October 19, 2009

Good Morning to you all!

Well, I am back again and I hope I haven't lost to many readers due to my lack of activity on this blog site. Last weekend I was at the Lake Ozark area on a retreat with my male relatives and so I missed both Church and Sunday School class; thus I didn't do a Blog last week. I am back now and I'll try to be a little more dependable with publishing my blog on a weekly basis.

Social Stuff:

Since I last "blogged" I have

A. Joined and started attending a Men's Bible Study on Tuesday evenings.
B. Attended the family's men's retreat at Lake Ozark.
C. Watched the Rams loose two tough games.
D. Attended the St. Louis Symphony performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.
E. Sang a solo during a Sunday church service.
F. Attended a celebration dinner for the Monsanto MS- 150 Bicycle team
H. Played golf with the Salem senior men's team.
I. Attended a Fall Festival/Wurst Mart at a Catawissa Church.
J. Bought a new lawn mower!
K. Tried to figure out how to purchase new health insure (Ugh!)
L. Watched the Baseball Cardinals "pack it in" for the season.

I won't go into any details regarding the above adventures, but I'll just simply say its been a busy and interesting two weeks.

Koinonia Sunday School Class:

I want to thank Alan and Josh Schlobohm for leading the Koinonia Sunday School last week while I was off doing the "wild thing" at Lake Ozark!

This past Sunday (10-18-09) we experience the following in the Koinonia Sunday School Class.

Attendance: Genny Mass. Bill Nichols, Denise Kelly, Allan, Teresa, and Josh Scholobohm, Jane and Terry Pursley.

Prayers were requested and raised for:

1. Safe travel for Denise Kelly and her sister Donna as they journey to visit relataives.
2. David Hartsock who is recovering from a sky diving accident.
3. Karen and David Nicewonger (Alan and Teresa's friends) who are experiencing very difficult and life threatening health issues.
4. Jane Pursley's sore throat and cold.

Thank you's were requested to be sent to:

The United Methodist District Superintendent for our new pastor Suzanne Lyons.

Material Studied: Book of Acts - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 incoproates 3 distict sections.

First: In verses 1 thru 11 we read about the death of Ananias and Sapphria because they lied to the Holy Spirit about money they earned from selling their property. They sold the property for a certain sum but lied about this amount when they turned it in as an offering to the church. Both Annias and Sapphria fell dead when Peter confronted them with this truth. This is a difficult section to lead a discussion upon becasue of the severity of the punshishment for something we all do - not telling (confessing) God the truth. I (Terry Pursley) am not qualified to explain this section but I did offer the following thoughts for consideration. Since God exists on both sides of the "barrier" we we call death, the death experience is not as big an issue for God as it is to those of us created humans on the "life side" of this "barrier". Thus for God, Annias and Sapphria simply transition, in God's reality, from life to death; whereas for us Annias and Sapphria are taken from our reality of "life" to something we cannot understand called "Death". In other words, the death separates us from Annias and Sapphria, but it does not necessarily separate them from God. Thus; the lesson in the death of Annias and Sapphria, for those of us living, is not how creul or just God is but rather how important it is for us to be truthful with God. The scriptures tell us in verse 11 that after the death of Annias and Sapphria, "Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened." Therefore; I suggest the importance of this passage is to heighten in each of us the critical importance of our being truthful with God, and raising the "possible" impact that un-truthfullness" can have, either physically or spiritually.

Second: In verses 12 thru 16 we have the chance to see how great God's power was working thru the apostles and especially Peter. People were lining up just so Peter's shadow might pass over them, because evidently many people were healed by Peter's presence and the faith of the people. It is important to note these verses clearly indicate people were linining up to receive physical healing and there is no record in these verses of anyone asking for their sins to be forgiven. I would ask each of us to reflect upon the prayer requests we raise in our Church services or Sunday School classes. Almost without exception we hear ourselves lifting prayer requests for some type of physical healing but very seldom do we hear people asking for their sins to be forgiven. I'd ask each of us to reflect on this point and perhaps see if we need to adjust our thinking or approach on this point.

Third: In verses 17 thru 42 (end of the Chapter) we see the "Church Leadership" begin to respond negatively to the preaching of the apostles and especially Peter. I use the phrase "Church Leadership" becasue I often paint these leadership people in a more positive light than other do, in large part because perhaps I am more like them than I would like to admit. In these verses the "Church Leadership" is telling the apostles to stop their preaching about Jesus. Peter responds saying he cannot becasue God has told him to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. Peter cannot and will not stop doing what God has told him to do simply because the "Church Leadership" tells him to do so. This puts the "Church Leadership" between the proverbial "Rock and a Hard Place". What are they to do? They have tried jailing this group but the group just keeps escaping, with God's help. One "Church Leader" (Gamaliel) provides the rational that helps resolve the issue. Gamaliel says to let this group go becaues, based upon history, if this group is false they will die and their movement go away; however, if what this group is saying is true then the "Church Leaders" would find themselves opposing God if the "Church Leaders" attempt to punish the group. Gamaliel's arument "wins the day" and Peter and the apostles are set free after being "flogged", which I suppose was given "just for good measure"! The result however was Peter and the "boys" just kept preaching as they had been and the number of believers continued to grow. Next week we will see what happens next!

Conclusion:

Next week we will read and discus Chapter 6 of the Book of Acts which discuses the ministry of Stephen and begins a series of events that leads to the rise and preaching of Paul!

In the meantime -

Have a Great Week and Enjoy Life

Terry