MBC Weekly News – June 18, 2020
Sermon Recap for June 14, 2020
Title: A Runaway Prophet & God in Pursuit
Passage: Jonah 1:1-16
- Scene 1: God’s commission. 1:1-2
- Scene 2: Jonah’s flight and spiral down in rebellion. 1:3
- Why does Jonah run from God?
- He did not want to share God’s mercy with the Ninevites
- What about you?
- Are you running from God in some way?
- Why does Jonah run from God?
- Scene 3: God’s merciful pursuit and loving discipline. 1:4-16
Respond to the mercy of God and show the mercy of God.
Thoughts
The example I have which ties into this week’s sermon came pretty quickly after I heard Pastor Matt tell the story of “Wrong Way Roy.”
Back in the early 2000s, Mike was stationed at McGuire AFB, and our family lived in southern New Jersey—about 20 minutes from Philadelphia. We would often go into the city to visit various attractions and historical landmarks such as the Philadelphia Zoo, the Liberty Bell, the US Mint, and Independence Hall.
Once when Mike was deployed somewhere in the Middle East, I decided to take our three kids (all of which at the time were four years old or younger) and my mother to the Franklin Institute to learn more about Ben Franklin. All in all, it was a great visit. Four o’clock rolled around and we had satisfied our desire for history for the day, so we headed out to the garage where I had parked our minivan. I got everyone strapped in and proceeded to drive down the labyrinth of spirals to exit the garage. By the time I reached the attendant and paid for parking, I was thoroughly turned around. (Please note: This was before cell phones, GPS satellites, and Waze.)
I sat at the exit to the parking garage for a moment trying to figure out whether to turn right or left. There was a traffic light over the exit to the garage and it displayed a bright red left arrow. For some reason, I took that to mean that I wasn’t supposed to turn left out of the garage.
Unfortunately, that was not what the traffic light meant.
It meant I should have just waited for the arrow to turn green. Instead, however, I turned right—and proceeded the wrong way down one of the busiest one-way streets in Philadelphia. And did I mention it was rush hour?
It didn’t take long for me to realize my mistake as a street full of cars, led by a huge, red double-decker tour bus began to barrel toward me, their horns blaring. The bus driver gesticulated frantically for me to get out of the way. I began to panic as an accident with the bus seemed unavoidable.
However, at the last moment, the driver of the bus–my perceived threat–pulled diagonally across all four lanes of traffic and slammed on his brakes. He used his bus to block the oncoming car and signaled for me to turn my car around. I did so with great haste and a hot face. Then I high-tailed it out of there.
Now, I’m no Jonah, and it wasn’t a matter of me rebelling that got me into trouble. However, I did make the choice to go the wrong way down a one-way street—which could have had serious consequences. The interesting part is the person I dreaded the most—the bus driver– it was his mercy that saved my family and me from serious harm that day.
I don’t know what lesson God is trying to teach you with Matt’s message from Jonah. But I do know this: Mercy is always appropriate. If you’ve been wronged, show mercy. If you’ve done wrong, ask forgiveness and pray for mercy. Thank the Lord for His continual mercy upon us. (Psalm 103:1-5) And if God has shown you something He wants you to do and you’re not doing it, if nothing else, the story of Jonah shows us that it’s futile to continue down that path. The longer you wait to follow God, the more it will hurt you and people you love. Turn around now. You don’t want to get flattened by a bus.
Noteworthy:
New and Improved Service Options!
- Click here to see a video where Pastor Matt explains the changes, but here they are in abbreviated form:
- There will be only one 8:45am service, and it will be located in the Senior High School room.
- Pastor Mike will work with Andy Keener to create a worship time that includes more traditional songs, choruses, and hymns
- Matt will speak live with a full sermon
- The 10:30 am Family Service will continue in the Middle School Room.
- Zeke will lead the worship portion along with selected MBC Students
- Matt will speak live for 20 minutes
- Please park in the back lot of the church and enter & exit through the east/Childcare entrance doors.
- We will have the normal 11am service in the sanctuary/gym.
- Ryan will lead this more contemporary worship time
- Matt will speak live with full sermon
- Park in the front lot and enter through the west/main Family entrance to the building
- An 11am Mask-Only service will be held in room A104.
- This worship service will be viewed as a livestream from the sanctuary
- Park and enter by the north Office entrance to the building
- We will only be Livestreaming the 11am service for now. Click here or paste the following link into your browser to view this service: https://youtu.be/uaeP9djEPIw
- There will be only one 8:45am service, and it will be located in the Senior High School room.
Blankets for BESTWA
- BESTWA needs blankets, sheets, and other supplies for its clean birth initiative! Our goal is to provide 100 receiving blankets and 50 twin sheets for Andy Perkins to take on his next trip to Liberia which will be this September (Lord-willing). Please bring any of the following items to MBC over the next five weeks and put them in the “Blankets for BESTWA” Pack-n-Play display in the Hub:
- New or gently-used receiving blankets (flannel preferred)
- New or gently used twin sheets (cotton preferred)
- Quart-size Ziploc bags
- Rubber gloves
- Single use Neosporin/antibiotic ointment packets
- Hotel-size bars of soap
- Stethoscopes (new or used)
- Blood pressure cuffs
- In addition, to support this initiative, the next MBC Women’s Coffee and Conversation event will be a Sewing Night on July 12th from 7-8:30pm. You can hone your sewing skills or learn some new ones by making blankets here at the church! We will provide supplies & instructions on how to make basic blankets, as well as how to sew a quick nine-patch strip quilt. Register in Realm or on our MBC website for the “Blankets for BESTWA” event, so we have enough supplies and space for everyone.
MBC Students
- If you have middle or senior high school students, mark your calendars now for the “ONE Weekend” in-house retreat from Thursday, July 30 through August 2nd.
- In order for Zeke and his crew to pull off an event of this magnitude, they need host homes (students would arrive between 10-11pm and depart by 9am) on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. If you are able to help provide lodging for a small group of students, please contact Leah Austin (click here) or Zeke Garcia (click here) ASAP.
No Minor Prophets Study this Sunday night! They will continue their study by examining Nahum on June 28th. Contact Mike Hogue (click here) for more information.
Fitness and Fellowship continues Monday afternoons @ 4:30pm (Cardio/Step), Tuesday mornings @ 9am (Strength and Stretching), and Thursday mornings @ 9 am (Cardio/Step). Classes are free and we’d love to have you join us. Contact the church office (click here) for more info.
After cleaning the church library, we have a number of extra Bibles and other resources to give away. Stop by the table in The Hub and take as many as are useful to you or your family.
Thank you for continuing to show us (the staff) grace as we seek to provide the best worship experience possible for you while still following the Governor’s COVID Pandemic guidelines. As Matt has pointed out, none of us have ever had a class in “Pandemic Management.” And, like you, we all hope these times pass by us as quickly as possible so we can get back to “normal”–whatever that will look like.
Unfortunately, that was not what the traffic light meant.
In service to Him and to you,
Heather Hogue