When Jesus Was On The Cross, You And I Were On His Mind

Read Luke 19:28-40, Luke 23:32-34, John 1:1-14a

There was a time when I had the idea that over the ages God tried various approaches to saving people like me. I believed he warned people that they were doomed if they did not listen to and obey him. He kept giving them more chances to repent and change their ways But nothing seemed to work. So finally he decided to try, as a last resort, to send Jesus to show us and teach us how to live.

Of course, I was wrong about that. What I failed to realize was that Jesus was not a last resort. Jesus was God’s first and only plan of salvation for the world, including you and me. I primarily came to understand through the opening verse of the gospel of John. John points out that Jesus (The Word) existed in the beginning, as part of  what the Christian church came to understand as the Trinity – God in three persons – Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit. In the beginning Jesus was the light of all people, including you and me. In the beginning God had already decided that he would come into the world (planet Earth) in the form if a human being (Jesus), at the right time and place, to save the world, and not condemn it.

I came to understand that before the first human beings were created, and certainly before you and I were created, God love us so much that he would do anything to provide for our salvation. Even suffer and die for us. When he created the first human beings, he knew that one day he would create you and me.  The salvation of humanity was on his mind. And you and I were on his mind. Not because there is anything special about us. But because then, now, and in the future, God has and will always love us. 

Down through the ages – the flood, slavery in Egypt, the exodus, the Babylonian exile, the return to the promised land – during all the events of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) it seemed that he must have been so busy saving the ancient Israelites from their sinful behavior, over and over again. People like Abraham, Noah, Moses, and David were on his mind. But at the same time you and I were on his mind.

And then at the right time and place, he became flesh (human) and lived among us. He must have had so much on his mind back then. So many people on his mind. Like those disciples of his, who never seemed to get it right as to who he was and how to follow him. Like all those people with sickness and demons, all needing to be healed. People who needed to be fed. Poor people. Rich people. Good people. Bad people. All of them sinners. They were all on his mind. Yet with all that, you and I were on his mind.

That brings us to the day the Christian church celebrated yesterday – Palm Sunday. I used to think that on that day Jesus must have felt like he had achieved success. The crowd cheering him as he entered Jerusalem. But he knew this would not last long. He knew what he came to do. And it wasn’t what they wanted him to do. They wanted him to save them by leading a revolution to overthrow the Romans and institute an independent nation with himself as their benevolent political king. But he knew that salvation for all those people required that he suffer and die for them. And it was suffering and dying that was on his mind on that day. Those people, some who supported him for the wrong reason, and some who condemned him, not realizing that they were doing so as part of God’s plan for their salvation, were on his mind that day. At the same time, you and I were on his mind.

Then finally they nailed him to the cross. And for three hours he suffered, slowly dying. From the cross, he looked upon the crowd that day. He had them all on his mind. Those who loved him. Those who denied and ran from him. Those wo were too busy celebrating Passover to care what happened to him. Those who were executed with him. Thos who literally tortured him. And those who made all that possible – Caiphus, Herod, Pilate. They were all on his mind that day. And he prayed for them all. saying “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”

And even during those final hours, when it seemed to him tat God his Father had forsaken him, when he took upon himself all the sins of humanity – past, present, and future – you and I were still on his mind. He looked ahead in time that day. To a time about 2,000 years later, to December 20,1939, when a child named Raymond would be born. A sinful child. Who would become a sinful man. And who 76 years later, is still a sinner. Who knows the difference between right and wrong. But who sins anyway. And is still forgiven.

Yes, he was concerned about my sins that day. He was concerned about my future. He asked God the Father to forgive me. And God has forgiven me, and continues to forgive me. All it takes on my part is that I confess that I am a sinner, confess my specific sins, and repent. Make a decision to turn away from my self-centered ways, and by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, turn back to him as my only means of salvation. When he was on the cross that day, you and I were on his mind. Not because there would be anything special about us. But because he loved me. When he was on the cross that day, you and I were on his mind. Because he loved and will always love us. That’s the good news in the midst of the bad news, for you and me and everyone who will listen to and accept his love, not just on Palm Sunday, but everyday.     

Grace and  peace,  Ray

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We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about April 4.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

————————————————————————————————

We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City

 

 

 

 

 

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God Loves You, Even If You Turn Away

Read Luke 15:11-32

I have always sympathized with the older son in this story. One day, as he returns to the house, he hears music and dancing. There’s a party going on. He discovers that the party is being given by his father for that no good brother of his, who took his inheritance from his father, left home, squandered his inheritance money, and now that he has nothing left, has come back home. The older son is angry and sulks outside the house.

His father comes out to talk to him. He asks his older son what is his problem. And the older brother lets him have it. “What do you think is wrong? All these years I’ve been faithful to you. I’ve done my duty serving you, just like I was one of your slaves. Now this son of yours walks in after all these years and you give him a testimonial dinner.” Yes, I can sympathize with the older son.

The father responds, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours”. Implied in this statement are some questions? “Did you ever go without a roof over your head? Have you ever gone without anything that you needed to live well on this estate?” The story ends there. We don’t know how the older son answers. But the father’s implied answer is that he has been loving the older son all along. He has provided everything he needed. Even now he wants his older son to come in and enjoy life. He loves this older son now even though the he has turned away from his father and his younger brother.

Now I’m not so sure I still sympathize  with the older son. In fact, he reminds me of some people I have known during my lifetime.Self-centered people who take all the things they have for granted. People who always want and usually have their own way. Sports figures who get paid millions of dollars to play games, and then complain that they don’t get paid enough. Corporate heads who aren’t effective in their work, and get millions in severance pay just to get them to leave. My list could go on, but you get the idea.

Certainly this doesn’t apply to religious people like you and me, who do their duty to God by attending worship services and giving their time and money. Right? On the other hand, as I look at the context of this story, I discover that Jesus was in fact talking to faithful religious people. People who faithfully attended their worship and tried to live perfectly in accordance with God’s will, as they understood God’s will. So I wonder if this story is, in fact, not just for people 2,000 years ago, but for many, and maybe most of us today.

I don’t know if you believe this message applies to you, but I know it is intended for me. It’s a message about God’s love. The message is that God never stops loving us, even when we turn away from God and our sister and brothers who have fallen on hard times. In return for that love, God expects me to let God’s grace work within me so that I will be made perfect in love. Over the years, I believe I’ve been getting better at that. But I have not yet been made perfect in love. There are still some obstacles I haven’t turned over to God. In fact, sometimes I kind of want to hold on to them.. Just like that older son was doing in the story.

There is an incident that happened about 15 years ago, that  to my mnd now and then. It was a time when I was sure that I was really getting good at this matter of becoming perfect in love. And then it happened. Something came in the mail. It was a bill from the place where my wife Joan was going for physical therapy. Without going into all the details, let me just explain that the bill they sent me was totally different than what was shown on the health insurance company explanation of benefits form. My records also showed we had already paid, and actually overpaid, but this bill said we owed more money to them. My immediarte thought was that while the service provided by this organization was excellent, its billing practices were incomptent, if not fraudulent. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and chalked it up to their incompetence.

Within a few minutes after receiving this bill, which was just a few hours after patting myself on the back for having achieved perfection in love, I became angry. There was nothing loving about my words and thoughts toward the organization that sent me this bill. The apostle Paul describes love as patient and kind, but I had no patience with that bill and the organization which sent it to me. And I was in no mood to feel kindly to it.

Of course, I justified my anger by saying that it was directed toward a faceless corporate entity. But then I sensed God telling  me that behind the faceless corporation were human faces. Yes, maybe they were incompetent. And they were definitely wrong. And they would have to take some corrective action. But because God loved me, God reminded me that I was expected to deal with and relate to those people with love. Because they were God’s children just like I was, God expected me to treat them as brothers and sisters. God expected me to be patient and kind with them.

Since then I have continued to work at using God’s grace to become a person made totally  perfect in love. I know I will probably not achieve that until my last breath of life on this earth. Every now and then I am reminded that I am still a sinner. Better than I used to be in sharing God’s love, but still a long way to go before I am made perfect in love. There are still too many times when I turn away from God and say and do things my way. But in this story, Go also reminds me that even when I do turn away from God and go my old self-centered way, God still loves me.

I believe that any time is a good time, and this season of Lent is an especially good time, to take time to identify and turn over to God any obstacles which prevent us from accepting and sharing God’s love. A good time to allow ourselves to be reconciled with God and with each other. A good time to identify the ways in shich God has been and is now loving us.

Maybe this story and what I have written doesn’t apply to you. Maybe you have been made perfect in love. Then I pray that God will use you to help others achieve that goal. In any case, I will close by reminding you that God has always loved you, loves you now, and will always love you. Even if you forget, ignore, or turn away from God, remember that God will still love you.      

Grace and  peace,  Ray

———————————————————————————————————-

We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about March 21.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

————————————————————————————————

We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City

 

 

 

Who Is In Control Of Your Life?

Read Luke 13:31-35

On August 9, 1173 construction began on a building intended to be the bell tower of the San Marco Cathedral in Pisa, Italy. Within five years the building began to tilt to the north. As the centuries went by, the building tilted to such an extent  that, while it was and still is, the bell tower of the cathedral, it became better known as the tourist attraction called the Leaning Tower of Pisa. By the 1970’s, almost 900 years after construction began, computer models predicted that the tilt would continue to increase, and the building would fall, soon and very soon.

A committee of scientists and engineers devised a way to correct the problem. Their solution was to gradually remove soil from the high side of the building and, with use of heavy cables tilt it back to a greater degree of stability.  It would take abot 50 years to achieve perfection, making the tower perfectly perpendicular, as originally intended. But perfection wasn’t the goal. They merely wanted to reduce the tilt to what it was about 300 year ago. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be the Leaning Tower anymore.

The acceptance of being imperfect, when there can be perfection, is okay for the Leaning Tower. But for people it’s not okay, because God’s plan is that we will be be made perfect. Not perfect in the sense that we never make mistakes, that we know everything there is to know, or that we have perfect health. No, God’s plan is for people to be made perfect in love. Which means that we accept God’s love and share God’s love with each other. That we turn from our self-centered ways to become God and neighbor centered people. Why?Because to the extent that we receive and share God’s love, we experience the good life (see I Corinthians 13:4-7)  we can only experience in the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Where no matter what things look like from the human perspective, God is in control. No matter how bad things seem to be, life is still good for us. Because God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good. Because God always loves us, God always extends his goodness to us.

Of course, we can’t become perfect in love through our own efforts. Only God can do this. But we need to allow God to do this to us and for us. Which means we need to totally surrender our lives to God and accept God’s love. And there is our problem. We do not want to give up control of our own lives.

In today’s scripture reading, Jesus laments over Jerusalem precisely because the people have resisted and rejected God’s love, which he offers to them. They will not surrender to God and God’s love. Nevertheless, God never stops loving them. Jesus never stops loving them. He is so distressed because in rejecting him, they are rejecting God’s love. As a result, they are not be able to experience the good life in the kingdom of God.

As Jesus describes the good life in the kingdom of God with his parables, it sounds like it would be so much better than life as they know it. Life as they know it is life filled with fears, anxieties, worries, and problems which seem to always be with them. But they will not receive and share God’s love. Because they will not let God control their lives.

Maybe you can imagine how heart-broken Jesus must have felt. Maybe you’ve had the experience of wanting to be a friend to someone in who was in need. You wanted to do something good to help  this person. But your friendship was rejected. Jesus wants to be their friend. A friend who will do anything to get them through whatever problems they are experiencing in their lives. He is even willing to die for them. But they will not accept his love. They reject his friendship. Yet he still loves them anyway. He will even die for them. He will die for them because he came into this world to save them , and not to condemn them, even though they would condemn him. How ironic it is that even though they go about convinced that they are in control of their lives, Jesus, in his decision to die for them, is demonstrating that ultimately, God is in control.

No matter what things look like, God is always in control. That’s the message Jesus sends back to Herod with the Pharisees.  He refers to Herod as “that fox”. The fox was a symbol of destruction. Herod had the power to destroy Jesus’ human body, as he had destroyed John the Baptist. But Jesus” message to “that fox” is that he has work to do. He has a vision. The kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven. Where God’s love is the only reality. Jesus has a mission and ministry to accomplish, in order to assure that his vision will one day become a universal reality. And neither Herod or anyone else will keep him from doing what he came to do. He will continue to do his work until his work is finished. That will not be too long from now, but  He will die, on the cross, in Jerusalem, at the appointed time.  it will not be until he announces from the cross – “It is finished”.

 In contrast to the image of the destructive fox, Jesus refers to himself as a mother hen, trying to protect her baby chicks. Human logic says the fox, Herod and those who wield destructive power, can easily dispose of the hen, the apparently helpless Jesus. But the hen sends a message back to the fox which in effect says, “things aren’t what they seem to be. You are not in control here. God is in control. ” Jesus knows he is going to die. But it’s not because of anything the fox will do to him. He will die, on a cross, in Jerusalem, at the appointed time, because that is God’s plan for the salvation of humanity.

Jesus laments over Jerusalem because he knows that these people he loves so much that he will die for them, because of their own self-centeredness, are headed for destruction. These people who, if only they would totally surrender to God, and allow themselves to be made perfect in their love for God and each other, would be able to live joyfully, despite whatever the foxes in their lives might do to them. Jesus laments not just for Jerusalem. He laments for all of humanity. Even for you and me.

Right now most Christians are observing the season of Lent, in preparation for Good Friday and Easter Sunday, when we are especially mindful of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Lent is a time to identify the ways in which we resist God’s control of our lives. Lent is a time to identify the obstacles which we allow to get in our way and which prevent us from being made perfect in love. The obstacles which keep us from experiencing the good life In the kingdom of God as we go through life in this world. Lent is a time to let God overcome those obstacles for us.

Lent is a time to remember that God loves all people, including ourselves, so much, that he came into this world, in the form of a human being named Jesus, to suffer and die for us. So that we might be made perfect in love, to live here and now in the kingdom of God, and when our lives in this world are over, to live forever in that perfect state of love that he prepared for us. Lent is a time to repent. A time to give up trying to control our own lives, and instead to totally surrender our lives to God, so that we can receive and share God’s love, as God created us to do. Lent is a time to be reconciled with God and with each other.

Grace and  peace,  Ray

———————————————————————————————————-

We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about March 7.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

———————————————————————————————————-

We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

 

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City

Get Off The Treadmill Of Life – Find A Time And Place To Pray

Read Luke 9:28-36

About 20 years ago my wife, Joan,  was seriously injured in an automobile accident. Her rehabilitation process included exercising on a treadmill. I also used it, just to see what it was like. I quickly discovered that unless you take control of the treadmill by intentionally shutting it off or reducing the speed, the treadmill controls you. It can go so fast that you can’t keep up with it. You can stumble, fall, and get hurt on a treadmill which is controlling you. However, the treadmill is not the problem. The problem is that you are letting it control you.

That’s one kind of treadmill. But I’ve had experience with another kind of treadmill, And maybe you have too. It’s called the treadmill of life. Life lived on the run. Life in a world which says that the busier you are, and the more things you do, the more valuable you are. Americans, like me, are very busy people. We have to spend time with the family, sports for the children, work, shopping, volunteer activities, and even religious responsibilities. There’s nothing wrong with being busy with these and other good and wholesome activities. The problem arises when we let the treadmill of life control us. When we do what we are doing just because that’s what we’ve always done. Or that’s what everybody else is doing. Because that’s what the world expects of us. We can become so busy with good and wholesome activities that we lose touch with God. We begin to move away from God. Before long we have no time for God. We become separated from God. And when that happens, it’s called sin. The basic definition of sin is separation from God.

It’s easy to control the exercise treadmill we use at home or the gym. You simply turn the knob to reduce the speed or turn it off. But how do you control the treadmill of life? You turn to God. For Christians, you turn to Jesus. Because Jesus is God in human form. Because Jesus himself faced the treadmill of life just as we do today. Jesus was pressured by the world to do what the world wanted him to do. His family wanted him to stay home.. Sick and disabled people wanted him to heal them. Hungry people wanted him to feed them. People looking for guidance and direction in their lives sought counseling from him. His disciples wanted him to lead a revolution against the Roman Empire.

Just before the mountaintop experience we read about in the scripture suggested above, Jesus had been teaching about the kingdom of God, training his disciples, healing a woman, bringing a child back to life, feeding thousands of people, and calming a storm at sea. He spent considerable and frustrating time trying to explain to his disciples, God’s vision for him and for them. And immediately after he came down from the mountaintop he was called upon to exorcise a demon.

How can you control the treadmill of life? How can you live without getting sick and tired and burned out because you are on a treadmill which the world controls? Look to Jesus for the answer. Because Jesus experienced th treadmill of human life, and he knew how to keep it under control. How did he do that? Let’s consider why Jesus went up on the mountaintop in the first place. The story in the suggested scripture reading is about his transfiguration. It’s about his closest disciples being able to see his divinity. But I don’t think he expected that to happen. The story says that he went there to pray. The gospels tell of many times when Jesus finds a time  and place to pray. He prays at the beginning of his public ministry – at his baptism. He prays before choosing his disciples. He prays whenever the crowds become overwhelming. He prays befor he goes to work. He prays at the end of his ministry, knowing that he will soon be arrested and executed. He prays as he is dying on the cross.

Whenever Jesus feels that the treadmill of life is too fast and he can’t keep up with it, he turns it off. He stops everything he’s doing and he prays. whenever there are important decisions to be made, he turns off the treadmill of life and prays. When the future looks hopeless, he prays. That’s what Jesus does. And that’s what we need to do. If you are being overwhelmed by the treadmill of life, turn it off, stop what you are doing, and pray.

The mountaintop experience revealed the divinity of Jesus. He could have spent time in this world as God, without experiencing any of the realities of human life. But Jesus chose to spend his time in this world experiencing life as a human being. And part of the human experience is the world always trying to keep you on a treadmill it contols. Where you are so busy just keeping up with the treadmill of life that you become separated from God. Jesus knew this. He knew when it was time to turn off the treadmill of life. He knew when it was time to stop what he was doing  and find a time and a place to pray. Time to get back in touch with God.

In this story Jesus goes to the mountaintyop to pray because he realizes he is at a turning point in his ministry. So far he has been working in and aroud Galillee, never too far from his home town. And for the most part he has been successful. But he knew that no matter how much good he was doing in this limited territory, God expected him to leave and go to Jerusalem, to suffer and die, and to be raised to eternal life. Jesus realized that God had chosen him to save the world. God had given him a vision and it must have been frightening. It must have crossed his mind that he didn’t have to go to Jeusalem. He could have decided to get back of the treadmill of life, doing what he was doing, and living to a ripe old age.

So he needed to be in touch with God about his future. He needed to be reassured that God really wanted him to go to Jerusalem. He needed to be reassured that he would be able to fulfill that responsibility. On the mountaintop he received the reassurance he needed. Jesus momentarily experienced the resurrected state which would be his eternally. And having that experience, there was no question in his mind as to what God expected of him, and that God would give him the power to do what God expected of him.

We all need to get off the treadmill of life from time to time. If we don’t we will let the world control us. We will lose touch with God. We need to stop and pray to understand what God expects us to do with our lives. What does God want us to do later today, tomorrow, next month, next year. What is the vision, mission, and ministry that God has in store for us. We each need to find the times and places where we can stop and pray. On the mountaintop, the disciples who were with Jesus, heard God say “…Listen to him”. God didn’t just mean listen to his words, important as they were and still are, but listen by watching what he does. About 15 years ago a catchy phrase was being spoken over and over again by many American Christians, including myself  – “WWJD – What would Jesus do?” But that was not just a catchy phrase. It was another way of saying “Listen to what Jesus says. Watch what he does. Then you speak and act in the same way”.

The world will not like it if you turn off the treadmill of life. Because the world wants to be in control of your life. But we are here in this world to follow Jesus and not the world. During his brief time (about 33 years) in this world in human form, Jesus always found a time and place to turn off the treadmill if life and to be with God. And whenever he got back on the treadmill of life, he did not let the world control it. He allowed God to keep it under control. So that even as he walked on the treadmill of life, he was never out of touch with God. We also need to do the same. Find a place and take the time to get off the treadmill of life and follow the example Jesus gives us. Keep in touch with God and let God, and not the world, control your life.

Grace and  peace,  Ray

———————————————————————————————————-

We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about February 22.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

————————————————————————————————

We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

          

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City

Jesus Always Always Offers Good News In The Midst Of Bad news

Read Luke 4:14-30

God has affirmed that Jesus is God’s son, the Messiah, the Anointed One, sent to save and not condemn the world. Jesus has withstood the temptation of the devil, who has tried to turn him away fro his mission. He has begun his public ministry, preaching, teaching, and healing in the territory of Galilee, in northern Palestine. He has already established a reputation of saying good things to and doing good things for the people he meets. For bringing good news where there has mostly been the same old bad news.

Now he comes to his hometown, Nazareth. He is invited to preach at the local synagogue. His sermon Is based on Isaiah 61:1-2. It’s one of the prophecies written in the Hebrew Bible, about 500 years before, which God promised to fulfill. A prophecy concerning the coming of a Messiah, a Savior, to save the people from the bad news they were hearing and experiencing. For centuries the Jewish people had understood that this Messiah would come as a human king descended from king David. A king who would use military and political power to accomplish his ends – which included:

“Giving good news to the poor,

Recovery of sight to the blind,

Letting the oppressed go free,

Proclaiming release to the captives,

Proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor”

After reading the scripture Jesus began to preach. We don’t have the whole sermon. Just the opening statement, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”. But that statement alone was enough for the people to realize what he was saying.

They rightly understood that he was not just talking about the coming of a Messiah in the future, but that he himself was the Messiah, the Savior. God’s promise was no longer for the future, but was being fulfilled on that very day, right there and then, in their presence. The rightly understood him to be saying, “stop focusing on and experiencing the same old bad news, so you can see and experience the new good news that I want to give you”.

They now had a choice, They could go on moaning and groaning about their condition, continuing to focus on the same old bad news, wondering if the Messiah would ever come. Or they could accept Jesus as the Messiah, and experience the good news he had for them, in the midst of the bad news. They could experience the future they had been longing for, in the present, right then and there.

You might remember the ad slogan for the Chrysler/Plymouthcommericals announcing the new auto models at rhe end of 1956 – Suddenly – it’s 1960″. Those were the first cars with the big tail fins and all the chrome, that became popular in the 1960s. The manufacturer’s ads were announcing that people had a choice. They could wait until 1960 to experience the future. Or they could buy one of those cars and have a foretaste of the future right now.

Jesus was telling the people that they could have a foretaste of the future that God promised to fulfill, in the present. Today. Right now. However, to the people in his hometown, Jesus didn’t look or sound like the Messiah they and their ancestors had expected for the past 500 years. They were expecting a human king, descended from King David, who would use military power to establish Israel as an independent nation. Since this wasn’t what they saw in Jesus, they in effect chose to continue dewelling on the same old bad news, rejecting the opportunity to experience good news that Jesus offered in the present, then and there.

Now how about us? As we live in this new year. What is our response as Jesus offers us a foretaste of the future. Good news in the midst of bad news. Hope where there seems to be no reason to hope. What is our response as we continue to see and hear constant bad news about war, violent crime, terrorism, racism, sickness, destruction of our environment, etc.?What is our response when Jesus tells us that despite all that is wrong in the world and in our lives, we can experience a foretaste of the good news of his future kingdom, in the present, here and now? Do we really believe we can experience a foretaste of the future in the present. Do we really believe that we can experience Jesus and the hope and good news he brings  – today? Do we really believe him when he says that where just two or three are gathered together in his name, he Is in our midst? Do we really believe that when we are gathered, with him in our midst, we can experience a foretaste of the God’s kingdom of heaven on earth, which Christians, like me, pray for every Sunday in the Lord’s prayer? Today? Here and now? Do we rally believe in any of that? If we do, it should show up in the way we live.

I don’t know about you, but to be honest, that’s not always easy for me to do. All too often, I find myself dwelling on the bad news of the world, telling myself that there is no hope until Jesus comes again. And not really expecting him to come anytime soon. But my commitment this year, to myself, my friends and family, my church, and to you, is to stop focusing on and experiencing the same old bad news. Instead, every time I see and hear bad news, I won’t ignore it, but I will pray that God will give all of us, including me, the grace we need to live as though we believe that despite all the bad news in our world and in our lives, we will focus on the good news that Jesus offers all people. I invite you to join me in praying that the world will come to experience the peace, love, and joy of Jesus, not in some unknown distant future, but wherever as few as two or three are gathered in his name, today and every day, here and now.

Grace and  peace,  Ray

———————————————————————————————————-

We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about February 8.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

————————————————————————————————

We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

          

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City

Why We Need The Holy Spirit

Read Acts 8:4-25

Simon the magician amazes and captivates the people of Samaria with his powerful magic. They call him “the Power of God…”. But along comes Philip. Performing miracles and signs in the name of Jesus. Healing people. Casting out demons. The people turn away from Simon and to Philip. Probably at first because they see Philip as a magician, even greater than Simon. But as they listen to Philip proclaim the good news of Jesus and the kingdom of God, they believe. And they are baptized. So powerful are the works and words of Philip that even Simon believes and is baptized.

Back in Jerusalem, church headquarters receives word of this remarkable development. They also hear that despite the Samaritan’s belief and baptism, they have not received the Holy Spirit. And the church leaders know from their own recent experience, that unless you have the Holy Spirit in your life, you cannot really do God’s will and work effectively. They know that before they received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost they were a small fearful group of believers, hiding from the world around them. But when they received the Holy Spirit they came out of hiding and began proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the kingdom of God to the hostile world around them. They know that the Samaritans need to receive the Holy Spirit. God sends Peter and John to be the channels through which the Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit, by laying on of hands.

After the Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit, the focus is again on Simon the magician. Simon wants the power to do something really good and worthwhile. To do what Peter and John have been doing. To send the Holy Spirit into the lives of other people. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with that. But Peter condemns Simon. Peter sees what we don’t see at first. And maybe even Simon doesn’t see. Simon isn’t concerned about how other persons will benefit by receiving the Holy Spirit. He is concerned about having the power to move the Holy Spirit. He sees this power as a major new trick  to add to his magic show. So he can regain the awe and respect of the people. This power is so important to him that he is willing to pay for it.

When I was a teenager, I was told that one reason to belong to a church was that it looked good when you applied for a job. In other words, going to church would serve your needs. That might have been true in the 1950s. But it isn’t true today. Yet all too often we still tell people to join our church because it will serve their needs. It will make them feel good. It will get them through times of trouble. Church is good for you. All of which is true. But we are reluctant to tell people that the primary reason for being part of the church is not so the church can serve you, but so that you can serve God and your neighbor (other people), including those who are not church people.

Why is it that so many baptized believing Christians, especially in affluent nations like the USA, are like Simon. They are so caught up in having the church meet their own needs,  that they forget that their purpose is to serve God and neighbor? Why was it that Simon was so concerned with his power, rather than his service?

I think it’s because Simon the baptized believer, was still Simon the magician. Simon the believer was still the same old Simon. Simon himself had not received the Holy Spirit. He wanted to do good works, but for the wrong reason. A self-centered reason.

Simon might have asked, “what’s wrong with putting myself first, if the result is of benefit for other people?” Peter’s answer is “Your heart is not right before God”. And when your heart is not right with God, you have separated yourself from God. And if you turn away from God, you cannot effectively do God’s work. Simon didn’t understand why he needed the Holy Spirit. Why did Simon need the Holy Spirit? Why do we need the Holy Spirit in our lives? We need the Holy Spirit in our lives in order to discern and effectively pursue the deeds that God assigns to us. Decide to focus on God and the needs of others. Decide to become more Christ-like.

Grace and  peace,  Ray

———————————————————————————————————-

We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about December 28.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

————————————————————————————————

We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

 

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City

What Do You Really Think Of Jesus?

Read Luke 2:22-40

When I worked in New York, long before the thought ever crossed my mind that one day I would be a pastor, I always enjoyed the last two weeks of the year. Aside from therreligious significance of Christmas, there just seemed to be a more relaxed atmosphere. It wasn’t that we didn’t do our work during that period, but with the days off and the parties, we really only worked about four to six days during that period.

During those weeks I never gave much thought as to what was coming after Christmas. But on January 2nd it was back to the pressures of daily routines of life in the office. That’s the way life is. We get a few brief periods of respite from the routine – holiday, vacations, a new job, marriage, the birth of a baby. But eventually we must get back to the realities of everyday life. Paying for the vacation. The hard work of the new job. Changing the diapers of the new baby.

Most of us would probably like the celebration of Christmas to go on a bit longer. Maybe Mary and Joseph would have liked the atmosphere of that night when the baby Jesus was born to continue. But the above scripture reading brings Mary and Joseph, and you and me, to the reality of what we must expect after Christmas. We are reminded by the prophet Simeon that along with the warm and comfortable feelings surrounding the birth of the baby Jesus, there is the reality of who the grown-up Jesus really is.

Simeon understands better than most that as the Messiah, Jesus did not come to bring political freedom from the Roman Empire to the people of ancient Judea. He understood that one of the roles of Jesus was to be the Messiah, who would ultimately pass judgement on individuals. “This child is destined for the falling and rising of many”, says Simeon. Those who accept God’s love and grace and choose to live in the kingdom of God, and faithfully follow Jesus, will be raised to eternal life in God’s presence. But there will be those who oppose Jesus. Those who reject God’s grace. And they will face eternity without God.

Individuals will have to decide whether they are fo or against Jesus. Simeon says that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed. The question will be, “What do you really think of Jesus?”. Most of us probably haven’t thought through that question. Oh, I know that every Sunday many Christian churches recite a creed that explains who Jesus is. But those are other people’s words. We assent to them, but that doesn’t mean that we really believe or understand what we are reciting. The words we recite don’t necessarily answer the question, “What we really think of Jesus?”

When you do try to answer the question “What do you think of Jesus?”, you basically have to arrive at one of two positions. In a Bible study I once attended, the author of the study book suggested that we had to come to the conclusion that Jesus was and still is God, as the Bible says he is, or that Jesus was metally ill or an outright fraud. After all, he was going around claiming that he was God. Our options are that we either believe and trust him, or we do not believe and trust him.

What you think of Jesus, whether or not you believe and trust him, will be demonstrated by your actions.  If you believe and trust Jesus, you will “take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow him”. When you do that, your life will change, and you will change, not always in a way that you would like. Because following Jesus can be risky. It can be dangerous-even life threatening – in some parts of the  world. It can be humbling when you follow Jesus – God with us – you no longer fit in with the rest of the world. Depending on where Jesus takes you, you can be looked on as a fool, as a rabble-rouser, as an undesirable person. Just as Jesus was.

Those who follow Jesus are viewed as fools when they call for peace when the world sees force as the only answer. Those who follow Jesus are seen as rabble-rousers when they call for programs which will provide a just and more righteous treatment of minorities and foreigners. Those who follow Jesus are called undesirable when they advocate drug and alcohol treatment centers instead of prisons. The way in which we deal with social issues, as well as the way we relate to individuals, makes visible how we answer the question, “?hat do you relay think of Jesus?

Many of us have been so busy getting ready to celebrate Christmas, as both a religious and secular holiday, that we really haven’t had time to think about Jesus after Christmas. But now this man Simeon, from 2,000 years ago, reminds us that Jesus is more than a baby. We are reminded that this Jesus is our judge, who will judge us on whether or not we respond to him, in faith. How we answer the question , “What do you really think of Jesus?”

Advent – A Time To Proclaim Jesus As the Ultimate Source Of Hope And Good News For All People.

Read Luke 3:1-18

Writing was difficult and expensive in Luke’s time. So why does he take up space giving us this detailed list of secular and religious rulers and leaders in the 1st century? I believe it’s because Luke writes as a historian. At the opening of his gospel(Luke 1:1-4), he explains that he writes to give an orderly and carefully investigated account of events that have been fulfilled, and are being taught.

The events he writes about are the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Like any good historian, he puts all of this into the context of time and place. He investigates the key people of the time. Just as a historian writing today about the 1950s might note that Eisenhower was president of the USA. Stalin was in control of the Soviet Union. Norman Vincent Peale and Billy Graham were influential American religious leaders. This historian might write a book about a baseball player named Mickey Mantle, explaining how he and the New York Yankees fit into the bigger picture of Eisenhower, Stalin, Peale, and Graham.

That’s what Luke seems to be doing. Placing Jesus into the context into which he was born. But that’s not what Luke is doing. He’s doing just the opposite. Once we get through the whole gospel we understand that he isn’t telling us how Jesus fit into the big picture of the Roman Empire and the religious establishment. Luke is telling us that Jesus is the big picture. And this is how those historical figures, and history itself, fits into the big picture, which is Jesus. Things are not what they seem to be at first glance. These leaders and rulers seem to be in charge. But they’re not. Jesus, who seems to be so hopeless and helpless, is the one who is really in charge. These rulers and leaders seem to be the ones who pass judgement on others. But it is Jesus who is passing judgement on them.

Another part of the context is the quality of life of the common people. John advises people to share their coats and food. This suggests that poverty was common. Warnings to tax collectors and soldiers tell us that bribery, extortion, and greed were rampant., and there were no controls against those things. Later Luke and the others gospel writers tell us about how Jesus heals people. We realize that this is a disease-ridden world. Jesus tells people to love each other. Apparently this is not a loving society. This is not a good time or place for the common people.

It becomes evident that the common people are living in a hopeless world. The secular and religious leaders, who God has given the power and authority to provide for an orderly, just, and righteous society for all people, do nothing for them. They only make life more difficult.

But what does that have to do with all of us in the 21st century? We who are middle class and affluent people in relatively well to do nations, like the USA. For the most part, we are not hopeless people in hopeless situations. We have everything we need. And some of us have everything we want, and much more. Even the least affluent of us are living many times better than the great majority of the people in the world in these times.  We are not a hopeless or helpless people. Unlike the ordinary people of the 1st century in Palestine, for the most part, we are in control of things. Or are we?

It seems that every day we hear about bad news somewhere in the world. It seems that we really aren’t in control. We can’t control the violence in the Middle East. We can’t control the violence in some of our schools in the USA. We can’t control terrorism and crime of all sorts. We still can’t control the poverty that is still a reality for a large part of the world’s population. So maybe, like the common people of the Roman empire 2,000 years ago, we really aren’t in control. Maybe we are a hopeless people in a hopeless situation.

If that’s true, then that really is bad news. But here’s the good news. Like those ancient people, we don’t have to be a hopeless people in a hopeless situation. Not if we look in the right place. God’s message of good news and hope to hopeless people in first century Palestine wasn’t found in the expected places and sources – the secular rulers and the religious establishment. It was not proclaimed from the temple or the palace, where people would expect to find a message of hope. It was proclaimed in an unexpected place – the wilderness – where most of the people most of the time did not go. hope was proclaimed by an unexpected source, this strange man named John.

Over the past few decades Americans have searched in many places to find hope. Government, new age philosophy, talk shows and commentators, sports, entertainment, volunteer work, drugs, and alcohol. The list goes on and on. But they have not found lasting hope in those places.  And they will not find lasting hope until they turn to what was an unexpected source in the 1st century, and what is still an unexpected source for many people in all stages of life in the 21st century. That unexpected source of hope and good news was and still is the same source that John pointed to about 2,000 years ago.

This is the season known in the Christian church as Advent. It is a time to turn to Jesus for the hope we need. So that those who have no hope will have hope by seeing God working in our lives and the lives of others. It is a time to realize once again, or for the first time, that Jesus is the ultimate source of hope for all people, whatever a persons nationality, race, socio-economic status, or religion.  At the same time we who believe in Jesus as our ultimate source of hope and good news, are called upon by God, to share our knowledge and experience concerning this with others. We are to be disciples of Christ, so that those who are without hope and good news can have the same hope and good news that we h

Grace and  peace,  Ray

———————————————————————————————————-

We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about December 28.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

————————————————————————————————

We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

 

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City

 

 

Jesus Is Coming Again

Read Luke 21:5-11,25-36, Acts 1:6-7, Revelation 22:20

Yesterday was the first Sunday in Advent. In the secular world, especially in the USA, this means it’s time to begin the rush to begin Christmas shopping, decorating, and partying in earnest. And let’s admit it, most of  us who are of the Christian faith participate to some extent in the rush to Christmas.

We want to hear the Christmas story right now. We want to sing the Christmas songs right now. We want to hear and sing about the coming of the baby Jesus right now. We don’t really want to hear the words of the adult Jesus right now. But in the 6th century, during the middle ages, the church (the Body of Christ), by the inspiration of God, established Advent as a time not only to prepare to look back and celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus. But a time to look ahead and prepare for the time when Jesus will come again. 

But we don’t want to hear the Advent message that Jesus is coming again. I believe one reason for this is that we realize that if we are to believe Jesus when he says he is coming again, then we also have to believe what he says will happen before he comes again. that before he does come again. The world will be filled with warfare, violence, and all kinds of upheavals in the natural world. And we just don’t want to be reminded about all this . We just don’t want to face the reality that we live in a world filled with evil, much of which can and does have a direct impact upon our lives.

Another reason we doesn’t want to hear the Advent message is that if we are to believe Jesus, we must accept that he will pass judgement on each one of us. He will ask us some questions. And there will be no point in lying . Because he already knows the truth. “Were you a person of faith?” “Did you desire to live as a person of faith?” “Did you do your best to use all the grace that God offered you, to live as a person of faith?”      

As we examine our lives, some of us aren’t sure we really want to live in a way that demonstrates that we really are a people of faith. We don’t want to hear that we need to repent  and change our ways. We don’t want to hear the Advent message because we tend to hear it as bad news.

We’d rather get right on to the good news of the Christmas message. But if you have repented, and are doing your best to use the grace that God has given you to live as a person of faith, in response to God, who has already loved you enough to die for you, then you will hear the Advent message as good news. You will want to hear it. Because it tells you that no matter how hopeless things might appear to be. No matter how bad things are. Jesus is coming again. To save you and not condemn you. To assure that you and all people of faith will eternally experience the love, peace, joy, justice, and righteousness of God.

Jesus does not tell us when he will come again. But he does say that there will be signs of his coming. Just as the appearance of buds on a tree in the spring is a sign of the coming of summer.  I believe that the signs of Jesus coming again have been before us for a lifetime. I believe that all of the violence that’s been going on since Jesus came the first time, and which continues in the present, are the signs that Jesus is talking about.

So when Jesus talks a bout a time to watch. To pray. To prepare. To be ready. He means that the time is now. The signs are all around us that he is coming again. For people of faith, that’s good news. But Jesus also says that it isn’t for us to know to know just where, when, or how that will happen.  It might be thousands of years or more. Or it might be next year. Or maybe tomorrow. All we know is that Jesus is coming again, in God’s time and in God’s  way. Yes, Jesus is coming again. For people of faith, that’s good news.

In a few week we will joyfully celebrate the coming of Jesus the first time. But today, and for the next few weeks, let us joyfully celebrate that Jesus is coming again. Let us celebrate by examining our lives. Identifying those areas of our lives that need to be changed. Let us open our hearts and minds to receive the grace of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Allow the changes in our lives to take place. Make commitments to faith in Jesus. Make  commitments to live as people of faith. And with God’s help, according to the grace he gives us, do our best to live as the faithful, Christlike people that God created us to be. If we do that, we won’t have to rush toward Christmas. We can spend the next few weeks celebrating the joyful good news that Jesus is coming again.

Grace and  peace,  Ray

———————————————————————————————————-

We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about December 14.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

————————————————————————————————

We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

 

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City

Grace and  peace,  Ray

 

                 

Why Do We Need Church?

Read Hebrews 10:19-25

How often have you heard someone say “I don’t have to go to church. I believe in God. I’m a good person. I can talk to God anywhere. So why should I go to church?” Maybe you’ve said that to yourself or to someone else. Actually, I used to say that myself. About 50 years ago that was how I was justifying my extended absence from church.  So why do we need church? Why do we need to participate in the life of the church?

The primary reason is that God says “do it”. Through the above mentioned scripture, God says we should not neglect meeting together. When we do this faithfully we are able to provoke and encourage each other to love and good deeds. God knows what is best for us. And participating in the life of the church is one of the things that is best for us.  My personal experience is that this is true.

I spent the first 23 years of my life faithfully going to church. But there came a time, about 5o years ago, when I convinced myself that I could worship and praise God without ever setting foot inside a church. Decades before the phrase “I’m spiritual l but not religious” became popular, that’s how I felt. So I became a “church dropout”. During those years, I gradually became so caught up in and by the world that I didn’t have time to worship and praise God in my own little way. And when I did pray, it was never to worship and praise God, but always to ask or tell God what to do for me. Then one day, after a few years away from church had gone by one day, as I was lying in bed on an Easter Sunday morning, I heard God saying to me “you belong in church”. I told God that it was too late to get to church that morning. God then told me that I should go on the next Sunday. Next Sunday my wife and I were in church. Because God said “do it”. And God knew what was best for us.

In the years that followed, I found that as we meet together in the worship service and other aspects of the life of the church, God uses us to inspire, support, encourage, and otherwise help each other to keep our faith and live accordingly to our faith, no matter what the world says or does to us.

God has given all of us a variety of gifts, abilities, talents, knowledge, experience, and financial resources, to be used for his purposes, which are always good. When you combine and share what God has given you with what God has given others, you are able to do things you would never be able to do on your own. Also, you will have opportunities to share God’s love with and be Christ for others in and through the congregation. And God will give you people who will support  and help you through your times of greatest need.

Let me tell you my story about what God did for me through the people of the church. About 30 years ago I experienced a time of long-term unemployment. I was a young man who had a management title, with a certain amount of authority, status, prestige, and influence and a reasonably comfortable income. Then one day I became unemployed and continued in that situation for almost two years. During this time my family and I were on the brink of being homeless. I felt that the world had forgotten me and didn’t care. My vision of my future was that I had no future. It was the worst time of my life.

If I had been an isolated Christian at that time, it would have been so easy for me to have lost my faith in God. I would have stopped believing that God could make something good come out of this. But I didn’t lose faith in God. Because the one thing that didn’t change was my participation in the life of my church. During those years I found that the church was not a building, an organizational structure, or a program. The church was people of faith. Specifically, church was the one place in the world where people never stopped respecting me. They never forgot me. They gave me a sense of purpose. They assured me that there was a future for me. They helped me see the future that God had in store for me. They even provided financial assistance. They helped me to not only keep my faith in God, but to grow in faith, so that I was finally able to turn my life totally over to God, to do whatever he wanted to do with me. Which, as it turned out, was to make a pastor out of me.

Why should you participate in the life of the church? My answer, based on God’s Word and my personal experience with God since I returned to church about 50 years, is :

1. Because God is calling you to meet with fellow Christians to worship and praise him

2. Because you want to faithfully obey God

3. Because you know that God knows what’s best for you

4. Because you can count on experiencing God’s love through the people of the church, and you can be someone through whom others experience God’s love.

Grace and  peace,  Ray

P.S. If you would like to know about what being part of the life of the church has done for me, you might want to read my free e-book mentioned below, HOPES FULFILLED – A Spritual Autobiography

———————————————————————————————————-

We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about November 2.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

————————————————————————————————

We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

 

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City

Grace and  peace,  Ray

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We welcome any comments and questions you might want to share with us and others. We expect to publish a new Bible study on or about November 30.

Grace and peace,                                   

Patty Perez and Ray Gough

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We have also written an extensive reference – How to Study the Bible – which you can always access by clicking on the “Study Guide” tab above.

You might also find it helpful to view web-sites which contain complete texts of various  versions of the Bible, as well as additional material helpful for Bible study, such as (www.biblestudytools.com) and  (www.biblios.com)

We also invite you to view our other web-sites:

* Our blog, Today’s Enlightenment at www.rohmnj.wordpress.com.

* Ray Gough’s e-book shown below, which can be read, downloaded, or copied free at http://www.pastorrayhopesfulfilled.wordpress.com/home

              HOPES FULFILLED

                  A Spiritual Autobiography

 

    How God fulfilled the faith-based hopes

         of an ordinary guy from Jersey City