If only we could get ourselves into the same mindset of the author of Psalm 139.  Yet in our world this concept of a personal God is one with which many struggle.  As Pastor Tish expressed on Sunday, why would God, with all He has on his plate (i.e: wars, famine, natural disasters, rising and falling governments, sin on both large scales and small), take the time to know me?  It is not too difficult to follow this train of thought… 

Sunday, we explored, the Parable of the Talents.  Question church: what it is about the third servant that does not allow him to share in God’s Kingdom?  Read carefully here.  The third servant is NOT selfish; he does not claim the “talent” the Master has given him as his own.  Instead, he acknowledges it as a gift; he affirms that it is something he has not earned.  His error comes in this leading him not to joy, but to fear.  He explains this is because his master is a “hard” man...

What does the Kingdom of God have to say about forgiveness?  Pastor Tish talked about the parable of the unmerciful servant, who when forgiven a great debt by his master, couldn’t forgive a small one owed to him.  Tish reminded us that God forgives us our great faults, which is pure joy, but this also means that God will hold us accountable to do the same for others.  For those who came back for youth worship, Darren and Danielle presented a visual for how we dirty ourselves through sin, and the love of God cleans us again with forgiveness…

This week God blessed us with seeing the Kingdom at work.  Janelle Johnson spoke about, and shared pictures from her trip to Baja, Mexico.  We can feel proud, church, that we helped get her there to do the work of furthering the Kingdom.  Janelle and several hundred other missionaries helped clean, build, and evangelize in neighborhoods where the love and message of the Kingdom was sorely needed.  But as Janelle pointed out in her talk again and again, it wasn’t us alone, for God is still at work in His world, as proved all throughout Janelle’s experience.  And we can know that He is not finished, church, His work is not complete.  As Tish said, God has not given up on us being a multicultural church; and Janelle, and our part in her journey, is but another Great Blessing He has sent to remind us of that truth...

Two weeks ago we began a series on the Kingdom of God.  I talked about the different models with which we identify the kingdom in our world—like Future Hope, Inner Spiritual Experience, or the Institutional Church, to name a few.  Any of model can be an agent for the kingdom, when it seeks righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Then Tish talked this week about the parable of the sower, and the spreading of the kingdom through God’s word.  The question she directed to each of us was whether the soil (our heart) is ready to receive the seed (the Word) and bear fruit.....

Sunday we looked at another Hero of the Bible, John the Baptist.  “HE’S OUR HERO!”  Nancy Higgins first told us about her hero, her Dad.  Tish gave us three reasons why John the Baptist (HE’S OUR HERO) is a hero.  1) Because he consecrated himself to God’s will for his life, 2) because he set himself apart from other men and women, and 3) because he pointed people to Jesus....

Sunday we looked at another Hero of the Bible, the small boy whose small “lunch” of 5 loaves and two fish fed a “small” multitude of over 5000 people.  We looked at the different responses to God’s work.  Phillip, who was overwhelmed by the impossibility of feeding all the people; Andrew, who believed, and helped the boy come forward, but still doubted how much could be accomplished; Jesus, who knows that the provision, when placed in God’s hands, is more than enough, for our God is, indeed, a God of abundance; and, of course, the small boy himself, who steps our of the crowd, and comes forward with what “little” he has, and says “Jesus, here’s what I have, you may do with it what you will.”  And thus, all the people were fed to their full, with abundance leftover.....

Sunday we began a Heroes of the Bible series, and learned from David and his confrontation with Goliath, the Philistine.  Tish pointed out the three lessons we can learn from David: 1) We must choose to enter the battle, and face our Goliaths, whatever they may be, and whatever form they may take; 2) We must remain confident and sure in the knowledge that each of us is a child of God, which means we are all loveable, and can do great things by the power of God; and 3) like David, we must remember to give Glory to God for all our victories, for, as with all good things, victories come from God....

Sunday we explored what MULTI-CULTURAL means, and what it means to be united as a people of God, as the Body of Christ.  Pastor Tish discussed our natural tendency to be around those who are like us, but that the community of God calls us into deeper relationships that challenge the habits of our human behavior.  We need to reflect our multi-cultural community in Carondelet.  She had us look at 1 Corinthians 11:28, which told us to examine ourselves; and then seek out the definition of Love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  She reminded us in, Ecclesiastes 7:21, that we should not listen to what others say about us, because we, at times, have said regretful things ourselves.  And she pointed to Philippians 3:12-15, where Paul reminds us that none of us have yet attained perfection in Christ.  So we must “press on!”.....

Sunday we celebrated someone who BEAT THE ODDS once more, and in a very special way, as Kenneth and Tory talked about their 2010 graduation from St Louis Public School.  Congratulations and Blessings to them!  We also celebrated educators, and particularly the educators at Lyon at Blow, our official partnership school, for all they do for our children and community.  Pastor Tish talked about Pentecost Sunday, the celebration of the church calendar.  She drew attention to how the Holy Spirit led each Apostle to preach in a different language of their audience, so that all could understand the Gospel....