September 14, 2023
Matthew 18:21-35
The Message
Scripture readings
for Sunday, Sept. 17
Genesis 50:15-21
Psalm 103: 8-13
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:2-35
21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”
22 Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.
23-25 “The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.
26-27 “The poor wretch threw himself at the king’s feet and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.
28 “The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, ‘Pay up. Now!’
29-31 “The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ But he wouldn’t do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.
32-35 “The king summoned the man and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn’t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?’ The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that’s exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn’t forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.”
• For our community of faith as we seek to do God’s work in the world.
• For those in our congregation and community who suffer silently with illness, financial burdens, and family obligation.
• For people affected by coronavirus, their families, essential workers, doctors, nurses, aides, those working in nursing homes, etc.
• For Dianne Sloan, Kay Marker Magneson, Roy Pihl, George Balcom, Thom Shagla, Adam Hull, Lianne Edborg, Marty Wittstrom, Sarah VanStaalduin, Charlene Hunter, Joe Gauvin, Emerson Allaby, Karen Brown, John Gingrass, those serving in the military and law enforcement and their families, including Christine Kaffka and Ben Wickerham, those caught up in violence and war who have no safe home in which to live.
• For the ELCZ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe and ELCZa Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zambia.
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
CALENDAR
Sept. 17 Worship
Church council
Sept. 18 & 20 Heathy Bones
Sept. 19 5 & 2 Packing
Sept. 21 Choir
September 10th Church Picnic a Big Success!!
It was wonderful to see so many of you at our picnic last Sunday! It was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and to get to know better some of our new friends. It truly was a fun time!
Thanks to our Picnic Committee members who did a great job from the invitations, the food, the raffle basket, and the games – they thought of everything!!! (Bob and Trish Pecuch, Mike Krott, Marty Hunt, Linda Milks, Kathy Carlson and Kristie Bloomquist).
And thank you to Peterson Farm Market, Thrivent and to Tops Friendly Markets for their donations!
What a wonderful picnic! Thanks so much to everyone who made this possible: the committee, all who attended and all who contributed in any way. Everyone had such a great time.
Pastor Ivy
5 Week Dog Tricks and Canine Good Citizen classes at St. Timothy.
Carly Davis, from Chq Dogs, is having 5 week dog training sessions on Monday evenings in the Fellowship Hall in October and November Her tentative time is 5:00 pm.
She will be teaching dog tricks along with the Canine Good Citizen Class.
The dates are 10/16, 10/23, 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, and 11/20.
o Novice Trick Dog 5 week Course: $150
o Canine Good Citizen (2 prep classes and evaluation): $100
o Therapy (2 prep classes and evaluation): $125
*For your parishioners, a 10% discount (off my fees - the certifying organizations have their own as well)
If interested, contact Carly at 716-268-1421.
5 Loaves & 2 Fish Backpack Ministry
24/24 School Year
Our school year 23/24 has just begun. And with the start of the school year, the return of our 5 & 2 Backpack Ministry. We are still packing on the 3rd Tuesdays of the month (unless there's a conflict with the school) 7-8 pm and would love to invite new volunteers to help pack bags of food for the kids. Check out our schedule....
If you can volunteer, please contace Gale Svenson-Campbell at the link below. Thank you!!
Bring your donations and place them in the black bin in the church narthex. Lists detailing items needed are also available in the narthex. Monetary donations welcome! Contact
Gale-Svenson-Campbell for details gales1949@gmail.com
5 & 2 Ministry Food Bins Donated to Date: 110
Where is God
Leading Us?
… for such a time as this (Esther 4:14)
Upstate New York Synod Women of the ELCA invites all women to the 2023 Convention Gathering, Friday – Sunday, October 6th – 8th at Notre Dame Retreat House, Canandaigua, New York. Our theme – Just Love ~ Where is God leading us? – explores where we’ve been during these last four years, since our last Synod Women’s Gathering. But the theme also challenges us to explore where we hope to go, trusting in God’s guidance …for such a time as this (Esther 4:14).
Marilyn Dyer, Director of Resource Develop-ment, St. Paul’s Center for homeless mothers and their children, Rensselaer, New York, serves as our keynote speaker. We also plan time to share with one another what God has been doing in our lives during this time of challenge and for some, change.
Our weekend offers opportunities for prayer and worship, studying God’s Word, wonderful fellowship and meeting new Sisters in Christ.
Contact Lois Rumfelt – (716) 664-4409 or at rumfelt@stny.rr.com – for a reservation/ registration form and more info.
(NOTE: Accommodations include all meals while at the retreat center). Scholarship and financial assistance – also available.
Reservation Deadline: Friday, September 15th
***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
Church Mouse Articles due September 27!
Anyone that has any pictures or stories that they would like to share? Send them to sttimothy2015@gmail.com
REFLECTIONS
Pr. Ivy Gauvin
This passage is full of hyperbole, overstating things to make a point. Let me point out a few here to help us better understand what God is up to.
In traditional Judaism, three was considered a generous number of times to forgive someone, so Peter ups it to seven. Peter was sure he had it right. Still not enough, according to Jesus. Seventy-seven or seventy times seven.
In this translation of the parable, we’re told the man owed $100,000. In other translations, it’s 10,000 talents, or millions of dollars in today’s currency. And this slave said he’d pay it all back?
In the second scene, the servant who has been forgiven meets a fellow servant who owes him money. The Message says 'ten dollars,' but, more accurately, it would be a couple of thousand dollars.' The difference between what the first and second servants owed was huge.
Now, this is the one part I don’t understand, where servants were put in jail until the debt was paid, verse 30. How in the world can someone be in prison and yet make money to repay a debt? If any of you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them. So far, I haven’t seen or heard anything that addresses this.
The parable and exaggerations are intended to highlight God's abundant mercy and generosity. We have contrasted the way humans deal with each other and how God deals with us. I like the way Charles Cousar summarizes this passage. “To be forgiven means to give up the power game of playing innocent versus guilty and to join a fellowship of forgiven sinners” (Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV—Year A.
