Worship Service – June 6, 2021

Welcome, our Scriptures this week are found in,

Genesis 3:8-15, Mark 3:20-30, and Romans 3:21-31

Please open your Bibles and read with me the words of God.

Genesis. 3:8-15

The Fall of Man

(1) Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
(2) The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, (3) but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ “
(4) You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman. (5) For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
(6) When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
(8) Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (9) But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
(10) He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
(11) And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
(12) The man said, “The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
(13) Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
(14) So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
(15) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Mark 3:20-30

Jesus and Beelzebub

(20) Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. (21) When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
(22) And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
(23) So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? (24) If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. (25) If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. (26) And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. (27) In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. (28) I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. (29) But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”(30) He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”

Romans 3:26-31

Righteousness Through Faith

(21)But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. (22) This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24)and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (25) God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– (26) he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
(27) Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. (28) For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. (29) Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, (30) since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. (31) Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

This is the word of God, for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Just for a moment, imagine this. Adam and his sons, Cain and Abel, were walking one day, they passed the beautiful Garden of Eden. Just to pass by was an experience. Adam knew what was inside those beautiful gates — the lush fruit, the gorgeous flowers, it was a place of endless delight.
An angel with a flaming sword was guarding the gate. Adam said, “Boys, take a good look. That’s where we lived before your mother ate us out of house and home.”
We all may chuckle or not, at that story, but today I would like us to take a good look at:

The Realities of Sin, Scripture and Salvation.

All 3 start with an s.
All 3 require a decision.
All 3 have consequences.
All 3 require action.
All 3 need to be recognized.
All 3 are often overlooked.
All 3 are often neglected.
All 3 are often hidden.
All 3 can be addictive.
All 3 reveal we need forgiveness.
Consider this. The first chapter of Genesis closes its account of creation with the words, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.”
In the second chapter of Genesis, where the second story of creation is told, that creation story reflects the same kind of perfection.
It was a picture of beauty and pleasantness — the perfection of all creation symbolized in a garden. Into that garden, God puts the man whom he has formed, with the woman he has given him for a helpmate.
This is my story and your story, because Adam and Eve, in reality, represent you and me.
The reality is, we often miss or skip over, important facts that are written in scripture.
Note in Gen.3:6 when the devil tempted Eve, Adam was with her.
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”
The reality is the from the very beginning, God gave us, the gift of free will.
God gave Adam and Eve some options. Here is something we often miss in the story.
The permission God grants is greater than the restriction he put on them.
The Garden was an open orchard — trees and flowers of every kind — fruit and beauty unsurpassed, even a river running through the midst of it.
In (Genesis 2:15-17) we read. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Question, how many trees did God plant in the center of the garden? I bet you often overlooked that there were two. (Genesis 2:9) “And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
God singled out two trees — the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And he said to them — “Of this tree — this one “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” “for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Isn’t there a lesson in that for us? We tend to focus on the restrictions of life — and are always being tempted to go against those restrictions — to rebel. We don’t take enough time, we don’t give enough thought to the positive options that are ours throughout life.
In the garden we find the reality of, the introduction of free will. From the very beginning, God gave us freedom to choose. He had no intention for us to be robots. God’s intention for Adam and Eve was that they choose, their decision was to have fellowship with Him — eternal life — life in the Garden. Did you note that the tree of life was not on the prohibited list. God’s intention for us was partnership with him.
The reality is we can always choose. We can put into action not only what we do in relation to God ,and we can choose what we do in response to what life does to us and the consequences.
In our Second reading, Mark 3:20-30, Mark records for us how Jesus wasn’t what people expected. His teachings were often hidden in parables. His teachings about: ”The Reality of Sin, the Scriptures, and Salvation.
Jesus had an unconventional ministry, aimed at fishermen, tax collectors, and housewives ” people who were not the elite of his time. In spite of his popularity, it was clear that he was charting his own course, and playing up to no-one. Some of his teachings even contradicted the conventional wisdom of his time.
Even the people Jesus was closest to ” his family ” did not understand what he was up to, and they were very concerned about him. They had heard disturbing reports about his teachings and healings. It was all so radically new that they thought he was beside himself. So when they heard that he was home in their village they set out to see him. If only they could have a few words with him privately they might be able to do something. He had frankly become an embarrassment. Mark tells us that people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
Have you ever been stuck in traffic behind a really slow moving vehicle? This can be a very frustrating experience, especially when you’re running late. Just the other day, I was reading a story about an experience a woman had in San Diego. In San Diego there is a highway where one exit leads from one highway directly onto another. To make matters worse there is a steep upward hill on the second highway which is used frequently by cement trucks. You can imagine the results as cars leave one highway traveling 65 miles per hour only to find a cement truck slowly making its way up the hill at 20 miles per hour or less.
One day that woman found herself on this highway behind a big yellow-and-red cement truck. The truck was traveling so slowly that she had to watch the tire tread to be sure the truck was actually moving. It seemed to take forever as the truck slowly approached the same exit that she was taking. After what seemed like an eternity the woman was finally able to pass the truck that slowed her down. To say she was upset would be an understatement. She was fuming. As she passed the truck she looked up at the driver, no doubt to give him a dirty look. But when she glanced up at him he was already looking at her. And then a hand puppet appeared in his window. It was a character from Sesame Street, and it was waving at her as the truck driver smiled. Well, that unexpected gesture changed the woman’s attitude. She smiled and laughed. She was no longer upset. In fact she now says that as she drives that section of the highway she looks expectantly for that one yellow-and-red cement truck.
Now that certainly isn’t what you would have expected in such a situation. You might have expected angry words, or at least gestures, to be exchanged. But life is full of those times when the unexpected happens. Not everything that happens turns out that well, of course. Sometimes when the unexpected happens it upsets us. We like to be in control, and when the unexpected happens, we sometimes lose that control. Some of us don’t appreciate the unexpected at all.
In the same way, Jesus really wasn’t what they expected. And that thread ran throughout his entire ministry. The people had a different expectation of what the Messiah would be like, and Jesus just didn’t fit that expectation ” plain and simple. Especially ”the teachers of the law”. They accused him of blasphemy. They said he is possessed by Beelzebub.
Just so you understand “blasphemy” is an act or offense of speaking without proper respect about God or the Scriptures. In the context of today’s gospel, however, this “blasphemy” Jesus speaks of is specific. The “teachers of the law” to whom he is speaking have observed Jesus’ healings and exorcisms and they have refused to see these actions as the work of the Holy Spirit. Instead they have “blasphemed” by ascribing the presence of the Holy Spirit to the presence of the “prince of demons.” They look at good and see only evil. They look at Jesus who possesses the Spirit of God and declare him to have an “evil spirit.” They were so addicted to their beliefs in Scripture, their beliefs in what was needed for forgiveness of Sin, that they were blinded to their own need of Salvation. They were “blaspheming” against the Holy Spirit. This prompted Jesus to tell them: ”whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”
They were blinded to the realities of Sin, the Scriptures and the need of Salvation for the forgiveness of their sins, as Jesus taught.

Understand this!! The only unforgivable sin is to never ask God to come into your heart! To become “Righteous through Faith in God!

As Paul wrote: “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.”(Romans 1:7) They could only become Righteous through Faith in God. (Romans 3:23-26).”for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

The Realities of Sin, Scripture and Salvation is this; You need to repent of your Sin, believe in your heart what Scripture has taught, and ask for Salvation, the forgiveness of your sin, which was paid for by the grace of God ”through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”


In His Service, Pastor Joe

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Pastor Joe will be available at the church on Thursday afternoon from 2 to 4.  If you need to speak to him, contact Pastor Joe at 570-267-4570 (cell) or Email: joe.s.travis@gmail.com

Pastor Joe will be on 4 weeks of vacation beginning June 11 returning to the pulpit July 11th resuming office hours July 15th.

Loose change goes to Local Mission

Sunday School starts at 8:30am.  A good time to join us.

PW is gathering recipes for a church/community cookbook.   If you have a favorite recipe you would like to share, it can be emailed to Bonne, or give it to her handwritten.

Newsletter Deadline – Tuesday June 29, 2021. 

Social Hour TODAY after church with cake and coffee

Pastor Marilyn will be in the pulpit June 13, 20 and 27

PW will meet Thursday June 10 at 11am

Men’s Breakfast will be Wed. June 16 at 8:00 A.M.

Session meets June 22 at 9:00 A.M.

EMAIL address for the church has been changed to:  fhpc400@att.net  

Please tune your radio to 89.5 FM to hear the church service.

PARKING LOT TRANSMISSION WILL END JULY 11TH.

 

 

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