Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

God is love

Pastor Sherry’s message for 9/6/26

Scriptures: Exodus 12:1-14; Ps 119:33-40; Ro 13:8-14; Matt 18:15-20

The story is told of an old grandmother who had decided that Christmas shopping had just gotten to be too much for her. Now she still wanted to do something nice for her kids, grands, nieces, nephews, etc., so she decided to send each a nice Christmas card with a $50 Visa card inside.  Granny selected the Christmas cards, addressed the envelopes, added stamps, and deposited them at the post office, innocently assuming she had taken care of Christmas gifts for all of her family in a way that could not help but please each one. The problem, however, was that–being a little forgetful–she had neglected to include the Visa cards (probably also forgot where she had put them), and had happily written next to her signature, “Merry Christmas! Go get your own presents.”  We laugh, but this could all too easily be any one of us!

Her intention was loving, but the result indicated neglect or even insult…until her oversight was discovered.

When I was in college, there was a foreign language requirement for graduation. There were 3 stipulations: (1) You had to be able to read it; (2) You had to know the grammar, vocabulary, and correct sentence structure; and (3) then you had to demonstrate you could speak it by passing an interview with the language Professors. I managed to make it through the first courses, but put the speaking part off until my Senior year…YIKES! The first day of class, a stereotypical French woman came into class—wearing a beret, fishnet stockings, a tight skirt with a slit up the side, and carrying her own ashtray (in 1967, professors could smoke in class as they lectured). She propped herself on the front of the teacher’s desk, told us we could not speak English for the rest of the semester, and asked us in French to respond to the question, “What is love? I knew my goose was cooked! Before I had even begun to formulate an answer in English, then laboriously translated it into French, she had gone on to the next deep question.

I survived conversational French, praise God, because I paid a very proficient underclassman to tutor me. Back in 1968, I was able offer a student a cup of coffee and a piece of pie to talk with me in French for an hour 2-3 times a week. By the end of the semester, this young man had me contributing to class discussion in French and also thinking and dreaming in French! It was, to me, a miracle for which I will always be grateful!

But I have never forgotten that French professor’s question, “What is love?”  Our Old Testament lesson, Exodus 12:1-14 gives us some good answers to a timeless question.

Let’s first consider the context: Back in Exodus 3:7+, God had told Moses:  

“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.” That was God’s promise. He would create the situation that would compel the stubborn Pharaoh to let His people go. The Hebrews had been in Egypt about 400 years—long enough for the Canaanites to have time to come to love the true God–which they refused to do. So God was ready to rescue the Israelites from Egyptian slavery with 10 plagues.

Each plague was actually a put down of some Egyptian god. Yahweh had declared war on the gods of Egypt: 

1st, He turned the Nile to blood—fish died and no one could drink from it. They so depended on the river for their water supply and commerce that they equated it with life. In rendering it fully polluted, God was essentially saying to them, “I, not your river god, Hapi, (the so called bringer of fertility) am the true source of all life.”

2nd, He sent a superabundance of frogs. Seven days later, millions of frogs leave the polluted river and invade Egyptian homes, businesses, and even Pharaoh’s palace. The frog-headed Egyptian goddess, Heqet, was equated with fruitfulness. God is saying, “I, not Heqet, can deploy millions of frogs at will.”To those who considered frogs to be demons, He declared, “And I also exercise control over demonic entities, even the entire supernatural realm.

Similiarly, out of dust Moses tossed into the air, God produced 3rd, a plague of lice (in opposition to Geb, god of the earth), and 4th of biting flies, the servants of Khepri, god of the morning sun. Again, God was asking, Why aren’t your gods powerful enough to counter Me and to destroy these pests?

5th, God sends disease on their cattle, rams, sheep, and goats, many of which die. The Egyptians had gods for each of these animals. But God is saying, “I have complete control over animal life, not Osirus, the bull or Apis the ram god, or Hathor, the cow-headed goddess of motherhood and childbirth. None of them can counter Me.”

6th, He afflicted the animals that remained—and this time, the people too—with boils. Even Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t prevent them, nor could Sekhmet, the Egyptian goddess of healing, heal them.  God was saying, “Only I have power over physical health.”

7th, He sends hail—a form of ice clumps accompanied by fire. Egypt normally gets very little rain. God was essentially saying, “I—not Hephaistos, your god of fire or Porphry, your god of rain, or Nut, your god of the sky—have complete authority over forces of nature.”

8th, God sends locusts to eat up any vegetation left over, then sends them off to drown in the Red Sea. Egypt’s gods of nature were helpless, including Shu, their god of the wind. God was saying, “I can raise up hordes of any creature, deploy them, and then destroy them.”

By now, the Egyptian economy is in ruins, but still Pharaoh will not let his slave labor force go free. God then sends the 9th plague, 3 days of completedarkness—except over where the Israelites live. God was saying, Your sun god, Ra, is powerless before Me.

Finally, God sent the 10th plague, the death of the firstborn person and animal. The Egyptians believed their god, Horus, was the god of life, and Bes, another god, would protect their households. They also believed that Pharaoh was the divine author of life. With this final plague, God was saying, “Not so! Yahweh is the giver of life and He can take it away when it is in rebellion against Him.”

(New Living Translation of the Bible, Tyndale House, 2024, p.89.)

This brings us to the Passover: In the 10th plague, God intended to and did take the life of every 1st born. Those who loved Him, however, could and would be spared. They were to select a perfect male lamb around one year old; they were then to slaughter it on the 14th of Nisan, and paint their door frames with its blood. The blood of the lamb would signal the angel of death that they were true believers and their lives would be spared. They were to remain inside their homes all night, eating the roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. This was a hasty meal. They were to be dressed for travel as they would soon be free to leave Egypt. The first born of those with no blood over their doors did in fact succumb to death, even Pharaoh’s son. By the next day, all of Egypt wanted the Israelites gone!

This series of plagues was tough on the Egyptians, but so effective for the Hebrew slaves! Look at how God manifested His love for them!

He provided a way for the angel of death to distinguish His Chosen People from Egyptians. While every Egyptian house contained at least one dead person, the blood of the Passover Lamb signaled to death, pass over, pass on by every Israelite. This final plague broke the back of Pharaoh’s resistance. He capitulated to Moses’ demands following this event. He finally let the people go. And the Egyptian people were so glad to see them leave that they gifted them with gold and silver coins and jewelry, what my Old Testament professor in seminary called “back pay.”

This is such a great, dramatic example of God’s love: He ground down the Egyptian resistance with 10 plagues, then rescued His people without a single military battle! The historic Jewish Passover finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus—it foreshadows pr predicts Jesus’ blood shed for us on the Cross. He too was a perfect male lamb. John the Baptist calls Him, in John 1:29  …the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus was the only sinless human ever, which qualified Him to be our sinless Substitute, our Savior. He was also God–the only Son of God, so His blood–the blood of God–was a perfect satisfaction or atonement for our sins. Paul later tells the leaders of the Ephesian Church in Acts 20:28  Be shepherds of the church of God, which He [Jesus] bought with His own blood. No mere person would have been capable of atoning for our sins. Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf was totally acceptable to the Father. The writer to the Hebrews calls Jesus is the once and for all perfect sacrifice for our sins.  Peter, on trial before the Sanhedrin, testifies in Acts 4:12 (NLT) that  There is salvation in no one else [meaning Jesus]! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. John tells us in 1 John 3: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.

So what is love? The 10 plagues and the Passover were God’s strategies for motivating a despot to let go of a free labor force of 1-2 million people. The plagues and the Passover demonstrate how far God will go to redeem those He loves. Jesus’ death on the cross proves the same truth again: Our God has died an undeserved but agonizing penalty to obtain our freedom from sin and death; like His Father before Him, He has gone to extreme lengths to redeem us.

 As the apostle John tells us, (1 John4:10) This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. If I could go back in time, I would tell my French Conversation professor, “Your question can be answered a number of ways…

But the best and most complete answer to what love is is this: God is love!

Jesus Christ loving me (and you) so much that He died so you and I could have abundant life!

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory thru our Lord

Jesus Christ! Alleluia, alleluia!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

How Now Shall We Live?

Pastor Sherry’s message for 8/30/26 

Scriptures: Jer 2:1-13; Ps 81:1, 1-16; Heb 13:1-8, 15-16; Lk 14:1-14

Back in 1999, Chuck Colson (former President Nixon’s Special Counsel and considered an attack dog for Nixon against any of his enemies), having served time in prison for obstruction of justice, wrote a book titled, How Now Shall We Live, coauthored by Nancy Pearcey (Not to be confused with Francis Schaeffer’s How Then Shall We Live, 1976). Colson came into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ while serving his prison term.

The book reflects his resulting radical change of heart. In it, he attempted to answer 4 significant, essentially existential questions:

1a. Who or What do we come from? 

1b. Who are we?

2. What has gone wrong with the world?

3. What can we do to fix it?

4. And How should we live, based on these answers?

As I was praying this week about what the Lord would have me preach, the answer He gave me was Colson’s book title: How Now Shall We Live. I had not read it, so I downloaded it to my Kindle and checked it out. When I perused the readings appointed for today, I figured why. Please review this with me:

1a. Who or what do we come from? We come from a Who, not a what. We live because our God called each of us into being.

1b. Who are we? If we believe in Jesus, we are each, as a wonderful old prayer says…a sheep of His own fold, a lamb of His own flock…a sinner of His own redeeming.

(The Book of Common Prayer, Church Publishing, 1986, p.499.)

Through the saving work of Jesus on the Cross for us, we have been adopted into His line and are now children of God the Father. We know from the Bible that God choose the Jews to be a people set apart for Him, through whom He intended to bring about His plan for the redemption for the world. God chose them–and through their legacy and Jesus’ sacrifice–we have each chosen to follow Him.

2. What has gone wrong with the world? The short answer is that sin entered the world through Adam and Eve’s willful disobedience. And ever since, we have struggled between our spiritual nature that wants to please God and our fleshly or carnal nature that wants to please ourselves (Romans 7 and 8).

Let’s look to our readings to find deeper answers to this and Colson’s other two questions:

A. The Jeremiah 2:1-13 passage also provides answers to what has gone wrong with the world. In verses 1-5, God reminds His Chosen people of how much they loved Him and followed Him after He rescued them from slavery in Egypt. In verse 5, God asks His people through Jeremiah, What did your ancestors find wrong with Me that led them to stray so far from Me? The Lord sounds puzzled, but we know He knows all things! He wants them to think about it…They didn’t remain grateful to Him for having shepherded them through the wilderness for 40 years, protecting and providing for them the whole time. No, they wandered into idolatry. Even their priests, (false) prophets, and rulers ignored God and turned against Him. In verses11-12, the Lord expresses His disappointment and grief-→Yes my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay.

He boils their sins down to two: They have abandoned God (the living water), and they have taken up with false, evil, pagan gods, who are empty, broken cisterns that hold no water. I think we could make a very good case that America has done the same thing. Our founders gave our nation a solidly Christian foundation. But over our 250 years, we have pushed God away or ignored Him entirely. We, like the folks in Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s time, have settled for broken cisterns of money, power, fame, material things, riskier and more daring experiences, and more and more depraved sexual behaviors. We have embraced sin and called it good. Thank goodness, this was not God’s last word for the Jews or for us!

(J. Vernon McGee, Throgh the BibleCommentary on Jeremiah, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.30.)

B. Our psalmist, Asaph (81:1, 10-16) reminds us all in verse 9 that our Lord never wanted us to pursue false gods. We were always meant to follow the Lord and Him alone. He rescued His people from bondage in Egypt and hoped to have deep fellowship with them. Through Jesus, He has rescued us from our bondage to sin, and He desires today to bless us abundantly! But we (and they) dismissed Him and did what we wanted; He, in response, said (v.12)-→So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. (See Romans1 for a similar message.) Our willfulness, our pride, our insistence that “I know better than God,” brings us to low, painful, and discouraging places. And all the while, the Lord is ready to protect and bless us—if we will only turn back to Him.

C. Well, there’s the answer to the question about how we go about fixing the mess we are in: We turn back to Him. We admit, with AA, that we are powerless to turn our lives around by ourselves. Remember the caterpiller caught in the ring of fire? We cannot rescue ourselves. We need a divine rescuer, and we have one, Jesus! We confess that He is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and we are saved by faith in Christ. Then we go on to cooperate with the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. He molds and shapes us through our experiences, our prayers, our Bible reading, perhaps a sermon or two—and even our pain. Through it all, He helps us to become more and more like Jesus.

The writer to the Hebrews (13:1-8, 15-16) finishes out his/her book by sharing a list of recommended Christian practices. Remember, the 4th of Colson’s questions was how we should live. These suggestions all demonstrate love…we don’t just love other people as if they are brothers and sisters in Christ, but we love them because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ: So we show hospitality/kindness to strangers. We remember those in prison and those who are mistreated. When we can’t do this in person, we provide donations to ministries who do. If married, we remain faithful to our vows. We don’t love money, recalling that God cares for and provides for us. Since God is our helper, we don’t have to be afraid (His perfect love drives out all our fear). We respect and appreciate our spiritual leaders and mentors. And we hold fast to the truth that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We are to offer to God a sacrifice of praise. I could be wrong, but I believe this means we come to worship even if we would rather not. We offer the Lord our time. We also offer Him our gratitude, even if we are not feeling very grateful or happy or a given day. Again, it’s a sacrifice we offer to Him. And we continue to prompt ourselves to do good to others and to share with those in need.

D. Jesus Himself gives us some practical pointers on how to live the Christian life in today’s gospel, Luke 14:1-14. First He demonstrates that love trumps law by healing a man on the Sabbath. No doubt this was a set up, a trap on the part of the Pharisees to make Jesus look bad. But as usual, He demonstrates that their zeal is to have others strictly obey the Law, rather than to relate lovingly to God and to others. They won’t self-incriminate by answering His questions, but they clearly would do work to rescue a child or an animal that fell into a pit on the Sabbath. Then He rescues a man from “the pit” of a chronic illness, dropsy. The point is that the Lord desires mercy over strict adherence to their interpretations of the religious rules.

Next, He gives them a seminar in etiquette, in the “Parable of the Ambitious Guests.” Since they didn’t use place-cards in those days, as one commentator puts it, once dinner was announced, there would be a rush to commandeer the seats of honor. Younger, impolite pharisees might even push aside a slower, older cleric in their rush to be prestigiously seated. Jesus recommends each one take the least valued seat, then feel blessed when the host moves them to a better place. Imagine their chagrin when their rudeness and selfishness is pointed out by the honored guest, Jesus. What if one of them was publically asked to move and make way for Him? Our Lord was teaching humility—in God’s Kingdom, humility trumps arrogance and entitlement. (See Micah 6:8.)

(J.V. McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Luke, Thomas Nelson, 1991, pp.176-177.)

Finally, in verses 12-14, and in a nod to our Hebrews lesson, He recommends they feed those who cannot repay them, the poor, the lame, the blind, instead of their successful, well-off peers.

So How Now Shall We Live? Like we know and acknowledge that the Lord created us, that we owe our lives to Him. Like we appreciate and follow Him, despite the fact that we all too often turn away from Him and follow the devices and desires of our own hearts. We want to follow Him, but we too often succumb to the pull of the world, our flesh, and the devil. As St. Paul states so eloquently (Romans 7:24-25, NLT)-→Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. We embark on the solution to our sin-problem, just as Chuck Colson recommends, when we turn our lives over to Jesus. He, and the lessons from His word, the Bible, show us How Now We Shall Live. Amen!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Who Does God Choose to Use?

Pastor Sherry‘s message for August 23, 2026

Scriptures: Ex 1:8-2:10; Ps 124; Ro 12:1-8; Matt 16:13-20

This story falls under the category of “Truth is Stranger than Fiction”:  Back in the mid to late 300’s, there was a slave named Moses the Black” (who lived from 330-405AD).  He was a tall, intimidating Ethiopian, who stole from his Egyptian master.  The master also suspected of him of murder.  Rather than sell him off, the master fired him and threw him out.

So, Moses the Black joined a gang of thugs.  Almost immediately he became their leader, and for years his band of hoodlums terrorized folks along the Nile River Valley.  At one point, he evaded the law by hiding out in a desert monastery.  He thought he was pretty clever to take refuge in a church, but the joke was on him, as he encountered Jesus there, and then gave his life to Christ in that place.

Even more incredible is the fact that four of his former gang members—not realizing he was there—decided to rob the monastery.  Moses the Black completely overpowered them (citizen’s arrest), tied them up, and dragged them before the abbot.  Because he didn’t slit their throats, the thugs were so moved that they too gave their lives to Christ, and became monks as well.  Legend has it that he was martyred, as an old monk, by a different band of robbers who did not know who he was. The former robber, murderer, adulterer had been transformed by God into a Christ-following teacher and priest. Notice, however, that even though God so transformed him, he still reaped what he had sown: He had lived by the sword, and he also died by the sword.

(Wikipedia, 8/19/26.)

But isn’t it interesting who God chooses to do His work? Last week, we noted that it was a non-Christian German painter, Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760), numerous Moravian Christians, and John Wesley Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son; St. Paul; and even some pretty unlikely persons, like you and me!  This week, our OT lesson, Exodus 1:8-2:10, introduces us to Moses’ backstory. Moses was born to an Israelite family, from the tribe of Levi, working as slaves in Egypt.  Almost 350 years after the death of Joseph–the one God had used to save the fledgling Israelite nation as well as Egypt from a massive famine–a new Pharaoh (Ahmose? Rameses?), from a different line, came to the throne of Egypt. He looked around and saw how numerous the Israelites had grown. Here is the outworking of God’s promise to Abraham: his descendants would outnumber the stars, or the grains of sand on a beach.  From the 90 family members who joined Joseph in Egypt, the Israelites had grown to what scholars believed were about 2 million Hebrews by the time Moses led their exodus. They had indeed become a “great nation,” and the new Pharaoh was afraid he and his countrymen could be overwhelmed and overcome by them.  So, he decides to contain any threat by enslaving them.  He works them hard and harshly, but still they seem to multiply.

As the story unfolds today, Pharaoh is concerned that the Israelites are reproducing too rapidly.  So he calls in the head Hebrew midwives and tells them to go ahead and deliver girl babies, but kill the boys (this is once in history that it paid to be female).  The midwives are wise.  They fear/respect God more than Pharaoh. They refuse to practice male infant genocide.  Pharaoh then notices that male Israelite infants are surviving and wants to know why.  The wise midwives claim Hebrew moms are very hardy and complete the birthing process without calling upon them. This is no doubt a lie; but it seems to prevent Pharaoh from exacting revenge.

Moses is born in the midst of this birth-control strategy. As a male, he should have been euthanized; but his mom, Jochabed, rears him to 3 months. Then she places him in a carefully water-proofed basket, and sets him adrift on the Nile–a true act of faith (Nile crocks are ferocious, but we don’t know if they were so numerous then). In an amazing twist of fate—like Moses the Black, thief and murderer becoming a monk—Moses the Hebrew is spotted and rescued by Pharaoh’s eldest daughter.  Childless, she decides to raise the baby as her own son.  Miriam, his sister, has been watching over him and suggests a woman to nurse him—his biological mother, Jochabed, for pay!  How ironic—and how like our God—to keep Moses safe on the river, and to place the future deliverer of Israel within the very household of Israel’s chief oppressor.  A Hebrew slave will learn the Egyptian language, culture, and military strategies. God has once again placed one of His own (like Joseph) into a position of authority and influence.  Additionally, “Moses is ‘brought out’ of the river [so that] one day, he will ‘bring out’ the nation of Israel from Egypt.”

(John Faiurless & Delmer Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary, Year A, The Lectionary Lab, 2013, p.207.)

Whether Pharaoh realizes it or not, God is also demonstrating that Pharaoh will be impotent to destroy God’s people or His program (shoring up the lineage of Jesus).

   Psalm 124 is a Psalm of Ascents, sung by Jewish pilgrims on their way to the Temple Mount to celebrate one of the major feasts.  They praise God for His protection of them now and in the past, even mentioning saving them from (v.6, crocodile) teeth.  They worship Him saying (v.8, NLT)–>Our help is from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        In our Gospel lesson, Matthew 16:13-20, our Lord commends Peter for both recognizing and testifying to who Jesus really is.  Remember, Jesus is still outside the borders of Israel, in a Roman resort town (Caesarea Phillipi), 2 days’ walk north of the Sea of Galilee.  Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, asserts that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God—a Deliverer even greater than Moses.  Jesus praises him.  He calls him “Peter,“ or “Rocky.”  Jesus Himself is “The ROCK”—but it is on faith like Peter’s, and believers like Peter that Jesus will establish His Community, His Church.  In addition, Jesus proclaims that…

(v.18) the Gates of Hades/Hell will not overcome it.  The deaths of believing individuals will not extinguish the flame of the Church.  Historically, the Church has always grown during times of persecution.  Nonbelievers are so impressed with the peace or the commitment of martyrs that they too come to believe in Jesus.  Just as Satan did not kill off the Jews through either slavery or Pharaoh’s schemes, no one person, or group of persons, can thwart God’s plan and program.  Furthermore, Jesus gives Peter (the apostles, the early church, and us) (v.19) the keys of the kingdom of heaven authority to preach and teach the Gospel.  Some claim Jesus was hereby making Peter the leader of His Church, and giving him the power to forgive or fail to forgive sins.

Others interpret this somewhat differently:  Only God can forgive sins.  But, iI we, as Jesus-followers, loose or proclaim God’s truth on earth, the powers of heaven will support our efforts.  God’s word will not return to Him empty (Isa 55;11).  Souls will be brought into God’s Kingdom.  But if we bind it on earth (forbid or fail to proclaim), the Church will not live into its destiny.

Last week, I asked us to consider who gets saved.  This week, the issue under consideration is who does God choose to work in His program of redemption.  He appears to pick the unlikely:

1.) The reprobate, Moses the Black, becomes a major force for Christ in the 4th century Church as a teacher, pastor, and martyr.

  2.) Moses–born to Hebrew slaves–is nurtured and educated under Pharaoh’s own nose, then used by God to free His people.

3.) Peter, who takes his eyes off Jesus, resorts to violence in the Garden, denies Him three times, and fails to show up at the Cross to support Him, is selected by God as a leader in the 1st Century Church.

4.) Paul assures us in Romans 12:13-20 that the Holy Spirit has given to each of us gifts to be used for the upbuilding of God’s Kingdom here on earth.  

The beauty of all of this is that God chooses unlikely, even weak and flawed people to carry out His program of redemption.  He trains us up.  He places us strategically—like Joseph, like Moses–right where He wants us.  Back in the 1960’s there used to be a popular poster in offices that showed flowers in a pot with the caption, “Bloom where you are planted.”  That poster irritated the stew out of me!  Like many of my generation, I wanted to change either the place where I was, or take myself elsewhere.  The idea of blooming where I was planted seemed to me either too restrictive and like giving up.  I have since come to realize that the Lord places us where we are for His reasons.  We-folks like you and like me- are meant by Him to join Him in His Kingdom purposes where we find ourselves. 

The wonder of it is that He puts so much trust in us.  This week, let’s agree to assist Him in His goal to bring the lost to Jesus.  This week, look for opportunities to tell those who don’t know Jesus Who He is; how He loves them; and how knowing Him has impacted and improved our lives.  The best thing you can share with a nonbeliever is how you have seen Him work in your life.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory thru our Lord, Jesus Christ! 

.©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

So Who Gets Saved?

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 16, 2026

Scriptures: Gen 45:1-15; Ps 133; Ro 11:1-7, 28-32; Matt 15:10-28

The story is told of a notable German painter from the 1700’s who was not a Christian but was approached by a Catholic priest to paint a picture of Christ on the Cross for his church. The non-believing artist agreed and researched Jesus’ crucifixion to get ideas on how to proceed. Frustrated when the work wasn’t going well, he took a walk in the country and encountered a lovely Gypsy girl. He invited her to sit for him in his studio so he could paint her. While there, she noticed his unfinished painting of “Christ on the Cross,” and said, “He must have been a very wicked man to be nailed to a cross like that.” The painter replied, “No. On the contrary, He was a very good man. The best man that ever lived. He died for others.” The young woman then asked, “Did He die for you?”

This question touched the painter’s heart and, upon further consideration, led him to believe in Jesus. It is said that viewing the painting (which was later destroyed when the church burned down) led a number of people to faith. One of these was Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf, who went on to provide sanctuary for the Moravian Brethern in 1772. The Moravians were a group of Spirit-filled Christian missionaries, whose denomination predated the Protestant Reformation by 60 years! You may remember that our own John Wesley encountered some Moravians on his return journey from Georgia to England, and found his “heart strangely warmed” by their faith and zeal.

(Chuch Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcoart, Word Publishing, 1998, p.501.) 

The artist was saved through the young gypsy woman’s questions; Von Zinzendorf, through the artist’s depiction of Jesus on the Cross; and John Wesley’s faith was revitalized through the example and zealous worship of the Moravians.

One of the themes present in our Scripture passages today is that of being saved or of peoples’ experiences of salvation. Let’s examine these together:

A. Last week, our Old Testament lesson, related how Joseph’s 10 brothers from other mothers sold him into slavery. This week’s lesson, from Genesis 45:1-15, jumps ahead to describe Joseph’s reunion with his 10 half-brothers and his full brother, Benjamin. Joseph, after 13-14 years of slavery, interprets Pharaoh’s dreams and reports correctly that they predict 7 years of massively abundant harvests, followed by 7 years of desperate, devastating famine. Two years into the famine, his 10 treacherous brothers arrive in Egypt to purchase food for the extended family. Unbeknownst to them, their lost brother Joseph has survived—by the design and grace of God—and is now second in command of all of Egypt. 

They no doubt fail to recognize him because he is…

1.) Clean shaven, in the manor of Egyptians, rather than bearded, as was customary with Hebrews;

2.) He was dressed in Egyptian clothing, jewelry, and a wig (Egyptians reportedly shaved their heads and wore wigs to prevent lice infestations), and perhaps with make-up around his eyes;

3.) He’s now around 30YO and they last saw him at 17;

4.) Furthermore, he speaks the Egyptian language, and communicates with them through an interpreter. 

5.) Simply put, they probably never expected to see him alive again. 

But, as God would have it, it is to Joseph that they must apply to buy grain. Just as Joseph’s own dreams from age 17 had prophesied, his 10 brothers now bow down to him to request aid.

Notice how wise Joseph has become through his trials and troubles. Before he reveals himself to them, Joseph checks to see if their characters have changed since he last saw them. He generously sells them the grain they need to live, but also decides to test them in two ways: 1st he requires that they leave Simeon behind and bring back Benjamin. He is testing their honesty. He is also checking to see if they will allow another brother (Simeon) to be killed or imprisoned to get what they want. The brothers return again, to buy more food, and to bring Benjamin so that Simeon can be released. Joseph’s 2nd test involves his full brother, Benjamin. Joseph has his servants hide a favored cup in Ben’s food supply bag. This is a set up to see if they will sacrifice the new favorite son. Joseph wants to know if they have learned that murderous jealousy is incredibly costly. Have they become more loyal to their brother from Joseph’s mother?

Have they developed greater compassion for their aging, heartbroken, grieving father? Have they repented of their great sin against him and against Joseph?

Judah, the new leader of the 10 brothers, steps up and offers his life in the place of Benjamin’s. The brothers do realize that potentially losing another brother is God’s punishment for what they did to Joseph (recall the Law of Sowing and Reaping). And Judah—who had been the one to suggest they sell Joseph to slave traders–is now willing to sacrifice his life for Benjamin’s. Judah’s offer indicates a true change of heart. I suspect this is probably why God will have Jesus become a descendant out of Judah’s line.

So, satisfied that they have truly undergone a moral transformation, Joseph reveals his true identity to them. At first, they can’t believe it is him. Then they fear his retribution. But in a truly Christ-like way, he reassures them, [Peterson’s The Message](v.5+) I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t feel badly, don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt. 

God uses Joseph to save his father, Jacob/Israel, his brothers, and his whole extended family (a total of 90 people). But Joseph’s wisdom also saves thousands, perhaps millions of Egyptians; as well as untold, unnumbered, other Gentiles in the region. So, who gets saved? Joseph’s family and the fledgling Jewish/Hebrew nation.

B. Our Psalm (133) affirms how pleased the Lord was with the reconciliation of Israel’s sons. He truly desires that families get along.

C. Our New Testament Lesson, Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32, makes it pretty clear that God has not rejected the Jews as His Chosen People. 

Just as God is merciful to us, Gentile believers, He too will have mercy on the Jews. At some point in the future (perhaps during the Great Tribulation), many—not all—but many Jews will come to Christ to be saved. So, who gets saved? Many modern day Jews in the days to come.

D. Our Gospel lesson occurs in Matthew 15, but is also recounted in

Mark 7. Jesus journeys outside Israel’s borders (into Tyre and Sidon, NW of Jerusalem) because He knows He has been rejected by many of His countrymen. 

He apparently needs a break. His focus has been on reaching His fellow Jews, the Children of Israel. But now He appears to indicate, by what He does, that He will also receive Gentiles (aren’t we glad?).

This Canaanite (Syro-Phoenecian) woman with a demonized daughter approaches Him. Apparently, she is noisily insistent that she see Jesus. She persists. The Hebrew verb is one that indicates she continues to implore him—like Blind Bartimaeus, outside of Jericho. She won’t take no for an answer. As a Gentile, she has no true claim on Jesus: She is not a Jew by nationality—wrong ethnicity; she is not a convert to the Jewish faith—wrong religion; and she is a woman—wrong gender, by the standards of the day. And, remember, Jewish rabbis did not typically speak to women. But this woman is a mother–and apparently a tigress–desiring healing for her child. Clearly she believes Jesus can free her daughter from demons. And clearly she isn’t going to be put off.

Jesus uses the metaphor of dogs to remind her, His disciples, and whoever else might be listening, that His first priority is to the Jews. Jews often referred to Gentiles and Samaritans as “dogs.” However, Jesus does not deliberately insult her; He uses the diminutive of “dogs”, “puppies” in the Hebrew. He is essentially saying, just as in a family, there is an order here: The children (Israelites) eat first; then the puppies get fed, but not from the table and not until the kids are done. He is not telling her she cannot expect help from Him, but rather that there is a set of priorities to His ministry.

She gets what He is saying, steps into His metaphor, and reminds Him that (v.27) …but even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. She knows she does not have a legitimate place at the table; but she indicates that she believes that Jesus can provide enough to Israel that some leftovers will be available to her and to her daughter. She dialogues with Jesus in a most respectful way. Notice, she doesn’t say, “Give me what I deserve due to my goodness or my rights,” as some might today. Instead, as Timothy Keller asserts in his book on the Gospel of Mark, King’s Cross, she implies, “Give me what I don’t deserve on the basis of Your goodness—and, please, I need it right now.”

(Timothy Keller, Kings Cross, Dutton, 2011, p.89)

Jesus commends her: (v.28) Wonderful answer! Incredible answer! You may go. The demon has left your daughter. He appears to be impressed with her faith, her commitment to her child—and heals her child—because she also got His metaphor without His having to explain it. Perhaps too He was also affected because she answers Him from within the parable. These things tell Him she heard and understood His message to her.

So, who gets saved? This woman and hopefully her daughter.

Let’s sum up: So, who gets saved? The Good News is a surprising number of folks: The German painter, Count Zinzendorf, numerous Moravians, and even our own John Wesley; Joseph’s father, brothers, their wives and kids, through Joseph’s wisdom and forgiving spirit; God’s chosen people, the Jews, if they can come to accept and believe in Jesus as their Savior; and Gentiles, like us. Just last week, we focused on what Paul wrote in Romans 10:9–If you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. We tend to try to make it difficult, but it isn’t. Thanks be to God!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Keep Your Eyes on the Lord

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 9, 2026 

Scriptures: Gen 37:1-35; Ps 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b; Ro 10:5-15; Matt 14:22-33

Have you ever noticed that Scripture gives us about as many lessons on how not to live as it points us to the best ways to live? Our Old Testament lesson is a prime example of how not to manage a family. Genesis 37:1-35 reads like a daytime soap opera or a reality TV show. We’ve got a family that that’s a hot mess . Let’s count the ways:

(1) First, there is the matter of choosing favorites: Jacob, the favorite of his mother, has to run for his life to escape the murderous wrath of his twin Esau, the favorite of his father. You would think Jacob would learn from his experience and not repeat it with his own family . But no . He breeds jealousy and discord by favoring one wife over another—the beautiful Rachel over the prolific Leah. And he compounds his trouble by favoring Rachel’s son, Joseph, over all 10 of his other, older sons. To make matters even worse, he gives Joseph a costly and gorgeous coat, fit for a prince, thereby indicating that Joseph is a prince in his father’s eyes. I just want to talk to Jacob and ask him, “Did you not take Developmental or Child Psych in college? Did you never learn to treat your children as equally as possible? (similar clothes, shoes, backpacks, the same amount of money spent on birthdays and Christmas, and the same size cookies or pieces of cake?) They often tend to think you favor one over the other anyway, but you don’t ever want to be as overt as you were .

(2) Then there is the really odious behavior of his eldest sons: Reuben, the first born, carries on an affair with Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine, and the mother of his half-brothers, Dan and Naphtali. Yuck! Even if she was a lovely “cougar,” he let his carnal instincts short-circuit his brain. His behavior implied he wished his father, Jacob, were dead. Next, Simeon and Levi are so incensed that Jacob would not punish their sister’s rapist, the Prince of Shechem, but rather have her marry him, that they slaughter the men of Shechem while they are laid up, recovering from adult circumcision. I’ve known some guys in the Navy who had to undergo circumcision as adults and they tell me the recovery period is pretty rough. These Canaanite men were willing to endure this procedure as a condition of the marriage contract Jacob had put to them. In other words, these pagans were converting to the One, True God . Perhaps Jacob intended to make things right through the marriage, but Leah’s sons are furious and want revenge for their sister Dinah’s rape. (This all foreshadows King David’s family issues, in the rape of Tamar by her half-brother Amnon.) Jacob is furious with his sons and also ashamed of them, believing they went too far and made God and their family look bad among their Canaanite pagan neighbors.

(3) Finally there is Joseph’s naivete regarding sharing his dreams openly with his brothers, and their father’s using him as a snitch. Joseph, at 17 years old is not yet sophisticated enough to realize how he added to his brothers’ enmity toward him, but Jacob should have been wiser than to pit his favorite against his jealous and embittered other sons. Unfortunately, the stage is set for horrendous sin and grief . Joseph had already told Jacob that 4 of his brothers had barbequed some of the sheep they were supposed to watch over, thus defrauding their father. In today’s passage, Jacob unwisely sends Joseph to again report what they are up to, and the 10 brothers are now so angry and enraged that they plot to kill him. Reuben apparently hoped to regain his father’s regard by saving Joseph, gathering materials to rescue him from the pit. But Judah, in Reuben’s absence, convinces the others to sell him to Ishmaelite and Midianite traders heading to Egypt. They sell him for 20 pieces of silver, and assume he will die as a slave—but not directly by their hands. Now they also have to lie to their father, Jacob, leading him to believe Joseph was killed by a wild animal. And they have to live with Jacob’s resulting, unrelenting grief. In Chapter 38, Judah becomes so distressed by his father’s grief (and his own guilt) that he leaves the family and goes to live among the Canaanites. Having learned nothing about the dangers of favoritism, Jacob now treasures Benjamin, his last child by the beloved Rachel who died while giving him birth.

This family is in a world of hurt . Last week we considered how God had been working on Jacob: Jacob had learned to love someone beyond himself, Rachel, Joseph, and Benjamin. He had developed perseverance, grit, and a good work ethic. He had also become grateful to God for his protection and his acquired wealth. But he was still a work in progress. He had not yet learned to turn to God in every circumstance (Dinah’s rape; his sons’ perfidy). I have to wonder what kind of example of faith he set out for those 10 bitter, resentful, and murderous sons. None of them checked with the Lord before selling their own flesh and blood into slavery. None of them appeared to consider the effect of Joseph’s death on them, their consciences, or on their father–or even Benjamin. They each had to go through a personal hell on earth before they would learn to keep their eyes on the Lord.

Nevertheless, the Good News is that even though they have created an ungodly mess, our God is in the business of redeeming our messes—if we will let Him. God had given to Joseph two dreams that were very similar to each other: In one, his brother’s sheaves of wheat bowed to his sheaf; in the other, the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed before him. None of them realizes this yet, but Joseph will be elevated by Pharaoh to command of all the resources of Egypt. His brothers will indeed bow before him. God will eventually use him to save his entire family, and many others, from a 7 year famine. Our Psalm 105:16-22 recalls God’s purposes behind Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt. The remaining chapters of Genesis deal with Joseph’s trials while enslaved; his rise to power through keeping his eyes on God; and his brothers’ journeys to repentance, reconciliation and faith.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the two lessons that teach us how to live:

A. Paul wants us to be sure we understand that is not by following the rules of religion that we are saved—but rather by having a personal relationship with Jesus. He famously states in verses 9-10 (NLT)-→If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. And he further adds in verse 13-→For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. We are saved by our faith in Christ. We are saved by keeping our eyes on Jesus and His Cross.

B. And this precious and exceedingly important fact is demonstrated by Peter in today’s Gospel text, Matthew 14:22-33. Recall that Jesus wanted to go away somewhere private to pray, but was prevented from doing so by the crowds following Him. Now He has healed all the sick, taught them the wisdom of God, and even miraculously fed them. Then he sends the crowds away and the disciples to their boat, and he goes up into the hills to pray most of the night. The disciples encounter heavy seas in a storm, just as Jesus returns to them on the water. Peter wants to walk on water too, so he asks Jesus to allow this, which he does. Peter does fine as long as he keeps his eyes on the Lord. He starts to sink as soon as he puts his eyes on his circumstances. Perhaps the heavy winds had not yet diminished; perhaps the huge waves had not yet calmed. Once Peter takes his eyes off Jesus, he sinks. But he is saved from drowning when Jesus reaches out and clasps his hand.

This is such a great reminder for all of us: Keep our eyes on the Lord, not on the circumstances that either frighten us or frustrate us. We are safe in His hands. We are safe in His care. No circumstance in which we dwell is too great for Him . He heals; He provides (jobs, peace, financial well-being, family unity, etc.); He saves; He blesses; He either helps us overcome adversity, or He helps us persevere through it. God saved Jacob, and his unruly sons, so they might see and be reunited once again with Joseph. In the meantime, he molded and reformed their characters. Jacob drew closer to the Lord in his faith. Joseph’s brothers grieved their sins and experienced being forgiven—a lesson for next week. Again, the life lesson is for us to keep our eyes on the Lord.

When I was in seminary, my best buddy and I—a woman named Amanda from Chicago—heard about a church south of Sarasota with a powerful healing ministry led by the Rev. Sharon Lewis. Our field worksite church paid for us to attend a weekend healing conference there to learn what they were doing. After having met up with my brother (who lived near there), I had come back to the room we shared on Saturday night to find Amanda asleep. At about 4am, I awoke to hear her weeping. When I asked what was wrong, she told me she was sure she would never be ordained. Now I knew her pretty well, and had observed her over time, so I was clear she was called to be a pastor. But I think the Holy Spirit must have inspired me to tell her to not pay any attention to what men or women said to her about it, but to keep her eyes on the Cross of Jesus. I said she should not look to the left or to the right, but to look to Jesus alone. She calmed down and we were able to get back to sleep. The next day, we attended the Sunday communion service. When Amanda stepped up to receive the bread, Pastor Lewis said to her, “You are not to look to the left or to the right, but to keep your eyes on Christ .”—almost verbatim what I had said earlier that morning. We both took that to mean she would eventually be ordained (and she was).

I attended a wedding in Gainesville, Florida, yesterday that was just awesome. The precious daughter of my son’s best male friend (from age 3 to college), Kaiti, had taken a gap year between high school and college. She worked with a youth missions agency that sent her to Jerusalem. While there, she met a fellow named Sterling from Colorado. They became friends and talked for hours about their faith in Christ. During this time, she came down with covid and was quarantined. Sterling brought her snacks and notes daily. They continued to correspond when he returned to Colorado and she went off to begin college in Pittsburgh. Their friendship grew into love during their four year, long-distance relationship, culminating in yesterday’s lovely and deeply heart-felt ceremony. The church was packed. Their precious relationship is truly a testimony to what can happen when God provides the foundation for a marriage. They both kept their eyes on the Lord and their example ministered to each of us who attended.

In the days ahead, and always, let us keep our eyes on the Lord. Watch and see what He will do. Amen.

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Don’t You Forget It!

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 2, 2026

Scriptures: Gen 32:22-32; Ps 17:1-7, 15; Ro 9:1-5; Matt 14:13-21

Recently, including this morning at the Church door, I’ve heard a number of folks—and not just those of a certain age—bemoan the fact that they forget a lot. People worry they are showing signs of dementia because they forget the time or date; their phone; their keys; the day a certain bill or a library book is due; people’s names; or the vocabulary of a foreign language, etc. At one point, when I was in college, I began to think in French and I even dreamed a few times in French. Now I can hardly remember any of it due to rarely having ever used it since. 

Back in 1885, A German psychologist named Herman Ebbinghouse (1850-1909) studied the phenomenon of forgetting. He experimented on himself, testing his ability to remember a series of words and also a series of nonsense syllables. He quickly decided we remember meaningful things like words much better than random syllables that convey nothing but sound. In 1885, he came up with what became known as “The Forgetting Curve,” which has been authenticated numerous times since. He determined that when we are trying to learn/remember a body of content or a number of facts, we tend to forget about 58% of it within the first hour! Within a day, we have lost about 68%; and after 5 days (a work week) we have lost 75% (3/4ths)! He discovered that if we review the material at repeated intervals–spaced out over time–we can hold things in memory longer than the Forgetting Curve predicts. We still forget some, but the rate of forgetting decreases. In other words, material stays with us longer if we practice remembering it over several time periods.

Interestingly, our God never forgets anything—unless it is our confessed sins. Corrie Ten Boom would say He drops our forgiven sins in the deepest part of the ocean and plants there a “No Fishing” sign. He does not intend to revisit them, and neither should we. We tend to easily remember very significant events (joyful or traumatic ones) without much rehearsal, practice, or repetition, as though they have been burned onto the retina of our mind. But for most other things—grocery lists, where I put my keys, the day my neighbors go on vacation and want me to water their plants, the Bill of Rights, a code of ethics–we need to either write it down or say it over and over in our heads, several different times.

I bring this forgetting phenomena up because I want us all to remember that our God does not forget us. This is an important and a comforting concept for us all to keep at the forefront of our minds.

A. Consider this morning’s Gospel, Matt 14:13-21. Jesus hoped to get away to mourn the death of His cousin, John the Baptist. He set out to sea, but the crowds followed Him around the Lake and caught up to Him. Scripture says He had compassion on them and healed them. Since the place was far from a town, He also multiplied food, in a miraculous way, to feed them (5,000 men plus women and children). He didn’t forget or overlook their needs. His compassion for them led to His healing, teaching, and feeding them, physically, cognitively, and spiritually. This reminds me of a praise song (based on Psalm 78:23-29) from the early 2000’s: “My God shall supply all my needs, according to His riches in glory. He will give His angels charge over me, Jehovah Jireh [The Lord will provide] cares for me.”

B. Speaking of psalms, our Psalm this morning (17:1-7) appears to be a prayer from David during those days when jealous King Saul and his army chased David in the wilderness. David knew he was being pursued to his death, yet he trusted God both to hear him and to answer him. He was asking for protection; he was counting on God’s mercy; he knew that God had anointed him to become king one day, and that his coronation hadn’t happened yet. He must have figured that that meant that God had not forgotten him or given up on him. Instead, believing God was not finished with him, David could trust that God would not allow Saul to kill him. When I was in seminary, my school sent me and two others to represent them at a Preaching Conference in Jackson, Mississippi. As we intended to fly back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, our place was forced to wait on the tarmac during a deluge of rain and lightening. Even once we were airborne, the plane bounced around during the less intense but still terrifying storm. We would suddenly drop who knows how many feet and many passengers would scream. My seatmate, a woman who frequently flew for work, grabbed onto the bag supplied for vomiting. She was worried and said she had never experienced a flight so rough. I had been praying all that time, but looked at her and told her we would get through the storm and land safely because I was midway through seminary and God wasn’t finished with me yet. I wasn’t bragging because I had the same blessed assurance that David did.

C. We meet the Apostle Paul again in Romans 9:1-5 today. After having asserted in Chapter 8 that nothing can separate us from God’s love, he begins Chapter 9 by bemoaning the fact that his Jewish brothers and sisters have rejected Christ. Now, let’s be clear that in the early years of the 1st century Christ’s newly founded Church was mainly composed of Jewish believers. Most of the Apostles, but particularly Paul, then turned their attention on bringing Gentiles into the fold. Paul was zealous about his mission, as we all know, but also brokenhearted that so many sons and daughters of Israel rejected Jesus. As we will see as he continues beyond today’s passage, he reassures himself that the Lord has not forgotten Paul’s countrymen. Perhaps he exaggerates for effect when he says he would gladly trade his relationship with Jesus to have all Jewish people come to Christ. That’s a very pastoral and a loving thing for him to say, but he knows that would never be necessary, that God will never forget them because… 

1.) Verse 4–>They are God’s Chosen People (we gentiles are grafted into their line as children of God).

2.) They have seen God’s glory (fire, cloud) while on the wilderness wanderings, received His Law from Mount Sinai, were recipients of His Covenant Promises, and built a huge and glorious Temple in which to worship Him.

3.) And he goes on to assert in verse 5 (NLT)-→ Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors and Christ Himself was an Israelite as far as His human nature is concerned. Paul will spend subsequent chapters in Romans assuring us that God has not forgotten the Jewish people and will bring many of them to Christ before all is said and done.

D. Let’s think through how the Lord works on Jacob in today’s Old Testament lesson, Genesis 32:22-31. Our passage today sees Jacob and his huge family (two wives, two concubines, eleven sons, one daughter, and a huge number of servants and livestock, slowly making their way back home. He has essentially been indentured to wily Uncle Laban for 20 years, but leaves him as a wealthy man. We remember he had to work 14 years to be allowed to marry his true love, Rachel. But meanwhile, Leah, the less favored wife, bears him six sons and a daughter; then two more sons by her servant surrogate. Leah is the mother of 8 sons who will become the leaders of eight of the 12 tribes of Israel. Rachel, on the other hand, is beloved by Jacob but barren. Mightily frustrated, she has two sons by a surrogate; then finally—when the Lord takes pity on her– she gives birth to Joseph, his father’s favorite. (Once back in the Promised Land, She will die giving birth to Benjamin, her fourth son.) The ladies then retire from childbearing, with Leah credited with 8 sons and a daughter, and Rachel with 4 sons by the time of her death.

Jacob has been out of the Promised Land for 20 years. The trickster or fraudster has been conned by a greater trickster, a master fraudster. We have to credit Jacob, however, for having been a hard worker, and for persisting through his time of testing (We could say that Jacob has developed “grit.”) The Lord has called him to return, but he’s not yet home free: Just prior to this passage, he had to contend with a jealous and angry Laban who pursued him. They work things out by agreeing not to venture into each other’s territory again. But next he knows he also has to deal with his vengeful brother, Esau. He’s no doubt exhausted, harried, and burnt out.

Having deepened his faith during the twenty years, he prays a powerful prayer to the Lord: (1) He acknowledges how God has blessed him; (2) He reminds God that it is the Lord who has called him to return home; (3) And he asks God to save him from his brother’s wrath. He then sends his wives and children to safety, across the Jabbok River, intending to bed down for the night. Suddenly, though, he is grabbed by the Lord Himself (the preincarnate Jesus), Who wrestles with him. The prophet Hosea later wrote about this event: (Hosea 12:3-4)-→Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He pleaded for a blessing from Him. There at Bethel he met God face to face and God spoke to him! Weary and worried Jacob wrestled with Jesus all night! At the conclusion of this encounter, the Lord changes his name to Israel-→He who contends with God and men and overcomes. Jacob has learned to persevere. And he has also learned he cannot bend God to his will; rather he must yield his will to the Lord

Jesus leaves him with a reminder of this: a dislocated hip. Jesus is letting Jacob know that He will not let Esau overcome or kill him. He does not need to fear because the Lord has not forgotten him. Uncle Laban has worked most of the deceptiveness out of him; but Jesus will protect him.

Lord, please give us all the faith and trust in You that Jesus, David, and Paul had, and that Jacob developed over time. It can be argued that since Jesus knows the Father intimately, He doesn’t really require faith—He just knows! But He always models obedience for us. And He Himself is never forgotten by God. Even when He became sin for us on the Cross, God turned His back on Him, but was no doubt very grieved for and aware of Him.

David and Paul both demonstrate the fact that the Lord is with them, hears them, and responds to them. Neither of them believes—even while running for his life or when being beaten or imprisoned—that the Lord ever forgets them! Neither one is perfect, either, but they both do an exceptional job of modeling for us unfailing faith and trust in our Lord.

Jacob has come a long way, but he is still—like us—a work in progress. God did not abandon him in Haran. God told him to leave Uncle Laban and return to his father Isaac’s land in the area of Mamre and Hebron. The Lord goes on to engineer Esau’s forgiveness. However, Jacob does still try to manipulate his brother by buying his forgiveness with very generous gifts.

  Let me leave you with one final point: I have probably preached today’s lesson about Jacob 4 or 5 times over the years of my tenure here at Wellborn Methodist Church. Ebbinhause would predict we should all know the story (and the morals of the story) well by now—repeated reviews over several different time periods. That’s one of the points of preaching through the Bible. The Lord wants us to learn what He has to say in it, and to remember, not forget it. It is as though He is saying to us, This is My Word for you: Don’t you forget it!” Amen!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Don’t forget!
Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Puzzling it Out

Pastor Sherry’s message for July 19, 2026

Scriptures: Gen 28:10-19a; Ps 139:1-2, 23-24; Ro 8:12-25; Matt 13:24-30, 3543

Like a number of folks in our congregation, I like to work jigsaw puzzles. I’ve found a site on line that I like and visit it daily to work a puzzle or two. Friday I worked on a picture of a large whale flipping. You may remember those insurance ads on TV that featured huge whales coming up out of the water and flipping over before descending back into the sea. This behavior is called “breaching.” I find it fascinating. Scientists aren’t sure why they do it: It might be a form of play—they do look like they enjoy it. Or it could be a tactic to remove parasites. It could also be a means of communicating with other whales, in order to rejoin or collect their pod, or for purposes of breeding. Or perhaps it’s a signal the breaching whale has located a food source. Whatever its purpose, it is surely a spectacular sight!

And it puts me in mind of what Paul has to tell us in Romans 8:12-25: We were not the only creatures affected negatively by the Fall in Genesis. Paul says (in verses 20-22, NLT)-→Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Our lives have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. Paul is teaching us that if we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, we are sons and daughters of God. This allows us into intimate fellowship with God the Father—so intimate that we may call Him Abba or Daddy (Remembering that He is omnipotent, we probably don’t want to act too casually with Him). Apparently, the Lord is giving all humans the chance to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior before ushering in the end of times (very patient!). It is then that Jesus will come to earth again, defeat evil, and return all living beings to the state of the Garden of Eden–a perfect world. Could it be that the whales who breach are checking to see—or puzzling it out—whether we humans have yet sufficiently submitted ourselves to God’s Kingdom rule so they can be released from the effects of human sin on them? Searching for food would not be necessary in a perfect world. Barnacles and other pests would not bedevil critters in a perfect world—no more mosquitoes, gnats, or roaches! Whales would not misplace their pods in a perfect world. And they might be able to perform other gymnastic feats (like a triple axle?) in a perfect world.

I think our other scripture passages today also present us with several encouragements to fall into line with Jesus:

A. Psalm 139 really eases any worries we might have about our relationship with God! David wrote it as a theological hymn, reminding us of God’s character traits of omniscience (He knows everything), omnipresence (He is everywhere), and omnipotence (He is all powerful). We are always on His radar and can neither get away from Him nor hide from Him. He sees us. He knows our every thought, and loves us anyway! There’s no problem confronting us that He cannot handle. If you attempt to puzzle this out, you can only end up feeling caught up in God’s love, known by Him, and comforted. Praise God!

B. That theme is expanded in our Old Testament story of Jacob’s flight from Esau. Esau realizes Jacob has stolen the blessing Esau thought was his. He erupts in murderous rage, so Jacob must flee for his life. Isaac and Rebekah tell him to head to Haran (Present-day Northern Syria), find a wife from among Rebekah’s extended family; and lay low until Esau calms down. In other words, they get him out of Dodge, thinking it wouldn’t take long. (It took about 20 years, during which time Jacob’s beloved mother dies, having never seen Jacob again.)

Actually, Jacob seems to have run 52 miles that first day! From 40 miles south of Jerusalem–Beersheba–he made it 12 miles north of the city by sundown. Fear was driving him and he was hoofing it! Jacob then falls into what was no doubt a sleep of exhaustion, and dreams of a ladder from earth to Heaven. He sees angels moving up and down the ladder, implying that heavenly beings do visit earth. He also views God (the Preincarnate Jesus) at the top of the ladder, Who identifies Himself by saying, (v.13, NLT)-→I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. Jesus identifies Himself then goes on to reiterate the covenant promises the Father had made to Abraham and Isaac: (1) Property, including where he laid his head; (2) Progeny, innumerable descendants, spreading all over the earth; (3) Presence (I will be with you; I will not leave you); (4) and Protection.

So, Jacob is running away from home to escape his brother’s wrath, and he encounters Jesus! He’s a scammer and a deceiver, but our Lord sees great promise in him! As I puzzle this out, I believe it means that our God does not allow our sinful tendencies to deter Him from loving us and even blessing us and using us in Kingdom building (Remember, Jacob is the ancestor of Jesus!).

With Jesus, there’s always hope! Secondly, Jacob experiences the fact that he can run from Esau but he cannot outrun the Psalm 139 omnipresence of God.

And, Jacob is humbled—for the moment—and renames the place Bethel, meaning house of God. He sets up a memorial to the dream and his encounter.

He should have been encouraged by the extension of the covenant promises,

but I doubt he had any inkling of what God had in store for him with Uncle Laban, poor soul!

C. But let’s leave Jacob to his future and take a look at our Gospel lesson, Matthew 1324-30, 36-43: And first, let me share a story of a man who owned a parrot.

“Every day at 5:00pm, the man took the parrot and walked down the street to the corner bar where he had a few drinks and talked with his friends. He had taught the parrot to order for him, yelling out, “Gimme a beer, gimme a beer” every time he entered the bar.

“Every Sunday the man and his wife went to church, locking the bird in its cage before they left the house.  One Sunday the door on the cage did not lock well and the bird got out. It flew out an open window and found its way into the church. It flew in and sat down on its master’s shoulder, crying out for all to hear, “gimme a beer, gimme a beer.” The man was embarrassed and told the bird to hush, saying, “Shut up! This ain’t the bar; its the church.” The bird looked around and said, “AWWK, Same old crowd, same old crowd.”

(Fairless and Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary, Year A, 2013, pp.182-183.)

The point of the story is that often it’s hard to tell who are “saints” and who are sinners, or who are the good seed and who are the tares or the weeds, isn’t it? We can deceptively look the same, for a time anyway–“same old crowd!” We want to be wheat or the good seed, but the truth, as Martin Luther put it, is that, “We are all Saint and Sinner at the same time.” (Ibid.) Unfortunately, that is all too true, isn’t it?! Often we do measure up, we do try our best to be like Jesus.

And if the harvest came at a bad time for us—if we were caught doing what we don’t want to do, or neglecting to do what we know God would want us to do–we would, at the least be ashamed wouldn’t we? But fortunately, it is not up to us to judge! Jesus suggests that, at the end of time, the angels will know our true hearts, and they will select out who of us are wheat (good seed) and who of us are tares (the seed of the Devil).

The wheat will go on to (v.43, NLT)-→…shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom, while the tares/weeds will be thrown (v.42)… into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, as we puzzle this out, it becomes clear there is a severe penalty for not choosing to align ourselves with Jesus, isn’t there? Heaven is the end of the journey for the good seed. It’s what we can expect as committed Christ-followers. However, it’s not up to us to judge who gets there and who doesn’t. There’s a little poem that expresses this well:

When you get to heaven, you will likely view

Many folks there who’ll be a shock to you.

But don’t act surprised, or even show a care,

For they might be a little shocked to see you there.

(Anonymous, cited by J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Mathew, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p,180.)

Jesus is telling us that saints and sinners are all mixed up down here for now. Our gracious God waits patiently for everyone who is willing to come to Him. He doesn’t want even one repentant soul to be lost, the message of the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost (prodigal) Son in Luke’s Gospel. Nevertheless, the eternal clock is ticking. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. We don’t know when our end is coming. We learned to our distress that a 44 year old former member of this congregation died suddenly on Wednesday. I’m sure when she went to bed Tuesday night, she never expected that Wednesday was her day to wake up and see Jesus. It’s not something we need to puzzle out: We need to have made our decision to follow Jesus this side of the grave. And just think, the more of us who choose Jesus, the quicker the rest of creation can also be freed from its bondage. It gives new meaning to the slogan from the 90’s, “Free the Whales.”

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia, Alleluia!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Sowing God’s Word

Pastor Sherry’s message for July 12, 2026

Scriptures: Gen 25:19-34; Ps 65, Ro 8:1-11; Matt 13:1-9, 18-23

The story is told of a pig farmer:

“A woman was visiting a farm and saw a pig hobbling around with a wooden peg for a hind leg. Intrigued, she asked the farmer what happened. The farmer beamed with pride: “That is an amazing pig! Last month, a fire broke out [in our home], and that pig ran into the burning house, woke up the sleeping family, and carried the baby to safety!” Shocked, the woman asked, “But what about the wooden leg?” The farmer shook his head and replied, “Well, a pig that special… you don’t eat him all at once!”

(Borrowed from www.sermonillustrations.com, 7/8/26)

I repeat this story because we live in an agricultural area, though none of our farmers would be this foolish. Jesus, too, lived in an agricultural area, and often told parables based on the experiences folks in a rural area might have found familiar. Our Gospel lesson (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23) presents one such story.

Now the context for this parable—The Farmer Scattering Seed”–is that Jesus has turned His attention away from Israel and is now focusing on drawing believers from among the gentiles who lived near the Jews. Matthew reports that He (v.1)-→left the house [of Israel] and sat beside the sea [symbolic of the Gentile nations]. Our Lord was turning toward the world, toward us. In His story, the sower is Jesus (or us), the seed is the Word of God, and the field is the world.

(J.Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Matthew, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.177.)

Jesus describes 4 environments into which the farmer’s seed lands:

(1) Some falls on the path, where the soil has been compacted over time so the seed does not germinate. Birds come along and eat it up. Later, Jesus will explain that the birds in this case represent Satan. People with hardened hearts will not take in, understand, or continue to respond to God’s Word. (2) Some seed will fall on rocky ground and not develop deep roots. These folks will drop out as Christ followers when they experience personal problems or persecution.

We could say their baby faith is choked out by the demands of their flesh. (3) Other seed lands in among weeds, competing for the same nourishment. Their spiritual development is stunted by the cares and concerns of the culture.

We could call this the seductions of the world. So the world, the flesh, and the devil pull many away from following Jesus. (4) The 4th environment is the best-→Hearers of God’s Word accept it, develop in their faith, and lead others to Jesus.

We want to be this 4th type of environment, having hearts in which the Gospel takes root. And we even bring others to Christ, through the word of our testimonies—that is, how knowing Jesus has changed our lives (and how we live our lives)–and by the blood of the Lamb. This is an active, resilient faith.

Our other passages this morning also speak to the need for a resilient, trusting faith in response to God’s Word.

A. In Romans 8:1-11, Paul continues to emphasize that we believers cannot overcome sin (the urges of our carnal bodies/minds) on our own. Remember last week, at the end of Chapter 7, he bemoans (v.24, NLT)-→Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Our old natures are carnal, riddled with and controlled by sinful impulses. And our new natures have no power to help us overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. He concludes that being yoked to Jesus will empower us, though the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. He uses the word sanctification 19 times in this chapter alone. He’s talking about becoming holy and more like Jesus. Now none of us but Jesus is perfect, so holy in this context means the opposite of carnal, set apart for God’s purposes. The Holy Spirit delivers us from the power of sin over us, And the Holy Spirit assists us to perform God’s will in us. The Holy Spirit acts like a booster rocket that helps us escape sin’s gravitational pull. 

(McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Romans, 1991, p.141).

This is why Paul can exclaim in verse 1 (NLT)→So now there is now condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation for believers because our sinless Lord Jesus became sin for us and atoned for all of our sins—past, present and future–on the Cross. The Holy Spirit wants to help us become the best we can be, this side of Heaven. The Holy Spirit wants us to develop a strong, unshakable faith in Jesus Christ so that we can sow God’s word by our deeds as well as with our speech.

B. Our Psalm (65) is a prophetic psalm of praise concerning Jesus’ majestic return at the end of time. At that time, He will restore Israel.

Thus, we should praise and revere God both for His almighty power and for His merciful care of the universe. Verses 1-4 focus on His forgiving nature; verses 5-8 extol His power; and verses 9-13 praise Him for His marvelous provision.

Recognizing these facts reiterated in this psalm, we can partner with God in sowing God’s Word among nonbelievers.

C. Finally, we have the examples, from Genesis 25:19-34, of several types of soil into which God’s word was sown: First we see that Isaac and Rebekah experienced infertility for 20 years! Rebekah, like Sarah, Isaac’s mother, was barren, which would have been very difficult for them for several reasons:

(1) Remember, before Rebekah had left her home to marry Isaac, her parents had prayed that she would be “the mother of thousands” (Gen. 24:60).

No doubt the couple had great expectations, which made her barrenness all the more disappointing. They probably thought, “If we’re going to fulfill God’s plan of forming a great nation, we need to start popping out kids yesterday!” Additionally, women in that culture were expected to birth children in order to preserve the family name; develop a workforce; and provide for the care of elderly grandparents and parents (they had no nursing homes!).

But notice Isaac’s response to their disappointment: He prayed for his wife to conceive. Isaac is a man of faith—he had been good soil. Similarly, Rebekah conceives, then when she becomes alarmed over the turbulence in her womb, she takes her concerns to the Lord as well. God speaks to her and tells her she is carrying twins who will be very different from one another, fraternal twins. We know from modern research that identical twins—even if raised separately– often think the same way, like the same things, and dress the same way—but not these two! The firstborn, ESAU’s name meant hairy; he later was called EDOM=red due to his lusting after red stew. He became the father of the Arabs. God said his descendants would be more numerous., and that he would be a skillful hunter, an athletic outdoorsman. He also become Isaac’s favorite.

The 2nd twin, JACOB was named heel-grabber; another accurate but unfortunate meaning of his name was deceiver. He would become a quiet, contemplative man, his mother’s favorite, and God will have his elder brother serve him because the Lord determined that Jesus will be descended from Jacob’s line.

As the boys grow and develop, we see their characters diverge as well. 

Esau proves to be a man driven by his fleshly appetites and the seductions of the evil one. We could equate him with rocky ground. He gives little thought to God. Trading his birthright for one meal proves his lack of spiritual depth and wisdom—short term gain for long term pain. His birthright would have entitled him to the inheritance of the first born (twice what Jacob would have received).

It also would have made him head and priest of his family.

Jacob seems the more godly of the two—until he defrauds his brother. He must have coveted the birthright, but was unwilling to wait on God to provide it for him. He takes the matter into his own hands, ripping off his own brother (Rev. Jack Miller would have termed this pernicious self-reliance).

It would seem he resembles the weedy, worldly ground in that whatever faith he had was choked out by worry and ambition, and Satan’s seductions.

These twin brothers represent a lesson/example in how not to respond to God’s Word. As we shall see in the Jacob narratives in the weeks to come, Jacob does go on to develop a deep, abiding faith in the Lord, but only after he has suffered for his deceit and his willfulness. His mother’s brother, Uncle Laban, is one of the means God uses to accomplish this transformation. A night spent wrestling with the pre-incarnate Jesus will bring him to his knees. And his grief over losing his beloved Rachel and his favorite son, Joseph, will complete his surrender to God.

Let’s hope that each of us will come to Jesus with less trauma and drama. Let’s save ourselves a lot of heartache, and behave like we are good soil, that we know to praise God for His grace and provision; that we cooperate with all attempts of the Holy Spirit to bring us into step with Jesus; and that like Isaac and Rebekah we take all our concerns to Christ, trusting in Him to act of our behalf.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia, alleluia!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Transformed by Love

 Pastor Sherry’s message for July 5, 2026

Scriptures: Gen 24:34-67; Ps 45:10-17; Ro 7:14-25a; Matt 11:16-19, 25-30

I read the following story the other day and was pretty amazed by its content:

“A couple of weeks ago [in 1977] Eldridge Cleaver was telling me about his days as a Black Panther. He said that while he was a Black Panther, he was filled with a terrible, roiling feeling of hatred and violence against any law enforcement agency [and against Whites].. He couldn’t help himself. Every time he would get with them he would feel this terrible sense of anger and murderous rage within him. It made him the leader of the Black Panthers, the violent militants of the early 60s.

“But a year or so ago [around 1976] , in the south of France, in a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, he had a vision, an inner view of the face of Jesus Christ, coming out of his boyhood to him. It drove him to reading the scriptures. He read Psalm 23 over and over again. He said that ever since that time on the balcony, he never had a feeling of hatred again. He has looked for it and expected it but instead there has been a feeling of love for everyone he meets.”

(Sermon by Ray C.Stedman, “The Night is Nearly Over,” 4/10/77, as cited in www,ThePastor’sWorkshop.com, 7/2/26.)

How many of you remember the Black Panthers? I was a newly minted high school social studies teacher when I first encountered a Black Panther in 1970. I was entertaining a small group of seniors at my home, serving them sodas and cookies. One of my favorites, an African American named Valerie, brought her older brother, Kenneth along. Kenneth told me he was a member of the Black Panthers, so I asked him what they were about. He told me they hated white people and had sworn to kill them. Now I was only 22 at the time—so I cannot claim I had developed much wisdom and discernment—but I sat there digesting what he said and wondered, “What’s wrong with this picture?” So, I said to him, “Kenneth, do you mean to tell me you are in my home, eating refreshments I have set out for you, and enjoying my hospitality, but you intend to murder me?” I was asking him to help me understand because that just made no sense to me. He thought it through and admitted he had no animosity towards me personally (praise God!). His sister, my student, later told me he had dropped out of the movement shortly after our dialogue. In a similar vein, I was heartened to hear that Eldridge Clever encountered Christ 20 years before he died in 1998.

Our Scripture lessons today all comment on the transformational power of love:

A. In our OT passage, Genesis 24:34-67, we read of the love story between Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac, Abraham’s “child of promise,” born to him when Abe was 100YO, is now about 40. It’s almost beyond time for him to marry. Abraham calls forth his loyal and trusted steward, Eliazar, and sends him to Haran to locate a bride from his extended family.

Eliazar, arriving in Haran, prays to Abraham’s God to ask for a sign so that he might recognize God’s choice of a bride for Isaac. The sign is that the young woman will give him water and offer to water his camels. Watering the live stock (and the household) was a task delegated to women in those days. We know that camels are uniquely qualified for that arid climate in that they can go long distances without requiring additional water. Apparently each one can take in about 200-300 gallons of water at a time (weighing about 2085 pounds!) (See New Living Translation of the Bible, p.38.) Imagine how long this would take and how many times a young woman would have to dip up buckets full of water to fill up 10 camels. It’s a “big ask,” but Rebekah takes it on.

Eliazar goes home with her to ask for her hand in marriage for Isaac. She probably overhears the wedding negotiations—they lived in tents, so eavesdropping was pretty easy–and is intrigued by Isaac’s miraculous birth, the fact that God saved him from being sacrificed, and that the family is very wealthy. Her brother Laban (the same one who will eventually cheat her son, Jacob) tries to forestall her departure, but she is willing to leave immediately (Smart girl! No telling what that wiley man was up to!). After days on the road, she sees Isaac at a distance, and literally falls for him (the Hebrew implies she fell off her camel at the sight of him). And Isaac falls in love with her as well-→beautiful love story!

She becomes a beloved bride, and Isaac is comforted by her when his mother, Sarah, dies.

B. Our Psalm (45:10-17) describes the love of the princess bride (Rebekah) for her prince (Isaac). It’s actually a maschil [instruction] psalm, and a love song, predicting the love of Christ’s bride, the Church, for our Messiah, Jesus. Verses 1-9 deal with Jesus’ person and kingly power at His 2nd Coming.

But the portion we read this morning deals with the Bride: Verses 10-11 read-→Listen to me, O royal daughter, take to heart what I say. Forget your people and your family far away [Rebekah]. For your royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord. It also predicts Jesus’ delight in His bride, the Church, but the “nearer fulfillment” probably refers to Rebekah and Isaac. Nevertheless, both the near and the far fulfillments speak to the transformational power of love.

C. I don’t know about you, but I feel a great sense of relief to know Christ’s love is transformational! As Paul points out in Romans 7:14-25a, we appear to caught in a horrible dilemma: We love Jesus and want to please/obey him, but our old fleshly natures keep on dragging us/clawing us back into sinful behaviors. YIKES! It’s true, isn’t it?!! We do the very thing we really don’t want to do, and we don’t do the thing we want to do, the thing we know would please Jesus. Paul writes, (NIV v.24)-→What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Poor Paul and poor us! Then, knowing the answer, he goes on to say (v.25)-→But thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

D. Jesus provides us with the antidote to our sinful natures in the Gospel lesson from Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30. First, though, He points out that we are doubled-minded, exactly as Paul contends in Romans 7. We don’t know what to do—weddings vs. funerals—and we don’t know how to discern properly, both with regard to John the Baptist, nor to Jesus. As Jesus’ half-brother, James will go on to write (NIV,1:8)-→…[a double-minded man is] unstable in all he does. Again, we do what we don’t want to do and can’t seem to make ourselves do what we know we should do.

Jesus’ loving solution for us begins in verse 28 (NLT)-→Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. That’s where our transformation begins. We have to stop trying to do things in our own power and take our burdens to Jesus. He goes on to say (v.29)–>Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. We are to surrender to Jesus, becoming yoked to Him. He then promises us to teach us (He’s currently in Heaven, but He will teach us through His Holy Spirit.) If we can take in His lessons for us, we will find rest, because (v.30)-→…My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. When we pull in the same direction He is going, the going is both easy and light.  He is our burden-bearer. His help and His love make what frustrates both us and Paul less difficult and more doable.

It all really comes down to obedience, doesn’t it? But we are not being obedient to Someone who will abuse us. Nor are we capitulating to a cosmic killjoy! We are allowing ourselves to be mentored or tutored by the Lover of our Souls! Because of His great, transforming love for us, He will truly bless us!

Jesus’ great love for Him transformed Eldridge Cleaver’s murderous hatred into love. If we are yoked to Christ, we can let go of hatred, rage, jealousy, a desire for revenge, the need to gossip, addictions of all sorts, and that carnal body of flesh that Paul bemoans. The love of Jesus truly transforms people if we will allow Him to work in each of our hearts.

Consider the example of Fred Stallard:

“Turned off by school. Very sloppy in appearance. Expressionless. Unattractive. Even his teacher, Miss Thompson, enjoyed bearing down her red pen — as she placed Xs beside his many wrong answers. If only she had studied his records more carefully. They read:

1st grade: Ted shows promise with his work and attitude, but (has) poor home situation.

2nd grade: Ted could do better. Mother seriously ill. Receives little help from home.

3rd grade: Ted is good boy but too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died this year.

4th grade: Ted is very slow, but well-behaved. His father shows no interest whatsoever.

“Christmas arrived. The children piled elaborately wrapped gifts on their teacher’s desk. Ted brought one too. It was wrapped in brown paper and held together with Scotch Tape. Miss Thompson opened each gift, as the children crowded around to watch. Out of Ted’s package fell a gaudy rhinestone bracelet, with half of the stones missing, and a bottle of cheap perfume. The children began to snicker. But she silenced them by splashing some of the perfume on her wrist, and letting them smell it. She put the bracelet on too.

“At day’s end, after the other children had left, Ted came by the teacher’s desk and said, “Miss Thompson, you smell just like my mother. And the bracelet looks real pretty on you. I’m glad you like my presents.” He left. Miss Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her and to change her attitude.

“The next day, the children were greeted by a reformed teacher — one committed to loving each of them. Especially the slow ones. Especially Ted. Surprisingly — or maybe, not surprisingly, Ted began to show great improvement. He actually caught up with most of the students and even passed a few.

“Time came and went. Miss Thompson heard nothing from Ted for a long time. Then, one day, she received this note:

Dear Miss Thompson:

I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be graduating second in my [high school] class.

Love, Ted

Four years later, another note arrived:

Dear Miss Thompson:

They just told me I will be graduating first in my [college] class. I wanted you to be first to know. The university has not been easy, but I liked it.

Love, Ted

And four years later:

Dear Miss Thompson:

As of today, I am Theodore Stallard, M.D. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now; Dad died last year.

“Miss Thompson attended that wedding, and sat where Ted’s mother would have sat. The compassion she had shown that young man entitled her to that privilege.”

(Jon Johnston, Courage – You Can Stand Strong in the Face of Fear, 1990, SP Publications, pp. 111-113..)

This lovely story demonstrates so clearly the transformative power of Christ-like love. This week, let us be mindful of seeing others through the eyes of Jesus and loving others as Christ loves us. Amen! 

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

It Should be Obvious

Pastor Sherry’s message for June 28, 2026

Scriptures: Jer 28:5-9; Ps 89:1-4, 15-18; Ro 6:12-23;Matt 10:40-42

Chuck Swindoll tells the following story:

“Imagine, if you will, that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad. So he says to you and the other trusted employees, ‘Look, I’m going to leave. And while I’m gone, I want you to pay close attention to the business. You manage things while I’m away. I will write you regularly. When I do, I will instruct you in what you should do from now until I return from this trip.’ Everyone agrees. 

“He leaves and stays gone for a couple of years. During that time he writes often, communicating his desires and concerns. Finally he returns. He walks up to the front door of the company and immediately discovers everything is in a mess–weeds flourishing in the flower beds, windows broken across the front of the building, the gal at the front desk dozing, loud music roaring from several offices, two or three people engaged in horseplay in the back room. Instead of making a profit, the business has suffered a great loss. Without hesitation he calls everyone together and with a frown asks, ‘What happened? Didn’t you get my letters?’

“You say, ‘Oh, yeah, sure. We got all your letters. We’ve even bound them in a book. And some of us have memorized them. In fact, we have ‘letter study’ every Sunday. You know, those were really great letters.’ I think the president would then ask, ‘But what did you do about my instructions?’ And, no doubt the employees would respond, ‘Do? Well, nothing. But we read every one!’”

(Chuck Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, Thomas Nelson, 1987, p. 242.)

I wonder if God ever considers us and thinks that way. After all, He has left us the Bible for our instruction and edification. Do you ever wonder what He thinks when He observes you or me? The employees in the Swindoll story would all have been fired, right? But our God continues to offer us grace—chance after chance after chance. (Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, says our God is the God of the first and last chances, the fat chance, the slim chance, and the no chance—meaning His love for and patience with us is inexhaustible.)

Now compare that to this true story about the Dallas Cowboy quarterback, Roger Staubach:

“Roger Staubach who led the Dallas Cowboys to the World Championship in ’71 admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn’t call his own signals was a source of trial for him. Coach Landry sent in every play. He told Roger when to pass, when to run and only in emergency situations could he change the play (and he had better be right!). Even though Roger considered coach Landry to have a “genius mind” when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team.

“Roger later said, “I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.”

      (Source Unknown, but quoted in www,Sermons.com., 6/18/26)

I saw Stauback play quarterback, in person, and beat Army, his senior year at the US Naval Academy (I was a college freshman). If you know anything about the service academies, their training to do whatever they are commanded to do is very rigorous. They, without question, learn how to obey a superior, or endure some pretty painful consequences. Since Coach Landry preferred to call all the plays, it’s a good thing for him that Coach had a quarterback who had been trained to follow orders. Staubach had been a Heisman Trophy winner for being a superb quarterback. But, even so, he obediently submitted to his couch’s will during 11 seasons in the NFL.

Our Scripture passages today all touch on the topic of obedience. Let see what each has to tell us:

A. Our Old Testament reading (Jeremiah 28:5-9) contains a stern warning. The prophet Jeremiah has a competitor for the people’s trust—a false prophet named Hananiah.  Earlier in the chapter, Hananiah has told the king and the citizens of Jerusalem that the people and the loot stolen by Babylon will be returned to the land very shortly (Their return came 70 years later!). The false prophet is selling them lies to improve their morale. Jeremiah, the true prophet of God, was at that time imprisoned with a wooden yoke about his neck, knows this is not so and says, “Not so fast my friend!”

To speak for God, a prophet must actually hear from God! Furthermore, what he relates as God’s words must actually come true—this is the mark of a valid prophet. Jeremiah is later told by the Lord to tell the false prophet that he will die that very year (which did happen 7 months later). The warning is not to speak for God unless the words you speak actually come from God Himself. Like Stauback’s pro coach, God calls the plays and even prophets must be obedient.

That should be obvious, shouldn’t it?

B. Psalm 89 is a maschil psalm, or a hymn of instruction. The psalmist, identified as Ethan the Ezrahite, is a Levite who worked in the Temple.

In verses 1-4, he begins with praise to God for His faithfulness and love, and he also reminds us of God’s Covenant Promises to King David that a descendant of his would always sit on the throne of Israel. This side of the Cross, we know this descendant to be Jesus. In verses 15-18, we are taught that God is our strength and our protector.

In the entire psalm, the faithfulness of God is mentioned 10 times! Remember, in those days they had no bold key on the computer, no emoji’s and no exclamation points, so to demonstrate that something was important, it was repeated time and again. Ethan the psalmist is teaching us that we can and should trust in God, and we can and should obey Him, because He is completely trustworthy. I suspect this fact was very obvious to Ethan the Ezrahite.

C. St. Paul, in Romans 6:12-23, makes a similar point but comes at it from a different angle. Because we live and move and have our being due to God’s love and grace, we are not to think—or act—like we can still live sinful lives!No, we owe God our obedience. Jesus said in John14:15-→If you love Me, obey My commandments. The Christian life is not about living according to a bunch of rules and regulations. We can probably all think of people we have known who live according to what they consider the rules—don’t smoke or drink, or cuss, or wear short skirts, or attend movies, or dance, put on too much make- up—but do not really behave like Jesus. In their private lives, they explode with anger, or they gossip destructively, or they behave immorally, etc.  They have missed the important point—which should be obvious–that to be a Christian is to behave like Jesus did. The word, Christian, after all means little Christs. 

However, we can’t do this in our own strength—our fleshly natures, the culture, and the devil are all too persuasive. We need the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. And we need to be obedient to His nudges. Paul makes the point that we are all obedient to some kind of master. We could subject ourselves to the tyranny of pleasing other people, or to pleasing ourselves! But Jesus set us free from all of these influences. As Paul writes, (vv.22-23, NLT)-→But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are saved by faith and we are to live by faith—not so obvious, but true!

D. Finally, in the Gospel (Matthew 10: 40-42), Jesus teaches us 4 ways to reap a reward in Heaven. Now to my mind, going to Heaven is enough reward in itself, but apparently there are other rewards given out once one is there. Jesus says some rewards are given out based upon whether or not we were (1) kind and generous toward children or others without much influence; (2) we recognized and were hospitable to righteous persons; (3) we welcomed and were loving and grace-filled toward a prophet; and (4) welcomed anyone who came in Jesus’ name. We will somehow be rewarded in Heaven for exhibiting these behaviors—all Christ-like behaviors. They involve our being obedient to Jesus, not to our own wills, to our self-interest, or to the demands of the world or of the devil.

During my vacation, I read a book by the Messianic Jewish Rabbi, Johnathan Cahn, entitled The Dragon’s Prophesy. He maintains that the terrorists of Hamas are the new descendants of the Philistines, perennial enemies of God’s Chosen People (and by adoption, all Christians). Their very name, in the Hebrew, means “violence, evil, destruction…brutality, immorality, falsehood, lawlessness, injustice, and acts of cruelty, plunder, murder, slaughter, and terror”—all of which we saw carried out on October 7th, 2023, against civilian Israeli’s (p.139). Cahn makes the point that the terrorist organization, Hamas, is a tool of the Dragon, or the Devil, in his fight against everyone who loves God. This of course includes the Jews, but also we Christians. As Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12-→For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

And he concludes that all Christians (and Jews) must become “dragon fighters”—not in our own strength, but by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimonies. If you read pages 259-260, you see and remember that all the great world powers who have come against the Jewish people have dropped out of human history. The Jews, targets of tyranny across the millennia, continue to exist because they are still loved (and protected from extinction) by God. We know the final outcome as it is told to us in Revelation. We are on the victorious side! 

Becoming dragon fighters will require our obedience to Christ and our belief and trust in His power and His faithfulness. Amen. May it be so!

©️ 2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams