No more terror. Only the confidence of willing love.

The Confidence of Perfect Love

(1 John 4:17-18, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, January 29, 2017)

[17] By this is love perfected with us,

so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment,

because as he is so also are we in this world.

[18] There is no fear in love,

but perfect love casts out fear.

For fear has to do with punishment,

and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Confidence for the Day of Judgment

Love is perfected with us by the abiding presence of God in us

Jesus is truth incarnate. He is also love in person. He is in us by the Holy Spirit, and He remains in His church. He has begun a good work and He will finish what He has started. Love has invaded us, and Love will subdue us entirely. Love will not give up until He has perfected us in Himself. We will even love our enemies! Resistance is futile.

The confidence of sanctifying grace

But then why would we resist Love? Love working through us is very costly, since Biblical love is sacrificial action and not merely warm feelings of attraction. Still, Love gives the soldier of love such benefits! The Bible says that the world is heading toward a Judgment Day. Paul insisted in the New Testament that this was a part of His gospel message. (Romans 2:12-16) Wouldn't you want to approach that coming Day with free confidence rather than slavish terror? God's grace that stays with us and perfects us, His sanctifying grace, produces real changes in us so that we freely grow in sacrificial love. With that growth that assures us that God has His mark in our lives, we have joyful boldness as we look toward the coming of the Son of God.

As He is so also are we in this world

We are more and more like Him in our lives in this world. Our ethical standards become informed by the Bible, and we become reformed from what we once were. We grow, and in growing we become more like the God of truth and love.

No Fear in Love

Perfect love casts out fear

Jesus' love in us is not partial love; it is perfect love. That perfect love ultimately has no room for fear. Here we need to define our terms. Just as we needed to define love as a life of sacrificial action, not just a feeling of attraction or soul affection, we also need to understand the word fear used here. The Greek word phobos is used four times by John. Phobos has two possible meanings in the Bible. The first has to do with dread or terror. The second is reverence and respect, like that which a woman might have for her beloved husband (1 Peter 3:1-2). John only uses phobos in the first definition—terror. (The remaining three uses, John 7:13, 19:38, and 20:19, all refer to “fear of the Jews.”) The second idea of respectful reverence is understood by John to be part of the love someone under authority has for one to whom he willingly submits.

Fear has to do with punishment

John is saying that there is no terror in our love for God and for others. The perfect love of God for us combined with the love that He is working through us casts out all dread. The frightening kind of fear is from an expectation of punishment. For the Christian, though we may suffer at the hands of authorities, we have no concern that our great Husband, Jesus, intends to punish us. We have submitted to His love with all holy reverence, and we enjoy the security of his protection.

Whoever fears has not been perfected in love

The person who still has terror regarding the coming Judgment Day, needs to hear and believe the good Word of this Husband's love. There is no better message of that love than the cross. The best fruit of the gospel in the church is not crippling fear but perfect love. The gift of divine love working through the church gives us a holy confidence assuring us that we have been saved from the coming day of judgment. This hope is a great aid to the church even in times of persecution. If we suffer unjust abuse at the hands of the enemies of Christ, we can still find joy in life through the gift of perfect love.

John is giving His readers a wonderful message to help them with debilitating concern over the Day of the Lord. As far as I can tell, terror over a future Judgment Day is not a widespread problem in Northern New England today. In this way we differ from many other times and places. In 17^th century Britain, Bunyan wrote a story about traveling from a place called the “City of Destruction” to “the Celestial City.” His Book, The Pilgrim's Progress, was a massive best seller which has never been out of print. But today, few read it. In the days of the Apostle Paul, Jews wondered how God could be righteous and still overlook so much sin (Romans 3:25). In our day, very few people seem openly concerned that they might somehow miss heaven. Almost everyone is going there. Many have downgraded the Biblical doctrine of sin, and with it all notions of divine judgment. In an age of nuclear proliferation, people are very interested in the recent movement of the so-called Doomsday Clock, not because of a concern of what happens to us when we die, but because of a fear that we incompetents might destroy our planet.

Yet, the truth is, we cannot really know what is going on inside someone else's heart, or even our own. Recently we have been praying for a young man who faced very dangerous surgery. In those last moments before the anesthesia takes effect, perhaps then we find out whether we have terror or confidence as we consider the possibility that we might meet our Creator and Judge. Do we want to wait to our last moments on this earth in order to find out that we were suppressing a terror of the Almighty that was lurking quietly in our souls all along? John says that there is an alternative. Love. The sacrificial action of Christ for us that cancels the horrible debt of sin. Historic Christians confess a biblical doctrine of sin, and not just a few sins. Learn from Rosario Butterfield what “the Bible so clearly explains,” that “original sin distorts us, actual sin distracts us, and indwelling sin manipulates us.” If we recover the truth about sin and judgment, may we also find a mighty antidote in the love of the cross. Christ in us and working through us. Only with that kind of love life can we have free “confidence for the Day of Judgment.” A good goal.

Old Testament Reading—Zephaniah 3:9-13 – Sin and Sinners Removed

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:38-41 – 38 You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

A True Confession and a True Love

The Son of God and the Love of God

(1 John 4:15-16, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, January 22, 2017)

[15] Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God,

God abides in him, and he in God.

[16] So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

God is love,

and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

A breach in an important relationship can be very uncomfortable. Sometimes that can come from speaking the truth in love when someone you love is unwilling to receive what you have to say. Holding back the truth and living a life of quiet falsehood can also cause a divide. Our relationship with God needs to be forthright and true. The Lord is not interested in those who confess Him with their lips but deny Him with their lives.

Confessing and abiding

The true Christian truly confesses that Jesus is the Son of God

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He came down from heaven for us and for our salvation. In so many ways He is entirely unique. He alone is Lord of All. God raised Him from the dead in order to establish Him as Resurrection King, the “Son” of God according to Psalm 2. (See also Romans 1:4, The Anointed One of God “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord”)

Romans 10:9-10 tells us “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

It is possible to have true belief in the heart and yet struggle with sinful unwillingness to confess the truth with our mouths. Think of the parents of the man who had been born blind. They knew that Jesus had healed their son, but they were afraid to confess that true fact about Jesus. They directed all inquiries about their son directly to him. Why? “His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.” (John 9:22).

Was this an isolated incident? Apparently not. We are told in John 12:42-43 that “many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”

It is also possible to have no true belief in the heart and yet confess supposed faith with the mouth. There are many other possible combinations of heart and mouth conflict. After all, one can be confused in heart and silent with the mouth or even confess many varieties of faith and not admit the indecision of the soul.”

Thankfully it is also possible to have true faith in the heart and to confess that true faith freely with the mouth. This last alternative is what John is writing about concerning healthy, stable Christianity.

God abides in the true Christian and the true Christian abides in God

Such a person has God and God has such a person. The person remains in God and God remains in them. This intimate connection between God and people is a supernatural reality to be believed and lived out.

What is the connection between true confessing and true abiding and the love of God?

True confessing works out in our lives in true abiding both in God and in love. Why? Because God is love. If we have the love of Jesus in us then we have Jesus. As people who trust in Christ for our salvation and who give ourselves to Him as Lord, God is really in us, and God is both powerful and purposeful.

Remember again what love is. The cross is the perfect display of it. On the cross our Savior suffered and laid down His life for our eternal blessing. There is no greater love than this. (John 15:13. Love is not necessarily being polite. Frequently love is very uncomfortable because of the connection between true love and true truth. Notice the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees for proof that a loving person may offend people. (Matthew 15:1-20)

God is love

The true

The example of the penitent tax collector in Luke 18:9-14 shows us what a true humble confession of trust in God looks like. The man who could barely lift his eyes toward heaven goes away justified.

The false

On the other hand, the same passage gives us a great example of a false confession of God's favor in the Pharisee who thought that he was the better of the two people who came to pray there that day. But note the context of the story: “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: (Luke 18:9) I am sure that the Pharisees were offended by the story that Jesus told, but our Savior is Love in person. Jesus is both the Son of God and the Love of God come in person to save us.

O God of Love, Have mercy on us!

This is the honest plea that flows from a true heart that knows the Law, knows his sin, knows the cross, and knows the hope that is ours in the work of Christ.

God is love. True Christians have this God of love in us. Our confession of Jesus as the Son of God and our faithful determination to live a life of godly love must spring from Him alone. All have sinned (Romans 3:23), but some have been granted the gifts of faith and love. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13) Such a plea is also a pledge to be merciful. (Matthew 5:7)

Old Testament Reading—Zephaniah 3:1-8 – The Rebellious, Oppressing City and the Hardhearted Nations of the Earth

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:33-37 – 33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

Set apart Jesus as holy in your hearts, His gospel, His ethics, His life

The Savior of the World

(1 John 4:14, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, January 15, 2017)

And we have seen and testify

that the Father has sent his Son

to be the Savior of the world.

We have seen and testify

Who has seen and testified?

Though these words have big implications for Christians today, John writes first and foremost about himself and the other disciples who were the original witnesses of Jesus Christ. You may remember the opening verses of 1 John: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:1-3) These words were true of those that saw, heard, and even touched Jesus.

Jesus made special promises to those original disciples: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26) The apostles would receive divine teaching and would be given the gift of remembering that perfect teaching that would become foundational for the New Testament church (Ephesians 2:20).

Yet even though men like Peter and John saw Jesus with their eyes both prior to the cross and after the resurrection, they did not see the Father sending His Son into the world. That was beyond human view. The Son's heavenly mission had to be learned not through seeing but through hearing. Jesus told them that truth. Before the cross Jesus said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38) After the cross He said yet again, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

They saw

The original twelve (minus Judas) saw even with the eyes of their hearts the truth about Jesus Christ. They saw Him as the Son of God. To use John's words from John 1:1, In the beginning, Jesus was “the Word” who was “with God” and was also “God.” They heard the truth and believed. If they doubted the true divine oneness of the Father and Jesus, they needed to listen to this challenge that Jesus spoke to Philip, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” If, as in the case of Thomas, they relied too much on what their physical eyes told them in order to believe the truth about Jesus, they needed to take to heart words like these: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (That's us!)

They testified

But once they received the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they knew what they knew. They had seen and they would testify for the rest of their lives regarding Jesus Christ, “the Father's Son.” (2 John 3) Christ had sent them forth with a message, and thus they would go. Their gospel would not only be their own eyewitness accounts but their true understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures. The Word that had so changed their own lives sent them forth speaking to all who would here. As the people on the streets of Athens would one day conclude about Saul of Tarsus, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities.” Why? “Because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.” We need to understand their message and their passion.

The Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the World

The Father

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who rightly demands perfect and unending obedience from all,

Has Sent

by the power of the Holy Spirit working within the womb of a poor Hebrew virgin, sent from heaven's heights

His Son

His own eternal Son, the Lamb of God,

To Be the Savior

that He might perfectly obey the Law of God and then die on the cross as our Sin-Bearer. Through His perfect fulfillment of love and justice, salvation has come,

Of the World

not only for the Jews, but for all the people groups of the earth.

Jesus, the Father's Son, is the Savior of the world. He will take His beloved from all over this dying cosmos, and bring forth a new resurrection kingdom for His glorious bride. Nothing could be better than this truth. It is simple but comprehensive. We must not tamper with it. For example, gospel is forever connected to sin. No sin, no need for a savior. New definition of sin, false gospel. Salvation falls apart when we reject the Biblical concept of sin and replace it with our own outrage based on modern standards of propriety rather than the eternal Law of God.

We have the apostolic witness recorded for us in the Scriptures concerning who Jesus is and what He has done. The original disciples passed on this message to others who believed their testimony and who also communicated this good news to so many others. We are recipients and guardians of a story that could not be better and therefore needs no improvement. What will we do with this treasured oracle of the gospel that has come to us from Almighty God?

1. Receive it with the ear. Don't rely on your eyes. Eyes could never have convinced you that the Father sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. The truth needs to be heard and believed.

2. Guard it with your heart. What you hear and believe, protect. Remember that the Immanuel, God with us, is with you. When you get up in the morning, don't say, “What am I doing today?” Say “What are we doing today?” You have a plural in you. Guard the Triune God in you with your life by turning away from all sin and heresy. Note what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.

3. Do not improve it. Christianity does not need our updating. (Example: the evolving ethics of love and sex.) Note 1 Peter 3:15. Sanctify the Lord in your hearts, and be ready to speak hope.

Old Testament Reading—Zephaniah 2:1-15 – The Shameless Nation

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:31-32 – [31] It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ [32] But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Is Doubt of Supernatural Truth Your Friend?

He Has Given Us

(1 John 4:13, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, January 8, 2017)

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us,

because he has given us of his Spirit.

We know

The intimacy of our relationship with God—We in Him. He in us.

God has determined to be close to us—not just with a temporary experience, but that we would “abide” in Him and that He would live and remain in us.

Who is the LORD who has determined to have fellowship with human beings. He is God over all, the Creator and Sustainer of all worlds. He is in charge of all time and space. He has the future entirely in His hands. Even the Son of God has been revealed to us to be God over all, in the words of the creed, “God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God.” Paul refers to Jesus in Romans 9:5 as “the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” Jesus is referred to as “Lord,” and the Spirit is also identified as Lord, just as the Father is Lord. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

This amazing Lord is King over the present creation that is fading away, over the present realm of heaven, and over the eternal resurrection world to come, and He is pleased to be close to us as one God existing eternally in three persons. He allows us to live in Him and He lives in us.

The fact of our relationship with God—It can be known. We do know.

This may sound very speculative, but that conclusion would be a mistake—a category mismatch based on the wrong idea that what we have in Christianity is just like a scientific discovery of some “truth” in the natural world. It is not. Our faith-knowing is a gift of the Spirit. Therefore we can simply acknowledge from the Scriptures that this relationship between God and His people is a fact—a fact which can be known, and even more, a truth that should not be doubted.

You and I have already committed to a Scripture-based life. We understand that God's Word is absolute truth, and that our own inclinations in life, ethics, and doctrine must be subject to what God says in the Bible. Without that foundation, we eventually lose all sense of reliable truth.

If we reject the Scriptures as truth, we might decide on the alternative of living based on what might seem to be the more obvious facts of what experts have observed and thought about most carefully. One practical difficulty with that approach is that when we examine even a simple question—for instance, what we should eat if we have one or two medical conditions—those who have devoted their lives well to observation and reason in those areas of study will not all agree. Why else would we ever get a second opinion on anything from a new cardiologist or a diabetes specialist? Particularly if we look at the changes in opinions over several decades, we find that what we thought was settled might have been wrong. What then about what appears to be most settled today? What will we think about that in a mere twenty years?

In fact, when we encounter a researcher or writer who demands that the current majority opinion is so certain that disagreements cannot be tolerated, we begin to be oddly suspicious that this new objective consensus is more religious rather than it is scientific. Good science should welcome doubt, since it is dependent upon continually improving observation and reason. It should always be open to new data and new thoughts on the meaning of what we have observed.

As an example of this good approach, one of the world's foremost scientific organization with headquarters in London, England, The Royal Society, held a conference in November, 2016 entitled “New Trends in Evolutionary Biology.” Here is statement from the Society's summary of what took place among some very top scientists in that field from throughout the world: “Developments in evolutionary biology and adjacent fields have produced calls for revision of the standard theory of evolution, although the issues involved remain hotly contested.” This should not surprise us. What we should be alarmed about is any announcement in a scientific matter that insists that debate is closed. That sounds like religious dogma, as if the latest theory is supposed to be treated as Scripture for some reason. But why?

How do we know supernatural truth?

He has given us of His Spirit

You and I do believe that the Bible is God's Word. Scripture is dogma to us. The central truths of that book have been understood well long before we were born. As we face questions of faith and life, we do look to the Bible for our heaven-sent direction because we understand that the books of the Old and New Testaments present themselves to us as the Word of God. They are not in the same category as the excellent and noble efforts of researchers considering the virtue or detriment of a low-fat diet for someone who has both a heart condition and diabetes.

We know that we abide in the Lord and that He abides in us as a gift of the Holy Spirit. Reason and observation can only play a supportive role here. We know absolutely that God lives in us because God has given us His Spirit, and the Spirit says so in clear passages like 1 John 4:13.

Receiving and Living in the Gift of the Holy Spirit

God has given His worldwide church the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But how well do we say “Yes” to such a great gift? Though scriptural truth is 100% certain, that does not mean that we all always receive it for what it is—the Word of God. In this case, the Scriptural truth is that all who call upon the Name of the Lord (Joel 2:32, Acts 2, Romans 10) are saved and have received the gift that God promised Israel and that Jesus won for us through His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. He said that He would give us the holy Spirit and He has (John 14-17 and Acts 2).

This greatest of all donations must be received and daily welcomed into our normal lives. We cannot love with the love of Christ without the Holy Spirit. But the church does have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Do not walk in doubt. Walk in faith. God's Word on this and all matters is true.

Old Testament Reading—Zephaniah 1:7-18 – The Day of the Lord – All the Earth

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:27-30 – [27] You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ [28] But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. [29] If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. [30] And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Pray and then what?

Love Perfected

(1 John 4:11-12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, January 1, 2017)

[11] Beloved, if God so loved us,

we also ought to love one another.

[12] No one has ever seen God;

if we love one another,

God abides in us

and his love is perfected in us.

The invisible God loved us visibly and in person

The invisible God

The apostle John wrote in his gospel about the mystery of the Father and the Son: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.” (John 1:18) Jesus, very God of very God, has made known the invisible God.

The narrative of God's love for “us” (His covenant people Israel and the church)

Throughout the Old Testament the Lord's people were being prepared for the coming of the Messiah. There were even times when the invisible God was made known through a special manifestation. Whether He came to Israel as an angel of the Lord or appeared to Abraham as Melchizedek or to Joshua as the Commander of the Lord's Army or to Moses as the voice that was heard from a burning bush that was not consumed, it was all very temporary.

Nonetheless through all those centuries the groundwork was patiently laid for a permanent coming of the Son of God as the center of our redemption. When Paul writes about Jesus, he calls Him the visible “image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:18) He is forever.

The incarnate love of God

God's love was made known through the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. In the prior verses (1 John 4:9-10), John told his readers about how God gave His Son for us to be our propitiation—a sacrifice that turns God's wrath aside. To do this, He had to be more than a temporary manifestation of the Almighty like all of those Old Testament appearances. He was to be the permanent Head of the church—Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God and Son of Man. And we were to be united to Him as His beloved people—the body of Christ. This was how He loved us, through the very definition of not only true Biblical love, but also through the perfect display of the opposite of sinful pride—godly humility. This was our salvation and it was also our power for living, as Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Paul says in Colossians 3:3-4, “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

We who have been loved this way by God ought to love one another visibly and in person

John understands who Jesus is and who we are to be

Jesus healed the sick, not just metaphorically, but in every way. At his death, from the cross, He made sure that his mother was provided for. He actually died and He truly rose from the dead as the first resurrection man. If He loved in this way, we who claim to be His followers must do the same.

God works mightily in us for good when we love one another

This humble love is not only what we “ought” to do, or even what our admiration of Christ moves us to do, it is something that we should choose to do if we want to be more loving people. Simply put, It is God's plan that when we love people, we shall become more loving people.

How? Our choosing humble love is His chosen channel for granting divine power in us that changes us. “If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” John says so here, and therefore that is what God promises us. This is similar to what the Lord reveals in James 4:7. He instructs us there to use our will to “resist the devil,” and then He adds this encouragement: “and he will flee from you.” In today's verse we have a promise for all who will use their will to make decisions of love toward the body of Christ, the beloved bride of the Lord.

Only the invisible God of Love can perfect our love toward His beloved visible church. This is His promise for all who will follow this command.

We say that we love the invisible God, but how do we relate to His beloved family, the church that we can see all around us? Only God can perfect the motions of love for Him and for one another that have begun among us. But how will He do this?

The Lord is determined to make us more loving now and forever. Yes, He will come to judge, but He also will save. We should most definitely be in the community of the redeemed and not lost among those who are enslaved in wickedness. God is reliable in all His commands and promises. We need to trust the Lord, our heavenly Father, and do what He commands.

We cannot claim to love the invisible God and then be detached from His body, the visible church. We need to be positively engaged with others in the household of God. [i.e. Dot Kaminsky's family]

Some advice:

Let's use our daily prayers for one another as a springboard for actions of love that would be visible (not showy) and in person (not bothersome) as much as possible, like Jesus did for us.

Marcia Coskery is facing a discouraging situation with her shoulder. Pray and help. Matthew Whiteacre is starting at a new school in Haverhill this week. Pray and send something. Our former members, Matt and Rachel Parks, found out that their sweet little Anna has cerebral palsy in her right foot. Pray and befriend. May that be our reflex as a church. We pray and we love.

Old Testament Reading—Zephaniah 1:1-6 – I Will...

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:21-26 – [21] You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ [22] But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. [23] So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, [24] leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. [25] Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. [26] Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.