Sunday, February 27, 2005

Sunday



Stopped in at the Bank Arcade the other day and had lunch at the Ephah cafe. Their coffee is always good – which isn't always the case at some establishments. I remember one restaurant in the northern suburbs where the food was all right, but the coffee was undrinkable; eventually we stopped going there at all.




Have you heard this one?

George W. Bush dies and ends up standing in a long line at the Pearly Gates. While he's waiting, he notices a very important looking man strolling past.

He waves and says "Hi, my name is George W. Bush...." but before he can strike up a conversation, the man turns on his heel and hurries away.

"What was that about?" says a puzzled Bush, scratching his head.

The man next to him says "Don't take it personally. That was Moses and the last time he spoke to a bush he spent forty years in the wilderness."




The last Sunday in February, our minister R2 continued his series of sermons from Samuel with one titled "Miracle at Mizpah – a nation repents" [1 Sam. 7:2-17].

  • Last week we saw the Ark returned, but it didn't solve all of Israel's problems. The Israelites had to really want to change. After 20 years Samuel's time had come. He told the jews they had to rid themselves of the foreign gods they'd drifted into worshipping.
  • Samuel put down a stone not as an idol, but as a reminder to the people of Israel that they needed to follow God in good times as well as bad.
  • It's not by law but by grace we can hope to escape retribution.
  • We should consider how this would relate to ourselves: are we aiming to please God or our neighbours? Are we content with our church if it merely confirms our prejudices rather than challenging us to change?
  • There's a big difference between feeling bad about your sins and doing something about it. Unless you're in tune with the conductor you won't be able to play in the orchestra.




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