Redeemer Lutheran and St. Theodore Canterbury
On Sunday, Aug. 2, the congregations of Redeemer Lutheran Church and St. Theodore of Canterbury Episcopal Church will celebrate the 10th Sunday after Pentecost at the 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion Service at 13564 St. Andrews Drive in Leisure World. The Rev. Murray D. Finck will preside over the service. All are welcome to join.
Join the congregation for coffee, tea, cookies and snacks in Fellowship Hall after service.
The congregations are still collecting food for those in need.
On Wednesday, Aug. 5, the Bible study will continue its series titled “The Life, Ministry, and Mission of Jesus.” It will focus on the story from all four of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In addition to the lessons, the group will watch episodes from the made-fortelevision series “The Chosen.”
People can meet on the first and third Mondays of the month to help the congregation prepare crafts for the next holiday bazaar. The next meeting is Monday, Aug. 17, at 10 a.m., downstairs in the Fellowship Hall. There will be planned projects with directions, and all the materials provided at the meeting.
The Gospel lesson for this week is from Matthew 14:13 -21. This is the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 men with five loaves and two fish. The Gospel actually says, “And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children,” Matthew 14:21. At the end of the gathering, there are 12 additional baskets of leftovers.
The naysayers to miracles might think, “everybody followed the example of the boy and shared food, or all the families brought their own picnic foods and only Jesus and the disciples needed food.” This thought disregards that the disciples were worried about the people gathered needing food enough to bring the matter to Jesus’ attention.
Jesus shared the abundance of God with the people. He prayed and blessed the food he was giving out. Believers can look at this as a precursor to Jesus feeding Christians in Holy Communion.
No matter how much a believer consumes, there will always be enough to go around and have some left over. The gathering of the 12 baskets is the representation of the gathering of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus calls all of believers to trust in the abundance of God.
God does not understand want or need; so, when a believer prays for more, God gives abundantly. Sometimes his gifts are not recognized as abundance, like praying for more patience, only to have more trials, this is God giving a person the opportunity to learn more patience. Sometimes, God says no, like a good parent, because what a person wants is not what God has planned. Sometimes, the answer is “later.” This week, believers are encouraged to trust in the abundance of God.
Rev. Murray Finck
