Fisher is still at St. Mary’s as well. Please pray for Josephine and Inez.
Mary Johnson is waiting to consult with her cardiologist after yesterday’s test in OKC. Please keep Mary in your prayers.
There is a Bible study at noon today. Agape (a women’s group) and Quilt Central meet this evening.
Our journey through Lent begins tomorrow. You are welcome to join me at 7:00 a.m. in the chapel for Morning Prayers. We will have an Ash Wednesday service at 6:00 p.m. in the chapel.
Our scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:44:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Today is a day of rejoicing. Christians around the world are singing and dancing because tomorrow the season of Lent begins and the mood shifts to introspection and repentance. Even as our attitude changes, help us to keep that spark of celebration in our hearts, for there is much to celebrate. Your grace abounds and we give You thanks. We know, O God, that each Sunday of Lent is a day of resurrection and rejoicing. During the forty days of Lent we pray You will walk with us, Loving God, as we walk with Jesus on his journey toward the cross. This we pray in His name, AMEN.
____________________________________________
Connie Koegel is in St. Mary’s hospital. Her children have come to be with her. Please pray for Connie.
Josephine Shellady had a surgical procedure yesterday at St. Mary’s. Inez Fisher is still at St. Mary’s as well. Please pray for Josephine and Inez.
Mary Johnson is waiting to consult with her cardiologist after yesterday’s test in OKC. Please keep Mary in your prayers.
There is a Bible study at noon today. Agape (a women’s group) and Quilt Central meet this evening.
Our journey through Lent begins tomorrow. You are welcome to join me at 7:00 a.m. in the chapel for Morning Prayers. We will have an Ash Wednesday service at 6:00 p.m. in the chapel.
Our scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:44:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Monday, March 7, 2011
Prayer for Today Monday, March 7
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.
We are in the wilderness, Dear God, and the way before us is uncertain. Be our guide we pray. Send Your pillar of fire and You pillar of cloud to mark the way. Like the Israelites, we sometime long for the certainty of a former life, even though it was captivity. Free us from our bonds, Loving Creator, and help us to trust in You on our journey.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us. AMEN.
___________________________________________________
Please pray for Mary Johnson. She is having a heart test today in Oklahoma City.
Josh Puckett, Beth and Terry Henneke’s son-in-law, is having back surgery in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Please pray for Josh.
The Monday Noon Prayer Service is in the Chapel.
The Christian Action an Community Service Committee is meeting in the Library at 5:15 p.m.
Financial Peace University meets this evening at 6:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room.
The Special Gifts Committee meets this evening at 6:30 p.m. in the Conference Room.
Don’t forget that Lent begins on Wednesday. There will be morning prayers at 7:00 a.m. in the Chapel and an Ash Wednesday Service at 6:30 p.m. in the Chapel.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:31-43:
He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth to speak in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
We are in the wilderness, Dear God, and the way before us is uncertain. Be our guide we pray. Send Your pillar of fire and You pillar of cloud to mark the way. Like the Israelites, we sometime long for the certainty of a former life, even though it was captivity. Free us from our bonds, Loving Creator, and help us to trust in You on our journey.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us. AMEN.
___________________________________________________
Please pray for Mary Johnson. She is having a heart test today in Oklahoma City.
Josh Puckett, Beth and Terry Henneke’s son-in-law, is having back surgery in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Please pray for Josh.
The Monday Noon Prayer Service is in the Chapel.
The Christian Action an Community Service Committee is meeting in the Library at 5:15 p.m.
Financial Peace University meets this evening at 6:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room.
The Special Gifts Committee meets this evening at 6:30 p.m. in the Conference Room.
Don’t forget that Lent begins on Wednesday. There will be morning prayers at 7:00 a.m. in the Chapel and an Ash Wednesday Service at 6:30 p.m. in the Chapel.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:31-43:
He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth to speak in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Prayer for Today, Sunday, March 6
Lord of Wonders,
We come to You on this last Sunday before Lent with grateful hearts, remembering the life and ministry of Jesus the Christ. Sundays are the days when we celebrate resurrection. This week we begin again a journey with Jesus as he makes his way to Jerusalem and the cross. We rejoice today and we prepare our hearts to begin a process of introspection and repentance. Bless us, Loving God. We pray in Jesus name, AMEN.
_______________________________________________
Mary Beach reports that Helen Matthews’ brother, Bill Hatch(?), had a massive heart attack and died on March 3rd. Please pray for Helen.
Today at 9:30 a.m. Sunday School classes are asked to dismiss early and join the Revive and Renew Planning Team as they celebrate a successful two years. Join them in the Loggia for brunch.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:24-30:
He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 119:1-16:
Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways.
You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances.
I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.
How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments.
I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes.
With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth.
I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
We come to You on this last Sunday before Lent with grateful hearts, remembering the life and ministry of Jesus the Christ. Sundays are the days when we celebrate resurrection. This week we begin again a journey with Jesus as he makes his way to Jerusalem and the cross. We rejoice today and we prepare our hearts to begin a process of introspection and repentance. Bless us, Loving God. We pray in Jesus name, AMEN.
_______________________________________________
Mary Beach reports that Helen Matthews’ brother, Bill Hatch(?), had a massive heart attack and died on March 3rd. Please pray for Helen.
Today at 9:30 a.m. Sunday School classes are asked to dismiss early and join the Revive and Renew Planning Team as they celebrate a successful two years. Join them in the Loggia for brunch.
The scripture reading for today is Matthew 13:24-30:
He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 119:1-16:
Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways.
You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances.
I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.
How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments.
I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes.
With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth.
I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Prayer for Today, Saturday, March 5
O Gracious Redeemer,
May we approach You this day with a childlike sense of awe and wonder. The miracles of life continue to amaze us. Forgive us, Dear Lord, when we fail to see beauty all around us. Forgive us, Loving God, when we become jaded and short sighted. Expand our vistas, we pray. May we look through today, beyond tomorrow and see the glory of eternity. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_______________________________________________
I received the following email from Sherry Garrett:
Please tell the prayer group to keep up the good work! Kim Keithly Jones had a good report this time, so I believe the prayers and this new treatment seems to be having positive effects at last! Do keep her on the prayer list, and know that it SEEMS to be making a miracle happen! Sherry Garrett
Shera Shirley was dismissed from St. Mary’s Hospital yesterday. Inez Fisher is improving at Bass.
A number of our youth are in the Gaslight Teen Theater production of “Once Upon A Mattress”. I hear wonderful reviews from last night. Carolyn and I are going this evening and the youth group is going tomorrow.
Our Young Adult/Seekers group is going to Moore today to the Warren Theater for a movie experience.
All are invited to the Multi-Purpose Room at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow for lesson number two of “24 Hours that Changed the World”. Jack Weston is teaching and there was a good response last week.
Speaking of Sunday School…. Tomorrow all classes are asked to shorten their lessons and join the Revive and Renew group in the Loggia for a Celebration Brunch at 9:30 a.m. We are celebrating two years of the Revive and Renew service. You will remember we began on Sunday evenings and in November of 2009 moved to Sunday morning. There will be lots of food, so plan to attend.
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 4:1-9:
So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you. You have seen for yourselves what the LORD did with regard to the Baal of Peor—how the LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, while those of you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today. See, just as the LORD my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!” For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today? But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children—
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
May we approach You this day with a childlike sense of awe and wonder. The miracles of life continue to amaze us. Forgive us, Dear Lord, when we fail to see beauty all around us. Forgive us, Loving God, when we become jaded and short sighted. Expand our vistas, we pray. May we look through today, beyond tomorrow and see the glory of eternity. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
_______________________________________________
I received the following email from Sherry Garrett:
Please tell the prayer group to keep up the good work! Kim Keithly Jones had a good report this time, so I believe the prayers and this new treatment seems to be having positive effects at last! Do keep her on the prayer list, and know that it SEEMS to be making a miracle happen! Sherry Garrett
Shera Shirley was dismissed from St. Mary’s Hospital yesterday. Inez Fisher is improving at Bass.
A number of our youth are in the Gaslight Teen Theater production of “Once Upon A Mattress”. I hear wonderful reviews from last night. Carolyn and I are going this evening and the youth group is going tomorrow.
Our Young Adult/Seekers group is going to Moore today to the Warren Theater for a movie experience.
All are invited to the Multi-Purpose Room at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow for lesson number two of “24 Hours that Changed the World”. Jack Weston is teaching and there was a good response last week.
Speaking of Sunday School…. Tomorrow all classes are asked to shorten their lessons and join the Revive and Renew group in the Loggia for a Celebration Brunch at 9:30 a.m. We are celebrating two years of the Revive and Renew service. You will remember we began on Sunday evenings and in November of 2009 moved to Sunday morning. There will be lots of food, so plan to attend.
The scripture reading for today is Deuteronomy 4:1-9:
So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you. You have seen for yourselves what the LORD did with regard to the Baal of Peor—how the LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, while those of you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today. See, just as the LORD my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!” For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today? But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children—
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Friday, March 4, 2011
Prayer for Today, Friday, March 4
Source of Eternal Love,
Some days the prayers roll easily off our tongues. Other days we feel the heavy burdens of life and the prayers are absent. Help us to come to You, regardless of the circumstances. Help us to realize that You are faithful to us and You invite our faithfulness to You. So here we are, O God. We stand before You in our strength and our weakness. Bless us, we pray, as we honor You. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
__________________________________
The church website is revised and updated, thanks to Gene and Jeanette Heitfeld. Check it out at www.centralenid.org.
Lent begins next Wednesday. Pick up a Lenten brochure at the Welcome Center that details all of our Lenten, Holy Week and Easter activities.
The scripture reading for Today is Numbers 27:12-23:
The LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range, and see the land that I have given to the Israelites. When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled with me. You did not show my holiness before their eyes at the waters.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)
Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep without a shepherd.” So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him; have him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. You shall give him some of your authority, so that all the congregation of the Israelites may obey. But he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the decision of the Urim before the LORD; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the Israelites with him, the whole congregation.” So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation; he laid his hands on him and commissioned him—as the LORD had directed through Moses.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Some days the prayers roll easily off our tongues. Other days we feel the heavy burdens of life and the prayers are absent. Help us to come to You, regardless of the circumstances. Help us to realize that You are faithful to us and You invite our faithfulness to You. So here we are, O God. We stand before You in our strength and our weakness. Bless us, we pray, as we honor You. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
__________________________________
The church website is revised and updated, thanks to Gene and Jeanette Heitfeld. Check it out at www.centralenid.org.
Lent begins next Wednesday. Pick up a Lenten brochure at the Welcome Center that details all of our Lenten, Holy Week and Easter activities.
The scripture reading for Today is Numbers 27:12-23:
The LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range, and see the land that I have given to the Israelites. When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled with me. You did not show my holiness before their eyes at the waters.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)
Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep without a shepherd.” So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him; have him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. You shall give him some of your authority, so that all the congregation of the Israelites may obey. But he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the decision of the Urim before the LORD; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the Israelites with him, the whole congregation.” So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation; he laid his hands on him and commissioned him—as the LORD had directed through Moses.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Prayer for Today, Thursday, March 3
Dear God Who Lifts Us Up,
There are other times when our lives are only reflected as shades of grey. May we, O Lord, experience the beam of history refracted through Your son, Jesus. The old hues are now the brilliant colors of Christ filled people, working and serving in His name. A colorless existence becomes a rainbow, giving life and hope and joy to all. May we be Your Technicolor people. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
___________________________________
Inez Fisher and Shera Shirley are both hospitalized. Inez was weak and having major issues with coughing. Shera had knee replacement surgery.
Mary Johnson will have a heart procedure in Oklahoma City on Monday.
We received word that Mary Jo Layton’s husband has died. Mary Jo moved to Oklahoma City a few years ago. Please pray for Mary Jo and her son Cliff.
Don and Tary have returned safely from doing a second funeral for John Hutchings in Indiana.
Today is a beautiful day. It is a day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
The scripture reading for today is Numbers 20:1-13:
The Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there. Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and against Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had died when our kindred died before the LORD! Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.” Then Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting; they fell on their faces, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aaron, and command the rock before their eyes to yield its water. Thus you shall bring water out of the rock for them; thus you shall provide drink for the congregation and their livestock. So Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he had commanded him. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and by which he showed his holiness.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
There are other times when our lives are only reflected as shades of grey. May we, O Lord, experience the beam of history refracted through Your son, Jesus. The old hues are now the brilliant colors of Christ filled people, working and serving in His name. A colorless existence becomes a rainbow, giving life and hope and joy to all. May we be Your Technicolor people. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
___________________________________
Inez Fisher and Shera Shirley are both hospitalized. Inez was weak and having major issues with coughing. Shera had knee replacement surgery.
Mary Johnson will have a heart procedure in Oklahoma City on Monday.
We received word that Mary Jo Layton’s husband has died. Mary Jo moved to Oklahoma City a few years ago. Please pray for Mary Jo and her son Cliff.
Don and Tary have returned safely from doing a second funeral for John Hutchings in Indiana.
Today is a beautiful day. It is a day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
The scripture reading for today is Numbers 20:1-13:
The Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there. Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and against Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had died when our kindred died before the LORD! Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.” Then Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting; they fell on their faces, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aaron, and command the rock before their eyes to yield its water. Thus you shall bring water out of the rock for them; thus you shall provide drink for the congregation and their livestock. So Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he had commanded him. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and by which he showed his holiness.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Prayer for Today, Wednesday, March 2
O Lord,
You are like the ocean and we are like the drops of rain that fall into the stream. You beckon to us and we make our way to You, our home. We travel through placid still waters, over the rocky rapids, near stagnate places, even down waterfalls to come to You. Help us on our journey, Dear Lord. You are in us all and we seek to be with You. Guide us in Jesus name, AMEN.
______________________________________________
Carolyn and I are home. We are tired but also refreshed by the experience of working with the wider church. There is much to celebrate. I will be writing, speaking and preaching more about the experience.
Tonight is WWNF with all its activities.
Have a blessed day!
The scripture reading for today is Numbers 11:10-25:
Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the LORD became very angry, and Moses was displeased. So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,’ to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.”
So the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you. I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself. And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wailed in the hearing of the LORD, saying, ‘If only we had meat to eat! Surely it was better for us in Egypt.’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat not only one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you—because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” But Moses said, “The people I am with number six hundred thousand on foot; and you say, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month’! Are there enough flocks and herds to slaughter for them? Are there enough fish in the sea to catch for them?” The LORD said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
You are like the ocean and we are like the drops of rain that fall into the stream. You beckon to us and we make our way to You, our home. We travel through placid still waters, over the rocky rapids, near stagnate places, even down waterfalls to come to You. Help us on our journey, Dear Lord. You are in us all and we seek to be with You. Guide us in Jesus name, AMEN.
______________________________________________
Carolyn and I are home. We are tired but also refreshed by the experience of working with the wider church. There is much to celebrate. I will be writing, speaking and preaching more about the experience.
Tonight is WWNF with all its activities.
Have a blessed day!
The scripture reading for today is Numbers 11:10-25:
Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the LORD became very angry, and Moses was displeased. So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,’ to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.”
So the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you. I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself. And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wailed in the hearing of the LORD, saying, ‘If only we had meat to eat! Surely it was better for us in Egypt.’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat not only one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you—because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” But Moses said, “The people I am with number six hundred thousand on foot; and you say, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month’! Are there enough flocks and herds to slaughter for them? Are there enough fish in the sea to catch for them?” The LORD said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
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