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Be A Good Friend

9/23/2018

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Proverbs 31: 10-31 James 3: 13-4: 3 ; Mark 9: 30-37
September 23, 2018


It is hard to make truly good friends. It can be hard to make new friends. But Teri Leinbaugh tells about her seven year old son who, when they moved int a new home, made some fast friends. An hour after leaving on a tour of the neighborhood, he was back proclaiming that he had made two new friends.
Mom asked, “Are they boys or girls?”

“One is a boy and one is a girl.”
“That's great,” Mom told him. “How old are they?”
“Mom,” he replied, “that would be very rude to ask.”
That seemed odd to her, that a 7 year old would respond this way. But an hour later, he was back. “Mom,” he yelled, “I found out how old my new friends are. The girl is sixty-five and the boy is seventy.”
It is good that he didn't have an age limit on friendship. He seemed to have a handle on being a friend. As I was doing research for today's sermon on being a good friend, I googled friendship. I found list after list giving descriptions of what being a good friend looks like; the 7 qualities of a good friend, 25 ways to be a good friend, 11 signs of a genuine friendship, 10 tips on being a good friend, the 13 Essential Friendship Traits. And I wondered how to select the list that fits best with what we are doing with our Jacob's 11 list.  ​

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Be Gentle to Others

9/16/2018

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​Proverbs 1: 20-33; James 3: 1-12; Mark 8: 27-38
September 16, 2018


James, the author of our epistle reading today, seems pretty paranoid about the power of the tongue. A few examples from his epistle “The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity.” “no one can tame the tongue-- a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” If any does “ not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.” “the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.” “As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.” He obviously believed that we should watch our words carefully.
Today's trait from Jacob's 11 is the trait of gentleness. We are in week ten of the eleven traits, just one week left. It is awfully easy to fail to be gentle in how we use our words in relating to one another.

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Be Thankful

9/9/2018

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​Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; James 2:1-10, 14-17; Mark 7:24-37
September 9, 2018



None of our lectionary readings are about being thankful. But as I read the gospel stories, I couldn't help but imagine there were words and tears of thankfulness. They are not typical healing stories, but then I guess none of the healings of Jesus were typical. I want to look at each story in more detail and then try to include a discussion of thankfulness.
The first is the story of a Gentile woman who's daughter was sick, well, Mark says she had an unclean spirit. Jesus was in a friend's house, trying to get some alone time. But that seems to have been impossible for him. He was found out and this woman came and bowed at his feet and requested healing for her daughter. There follows one of the strangest conversations in all the bible. “Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.'” Wow, did he really call this woman a dog?

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Be Kind

9/2/2018

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ong of Solomon 2:8-13; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
September 2, 2018


We will read from the epistle of James each Sunday in September. James is perhaps the most practical book of the New Testament; it is certainly the one most centered on the works of the Christian life. Chuck Swindoll introduces the book like this, “Its consistent focus on practical action in the life of faith is reminiscent of the Wisdom Literature in the Old Testament, encouraging God’s people to act like God’s people. The pages of James are filled with direct commands to pursue a life of holiness. For James, a faith that does not produce real life change is a faith that is worthless.”
It seems to me that as we study the 11 traits of Jacob Wetterling, they have been all about practical action, about giving evidence that we are God's people. Today's theme is “Be Kind”. And as we look at this first chapter of James, we will find some actions that fit this decree. We can almost go verse by verse to see what kindness looks like in the eyes of the biblical author.
​



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