Pathways Church Blog

To prepare for this weeks message, read Matthew 6:1-4 and Matthew 6:19-24.

The Pharisees didn’t have everything wrong. They were very devout God-followers, but in their devotion, they failed to see their own brokenness (we talked about that last week). Because they had an elevated view of themselves, they did quite a few things right, but with the wrong motive. [Good thing we never make that mistake / please read with sarcasm]

Jesus is also going to address one of the key heart issues that each one of us has to struggle through – Treasure. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” How do we measure this? How do I know that my treasure is truly in eternal things and not wrapped up in the here and now? Is it simply a pocketbook issue?

Let’s wrestle with this a bit.

Thanks to my friend Gary, I found this Seattle Times article about Bill Gates’ move into the world of philanthropy. It’s worth a read if nothing else for the conviction about the consumers that we have become as an American society. Here are the final paragraphs of the article.

He [Gates] is as complex as the software he makes, and so are the rest of us. Americans go into debt to buy the latest gadgets, let schools run down, then turn around and send billions of dollars to help flooded out New Orleans or bring aid to Third World disaster areas.

Our institutions and habits may be structured to support buying and selling, but we haven’t lost our souls yet. We know there is more to life than the latest version of the newest thing, which will soon enough become the next generation of clutter.

Of course, we usually follow a familiar insect pattern. We spend much of our lives as caterpillars, consuming until we grow fat enough to turn into butterflies and return some beauty to the world.

What do you think of that final analogy?

Sherie documented Sunday for us with a whole lot of pictures! You can see a slide show of all the day’s action here.

How good are you? In this weekend’s Scripture, Matthew 5:17-48, Jesus is confronting the teachings of a group of religious people who thought they had it all figured out. So Jesus lays out His standard of goodness as compared to their standard of goodness.

In light of our teachings on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12), what insights do you have?
How does this Scripture make you feel? Guilty? Inspired? Trapped?
How do you wrestle with the verse that says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”?

I always love hearing the insights you bring to this blog. There are no right answsers, just share your gut with us.

This Sunday we will NOT be at Heatherwood Middle School. For one week only, we will be outdoors (pray for sunshine even though we have shelter) at Silver Lake. Join us at 10am for worship, which will be followed by a BBQ and fun for all.

Where to go: T.A. Sullivan Park @ Silver Lake (We will be meeting in the upper area of Camp Casey) Don’t worry, we’ll have signs out!

The address is: 11405 Silver Lake Rd. Everett, WA 98208

What to bring:
Chairs – we don’t own any
Meat for your family
Side Dish to share
Any type of activity that you love doing at a BBQ!

We’ll look forward to seeing you there!

(Stay tuned to this blog for pictures that will go up next week)

This week, as we seek to understand Jesus’ teachings, read through Matthew 5:13-16. Here Jesus uses two analogies that I believe can be very real to us today. He refers to His folowers as “salt” and “light”

What does it mean to be salt in the world?
How do you interpret the idea that “unsalty” salt is only good for being trampled upon?

What does it mean to be light in the world?
What does this tell us about darkness?
What are other places you are familiar with in Scripture that talk about light and darkness?

These Scriptures have some rich meaning for us and some intense implications as well if we take them seriously.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

I think that Memorial Day got the best of me this week as I am way behind posting on here. Sorry all.

However, I am really excited about our new series as we take a look at the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. The essence of this message is how we are to live within God’s Story. We have spent a lot of time gaining a big picture understanding of what God has done, is doing and will do. How does our life look different because of the Story?

If you have never heard of the Beatitudes, they are found in Matthew 5:1-12. They explain how things work in God’s economy. Read it here.

On a similar note, John is reading (surprise) a book called “Simply Christian” by N.T. Wright.

He sent me this paragraph, which I believe is one of the most powerful and beautiful paragraphs that I have ever read – especially in light of God’s Story.

“So what is Christianity about, then?

Christianity is all about the belief that the living God, in fulfillment of his promises and as the climax of the story of Israel, has accomplished all this–the finding, the saving, the giving of new life–in Jesus. He has done it. With Jesus, God’s rescue operation has been put into effect once and for all. A great door has swung open in the cosmos which can never again be shut. It’s offered freedom: freedom to experience God’s rescue for ourselves, to go through the open door and explore the new world to which we now have access. In particular, we are all invited — summoned, actually — to discover, through following Jesus, that this new world is indeed a place of justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty, and that we are not only to enjoy it as such but to work at bringing it to birth on earth as in heaven. In listening to Jesus, we discover whose voice it is that has echoed around the hearts and minds of the human race all along.”

What do you think?