Galatians 1:6-9 "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel -- which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!"

Twelve high school seniors were all dressed up for their senior prom. They had gathered at one of their houses to take pictures, and for the last picture they lined up on the back porch, which stood one level above the backyard. Some parents were taking pictures, and one father was taking a video of the whole affair, when suddenly, and without any warning, the deck collapsed. Fortunately the injuries were limited to cuts, bruises and torn prom dresses and tuxes -- no broken bones and no concussions.

Twelve high school seniors were all dressed up for their senior prom. They had gathered at one of their houses to take pictures, and for the last picture they lined up on the back porch, which stood one level above the backyard. Some parents were taking pictures, and one father was taking a video of the whole affair, when suddenly, and without any warning, the deck collapsed. Fortunately the injuries were limited to cuts, bruises and torn prom dresses and tuxes -- no broken bones and no concussions.

We've been studying a book of the Bible this summer that frankly most Christians never get around to reading -- the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel. We've met some extraordinarily courageous people in this book, people like Hannah, Samuel and Jonathan. The star of the book is unquestionably David, the young shepherd who defeated the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone. And even if you've never read the account of David's life in 1 Samuel, you've very likely read many of the songs David wrote, the songs we call "psalms." The book of Psalms, which you will find in the middle of your Old Testament, is a collection of 150 songs, roughly half of which were composed by David. And you might have noticed that there are liner notes at the beginning of many of the Psalms which clue us in to the context.

We've been studying a book of the Bible this summer that frankly most Christians never get around to reading -- the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel. We've met some extraordinarily courageous people in this book, people like Hannah, Samuel and Jonathan. The star of the book is unquestionably David, the young shepherd who defeated the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone. And even if you've never read the account of David's life in 1 Samuel, you've very likely read many of the songs David wrote, the songs we call "psalms." The book of Psalms, which you will find in the middle of your Old Testament, is a collection of 150 songs, roughly half of which were composed by David. And you might have noticed that there are liner notes at the beginning of many of the Psalms which clue us in to the context.

It wasn't your fault. You did nothing wrong. Your intentions were pure, your actions blameless. But that didn't stop him from hurting you, from trashing you, from stealing from you, from slandering you, from abusing you. And now you're faced with a choice -- what next? Do I go after him? Do I retaliate? Or do I forgive him? And if I choose forgiveness, doesn't that just let him off the hook? If I don't hold him accountable for what he did to me, who will?

It wasn't your fault. You did nothing wrong. Your intentions were pure, your actions blameless. But that didn't stop him from hurting you, from trashing you, from stealing from you, from slandering you, from abusing you. And now you're faced with a choice -- what next? Do I go after him? Do I retaliate? Or do I forgive him? And if I choose forgiveness, doesn't that just let him off the hook? If I don't hold him accountable for what he did to me, who will?

Have you ever prayed about something and then stopped and asked yourself, "Is it OK to pray about that? Is this something I should be talking to God about?" I turned on my smartphone one morning to check for any new messages and I noticed something odd. I always have emails in the morning -- always. Even if no one needs me for anything, I always get the Mercury News link sent to my email, and I always get a link to a new sermon sent to my email. But this morning … nothing. I went downstairs, turned on my iPad, and boom -- about 20 emails popped up. Checked my phone again; still nothing. So I tried a variety of fixes -- I rebooted the phone, I checked all my settings, I took the battery out and wiped it off and put it back in. Still no luck. So on my way to the office that morning I swung by the Verizon store to see if they could help me. And as I was driving I found myself praying, "God, please help me to get email on my phone." And as I prayed that I started to laugh to myself and the thought popped into my head, "Is that something I can pray about?" After a moment of deep theological reflection, I decided there was no reason not to pray about it, so I kept praying. And I want you to know that when the Verizon people helped me fix the issue, the first thing I did after saying thank you to them was to bow my head in my car and say, "Thank you God for hearing my prayer."

Have you ever prayed about something and then stopped and asked yourself, "Is it OK to pray about that? Is this something I should be talking to God about?" I turned on my smartphone one morning to check for any new messages and I noticed something odd. I always have emails in the morning -- always. Even if no one needs me for anything, I always get the Mercury News link sent to my email, and I always get a link to a new sermon sent to my email. But this morning … nothing. I went downstairs, turned on my iPad, and boom -- about 20 emails popped up. Checked my phone again; still nothing. So I tried a variety of fixes -- I rebooted the phone, I checked all my settings, I took the battery out and wiped it off and put it back in. Still no luck. So on my way to the office that morning I swung by the Verizon store to see if they could help me. And as I was driving I found myself praying, "God, please help me to get email on my phone." And as I prayed that I started to laugh to myself and the thought popped into my head, "Is that something I can pray about?" After a moment of deep theological reflection, I decided there was no reason not to pray about it, so I kept praying. And I want you to know that when the Verizon people helped me fix the issue, the first thing I did after saying thank you to them was to bow my head in my car and say, "Thank you God for hearing my prayer."

It's a car commercial, but in my mind it's really a commercial about friends. A young woman is sitting at her computer telling us about an article she read -- an article she partly read -- about how few friends people have as they get older. Assuming her older parents probably don't have many friends, she gets her parents signed up on Facebook so they can make some friends. Now, she says, her parents have 19 friends, which she then mouths, is "so sad." Why is that so sad? Because she has over 600 Facebook friends -- this is "living," she tells us. And the irony of the commercial is this -- while she's sitting by herself at her computer looking at a picture of a puppy someone has posted, her older parents are out with a bunch of their friends mountain-biking. So who is "so sad" -- the girl with over 600 Facebook friends or her parents who are actually doing something with a handful of their real friends?