Sermon Notes for September 21

 In a seminar, recently, I heard that a sermon should be part of a conversation as opposed to just a presentation of knowledge. I liked that a lot, and I would like to encourage that thinking as we start a new sermon series for September. 

The series is based on the word "justice" in the Bible, understanding the broad concept through four different motifs that we will explore each week. Justice is something that applies to how we understand our relationship to God and our relationships to one another, so there is a lot of ground to cover!

I hope we can keep the conversation going after church, on social media or in the adult Bible Class on Sunday mornings at Bethany 9-9:45 a.m. near the kitchen. 

WEEK THREE: Aligning Worship with Life

Proverbs 21:3; Matthew 9:9-13; Amos 5:21-24

When the tires of a car go out of alignment, you can sometimes feel it in the steering wheel or see the car moving to one side instead of staying straight on the road. Something is out of alignment with the system that keeps the car driving straight. Our lives also have a system that keeps us living properly from God's perspective. I see the word justice as describing a system that regulates our relationship to God and one another. There is a repeated message in the Scriptures for people who think that doing external things like worship and sacrifice are what bring these relationships into alignment with God. But in reality it is God's justice and the way we see and act toward His people. When these things are off, so is the whole alignment of our lives. While worship done the wrong way will take us further out of alignment, we'll explore verses of the Bible that help us worship in the right way and align that worship and our lives with God's justice. 

September 21 is St. Matthew's Day and our festival worship will celebrate this disciple's contribution to the church. I hope you can join the Bethany family for our festival worship that starts at 10! If you cannot be there in person, feel free to join us online at www.bethany-lcms.org/live-stream. 

Grace and peace!