Announcements:
- We will be having our annual Easter sunrise service up at the cross on Sunday, April 24! Please bring your own chair--and blankets if you wish--and be sitting in it at 6:30 AM. If you need transportation up the hill then please arrive at Harbor House at 6:15-25 where 4x4 vehicles will take you. Potluck will be a big Easter breakfast after the service (contact Vivian if you want to bring something).
Praise Reports:
- The Augustins are enjoying Elaine's mother's visit.
- Sandy had a safe trip back to and from California, and attended a wonderful graveside service for her best friend.
- Ken had an eye appointment recently and learned that his eyesight is improving.
- Vernon got tickets to his conference in Atlanta for a fabulous price.
- Kim, Aubrey, and Abby had an awesome time face painting last Saturday.
- We should all be glad that we dodged the tornadoes that have ripped up North Carolina. Be praying for that area, and consider giving a donation here: www.samaritanspurse.org
- Lil Buckley is back home from the rehabilitation center.
- Thank the Lord for the success of Julie's surgery and her speedy recovery.
Prayer Requests:
- Dixie is holding her own at Circle of Life and will probably be coming home soon to have hospice there.
- Arnie and Cathy Schmid plan on coming to visit Harbor House. Arnie has been struggling with some some terrible problems with his eye. Please encourage him while he's here.
- Darryl Holtzman has been having tests on a clump in his lung, and it is probably either a blood clot or cancer.
- Sandra's friend Amos may have cancer.
- Roy's nephew, Mark, needs prayer.
- A 13 year old girl at a women's shelter in Hot Springs is about to give birth. There could be complications due to her small size. Please pray for her and the baby, that God would touch them both and give the mother wisdom.
- Pray for the Childress family.
- Ruby needs help with her blood pressure, as well as peace in her spirit.
- Remember Vanessa, Pam, Markus, Byron, and Mary.
- Pray that God will draw Joyce's sister, Melinda, to Himself.
- Elaine's brother Jim may have a bad sinus infection. Thank God that his wife, Bridgette, is doing fine.
- Remember Rebecca, her children, and the Allens.
- Pray for Paul.
- June's ex-husband Jim passed away.
- Pray for our nation.
- Pray that Penny may not have cancer
- Remember Jamie.
- Keep our servicemen and women in your prayers.
Good Samaritan Mormon, originally uploaded by More Good Foundation.
This will be our last parable study. Before we plunge in, what is a parable for? Why did Jesus say, "they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding...." Well, Proverbs 25:2 that, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings." God doesn't just give us all wisdom on a silver platter, we must search it out. Parables served to disguise the message from those who would trample it in the dirt, but revealed it to those who earnestly sought after truth. "He who has ears, let him hear."
We will start in Luke 10:25-37--the parable of the Good Samaritan. We can get innumerable insights from this passage, but here is a list of 7 key points:
#1: It's OK to reduce the Scriptures down to basic principles. When Jesus asked the Lawyer what was written in the Law (5 whole books of the Bible, just for starters), he was saying in effect, "What do you get out of it?" The lawyer responded with a single sentence. Did Jesus then say, "Good grief, man! My Father spent centuries giving you his Holy and Perfect Law, and that's all you come away with?" No, He said, "You have answered correctly." This is what Paul talks about in 2 Timothy 2:15, "rightly dividing the Word of truth." We don't have to know everything, just glean what we need.
#2: "What must I do?" is a faulty question. Try going to your Boss and saying, "What do I have to do?" He'll suspect that you're not exactly enthusiastic, that you're trying to find out the minimum. We should all know by now that our God is not a god of the mediocre. The question above also begs to exclude. The Lawyer followed it up by asking for an exact definition of "neighbor," as if to worm out of the necessity of helping certain persons.
#3: Focus on how, not who. Vs. 29 says that the lawyer was asking, "Who?" Christianity is about being, not doing. Instead of being concerned with who the other guy is, be concerned with who you are. Instead of trying to be loving, try to be love. Personal Application: Ask yourself, "What would it look like to be love in this situation?"
#4: Another's need needn't consume you. Notice that the Good Samaritan took care of the robbed man's immediate needs (wounds, transportation, lodging), gave some money to provide for the near future, and then went on about his business. He didn't give up his trip--much less his life or fortune--to help this man. Whenever we're faced with helping another individual, it could be helpful to keep an "and, not or" mindset. Oftentimes our aims and the aims of the man at our gate can both be met.
#5: There is no justification for being unloving. The Levite and the Priest who passed by the robbed man were mirrors to the questioning lawyer. Remember, the lawyer "wanted to justify himself." How could the two men justify their conduct? Perhaps they wanted to stay ceremonially clean, and so kept their distance on the chance that the man was already dead. Maybe they were doing "the Lord's work," and could not be bothered to stop. Maybe they were scared stiff because the robbers might still be around and they were eager to save their own skins. Perhaps they were concerned that they might get "too involved." None of that mattered.
#6: Don't focus on the beneficiaries of your goodness, just be good. The man in this parable is just "generic man." If we are too concerned with the recipients of our righteous deeds, we can get into the trap of asking, "Who is worthy to receive my gifts?" Remember, it is only your duty.
#7: Being religious is never a substitute for being loving. True religion produces true love. James 1:27 says that, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Whenever we worship, we are mimicking what we worship. Our God is a God of love, and if we worship Him we will reflect that love.
One last thought: Jesus said to the lawyer, "Do this (love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself) and you will live."
Can it truly be that simple?
