This lesson's theme is the joy of RETURNING (in person following COVID-19 closure) to our wonderful family joined spiritually in God's church. Psalm 100 extols God's steadfast love that endures forever. The author of this Psalm is giving thanks for this, God's love for us, and for His majesty. Also, Psalm 98 is a song of how gratitude overwhelms the one who loves God until we cannot resist giving thanks. We have so much to be grateful for today, as we return to in-person assemblies. This Sunday is special, including the baptism of one of our young people after the sermon concluded. What an amazing event for our first in-person assembly of the COVID era.

Levi gives information on our plans to begin meeting in person again next Sunday, September 6, at 10:30A EDT. Here are some guidelines:
Wear masks. 
Enter in via front door or the covered side entrance (Office side) 
Pick up a communion packet for when we partake together of the Lord's Supper. 
Please plan to sit only in designated pews to observe safe distancing. 
Remember, if your immune system is vulnerable, you should exercise discretion and remain at home, attending online via our website or Facebook Live. 

This will be a wonderful reunion!

Do Christians look like perfect people? No. We have to sincerely try our best to live as Christ would have us live, but we are not able to be perfect at doing that. Read Romans 8  - we have to be different from the person we were when we put on Christ in baptism. Now we are held to a standard -- be like Christ! Yet, this is not a call to be perfect, because mercy and grace still wash us as long as we reject the old life of sin. 2 Corinthians 5:11 and the following several verses tell us that God knows us. The love of Christ compels us so that we don't live for ourselves, but for God. Levi also goes into the chapter of Hebrews 4 on this topic

John 2:13 and following tells us of a time when Jesus took action to restore honesty and dignity to the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus was filled with righteous anger because of how some people in the temple grounds were behaving in His Father's house. He sat down and fashioned a whip to drive the animals from the area. He turned over tables and insisted that these dishonest practices stop. Unfortunately, most illustrations and pictures of this event show what looks like Jesus out of control. But he was not out of control as he did this--he used his emotion to forcefully make his point. He was slow to anger (sat down and prepared his flail). Luke 19:45 contains this point: Jesus said that some have made the courtyard a den of thieves. 

For us today, we can realize that Jesus was never a raging, mindless mad man. He was righteous in his anger at sinful practices visited on a holy place. This is a picture of how we can be controlled in our behaviors even when anger is the emotion we are feeling.

Levi reviewed the following verses with the focus on "What Does a Christian Look/Act Like?
Romans 6:1ff
2 Peter 1:3ff  
Ephesians 4:17-24
Gal. 4 :8-9
Gal. 2:17-20
Romans 12:1-3
These verses tell us that our former lives (prior to choosing God's will and putting Christ on in baptism) are gone. We are now His--actually representing Christ to the world by seeking to love like He did while on the earth. This theme will continue for the next several sermons.

The text for this sermon is Matthew 20, a parable of Jesus about vineyard workers hired at different times of the day. Levi discussed how the modern American concept of fairness is more akin to envy or coveting. Levi delves into the idea of "begrudging" the good fortune of another, feeling envious and quarrelsome about someone else's perceived better experience. Great sermon reminder about being contented with what we have.

Levi urged us to read the following scriptures: John 13:34-35; John 15;  Rom. 13:8-14; 1 Thes. 3:11-13; 1 Thes. 4:9: 1 Peter 4:8-10; 1 John 3:11, 3:23-24, 4:7-21; 2 John. 5;  In the first of these (John 13:3-35), Jesus washed the disciples' feet. Loving each other in the Lord is the main characteristic of fellowship.

Levi opened today contemplating that the disciples walked and talked daily with Jesus in the 3 years of his public ministry. Did that mean they were not praying since they were in God’s presence? (Acts 1:12ff) In the heart of the message, Levi read from James 5. Here, we learn of the power and privilege we have to pray to God through Jesus! And in confessing our sins--our mistakes--to each other, we open up growth and relationship that is truly transforming.

There are about 100 uses of "one another" in the Bible. About 50% of those concern the family of God, the church of Jesus Christ. The information God gives us about relationships in our physical family are the same as for our church family. In this sermon, Levi briefly reviews Bible passages that use the term one another to gain an overview of how we should treat each other.

These are such challenging times that we can all use an uplifting message. Levi Dodd answers this need today with a lesson on JOY! In fact, a Christian has the power to choose joy, regardless of anything else that is occurring in life. Romans 15 is a wonderful treatise on this. Christians can decide to focus on eternal, spiritual gifts rather than mourn the difficulties of life. We might not be happy for a season, but we can always be filled with joy. That is a gift of God. Don't let it go unclaimed in your life.  NOTE: Levi spoke his message today despite feeling very much under the weather. We thank him for his determination to be with us!