Monday, May 5, 2008

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY: Matthew 21:12-27

PSALM OF THE WEEK: Psalm 24

HYMN OF THE DAY: CH#570 “Sweet Hour of Prayer” http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/h/shop.htm

VERSE OF THE DAY: He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.” Matthew 21:13 NRSV

 

The people Jesus drove out of the temple weren’t having a bake sale, bazaar, or church raffle.  No, these were people who made a full-time living off of cheating people who came to worship, but didn’t have the right type of money to buy the offerings.  Cheating worshipers, unfortunately, didn’t stop then.  Church history is full of bad examples, such as the “selling of indulgences” that got Martin Luther so upset.  In the past year there have been several news articles about con men posing as “Christian investment counselors” preying on church congregations.  Some of the largest churches in America have been hit.  In our denomination, there are some people available to you (free) if you want help in estate planning, etc. so that you won’t have to use the other type. These people are accountable to the church for their actions.  That is the big difference.  When we realize that we all are accountable to the Lord, and live our lives accordingly, we won’t be able to cheat anyone.  Jesus saw that there were people right in the very temple of his Father who had replaced prayer with profit and good with greed.  The temptation is still here in churches today.  The best defense is to keep praying.  God’s house is to be a house of prayer.  God’s house is you.

 

PRAYER: O God who made me as your temple, help e to live as such.  Help me spend more time in prayer and less thinking about money.  Help me trust you for everything. Amen.

 

See you in Church Sunday,

Pastor Sandy

 

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