Grace and Peace Be Unto You!
The Book of Job
Our Church theme for 2024 is “Why?”
Prayer: “O God, author of the world’s joy, bearer of the world’s pain, make us glad that we are men/persons, and that we have inherited the world’s burden; deliver us from the luxury of cheap melancholy; and at the heart of our trouble sorrow; let unconquerable gladness dwell; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Amen
Henry S. Nash
A Riddle
If God is will
And will is well,
Then what is ill?
God still?
Dew tell?
“J.B.: A Play in Verse”
by Archibald MacLeish (p. 78-79)
Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity. Please continue to stay connected with us each week. May God Bless You, Pastor Jones
Monthly Emphasis: National Day of Prayer, Mother’s Day, Seniors’ Sunday, & Memorial Day
Monthly Scripture Readings:
Week of May 5th (Holy Communion)
Zophar, the Naamathite, one of the friends of Job (2.11, 11.1, 20.1, 42.9). A resident of Na’ameh, in NW Arabia
Weekly Readings, Job 11.1-12, esp. 7, 11 Zophar the Naamathite responds
Scriptures:
* Jeremiah 2.1-19, You take you wherever you go!
* Romans 11.25-36, God’s ways are difficult to understand and unsearchable.
* I Cor. 3.16-23, Don’t be deceived by what you think you know!
Questions:
1. Can you find out and google the deep things of God?
2. Does God have limits?
3. Who does God see when observing wickedness?
Thought: Do you deserve an answer or explanation from God – welcome to the room of inquiry!!
Week of May 12th (Mother’s Day)
Weekly Readings, Job 12.1-25, esp. 12, 17-24 Job responds
Scriptures:
* Isaiah 19.11-17, an oracle of condemnation
* Proverbs 8.12-21, Live with prudence and dress in fitting understanding
* Proverbs 14.1-12, Make sure the way is a two-way street.
* St. Matt. 10.26-33, know how to fear, love and respect
Questions:
1. Is wisdom only for old people?
2. How old does one have to be to have some sense?
Thought: Life is a place of learning, be vigilant not to be left behind.
Week of May 19th (Seniors’ Sunday)
Weekly Readings, Job 13.1-12, esp. vs 7 Job responding
Scriptures:
* Samuel 19.1-7, it always helps to have an intercessor.
* Psalms 109.1-31, Sadly, there are those who mean you harm.
* St. Matt. 12.1-8, beyond law and restriction-mercy.
Questions:
1. Who is qualified to be a messenger of, from and for God?
2. How many are my known-to me-sins? That many?
3. Cruel acts are perpetuated by angels of evil, does God know?
Thought: It is essential for persons of faith to have an intercessor who knows the unknown and
unuttered.
Week of May 26th
Weekly Readings,Job 14.1-17, esp. 1, 7, 10, 13-17 Job continues
Scriptures:
* Isaiah 40.1-8, In their seasons, flowers fade and the grass withers away but in another season they came back.
* Ezekiel 37.1-14, Divine possibilities for/in dry dysfunctional situations
* St. John 11.1-44, called to life
Questions:
1. Is there really life after death?
2. Which bones were united first?
3. When is it more of a blessing not to be present?
Thought: There are circumstances in our lives which can render us vulnerable to dryness, depression,
and death. All are possibilities for Divine intervention.
*Books for the Month: National Geographic Little Kids First Book of Why by Amy Shields, Hidden Figures: Young Readers’ Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly, Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Bulter