School is out and it is officially summer!
Many have already headed to the ocean for their summer vacation. If you haven’t had that opportunity, do not despair—we are bringing the ocean to you!
Our Vacation Bible School this year has an underwater theme. SCUBA: diving into friendship with God begins on Monday! We can hardly wait.
Don’t miss joining us this Sunday for worship and your chance to see the amazing decorations in the sanctuary and welcome center that are a beloved part of the Hyde Park Community VBS experience.
In worship, while you might find a few underwater references tucked into the service, our main focus will be continuing in our worship series on how we as United Methodists read the Bible. This week we will think about how our reading of the Bible is a sacred conversation. We will reflect on the only story about Jesus as a child found in the Bible, in Luke 2:41-52.
We will also continue our reading of Psalm 119. This Psalm is a meditation on the joy and benefit of studying God’s word. The title of the Psalm is “The Glories of God’s Law” and the first lines of it are “Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart.”
The writer uses many words to describe the scriptures: law, decrees, precepts, statutes, commandments, and ordinances. These words don’t always bring to mind what we usually associate with happiness, and so I thought it might be helpful to spend a moment reflecting on the meaning of each of them and thinking about how they might offer blessing and joy as we read and follow God’s word:
Law: God’s guidance for one’s thoughts and actions.
Precept: A general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.
Decree: An official order issued by a legal authority.
Statute: A written law.
Commandment: A divine rule, particularly the 10 Commandments.
Ordinance: An authoritative order or decree
The benefits that the writer of the Psalm describes arising from knowing and keeping God’s law are significant. The Psalmist reminds us that doing so: revives the soul, enlarges our understanding, offers us comfort in the midst of despair, fills us with hope, life, and joy, lights our path, offers truth in the midst of injustice, and brings us great peace.
This list includes most of the things that we long for in life. While we seek them in many places in our lives, often we forget to seek them in reading and following God’s word. Yet as we read and follow God’s word, it becomes alive to us and leads us to a deeper relationship with God.
I encourage you to seek God in a deeper and fuller way by making a commitment to reading God’s word and engaging in a sacred conversation with God through it.
Blessings,
Suzanne