Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 21 January 2016

another cold and wintry day.  But then, it IS winter, especially here.  I do see the weather forecasts of a truly awful winter storm heading through the eastern part of the US.  Amazingly, it appears that the worst of it will track somewhere SOUTH of us, then broadening to cover an area from North Carolina to Vermont, hammering D.C. and NYC. 

Slightly less cold (I refuse to say "warmer" when the "high" is in the upper teens) here than earlier in the week, and supposedly moderating a bit more as the week progresses.  Hope so.  We can almost sense the end of January, and February is a short month.  March holds the Vernal Equinox, the first day of theoretical Spring.  We can still have snow for the six weeks after that auspicious moment, but it lets us have some hope.  Some.  A little.  And perhaps Dear Wife will continue her painfully slow recovery from the September surgeries.  We hope.  Been a tough road so far.

Got word that the mother of one of the deacon's wives is having a downturn in her leukemia case.  She's located a LONG way from here, central Colorado I believe, and the prayer requests have gone  out.
And tomorrow is the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., the day coincinding as always with the hideous anniversary of the Roe v. Wade diktat from SCOTUS.  Also expected to be a blizzard hitting around that time.    Hope all goes well.

==================================
=====================================
The Old Testament reading today is chapters 49 and 50 of the Genesis.  This completes the Genesis, which I regard as one of the most important in all the Old Testament.  And in the time of three weeks, we've seen the foundation of all we know.  From the Beginning, when the Lord, for reasons of His own, decided to invent light, gravity, time, and much else, and to create the physical Universe, the Earth, and human beings.  Now we see families, tribes, nations, and empires like Egypt.  Quite a lot.  And names and structures that affect our world even today.  A covenant between Abraham and the Lord.  And a promise of a Savior. 

Genesis 49

1	And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2	Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
3	Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4	Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
5	Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
6	O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall.
7	Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
8	Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
9	Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10	The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11	Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12	His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13	Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
14	Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
15	And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
16	Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17	Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
18	I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
19	Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20	Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21	Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
22	Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
23	The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24	But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25	Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26	The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
27	Benjamin shall raven as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28	All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
29	And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30	In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
31	There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
32	The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.
33	And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

Genesis 50

1	And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.
2	And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
3	And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.
4	And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
5	My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.
6	And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.
7	And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8	And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
9	And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
10	And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
11	And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.
12	And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
13	For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
14	And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
15	And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
16	And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
17	So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
18	And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
19	And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20	But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
21	Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
22	And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
23	And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.
24	And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
25	And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
26	So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

===============================
===================================

The New Testament reading is verses 1-20 of the 15th chapter in the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 15:1-20

1	Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2	Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3	But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
4	For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
5	But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
6	And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
7	Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8	This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9	But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
10	And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
11	Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
12	Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
13	But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
14	Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
15	Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
16	And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
17	Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18	But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19	For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20	These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Wednesday, 20 January 2016

another very cold, very nasty day.  Just grey and cold and depressing outside, and not much better inside.  Dear Wife went with me on the monthly trek yesterday, about her first foray outside in the last month other than a couple across-the-backyard trips to niece's house to "watch" grand-niece.  And she overdid it, so is paying for it today.  She did get the cell phone people to look at her phone, looks as if the root of the problem is that she has it overloaded with apps, about 95% of storage taken up.  She spends most of the day after rising, lying in a recliner, much of it playing some games on the smartphone.  Cheap, and occupies time and takes her mind off of the awful pain she is in most of the time.  So some rearrangement (onto SD card) and paring down of the apps is appearing to be the correct approach.
Such is our life these days.  She's got enough strength to walk to/from the bathroom herself, but other than that, I'm pretty much doing it all.  Fair enough.

===============
=========================

The Old Testament reading is chapters 46, 47, 48 of the Genesis.  The meeting, after so many years, of Joseph and Israel.  Had to be very emotional.  After being away from this area for 20-some years, and other issues before that, I have been, slowly, reconnecting with friends and family not seen in   25, 30, 40 years.  Sometimes more.  So, perhaps, I know at a visceral level a small amount of the emotions involved.

Genesis 46

1	And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
2	And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
3	And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
4	I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
5	And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6	And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
7	His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
8	And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.
9	And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
10	And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
11	And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12	And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
13	And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
14	And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
15	These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.
16	And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
17	And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
18	These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
19	The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
20	And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
21	And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
22	These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
23	And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
24	And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
25	These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.
26	All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six;
27	And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
28	And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
29	And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
30	And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
31	And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
32	And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
33	And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
34	That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

Genesis 47

1	Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
2	And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
3	And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
4	They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.
5	And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
6	The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
7	And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8	And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
9	And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
10	And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11	And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12	And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families.
13	And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
14	And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
15	And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
16	And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
17	And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
18	When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
19	Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
20	And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.
21	And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
22	Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.
23	Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
24	And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
25	And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
26	And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.
27	And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
28	And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.
29	And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
30	But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
31	And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.

Genesis 48  Back to Top

1	And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2	And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3	And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4	And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
5	And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6	And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
7	And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.
8	And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?
9	And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
10	Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11	And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed.
12	And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13	And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.
14	And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15	And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
16	The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17	And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
18	And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19	And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
20	And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21	And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22	Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

==========================
===================================

The New Testament reading is verses 22-36 of Matthew 14

Matthew 14:22-36

22	And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23	And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24	But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25	And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26	And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27	But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28	And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29	And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30	But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31	And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32	And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33	Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
34	And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
35	And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
36	And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Sunday, 22 June 2014

a bit late and more than a bit brief.
Dear Wife over-did it yesterday.  We got home from the street fair before dark, and hadn't gone over until mid-afternoon.  But it was still too much.  But needed.  This is one of those affairs that is The Event Of The Year in that small town.  Her late father had several times been president of the service club (Lions) that puts the thing on, many years ago.  He died in 1992 and had been pretty much an invalid for years before then, so this was a LONG time ago.  But in that area, with few people leaving and fewer moving in, he was still remembered and so was she.  Just tough reconnecting after having been living a long way off for the better part of 22 years.    Faces change in 22 years, believe me.  Lots of faces that might be someone you once knew, but aren't so sure of now.  It's a strain, but also a Big Deal for her.
But she over-did it, and spent most of the day in bed.  Fatigue, muscle and joint pain, and migraine as well. 
I went off to church services alone. 

======================

The Old Testament reading is chapters 4, 5, and 6 of the book of Esther.  Verse 14 of chapter 4 is one of those verses that captures a whole lot of meaning in a few words. 

And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Sometimes the Lord puts us in situations or with people for a specific reason.  I have ceased to believe in coincidence, I've too often seen how the most improbable situations led to unforeseen results that could have come about in no other way, and from circumstances we would not have arranged.  Been there.  Am there.

The music to accompany this is here.

Esther 4  Back to Top

1	When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
2	He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.
3	And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4	When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
5	Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.
6	Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate,
7	and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.
8	Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.
9	And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.
10	Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say,
11	“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law–to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
12	And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.
13	Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.
14	“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
15	Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,
16	“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
17	Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Esther 5  Back to Top

1	On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.
2	And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
3	And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.”
4	And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.”
5	Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared.
6	And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, “What is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”
7	Then Esther answered, “My wish and my request is:
8	“If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”
9	And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
10	Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh.
11	And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king.
12	Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king.
13	“Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
14	Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.

Esther 6  Back to Top

1	On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.
2	And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
3	And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
4	And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
5	And the king’s young men told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.”
6	So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?”
7	And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor,
8	“let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set.
9	“And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’”
10	Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.”
11	So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”
12	Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.
13	And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.”
14	While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.

====================================

The New Testament reading is verses 17-42 of Acts 5

Acts 5:17-42

17	But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy
18	they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.
19	But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,
20	“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”
21	And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
22	But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,
23	“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”
24	Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.
25	And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”
26	Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
27	And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,
28	saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
29	But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
30	“The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.
31	“God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32	“And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
33	When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
34	But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.
35	And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.
36	“For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.
37	“After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.
38	“So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;
39	“but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,
40	and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41	Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
42	And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.