Bible Study – 8:15 a.m.
Worship – 9:30 a.m.
Childcare is available for infants through preschool age, downstairs in Rooms 4 and 5 for morning service
Sunday School for Children and Youth – after worship
Special Called Congregational Meeting – after worship
Proposed Chapel Renovation Information Meeting – after worship
Seminar: “Reformation Roots: From Heretic to Hero.” – 11:00 a.m.
Pastor David’s Installation Service – 3:00 p.m.
From the Pastor/Head of Staff
The image is “The Healing Touch,” by Tim Holmes, commissioned by the Physicians for Social Responsibility as their annual PSR Peace Award.
Passages like the one from John’s Gospel which we will hear on Sunday remind that God knew what God was doing in calling me from the study of science into the study of scripture and the ministry. I love words, their nuances, their power, the ways they convey meaning and action. One of those words will stand out on Sunday, “saved.” Jesus says in John 3, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” The Greek word translated as “saved” is σωθῇ, sothe, which is a form of the root word σῴζω, sotzo. The word means “rescue, liberate, keep from harm,” all of which conveys the sense of being saved or safe. But guess what? The word can also, just as well, be translated as “healed.” We see this, for example, in Luke 7, where the centurion wants Jesus to come and heal one of his servants who is ill and near death. Verse 3 reads, “When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.” That word “heal” is the very same word we will hear in John, sotzo. Being healed is being saved, and being saved is being healed. Join us on Sunday as we contemplate John’s Gospel and what Jesus says about God’s desire to save and heal all the world.
Blessings,
David