May 4, 2024 – The Dollar Spot Devotions: Star Wars Erasers – May The Fourth Be………

“Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and talked to them. As he was speaking, the Jewish leaders and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and placed her out in front of the staring crowd.  “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of adultery.  Moses’ law says to kill her. What about it?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.  They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, hurl the stones at her until she dies. But only he who never sinned may throw the first!”  Then he stooped down again and wrote some more in the dust.  And the Jewish leaders slipped away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until only Jesus was left in front of the crowd with the woman.  Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, sir,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” John 8:1-11

Sometimes I get tired of the “Star Wars” everything – it was interesting in the 70’s when the first movie was released – but come on. And yet, there in my dollar spot area are these “Star Wars” erasers – one shaped like “Darth Vader”, another like “R2 D2”, etc. Now, everyone needs an eraser occasionally, but these seem like they might just be a little difficult to use due to their size and shape. 

Do you know what shape the “Christian Eraser” comes in? You should. It is the cross. And here is the “beautiful thing” – it never runs out.  It will never fail you. The cross of Jesus does exactly what Jesus does for the woman caught in the act of adultery – it erases our sin. Jesus says to her,  “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, sir,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”  This lack of condemnation is also confirmed in scripture with John 3:16-17 – particularly in verse 17 which says “G-d did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world would be saved through Him.”  It may have been the first time in her life where someone told this woman that she was worthy, that she was loved, and that she had dignity. 

This is exactly the message of the cross – that we are forgiven of our past, present and future sins – that they are erased – that we have dignity, worth and love simply because we exist as children of G-d – and because we are loved. And that, my friends, is reason enough to try to live the sinless life. Remember, I said try. We will not achieve it, but we have the encouragement to stay in relationship with Jesus – where we die daily to sin, but rise to new life.

Pastor Dave

May 3, 2024 – The Dollar Spot Devotions: Bouncing From Church to Church

 “And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.  For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 3:1-11

One of my favorite finds in the dollar spot section is the collection of balls you can usually find. There usually are at least three or four kinds of balls – bouncy balls, inflatable balls, balls with logos, etc. The ball I found today is a ball, a bouncy ball from the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” collection.  It is the best of two worlds – a ball, and a cartoon with ninjas.  First of all, everyone needs a lot of bouncy balls in their collection of stuff. Often when my wife and I go for a walk, I will take a bouncy ball along and bounce it as we go. It gives me something to do while I walk. And all of the balls we have in our home are instant cat toys. Our cats love to play with any ball they can find.

In our reading for today, Paul is not playing around with the people from the church in Corinth. Paul is mad. The church in Corinth is just a mess with people bouncing all around in their thinking – and with their loyalty.  Some say they are followers of Paul. Others say they are followers of Apollos. Paul has had enough. He tells them that all he has done is planted the seed of Jesus Christ, and Apollos has watered that seed – but what has given everything growth is G-d, and the foundation of growth in every church is Christ, and him crucified.  There is no need to bounce around from loyalty to loyalty – believe in Christ.

You see this in our churches today. People leave a church because the beloved pastor has left or retired and the one who follows is not “just like them”. Or others leave because there are quarrels and dissentions among the people. My friends, Christ does not want a church of people who bounce around from church to church or pastor to pastor like a bouncy ball. How can you build the foundation of any church upon Jesus if the next layer is bouncy and unpredictable. Christ is the foundation. Let’s start there, building our faith and our churches on Jesus – the sure foundation.

Pastor Dave