July 16, 2020

                                                     Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Scripture readings

for Sunday, July 19

Isaiah 44:6-8

Psalm 86:11-17

Romans 8:12-25

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

REFLECTION

Pastor Ivy Gauvin

I am not a gardener. I do a good job of killing plants, which is why I am grateful for those who are so skilled. In fact, there are a number of pretty weeds that I can't tell apart from the flowers. This is part of the problem in Jesus' parable; the inability of being able to tell the weeds from the wheat and so they wait until the time of harvest when it's easier to tell them apart.

What stands out to me is whose responsibility it is to tell the weeds from the wheat, the evil from the good, God's children from the enemy's children. They can look so much alike and one may be easily taken in by someone that seems like such a good Christian person.

Is it our job, at least according to this parable, to be the ones who judge between one person's faith life and another's? No, it's not. That is up to the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, which begs the question, "What is our job?" We can encourage and build up each other when we aren't concerned with judging. That frees us--frees us to be who God called us to be.

One other interesting thing, the Son of Man sows the good seed in the beginning and then is the judge of all in the end. Jesus is with us in the beginning of our lives, throughout them, and is with us in the end.

Beloved children of God, may God bless and keep you always in his love.

24[Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field;25but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ 28He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”

PRAYER REQUESTS

Names will remain of the Prayer List for a month - at which

time it will be taken off unless, or course, there is still a continued need

for our prayers and we’re asked to keep the name on.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Not ready to attend an indoor worship

service yet?  Well then, our drive in service

in for you.  Stay in your car - safe and climate

controlled.

Every Sunday through Labor Day.

10:00 a.m

30 minute service.

See you there!

No in person services in the building

until further notice.  Interactive

bulletins will still be available until we

return to regular worship services.  

Your input is greatly appreciated.

Follow the link below each Sunday

at 10:00 to Worship in Spirit .

http://www.sttimothybemus.com/coronavirus-updates.html

***5 & 2 Ministry Food Bins Donated to Date:  85

Keep bringing in items - donations collected during the summer!

***ONLINE GIVING now available at St. Timothy for Debit/Credit cards.   3 ways to give:

   - Go directly to our website at www.sttimothybemus.com

  - Use our QR code with the QR reader on your smartphone

   - Download the app ‘GivePlus Church’. Create an account.   

For further information, see Kathy Carlson on Sundays or call her at 485-1316.

               Honduras Promise Children Mission  Update

Our Missionaries have been reporting to us for the past few months that things are very bad there.  They have been on "lockdown" since April, and thousands have died, many more are ill. We saw pictures of people sitting in the crowded hallways of the hospitals next to wrapped corpses. They are completely overwhelmed. No one can work. They are allowed out 2/week to shop for food. For most of our families, no work means no food.  

In response, our mission team has been authorizing a double portion of food monthly for the past three months, and plan to continue this. One of our teachers has become ill, possibly with Covid19, and seems to be recovering.  He is our computer instructor and music teacher (Benjamin).

They are very, very grateful for our love and support. 

If you are willing to make a donation to our mission, please send a check to St. Timothy Lutheran Church, PO Box 9190, Bemus Point, NY  14712, with a notation: Honduras Mission food support. The Honduras Mission Team, our families and staff all thank you and ask God to bless you.

For more information, please contact Sarah Goebel (goebel.sarah3@gmail.com, 716-450-2986) or Tammy Haas at 716-410-4135.

***We have concluded our study of 30 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  We are taking off for the rest of the summer and will regroup in September, with the devotional, 30 Day Journey with Jane Austen. Keep your eyes and ears open all of you fans of "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice."

VIRTUAL COFFEE HOUR

Hello, friends. 

I have offered to take over the Zoom Virtual Coffee Hour (VCH) until we are able to begin fellowship in person again at St. Timothy.

I have a Zoom Pro account, so it will not shut down automatically at 45 minutes. This will allow us to have a little more time, and accommodate more people to join us. 

I will be sending out an email VCH invitation to everyone we have an email for.

However, all you have to do is join my meeting at 11:00 am on Sunday by going to the ZOOM app, and putting in the following ID and Password numbers:

ID: 571-743-2555

Password: 050787

If you are not yet using ZOOM, feel free to call me and I can walk you through downloading the free app. It's pretty easy, even for me!

Keep on keeping on.  We will go forward together!

In Christ,

Sarah

goebel.sarah3@gmail.com

716-450-2986

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St. Timothy Updates due to Coronavirus Pandemic.  Heres the link:

http://www.sttimothybemus.com/coronavirus-updates.html

Anyone have any pictures or stories that they would like to share?  Send them to sttimothy2015@gmail.com