"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: . . . And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?"
St. Luke 6:37 & 6:39
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Fr. Dennis's sermon focused on the Gospel lesson starting at Luke 6:36. This section is from the Sermon on the Plain. He focused on verse 6:37, "Judge not and ye shall not be judged". This verse is not easy to understand as we must all make judgements everyday. In the Bible there are two categories of judgements: permissible and prohibited. He outlined instances of both types. Fr. Dennis also reminded us that:
- we never have all the evidence
- we need to be restrained in our judgements, remembering we all need divine mercy
- we must not judge the ultimate fate of other's souls.
Making judgements is not wrong, in fact Jesus encourages us to make righteous and fair judgements about things and people. Jesus also warns us to be careful to avoid acting with pride, selfishness, or unmercifully. Also we need to remember that we are subject to the righteousness and mercy of God, the judge of all souls.
Please find Fr. Dennis's complete sermon at the following link:
Thank you Fr. Dennis for the lovely Holy Communion service!
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Our time together after services was bitter sweet.
We said good bye to Adrienne, Taylor, and Ambrose - this was their last Sunday with us before they move to New Mexico. We will miss them very much but wish them many blessings and much happiness in their new home!
May the Almighty LORD, in whom is the fullness of our salvation, ever have you all in His keeping. Amen
Also, we thanked Fr. Dennis for coming over the mountains from North Carolina for services these last 6 months. While we look forward to a new Vicar, we will miss Fr. Dennis very much! Fr. Dennis, thank you so much for all your help and support! We hope to see you often - weather and mountain roads permitting!
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you , and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen
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Fr. Yossi will join us again on Sunday, July 9 for Holy Communion followed by a Pot Luck dinner. Please come meet and get to know Fr. Yossi!
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Sunday, July 9, is our next pot luck luncheon! Please bring a dish to share and spend time with Fr. Yossi!
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Sue continues to lead our weekly online prayer group on Discord every Thursday at 2 pm. Thank you so much Sue for taking the time each week to lead our prayers! If you have a special prayer request but cannot join us, please send your request to Sue. Please contact me if you would like to join us on Discord.
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Our next Women's Bible Study is on Wed. July 5 @ 11 am at the church. We are using "The First 24" for our study guide. This is an in depth study of Mark 1:21-45 - the first 24 hours of Jesus' public ministry. The guide is available on Amazon. Please remember to bring the book, your bible, and a lunch!
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This past Tuesday afternoon several members of the Ladies Bible Study group prepared 90 lunches for the Shades of Grace ministry in downtown Kingsport which provides for people in need through their food program.
Many thanks to Sue, Carole, Lynn, and Cindy (my sister-in-law visiting from Wisconsin) for their help in preparing the lunches!
Wow that was a lot of lunches!!
Wednesday morning Lynn, Cindy, and I delivered the lunches to Shades of Grace.
Thank you Lynn for taking the lead on this project! Lynn asked me to pass along the following message from Shades of Grace about other needs they have:
Do you have those leftover hotel soaps and shampoos just taking up space? Shades of Grace could sure use those for our men and women's shower kits.
Please bring any of these items to church during July and we will deliver them to Shades of Grace.
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Wishing everyone a Blessed and Happy Fourth of July!
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