SERMON NOTES:

Prayer Requests
Y Pray for everyone to have a fun, safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. Y Pray for Val Owens and her family as they suffer the loss of her mother. Y God is leading Gary Wassam in new directions, and call him to new places/ ministries. Pray for Gary as he embarks upon this journey. Y Pray for Joanne Shingledeckers daughter, Ann Brodersen, as she goes through testing at the University of Minnesota for pain and complications with Pancreas. Y Pray for Devin Vosdingh as she goes through extensive dental work. Y Pray for Erika Dochniak as she struggles with diabetes. Y Pray for a seven year old boy named Carter Olson who is undergoing chemotherapy for brain cancer. Molecular tests show that he has an aggressive form of cancer which places him in a high-risk category. Y Pray for Rebecca Kleins family as they go through divorce.

Y Pray for Dwight Zvorak as he recovers from the disease of alcoholism. Y Pray for persons and process involved in property purchase for COL.

DEVOTION
This past Sunday Pastor Paul shared five biblical passages. With each one he talked about how the passage fit into the storyline of the Scriptures, a method of interpreting the Scriptures, and a specific application for our lives. Sometimes we get intimidated by the Bible. We mistrust our own knowledge of the Bible; we rely on paid clergy to tell us what to think about the Bible; we see other people quote verses of the Bible and distrust our own understanding of the Scriptures. The Bible is not that different than other books (though it is a very special book!) in that it shares a story. Its the story of God working through humans to reveal Gods desires for the world and for our life. One way to interpret specific Scriptures is to ask the following questions of a passage: 1) What can we learn about God; 2) What can we learn about ourselves; 3) What can we learn about humanity; 4) What can we learn about the church; Not every passage in the Bible answers all four of these questions, but every passage in the Bible answers at least one of these questions.

Y Pray for Franks Grandma Warnock. She

has qualified for hospice and may pass away soon. Please pray for peace and the assurance of her salvation in the Lord. Y Pray for Angelicas friend Ann, a friend and colleague, who is receiving treatment for breast cancer.

Y Pray for Carole Lloyd, a friend of Pastor

Paul and Amy Moore, whose brain cancer has reappeared.

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This week we have the opportunity to read five more significant passages in the Bible. Well look at these four questions as a way to interpret the passage. Enjoy!!

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following the ways they wanted to go instead of the way that God wanted them to go. All humans in their lifetime will take a path that rejects God. We go our own way instead of the way that God wants for us. Take some time to reflect on your own life right now. Are there places in your life where you are rejecting God? Are you keenly aware of the way that God wants you to go?

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This passage is a challenge to love. If a person had been listening to this story in Jesus time he or she would have expected the priest or the Levite to stop by the side of the road to help the person who had been beaten. The idea that a Samaritan would help never would have crossed anyones mind. No matter what our status or title, we can always stop loving. How are you doing at loving your neighbor? How are you doing at loving people who are hurting, people like the Jewish man who was beaten and left for dead at the side of the road? What can we do in the next week to help someone outliving out Gods love to someone who is hurting? Today as you pray, pray for an opportunity to be a Samaritan to someone who needs to receive Gods love.

Monday, November 22 Read Genesis 1:1-31

The Bible begins at the beginning. The first five words are In the beginning when God The Bible is a book about God and Gods relationship to humans and to the world. Two verses are significant to this story. At the end of verse 25 God looked at Creation and saw that it was good; in verse 31 God looked at everything that was made and saw that it was very good. The earth and humans were created good. This is a simple message, but one that we can forget. As you pray today, reflect on how you view God, the earth and humans. Do you view God as good? Do you view the earth as good? Do you view humans as good? Your answer to these three questions will largely determine your attitude about God and your philosophy about life. How would you answer them?

Wednesday, November 24 Read Psalm 23

This is the best known Psalm of the 150 Psalms in the Scriptures. Many people have memorized this Psalm. If you havent memorized or dont know it by memory, a wonderful exercise is to take some time to memorize these words We can learn a lot about humanity in this Psalm. The Psalmist (and most likely David wrote this Psalm) assumed that all of us will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. David didnt write if we walk through the valley of the shadow of death; David used the words even though. We dont need to fear the most difficult times in our life. Why? Because God as the good shepherd will be with us and God will comfort us. God is always present to us. Gods presence is a fabulous gift to us. We are never left alone. Today as you pray, spend some time praising God for Gods eternal presence in our lives. God will never abandon us.

Friday, November 19 Read Romans 5:1-11

This passage shares a basic teaching of faith. We have peace with God because of the death of Jesus Christ. Grace is a gift that was given to us even though we didnt deserve the gift. At the right time God died for the ungodly. Rarely will a person die for a righteous person. Jesus showed his love by dying for all of us unrighteous person. If anything, this passage teaches us that all of us need a Savior. We cant do anything by ourselves to be in relationship to God; we need Jesus death and relationship to be put in a relationship with God. As you pray today, spend some time thanking and praising God for the gift of grace. Give thanks that we dont have to do anything to be put into a relationship

Tuesday, November 23 Read 1 Samuel 8:1-22

Though not well-known this passage is an important one in the Old Testament. Up until this time the Israelites had been ruled by judges. This is how God wanted the people to be ruled. But the people wanted to have a king. Their request for a king was a rejection of God. All throughout the Scriptures the people rejected God. People were constantly

Thursday, November 25 Read Luke 10:25-37

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with God; instead we are called to receive the gift of grace that God has given to us through the cross.