Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness

Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness

The life of a Christian can quickly become concerned with worry.  The cares of life threaten to push in from all sides. What a blessing it is that our Savior Jesus points us to what is most important. In all things, no matter what, believers “seek first his kingdom.”

Matthew 6:24-34 New International Version
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Walk By The Spirit!

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Teach Them to Walk by the Spirit
We have been taught to walk by the Spirit. This is not some warm fuzzy feeling that guides our lives. It is the Word of God given by the Holy Spirit that changes our ability to see and changes how we walk through this life. That Word is what we pass on to our children; it will endure when all else has passed away. Teach them to walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16-24 (New International Version)

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

He Has Done All Things Well

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HE HAS DONE ALL THINGS WELL!

Our God has done all things well. He has left nothing out, and he works everything for the good of those that love him. This is a truth that bears repeating, especially these days when many ask, “Where is God?” We can boldly say we know him, and that he has done everything well for us!

Mark 7:31-37

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.[a] 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

All Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Know True Teaching

Watch! This is a command in Scripture that we see quite often. This week begins another service series that explores the things that believers watch for and watch out for. This morning we learn what it means to watch out for those who teach falsely about God’s Word. God’s blessings as we learn how to watch from his Word today.

True and False Prophets

15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

True and False Disciples

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

A Thankful Slave of Jesus

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD,HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER!
All blessings flow from the hand of our God and he gives his people what they need at the proper time. The greatest gift he has shown us is his mercy, that never fails and always endures. Remember what it means when we pray, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good and his mercy endures forever!”

Romans 6:19-23
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Talk, Tie, Write

Fear the LORD Your God and Serve Him Only

As followers of Jesus, we pay attention when Scripture speaks of having “other gods.” In catechism we learn that there are many things that can be our own personal “gods.” A false god is anything that we make more important than the one true God in our lives. This is the truth that we will speak of this week, fitting as it follows right on the heels of trinity Sunday! God’s blessings on your worship of the True God today!

Deuteronomy 6:4-18
As followers of Jesus, we pay attention when Scripture speaks of having “other gods.” In catechism we learn that there are many things that can be our own personal “gods.” A false god is anything that we make more important than the one true God in our lives. This is the truth that we will speak of this week, fitting as it follows right on the heels of trinity Sunday! God’s blessings on your worship of the True God today!

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors,

Oh, the Riches, Wisdom and Knowledge of our Triune God!

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY!

The Church eternal proclaims the trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The trinity is clearly taught in the bible, and yet, it is a mystery to us. We know God; he tells us who he is—3 in 1—yet we can’t begin to explain it fully. This keeps a Christian’s faith child like as we understand that God is greater than us. Yet, he comes to us and reveals in Scripture that we are able to call on his name rightly! 

Romans 11:33-36

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[a] knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments,
    and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
    Or who has been his counselor?”[b]
35 “Who has ever given to God,
    that God should repay them?”[c]
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Full Service – June 7, 2020 (Trinity Sunday)

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY!

The Church eternal proclaims the trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The trinity is clearly taught in the bible, and yet, it is a mystery to us. We know God; he tells us who he is—3 in 1—yet we can’t begin to explain it fully. This keeps a Christian’s faith child like as we understand that God is greater than us. Yet, he comes to us and reveals in Scripture that we are able to call on his name rightly! 

Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

        How unsearchable his judgments,

        and his paths beyond tracing out!

34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?

        Or who has been his counselor?”