Good morning: One problem which has received a great deal of attention lately is the divisiveness which can be seen everywhere from Congress to next door neighbors. “Why can’t we just get along?” people ask. Why does there have to be so much bickering, disagreement, and even violence among those who don’t see things the same way? It even happens within families and among believers at times. It’s easy and convenient to blame someone else. Everyone else is being unreasonable. They don’t understand. They are infringing on my rights, and I won’t stand for it. It sounds so good. After all, people should be considerate and respect my feelings and needs, right? The Lord turns that argument around and tells us first of all to think of the other person. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3). The passage continues, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant...He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (2:5-8). What if Jesus had insisted on His “rights”? He is the holy Son of God. He deserves all honor and obedience. He has a right to destroy anyone who doesn’t give Him all glory. Yet in love He humbled Himself for a world of sinners, including you and me. When it comes to our place in God’s family, we have nothing to boast of. We are guilty of sinful pride. Jesus’ own humility is the substitute for our lack of it. His blood shed on the cross is the price of our reconciliation with God. It is only by God’s grace and Jesus’ humble service that we are forgiven and counted as righteous. It would be incredibly hypocritical to count on the Lord’s grace for our salvation and then turn around and self-righteously demand our rights at the expense of showing love for our neighbor. Let us take the message of Jesus’ humility to heart. May we treasure it as our comfort and confidence. May it work a deep humility within us which will unite rather than divide. In Christ, Pastor Palm Sunday services tomorrow are 8:00 and 10:45 a.m. Sunday school is at 9:30 and adult Bible class at 9:45 a.m. The Bible class will be looking at the Eighth Commandment and how God protects our and our neighbor’s good name and reputation. The Sunday school children and adult choir will sing at both services. Special voters meeting: A special voters meeting will be held after second service to consider the recommendation of the church council to call a third fulltime teacher for our school. The teacher’s primary focus would be full-day kindergarten. This is an important matter not only for the school but for our entire Messiah family. For that reason we pray that all of our voters will be able to attend. Non-voters are also encouraged to come. Time will be allotted for anyone present to voice comments or ask questions. A Zoom link is available for those unable to attend in person: https://zoom.us/j/99879938609?pwd=Z1FhNkFRQmlKanlveEw2VHo1TDVGdz09 Meeting ID: 998 7993 8609 Passcode: c7DBfY Here is the link for service signup: https://tinyurl.com/y2j5r8sn Signing up for the Sunday service by 6 p.m. Saturday is appreciated and helpful and a way of showing Christian love for one another. It gives the Elders and ushers an idea of how many people to prepare for. When you sign up you can also see how full the service will be, and if you wish, consider attending the other service. By signing up, you can easily be informed if that were advisable because of contact with someone at the service who later became ill. The governor’s mask order is still in effect for all indoor spaces, including churches. Masks are available in the entry if you forget yours.
