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Pray For One Another
To request prayer, email mosaicnazarene@gmail.com
or call/text (520) 709-0815
Our pastors and their families
The world as we all continue to navigate this Covid-19 pandemic.
Barbara Gionfriddo's brother
Talma Harmon's son, KC
Chaplain Richard Jackman
Mary Ann Watson's friend, Alix
Eddie Chavez
Talma's sister Shirley
Joe Watts
Alice Romano's friends, Leonard and Janice
Barbara Gionfriddo's friend, Grace
Phil Hunt
Jan Larson
Leane Mobley
Family and friend of Susie Kimbal
The many unspoken requests
Make sure you're a part of our Facebook group to get prayer requests as they come in: https://www.facebook.com/groups/21109057279
Holiness Today
Reflections on Sermon 125: "On Living Without God"
“Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” —Ephesians 2:12
In his sermon “On Living Without God,” John Wesley tells a scientifically implausible story about a frog who lived its life trapped inside a tree. Evidently, there was just enough moisture and sustenance in the tree to sustain this unfortunate frog’s life. Upon being released from its living tomb, the frog hopped away with all of its sensory organs fully intact but inoperative from disuse. This poor frog is analogous, for Wesley, to a human who has everything he or she needs for life but who deprives him(her)self of seeing, hearing, touching, or otherwise experiencing God.
Wesley is not speaking of those who do not believe God exists at all, for he says that he has only met two actual atheists in his entire life. He is speaking of those who, regardless of what they believe, make no effort to recognize, explore, or interact with God. They live as much without God as one who does not believe in God at all. They are “practical atheists.”
It may be tempting to consider it hopeless that these people would ever be reached. Just as the frog shut up in a tree lacked sensitivity and clear perception of anything in the physical world, those who have lived utterly without God are oblivious to the realities of the spiritual realm. Where is the hope?
Wesley had experienced too many awakenings and conversions to consider any of these goals with God unreachable.
Some people may be hopelessly cut off from all human influence and persuasion, “but the moment the Spirit of the Almighty strikes the heart of him that was till then without God in the world, it breaks the hardness of his heart, and creates all things new. The Sun of Righteousness appears, and shines upon his soul, showing him the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He is in a new world. All things around him are become new, such as it never before entered into his heart to conceive.”
Who are the names on your prayer list that have not experienced God, nor expressed any desire for Him, and seemingly have no sense of His existence? I remember the saints of the church praying down conviction on their lost loved ones, asking God to make them so miserable without Him that they wouldn’t be able to eat or sleep until they had peace with Him. It has been a while since I thought in those terms. It has also been too long since I have been part of such a glorious conversion. Before I do one more thing today, I’m checking my list and adding some names.
Scott Sherwood is the district superintendent of the Northwestern Illinois District Church of the Nazarene.
To read the full text of the sermon, click here.
Bible Reading Plan:
Week 38 (9/13 - 9/19)
If you haven't kept up or haven't even started, it's not too late!!
Pick up bookmark ONE in the church lobby and join at your own pace.
OR, just start here on day 260!
This year, we are reading through the Bible chronologically using The Bible Recap Plan in YouVersion.
Take a bookmark from the front lobby if you'd like to keep track that way and go through at your own pace.
Use bible.com OR the YouVersion app
Day 260: Ezra 1-3
Day 261: Ezra 4-6
Day 262: Haggai 1-2
Day 263: Zechariah 1-4
Day 264: Zechariah 5-9
Day 265: Zechariah 10-14
Day 266: Esther 1-5
Before you read God’s Word today, seek His help with these 5 prayers:
1. God, give me wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. 2. God, let any knowledge I gain serve to help me love You and others more, and not puff me up. 3. God, help me see something new about You I've never seen before. 4. God, correct any lies I believe about You or anything I misunderstand. 5. God, direct my steps according to Your Word.
Humor... Kinda
Scripture of the Week
Congregation Corner
Consider contributing to the "Congregation Corner"
email the church office: mosaicnazarene@gmail.com
Has God been speaking to you through the Pastor lately?
Did a passage of scripture speak to your heart this week?
Do you have a favorite verse?
Maybe you had a special encounter with a friend recently.
Do you have advice for your church family?
Opportunities to Give and Serve
Donations are welcome!
Thank you, for your continued generosity of both time and resources. Your gifts make a difference!
Serve God by serving your church:
Information
Pastor Merritt has begun to record Hymn Sings! The first is up on YouTube, and you can see it below ↓
~ Mosaic Kids page! CLICK HERE
This weeks subject is: I am united - Ephesians 4:1-16
~ Remeber to check our UPDATES page (for all your Covid-19 time Mosaic news)
~ See our services on YouTube! RIGHT HERE
This Week
9:00 am Livestream on Facebook
9:00 am Children's Church
Social Distancing Guidelines
Please keep at least 6 feet apart while sitting in the sanctuary if possible
Please practice social distancing on the church property as much as possible
Sanitizer and masks are available at the front table
If you feel sick or have a temperature, please stay home
Communion elements will be available on a table as you enter the church
Offering will be taken as you exit the church after service
Surfaces will be regularly cleaned and sanitized
Thanks for respecting the guidelines and one another!
