One More Thing

Hi Five Oakers, The weekend's coming and there are a few things I want to share with you.

The Weekend

We continue in Joseph series by looking at Genesis 47-48 this week.

We start our Acts series in two weeks. Please pick up the book, The Story of Acts: A 40-Day Guided Journey through Acts, this weekend if you haven't already. Start the first day of reading on Monday, September 29. This is going to be a great journey!

FYI

Jeanne Whalen on "Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress: At Least 30 Minutes of Uninterrupted Reading With a Book or E-Book Helps"

The group calls itself the Slow Reading Club, and it is at the forefront of a movement populated by frazzled book lovers who miss old-school reading. Slow reading advocates seek a return to the focused reading habits of years gone by, before Google, smartphones and social media started fracturing our time and attention spans. Many of its advocates say they embraced the concept after realizing they couldn't make it through a book anymore.

One More Thing

Ajith Fernando, a biblical scholar and Christian leader from Sri Lanka who ministers to the urban poor, writes:

The church in each culture has its own special challenges—theological blind spots that hinder Christians from growing to full maturity in Christ …. I think one of the most serious theological blind spots in the western church is a defective understanding of suffering. There seems to be a lot of reflection on how to avoid suffering and on what to do when we hurt. We have a lot of teaching about escape from suffering and therapy for suffering, but there is inadequate teaching about the theology of suffering ….

The "good life," comfort, convenience, and a painless life have become necessities that people view as basic rights. If they do not have these, they think something has gone wrong…. One of the results of this attitude is a severe restriction of spiritual growth, for God intends us to grow through trials.

10 Tweets & Weekend Comments

Hi Five Oakers,

Here are the 10 Tweets for last weekend's sermon on Genesis 45-46 in The Gospel According to Joseph series:

1// Change = Move beyond forgetting to forgiving, failed to forgiven and famished to favored.

2// You can forgive the more you focus on the longer narrative of God’s plan.

3// When it comes to relationship with God, we are ALWAYS Judah in this story.

4// Duguid: Where could Joseph’s brothers look for assurance of forgiveness? Surely the assurance was in the complicated plan of their salvation

5// Assurance of our forgiveness: "...the Father points us back to his complex plan of salvation." (Duguid)

6// The famine to favored story of Joseph’s family points forward to our own famished to favored story.

7// We have a famished to favored story because Jesus has a favored to famished story.His body was broken for you. His blood was shed for you.

8// 2 Cor 8:9 …though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

9// U were famished: lost in sin, in bondage to sin, separated from God, on the road to nowhere, bereft of anything that will last into eternity

10// U r favored: U belong to him, adopted, forgiven, eternal life and rewards, part of his mission, enjoy his presence now and forever.

Here are the comments from the weekend Communication Cards:

// Really like the subdued opening worship with Tim’s story of the prodigal son. Nice transition to final song of opening set. Karen and I love the new wooden backdrop on the stage. Terrific message. Terrific message Henry. Loved the series on Joseph.

// Dan, you always set the path to the sermon! Music wonderful, sermon awesome! Tim’s intro to message summed up and set up the service. [So true on Dan and Tim's work.]

// Love, love, love backdrop!

// Thanks for the parenting worship, we plan to be there. [I hope every parent is there. It's going to be great.]

// Lovely backdrop on the stage.

// I’ve learned not to send the cover-to-cover paper in until after the message. No matter who preaches, I get more thoughts. (From last spring and now this term). Thanks! 46:3-4 plus more.

// Light station? Must be being renovated? Great message. [It'll be back on the first weekend of the Acts series.]

//  Loved Friend of Sinners. Powerful reminder of who I am and who Christ is. Thanks for sharing your song and your heart with us Dan! I am blessed.  [Friend of Sinners is a Dan Lukas original!]