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Wheat and Tares

10/31/2017

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​Wheat.  It's in 52 verses in the Bible.  Wheat was a commodity that had value and was used as a medium of exchange. Second Chronicles 27:5 and Ezra 7:22 reflect the purchasing power of wheat for those times.  Darnel is another matter, though.  It is a type of ryegrass that is noxious.  It has more negative attributes than it has positive and was thought to be poisonous.  However, it is now believed to be a fungus that is poisonous which grows on it.  Just another negative attribute.
     The unfortunate thing about wheat and darnel is that they are similar when they first take root.  It's not until they're established that one can tell the difference.  With this in mind, Matthew 13:26 becomes clear, "But when the blade (wheat, verse 25) was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also."  It has been thought, by minds better than the one writing this, that darnel would be a likely candidate for this parable.
     Wheat is good, darnel is not.  But the farmer said to let the two grow together for fear that wheat would be pulled up with the darnel.  Later, it could be separated.  This is the parable of the weeds among the wheat.  Good (wheat) must be left to flourish until harvest.  Bad will also coexist until harvest.  The weeds here can represent all the bad things that stand in the way of good flourishing.  
     There is a bad that goes along with the good.  Just think of the good people out there that have a heart for God.  My Aunt Bessie fell out of a tree when she was five and broke her arm.  This was back in the days when polio was prevalent and there was no vaccine for it.  Yes, polio withered her arm and it swung limp from the right side of her body for all of her life.  She was a teacher, a wife, mother of two and my Aunt Bessie that I went and lived with from the time I was three until I started kindergarten.  I still hum old hymns that she taught me during those precious two years.  She took me to church with her and I learned all the basics I would need for a christian life.  Simple prayers, Jesus, the story of David and Goliath, and so on.  Her faith was put to the test most of her life.  When the day comes that God will separate the wheat from the tares, she will be wheat.
     It's not for us to say whether the things that coexist in our lives are good or bad.  Yes, her lifeless arm gave her grief for many reasons.  She had pain in it, it was twice as hard for her to do many things.  There were things she was totally incapable of doing.  The thing was that even though she suffered with this, and she did have moments of real sorrow over it, she just kept growing like the stalk of wheat in the field.  Her face turned toward the Son every time she felt discouraged and just kept growing.  Would that we all could follow her example.
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Consider Your Ways

10/25/2017

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 Consider your ways.  Three words spoken by the prophet Haggai to the Jews who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.  Consider your ways.  Yes, they were aware that the temple was not built.  Consider your ways. 
     Haggai, a prophet, a man of God, bringing the Word of the Lord to his people.  These were people who had been demoralized, overrun, conquered.  Jerusalem lay in shambles.  Much had to be done.  It surely seemed insurmountable.  Yet, here they were.  Now what?
     The sermon text was Haggai 1.  It covers a 24-day period.  In those 24 days the people listened to Haggai, were moved by what he said, and set to work on the Lord's house.  Such a tremendous thing to have a spiritual change of heart.  Wouldn't it be great if people today could experience the same change in 24 days?
     How many out there feel like their lives are on a treadmill leading nowhere?  How many times have you said that you work all week just to see your paycheck slip through your fingers and go out the door?  Sometimes it just all seems senseless.  Why are we even here?
     Consider your ways.  Three words--consider your ways and see where you're at.  For many the thing we need the most is the thing we want the least.  Think about it.  Most everyone in this country knows about Jesus, the Bible, and going to church.  But, many also feel they don't need it.  The list of reasons are endless.
     Most of these same folks believe in God.  But, have you ever stopped to wonder what God thinks about you?  Are you even interested in what He thinks about you?  We live in a society that wants to feel better but doesn't have a clue about what the problem really is.  Admit it, some people come to church to feel better but they don't want to deal with the sin in their lives.
     Consider your ways.  We need to let God deal with the problems in our lives.  We need to live out our lives on a spiritual course with God at the helm.  After all, it's better to be on the side of God.
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Like a Rock

10/9/2017

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​There are plenty of rocks in Douglas County, Missouri.  In fact, there are plenty of rocks all over this area.  Go out and pick a bunch of rocks.  Ones that can be written on.  Now, take some time and write on these rocks.  Write the things that you believe in, your opinions, your thoughts, and what you believe is true.  In short, come up with all the things that make you, you.  Those are your rocks.  That is what your life is built on.
     Rocks and stones are mentioned a number of times in the Bible.  Answers.com says that the words stone and rock appear 320 times in 321 verses in the Bible.  Note:  For enthusiasts of Bible statistics, they can be found at biblebelievers.com.  Our pastor titled his sermon Like A Rock.  It’s a good title.  Rock and Role could be a good one, too.
     The text for the sermon was Luke 19:39-40.  Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, the disciples are rejoicing and praising God with loud voices for all the mighty things they have seen.  The Pharisees don’t like it and want Jesus to scold them for being so loud.  The reply:  Even if the disciples were silent, the stones of the earth would cry out.  Why wouldn’t they?  After all, stones are part of the creation of God.  Just their very existence is a testimony to the power of the Almighty.  
     Just three years prior to this, John the Baptist had been preaching in the wilderness, making way for the One to come.  Even The Baptist speaks of stones.  It’s in Matthew 3.  He sees the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism and refers to them as vipers.  Before they can say much, he goes on to tell them to not brag about how they are children of Abraham.  Because, God is able to raise up children of Abraham from the very stones on the ground.  
     Romans 9:33 speaks of a stumbling stone and rock of offence.  Paul is speaking of Christ.  The end of the verse is “…whoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”  Here, the rock is Christ.  Which takes us back to Matthew 16 and the question Jesus poses to his disciples, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Matthew 16:13)  Peter answers in verse 16, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus blesses him and says, “…upon this rock I will build my church…” (verse 18)  The rock here is a spiritual one.  It’s called faith.  The church that Jesus builds is one built on faith.  The rock of faith.
 Other passages will speak of Jesus being the cornerstone of the foundation. (Ephesians 2:20-22)  Also, that others have also come and built on this foundation.  And that we are rocks (of faith) and are to build on this same foundation.  The foundation is Christ.  Faith builds His church.
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Is Your Name Written There?

10/2/2017

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​According to an internet source (bing.com), the estimated population of Douglas County in 2016 is 13,358 and covers about 815 square miles.  Most everyone here has family and friends.  Since there is only one incorporated town, even people who don’t know each other, ‘run into’ each other often enough that they are recognized by sight.  The result is that there are few strangers here.  Only the new people are the strangers and that won’t last long.
     That’s why loss is felt deeply here.  Those that are in church one Sunday and suddenly gone the next; or, the ones that are suddenly absent from the check-out stand.  The obituary appears in the paper and the loss is felt like a swallowed gasp caught in the throat.  They are gone from here, but where did they go?
     It says in Revelation 20:11-15 that the dead are standing before the book of life awaiting judgment.  There is a song that goes something like this:  “Please search the book again, I thought my name was there.  How sad.  Even sadder still is when it’s those we know.  The chance for salvation is now while still among the living.
     It’s not something anyone wants to do--go to sleep and wake up in a devil’s hell.  Those who miss getting their name in the Lamb’s book of life will have to go past the cross of Calvary and know it was real.  It will be too late then.  They’ll go past a crucified and risen Savior and they’ll go past the dead and resurrected body of Christ.  Only then will some learn that hell is a real place.
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    Linda Johnson

    Linda Johnson moved to Douglas County with her husband Tom 12 years ago after retiring from teaching. Following Tom's death in 2016, Linda began facilitating a grief support group called GriefShare through Sweden Church.​ She serves as the Sunday School teacher for our High School class. Her "Layman's Pen" articles are also published in the local paper, The Douglas County Herald. 

    Andrea Strong

    Andrea is Pastor Joshua Strong's wife. She also serves Sweden Church as Church Secretary, website administrator, and Sunday School teacher to the Intermediate Class.

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