We thanked our moms. We shared about the choice of the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church. We honored our high school graduates - be in prayer for these four men: Aaron, Timmy, Isaiah, and Elijah. They each received a basin and towel signifying their call to serve in the world... especially serve the church body. They also received a yoke signifying the call to submit to Christ and remain yoked to Him. We also worshipped God in song including a trio of singers, accompanied by Debbie - thank you Shawna, Jettie, and Miriam. It is interesting to me that the trio's last names all begin with the letter "B"... perhaps we call them the Hallelu-B’s? B-Harmony? The B3s (a bit of history here as Hammond made a B3 organ that was very popular as it was an inexpensive alternative to the pipe organ). I await your votes!
The message was from one of the most well-known parables, the "Good Samaritan." We learned, hopefully, that it is not primarily about being a good neighbor as much Jesus told it to teach that none of us obeys the law that instructs us to "love your neighbor as yourself." Yes, we should all CARE for our neighbors (as the Samaritan did, let's have Compassion, take Action, use our Resources, and even give Extra time and money.
The expert in the law rightly said that to gain eternal life we should “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 your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27). But, he missed the point. He should have been humble and convicted to know that we don't do this... we can't do this. We need God's grace, forgiveness and mercy. We need a Savior who gives us eternal life and then empowers us to live more and more in a way that loves God and helps us love our neighbors. We need Jesus!