Peak of the Week
“Give us this day our daily bread” is the shortest phrase in the Lord’s prayer and yet among the most powerful. This phrase is not...an invitation to be entitled brats, a statement that some get bread while others don’t, or a statement that makes God into a cosmic vending machine. This phrase does assure us that giving is in God’s nature, and God gives daily. God wants us to see him involved in our daily lives because he is! God cares about your “daily.” Have you seen God this week in the bread that you eat? Have you seen God in the friendships that sustain you, in the small comforts that can remind you of God’s everlasting care?
This week we have been in prayer for each other. We are holding up Kim and Mark Wingfield, Paige, Jonathan, Adelaide, and Monroe Diaz, as Kim’s mom Oralee was placed on hospice. We continue to grieve with Nader and Martha Khoury and their children as they just lost Nader’s mother, Samira, on the heels of his father also passing away.
Next Sunday we will continue to explore Jesus’ prayer by looking at the challenging phrase, “Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.” Often, in our culture, forgiveness is confused with tolerance (which is a very soft form of forgiveness). The biblical view of forgiveness is more robust, life changing, and transformative. Come expecting to be challenged by Jesus’ powerful invitation and example of what it means to forgive even the most egregious debts.
We will also pack backpacks for spring break, and bring in items for the Beaverton High School student bags. Items needed for BHS are 31 small jars of jam. Backpack items are in the Thursday email from Bonnie. We will also provide fresh foods to Fir Grove students on Thursday--see Jen if you’d like to help!
Teens--keep bringing in your Compassion International donations! So far in March we have collected just $7, so we all need to bring in $31 over the next two Sundays to meet our commitment.
In the adult auditorium class we ended our brief series on listening by looking at all the times God “hears” the voices of his people calling out. From Exodus to Psalms we find God listening to the cries of his children. Take a moment and just peruse the Psalms for ALL of the times God is praised for listening! Take two moments and read the powerful words from Psalm 116 in which, it seems, God’s hearing saved the writer from certain death (likely severe depression). What a statement about God’s power and the power of listening (which we can all do by the way)! Join us next Sunday as we continue the discussion by looking closely at the power of prayer. Jasper Bawcom will be teaching our auditorium class in collaborate with Aaron.