MANBECK’S ZION EVANGELICAL

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Worshiping the Lord in Spirit and Truth

September 27, 2020

Norman Dixon, Pastor

610-589-2034

Email: Dixonnorm@comcast.net

Web Site:  www.manbecks.org

Organ Prelude to prepare your heart for worship

Welcome and opportunities to Worship and Serve

Greet one another in the Name of Jesus          

Call to Worship – Psalm 103:1-5          

* Opening Chorus #34                                                            He Is Lord

* Invocation 

* Opening Hymn #143                                This Is My Father’s World

First Scripture:  Judges 4:14-17

Praise Hymn #681                                                                 In His Time  

*Prayer Hymn #635                                                         In The Garden 

**Pastoral Prayer

Offering of Tithes and Gifts to the Lord 

via offering plates in the back of the Sanctuary  

Special Music – Congregational Favorite 

Scripture:  Judges 4:1-8

Sermon:  “Deborah”

* Hymn of response #575               Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

*Benediction

* Recessional Response #235        Take the Name of Jesus (1^st verse)  

Leave to Serve

  *Please Stand                                                **Please kneel (if able)

“He who covets is always poor.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  TODAY:

• Special Offering/Christmas gift/Missionaries

WEDNESDAY:

• Bible Study/continuing with Abraham                           7:00 P.M.

NEXT SUNDAY:

• World Wide Communion Sunday/individual at pews
• Autumn Stroll meeting                                                    10:00 A.M.

LOOKING AHEAD:  

• October 11 – Building Fund Offering

                          – Autumn Stroll meeting                             10:00 A.M.

• October 17 – Autumn Stroll
• October 20 – Official Board Meeting                                7:00 P.M.
• October 25 – Special Offering

                          – Fellowship Brunch

Statistics:  September 20, 2020

                                  Attendance:  Worship Service – 21

                                                                  Bible Study – 8                                                

                                                                       Offering – $3,616.00

Next Sunday is World Wide Communion and we will be doing it in a safe way by using individual packets distributed to the pew.

We will be returning to the book of Galatians on October 11^th.

Don’t forget to pick-up your Newsletters.

You will find a slip in your bulletin requesting your favorite hymns or choruses.  Pastor Norm will start incorporating them into the service.  

PRAYER CONCERNS

• Baby boy Hardenstine, Nichol and Rory/continued growth)
• Lois (Grace, 5 year old with leukemia)
• Jon R. (Tim McMiller, cancer)
• Jon R. (Luke at E-Town and Granddaughter at Bloomsburg)
• Pastor Jim (Kathy traveling to TN to help daughter as she transitions back to work)
• Hannah Bossler (Type 1 diabetes/kidneys becoming compromised)
• Betty (husbands health and salvation)
• Carol (Treatment of Jenny)
• Pray for our service men and women
• Those battling cancer:

Pastor Lloyd Yeager (prostate cancer)  

Tim Ditzler – stage 4 pancreatic cancer            Bob Kramer

Mike       Sis Sagusky     Jake Wolfe           Rick Fidler

Cindy Segal (liver cancer)Carol Shira (last stages of cancer)

Bill (Deb had 2^nd round of radiation)

• Military:  Keith Gillespie       Lois’s grandson, Kolby – Air Force

Ashley Somers, Navy     Caleb Reiter

• Nursing home/Assisted living residents

               Grace Kimmel   Nancy Wildsmith          

  Edgar Bennett      Caroline Zimmerman 

PRAISE: 

• Week Day Church School
• Joe Toy (Street ministry in Philadelphia)
• Jamie and Anita Farr (Wycliffe in Florida)
• Robert and Bettina Schaeffer (L.I.F.E. Ministries in New York City)
• Wagner’s & Stoltzfus’s (Rift Valley Academy in Africa)

Deborah Judges 4 and 5

Few Bible characters had as varied a ministry as did Deborah whose name translated means “Honey-Bee,”  

The period of the judges was very simple. The people of Israel were called to be a holy nation and to worship only Jehovah. That was not always the case. When everything was going well the people forgot about God. They began to stray from Him and quickly got further and further away. In time God was completely ignored and in place of worshipping Him they set up idols. God loved them too much to allow that to continue so He used a foreign power to bring them back to Himself. (All were foreign except in the case of Deborah where the enemy was actually a coalition of Canaanite leaders.) The scenario was always the same. Israel would get desperate and plead with God to forgive them. They would promise to be true to Him if He would rescue them. God would send a judge to set them free. All would go well for a short time and then the cycle would start all over again. It seems so easy to ignore God when all is going well but as soon as there is a tragedy everyone calls on the nation to pray.

Deborah is the 4^th person to hold the position of a judge who saved Israel from a foe. The enemy in the time of Deborah was a coalition of Canaanite kings under the leadership of Jabin whose head of the army was one called Sisera. God gives us in His Word two accounts of the activities of Deborah, one in Judges 4 and a second in Judges 5. The dual account follows an often-used literary form in Hebrew whereby one account is given in narrative form, which is chapter 4 and a second account in poetic form which is chapter 5. The two are basically the same although there are some details in each that are unique to that form. For example, in the narrative or story form we read in 4:3 that Sisera had 900 iron chariots and cruelly oppressed the nation for 20 years. In 5:6, 7 we read that the oppression had totally disrupted normal life in Israel. The people were afraid to travel anywhere for fear of being robbed. Village life had all but ceased since the people were afraid to gather for any length of time, especially at the wells where the social interaction normally took place. It was a terrible time brought on by their sinfulness.

Someone having 900 chariots was extremely powerful. Israel had none so it is no wonder that the people were helpless to defend themselves and forced to pay tribute to Jabin the Canaanite ruler. 

As for Deborah herself, she is described in 4:4 as a prophetess, a wife, and the leader of Israel who held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel. First, she is called a prophetess. A prophet was primarily one who declared God’s message to the people. A priest represented the people to God and a prophet represented God to the people. Being a prophet did not necessarily mean one foretold the future although some did. Too many today assume that prophecy and prophet are synonymous. Foretelling the future was not a required part of a prophet’s ministry and was in fact a distant second to the ministry of declaring God’s message to the people.

Secondly, Deborah is described as a judge. The function of a judge in those days was to sit in court and make decisions on issues in which the parties who came to her could not agree. They were largely domestic or business-related issues along with those related to property and things like that, although most anything could come up. A good judge had a combination of knowledge of God’s law on any issues that fell under that such as the inheritance laws and just plain common sense for matters that someone need help understanding. Much of what a judge did would fall today under the category of counseling or what would go to a small claims court. It undoubtedly was in this capacity that Deborah became so concerned about the oppression of the people, although as a godly woman called of God to declare His truth she certainly would have known not only of the oppression but the sin that had caused it. 

Finally, Deborah was a housewife. This is an important issue since it is mentioned not only in Judges 4:4 but in 5:7 as a mother in Israel. This designation is intended to show that she is a wife and mother and therefore part of the community. It is important to note that in general she was an ordinary person through whom God worked. This whole story is about ordinary people, even one who was afraid to trust God, and how God used them to bring down one who thought he was mighty and untouchable. Read I Corinthians 1:27.

The story moves quickly. Deborah received a message from God that He had heard the pleas of His people and He would give them victory over the oppressive coalition. Deborah went to Barak and told him to get together an army of 10,000 and go to Mt. Tabor. While he did that God would see to it that Sisera would lead his army and chariots into the valley below that mount.  God would give them victory. Judges 4:10 tells us which tribes the soldiers came from while Judges 5 lists not only where the soldiers came from but in verses 15 and following it lists the tribes that refused to send men for the army. An important lesson, Christianity is not a spectator sport in which some are charged to serve while others are permitted to sit it out. God knows not only who serves Him but who merely goes through the motions.

Barak’s answer in 4:8 is interesting. He said, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” In Israelite history the presence of the prophet seemed to ensure victory whereas his absence had meant defeat. (See Numbers 10:35 and Numbers 14:44). Barak lacked faith to trust God alone. Deborah agreed but said that, as a result of that, God would give the honor of killing Sisera to a woman. Bottom line, God’s will will be done because He has decreed it but the blessings will only go to those willing to be used. Verse 10 tells us that Barak gathered the 10,000 and went to Mt. Tabor.

Verse 12 picks up the story. Sisera heard of the calling of troops and headed to Mt. Tabor to defeat this uprising. This should have been an easy task given his military strength, but he did not count on God. Sisera led his army into the valley as God said he would. Flowing east to west through that valley was a river that ultimately emptied into the Mediterranean Sea. During the rainy season, this river flooded much of the valley but during the dry season was simply a small stream that enabled lots of farming along its banks. It was obviously the dry season for there was no way Sisera would take those chariots into that valley in the rains. Verses 15 and 16 of chapter 4 only tell us that the army of Barak routed the army of Sisera but in chapter 5:4 we discover that God opened the heavens and the clouds poured down water. With the rains came the mud and the powerful chariots that the army of Sisera depended upon were useless. (There is a lesson here we should think about. How many things like Sisera’s chariots do we hear people tell us we can depend upon to protect us, care for us and guarantee us success when in fact before God they are helpless. Without Him nothing can provide for us or protect us.)

Verse 17 tells us that Sisera escaped and fled to a Bedouin tent of one Jael. She invited him in and pretended to be friendly. She provided him with a place to sleep but also a drink. Sisera was exhausted so he asked Jael to stand guard over the tent and lie if anyone came. Bedouin culture was very protective of anyone in one’s tent and as long as one remained in the tent of a Bedouin, he was usually safe. Jael went against culture to do what for some reason she believed was right. It is a constant challenge to us as Christians to make sure the Bible evaluates culture rather than the other way around. 

Sisera fell asleep. Read Judges 4:21. Verse 22 tells us that when Barak arrived at her tent, she invited him in and showed him the dead Sisera. He lost the honor of killing this enemy of Israel because he would not trust God to use him. Read Judges 5:24.

Read Judges 5:29-30 for a look at the home life of Sisera’s mother.  

There was peace in the land according to Judges 5:31 for 40 years. 

Chapter 5 repeats in poetical form the events of chapter 4. It is important not merely because it fills in details of the whole story but because this poem is filled with imagery of praise to God for the victory that He had given. Every aspect of the victory was God’s. That should always be our attitude when God uses us in any way. 

The story of Deborah reminds us that God will always provide for His work when He calls us to it. The story also reminds us that God most often used ordinary folk like us to reach the world for Jesus, to confront evil, and to display His love to a hurting world in practical ways. Deborah was not unusual. Her God was and that is what always makes the difference.

MANBECK’S ZION EVANGELICAL

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Worshiping the Lord in Spirit and Truth

September 20, 2020

Norman Dixon, Pastor

610-589-2034

Email: Dixonnorm@comcast.net

Web Site:  www.manbecks.org

Organ Prelude to prepare your heart for worship

Welcome and opportunities to Worship and Serve

Greet one another in the Name of Jesus          

Call to Worship – Ernie          

* Opening Chorus #26 Blue Chorus – It’s Time to Praise the Lord

* Invocation 

* Opening Hymn #372                                                  Our God Reigns

Devotion/Cathy

Favorite Hymn #589                                                    Here I Am, Lord

Favorite Hymn

Favorite Hymn

** Prayer/Lois

Offering of Tithes and Gifts to the Lord 

via offering plates in the back of the Sanctuary  

Special Music – Eve Kurtz

Devotion /Lois 

Favorite Hymn #139                                     Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Favorite Hymn

Favorite Hymn

Devotion/Ernie 

Favorite Hymn

Favorite Hymn

* Hymn of response #431                                         Shine, Jesus, Shine

*Benediction

* Recessional Response #235        Take the Name of Jesus (1^st verse)  

Leave to Serve

  *Please Stand                                                **Please kneel (if able)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  TODAY:

• Favorite Hymn Sunday

WEDNESDAY:

• Bible Study resumes                                                            7:00 P.M.

FRIDAY:

• Newsletter                                                                            7:00 P.M.

NEXT SUNDAY:

• Special Offering/Christmas gift/Missionaries

LOOKING AHEAD:  

• October 4 – Autumn Stroll meeting                               10:00 A.M.
• October 11 – Building Fund Offering

Statistics:  September 13, 2020

                                  Attendance:  Worship Service – 37

                                                                        Offering – $1,630.00

                                                             Building Fund – $356.00

                                                                      Pig Roast – $1,678.00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Favorite hymns can come from hymnal or blue chorus book.

Large print Daily Bread for October-December are available.

Bible Study will resume on September 23 and we will begin by looking at Abraham.

Pastor Norm and Arti will be away this week. For pastoral services please call Cathy.

PRAYER CONCERNS

• Marion (Faith’s mother has some health issues)
• Betty (Nichol and Rory’s baby and Chris & Rich traveling to FL)
• Pastor Jim (Kathy helping daughter as she transitions back to work)
• Hannah Bossler (Type 1 diabetes/kidneys becoming compromised)
• Betty (husbands health and salvation)
• Carol (Treatment of Jenny)
• Pray for our service men and women
• Those battling cancer:

Pastor Lloyd Yeager (prostate cancer)  

Tim Ditzler – stage 4 pancreatic cancer            Bob Kramer

Mike     Sis Sagusky      Jake Wolfe           Rick Fidler

Cindy Segal (liver cancer)Carol Shira (last stages of cancer)

Bill (Deb had 2^nd round of radiation)

• Military:  Keith Gillespie       Lois’s grandson, Kolby – Air Force

Ashley Somers, Navy     Caleb Reiter

• Nursing home/Assisted living residents

               Grace Kimmel   Nancy Wildsmith          

  Edgar Bennett Caroline Zimmerman 

PRAISE: 

• Carol (amazing day at pig roast and working together and her daughter and son-in-law are in today)
• Ardella (Donna encouraging to have pig roast no matter what and Cathy for not giving meals away free)
• Deb R. (wonderful vacation with family and Evan got the check for the go ahead for back surgery)
• Lois (Granddaughter received her masters degree)

• Week Day Church School
• Joe Toy (Street ministry in Philadelphia)
• Jamie and Anita Farr (Wycliffe in Florida)
• Robert and Bettina Schaeffer (L.I.F.E. Ministries in New York City)
• Wagner’s & Stoltzfus’s (Rift Valley Academy in Africa)

MANBECK’S ZION EVANGELICAL

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Worshiping the Lord in Spirit and Truth

September 13, 2020

Norman Dixon, Pastor

610-589-2034

Email: Dixonnorm@comcast.net

Web Site:  www.manbecks.org

Organ Prelude to prepare your heart for worship

Welcome and opportunities to Worship and Serve

Greet one another in the Name of Jesus          

Call to Worship – Psalm 66:1-3          

* Opening Chorus #107                    Lord, I Lift Your Name on High

* Invocation 

* Opening Hymn #139                                  Great is Thy Faithfulness

First Scripture:  Acts 13:1-4 and Acts 36-40

Praise Hymn #681                                                                 In His Time  

*Prayer Hymn #626                                                     Lily of the Valley 

**Pastoral Prayer

Offering of Tithes and Gifts to the Lord 

via offering plates in the back of the Sanctuary  

Special Music – Congregational Favorite

Scripture:  I Peter 5:12-13

Sermon:  “John Mark”

* Hymn of response #597                   Take My Life (marked stanzas)

*Benediction

* Recessional Response #235        Take the Name of Jesus (1^st verse)  

Leave to Serve

  *Please Stand                                                **Please kneel (if able)

“God never said He would not give us more than we can handle.  

He said He would help us handle whatever we are given.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

TODAY:

• Building Fund Offering

NEXT SUNDAY:

• Favorite Hymn Sunday

LOOKING AHEAD:  

• September 23 – Bible Study resumes                                7:00 P.M.
• September 25 – Newsletter                                                 7:00 P.M.
• September 27 – Special Offering/Christmas gift/Missionaries
• October 4 – Autumn Stroll meeting                               10:00 A.M.
• October 11 – Building Fund Offering
• October 17 – Autumn Stroll

Statistics:  September 6, 2020

                                  Attendance:  Worship Service – 35

                                                                        Offering – $1,065.00

A big thanks to all who helped with the Pig Roast.

Large print Daily Bread for October-December are available.

Next Sunday is Favorite Hymn Sunday.  This will be a time of a lay led worship with devotions, hymn stories, and congregational favorites. If your favorite hymn is not in the hymnal let Cathy know and we’ll try to find it.  

Bible Study will resume on September 23 and we will begin by looking at Abraham.

Pastor Norm and Arti will be away this week. 

For pastoral services please call Cathy.

PRAYER CONCERNS

• Betty (Nichol and Rory/serious pregnancy issues)
• Jen Flynn (suicide prevention week/especially for teens)
• Pastor Jim (Kathy traveling to TN to help daughter as she transitions back to work)
• Debbie (Caitlynn moving home)
• Hannah Bossler (Type 1 diabetes/kidneys becoming compromised)
• Betty (husbands health and salvation)
• Carol (Treatment of Jenny)
• Pray for our service men and women
• Those battling cancer:

Pastor Lloyd Yeager (prostate cancer)  

Tim Ditzler – stage 4 pancreatic cancer            Bob Kramer

Mike           Sis Sagusky      Jake Wolfe           Rick Fidler

Cindy Segal (liver cancer)Carol Shira (last stages of cancer)

Bill (Deb had 2^nd round of radiation)

• Military:  Keith Gillespie       Lois’s grandson, Kolby – Air Force

Ashley Somers, Navy     Caleb Reiter

• Nursing home/Assisted living residents

               Grace Kimmel   Nancy Wildsmith          

  Edgar Bennett      Caroline Zimmerman 

PRAISE: 

• Betty (Mae is finally home and reunited with her loved ones)
• Harold (50 years of wedded bliss)
• Jen (Lily turned 12 and surviving the crazy school schedules)
• Donna (for the free breakfast and lunch for all school kids)

• Week Day Church School
• Joe Toy (Street ministry in Philadelphia)
• Jamie and Anita Farr (Wycliffe in Florida)
• Robert and Bettina Schaeffer (L.I.F.E. Ministries in New York City)
• Wagner’s & Stoltzfus’s (Rift Valley Academy in Africa)

John Mark

Key Texts: Acts 12:12; Acts 12:25; Acts 13:1-4; Acts 15:36-40; Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24; II Timothy 4:11; I Peter 5:13 and maybe Mark 14, 51, 52.

We all know the name of Mark who is also referred to as John Mark.  Mark was his Roman name and John was his Hebrew or Jewish name. He wrote the gospel that bears his name. He messed up in his early ministry and had it not been for Barnabas who came to his rescue, he may have been lost to the early church. Barnabas gave him a second chance and as a result Mark turned failure into success and became a significant and trusted friend of Paul and Peter. 

The first mention of Mark is easy to miss because it does not really deal with Mark as such. In Acts 12 we have the account of the imprisonment of Peter and the prayer meeting that was held on his behalf. Acts 12:12 tells us that this prayer meeting was held in the home of Mary who was the mother to John also called Mark. 

The home of his mother was a common meeting place for the early church. People seem to have instinctively gone there when trouble broke out. While we cannot be sure, tradition records that this is the same home used for the upper room Passover and it was in this room that the disciples waited on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Wouldn’t it be great if every Christian home were known as a home of prayer?

That Mark’s home was large enough and comfortable enough for a group to meet in is an indication that his mother was reasonably well off financially. Colossians 4:10 records that she was the aunt of Barnabas and we know he was well off financially until he gave it all to the church (Acts 4:36). The wealth of both may have come from land on the Isle of Cyprus.

Such a home would have been a place of tremendous influence for the early church. We have no age timeline to put on Mark’s life except that at this point he was a relatively young man. Can you imagine coming home from school or playing with your friends and finding Peter and James in your living room praying and sharing stories of the life of Jesus and the ministry they were involved in? We are not told how John Mark became a believer but in I Peter 5:13 Peter refers to him as “my son” a term most often used to relate to those that an individual led to the Lord. We can only imagine what those early conversations were like and the challenges that a young man like Mark would have received.

There is a strong tradition that Mark was the unnamed “young man” he wrote of in Mark 14:51-52 who followed Jesus when Jesus was arrested and fled when confronted by guards. Mark wrote that he fled “leaving behind his linen garment.” Given the strong tradition and the fact that Mark. who was otherwise extremely careful to note details in his gospel, omitted the name has convinced many he was that young man. A linen garment in those days was an expensive garment and would indicate that the owner, was well off. That would fit John Mark very well.

Mark took hold of Jesus in a very real way and did not merely lived off the faith of his mother. Barnabas and Saul were in Jerusalem, having brought an offering for famine relief from the church in Antioch. As they prepared to return to Antioch, we read in Acts 12:25 that Mark returned with them. Evidently the two saw in Mark a real potential for leadership and they asked him to return with them to help in the ministry. That tells us something about this young man’s spiritual development to that point.

John Mark surfaced again when Paul and Barnabas were about to head out on their first missionary journey. Mark was invited to go along as a helper (Acts 13:5). After a time, Mark chose to leave them and return to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). No reason is given by Luke for this sudden departure. We would have thought nothing of it had Acts 13:13 been the final word on it. But when Paul and Barnabas prepared to set out on their second journey and it was suggested that Mark go along, according to Acts 15:36-40, Paul vigorously objected to the point that Luke reported that they had had a sharp disagreement. Barnabas then took Mark and went to Cyprus and Paul took Silas. We have no clue to the reason and since God has long since forgotten it, we can do the same.

From that point on neither Barnabas nor Mark’s names appear again in the book of Acts. It was between 10-15 years before Mark is heard of again. Fairly strong tradition has it that Mark at some point went to Egypt and had a good ministry there, founding the church in Alexandria. Mark resurfaced in two of Paul’s prison letters. In Colossians 4:10 and again in Philemon 24 it is noted that Mark had somehow found his way to Rome and was ministering there with Paul. The Christians in Colosse were instructed to welcome Mark should he come. His name appears again in Paul’s letter to Timothy, written 5 years later at a time when it appeared to Paul that he may not have much longer to live.  Paul wrote “Only Luke is with me, Get Mark and bring him here, because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (II Timothy 4:11).

We can only speculate again as to when and where Paul and Mark got together again and what kind of a reunion that was. It is obvious at that point any differences between them had long since been forgiven and forgotten.

There are many lessons that could be learned from this. There are lessons for all of us who have somewhere along the way blown it and been less than faithful to a responsibility, the lessons of picking up and going on after we have failed. There are lessons to be learned about forgiveness and a willingness to accept back those whom we once viewed as less than faithful. There are lessons to learn about God and His faithfulness to us even when we are less than faithful.

Mark’s name appears next in I Peter 5:13 where we read “She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, as does my son Mark.” The location of Babylon is not known. It may have been the literal Babylon in Mesopotamia but that seems least likely of the options. Babylon was used in early Christian circles to refer to a sinful place under judgment as seen in its use in Revelation so it could have been any sinful city. Options for that include Egypt, Jerusalem and Rome. Since Peter was later associated strongly with the church in Rome it is quite possible that this was the city from which Peter wrote, although there is no other mention of Paul and Peter being in Rome at the same time. The important thing is that Mark and Peter were together at that point.  

The significance of Mark being with Peter at that point is not merely to place him somewhere but specifically to see the relationship between Peter and Mark and subsequently the relationship between the Gospel that Mark wrote and Peter. There was almost universal agreement in the early church that while Mark wrote the Gospel, he did so with the encouragement of Peter and quite possibly with Peter as his primary source of information. In II Peter, Peter wrote of reminding the believers of the things of God and his commitment to speak of them as long as he was alive. Peter noted in II Peter 1:15 “I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.” Many see this as Peter’s desire to commit to writing the things he had been teaching and preaching. The way this was to happen was to commission Mark to write a life of Christ. Dr. J. Vernon MaGee wrote that he believed Mark got his history from Peter and his theology from Paul and combined both in his gospel. 

John Mark was as important an individual in the early church as anyone. Certainly, two major factors that influenced him as he grew in the Lord was the home in which he was raised and the mentors that were a part of his life. As parents and grandparents, we need to ensure that our home is a place of testimony and prayer. As older and hopefully more mature Christians we need to make it a practice to lovingly mentor younger or newer Christians. Our lives should be characterized by encouragement and loving instruction.

In Acts 13:5 Mark is described as a helper to Barnabas and Paul. Few roles are more important in the church than that of a “helper” that can be counted on to be there no matter what the task. Helpers are not always up front, but they are the most vital part of any church.

The church today could definitely use more people like Mark and more Christians who would encourage them.

MANBECK’S ZION EVANGELICAL

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Worshiping the Lord in Spirit and Truth

September 6, 2020

Norman Dixon, Pastor

610-589-2034

Email: Dixonnorm@comcast.net

Web Site:  www.manbecks.org

Organ Prelude to prepare your heart for worship

Welcome and opportunities to Worship and Serve

Greet one another in the Name of Jesus

Call to Worship – Psalm 103:1-5

* Opening Chorus #672                    What a Mighty God We Serve

* Invocation

* Opening Hymn #368                                                              He Lives

First Scripture:  James 1:12-18

Praise Hymn #681                                                                 In His Time

*Prayer Hymn #358                                                  Because He Lives

**Pastoral Prayer

Offering of Tithes and Gifts to the Lord

via offering plates in the back of the Sanctuary

Special Music – Congregational Favorite

Scripture:  James 1:1-2

Sermon:  “James and John”

* Hymn of response #448 I’ll Tell the World That I’m a Christian

*Benediction

* Recessional Response #235     Take the Name of Jesus (1st verse)

Leave to Serve

*Please Stand                                                **Please kneel (if able)

“It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision!” Helen Keller

ANNOUNCEMENTS

TODAY:

 Pig Roast meeting                                                             10:00 A.M.

FRIDAY:

 Pig roast prep at Flynns                                                     5:00 P.M.

SATURDAY:

 Pig roast                                                           4:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.

NEXT SUNDAY:

 Building Fund Offering

LOOKING AHEAD:  

 September 20 – Favorite Hymn sing Sunday

 September 23 – Bible Study resumes                                7:00 P.M.

 September 25 – Newsletter                                                 7:00 P.M.

 September 27 – Special Offering/Christmas gift/Missionaries

Statistics:  August 30, 2020

Attendance:  Worship Service – 36

Offering – $876.00

Student Aid Offering – $95.00

At this date the Autumn Stroll is still going to be held.

Bible Study will resume on September 23 and we will begin by looking at Abraham.

September 20 is Favorite Hymn Sing Sunday.  If your favorite is not in the hymnal let Cathy know and we’ll try to find it.

Address for:

Grace Kimmel

c/o Tremont Health and Rehabilitation

44 Donaldson Road, Room 707

Tremont, PA   17981

PRAYER CONCERNS

❖ Mae passed away.  Pray for her family and friends

❖ Hannah Bossler (Type 1 diabetes/kidneys becoming compromised)

❖ Betty (husbands health and salvation)

❖ Carol (Treatment of Jenny)

❖ Pray for our service men and women

❖ Those battling cancer:

Pastor Lloyd Yeager (prostate cancer)

Tim Ditzler – stage 4 pancreatic cancer             Bob Kramer

Mike Sis Sagusky Jake Wolfe           Rick Fidler

Cindy Segal (liver cancer)

Bill (Deb had 2nd round of radiation)

❖ Military:  Keith Gillespie      Lois’s grandson, Kolby – Air Force

Ashley Somers, Navy     Caleb Reiter

❖ Nursing home/Assisted living residents

Grace Kimmel   Nancy Wildsmith

Edgar Bennett     Caroline Zimmerman

PRAISE:

❖ Kathy Price (thank you to everyone for their prayers)

❖ Arti (David was back in the classroom at Messiah and computers were not working right and it was a crummy day.  He then got an encouraging email from a student.)

❖ Week Day Church School

❖ Joe Toy (Street ministry in Philadelphia)

❖ Jamie and Anita Farr (Wycliffe in Florida)

❖ Robert and Bettina Schaeffer (L.I.F.E. Ministries in New York City)

❖ Wagner’s & Stoltzfus’s (Rift Valley Academy in Africa)

James, The Brother of Jesus

How would you like to have grown up in a home with a perfect older brother? James’ older brother was Jesus and He was perfect in every way. Try to imagine what it was like to grow up with a brother who never told a lie, never got angry with anyone, never complained that He had to work in His father’s carpenter shop and actually enjoyed going to the synagogue school. That was James’ lot. 

Technically James was a half brother to Jesus since Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus but that is a mute point. They grew up in the same family, in the same house. Read Matthew 13:53-57.  Those verses tell us Jesus had at least 6 siblings including 4 brothers. Because he is mentioned first in the list it is assumed James was closest in age to Jesus. That size family was typical of Jewish families then.

It is difficult to imagine what it had to have been like for James. Jesus was truly an unusual child. In many ways He was like every other boy growing up in Nazareth. We are told in passages like Hebrews 4:14 that He was totally human and grew in wisdom and knowledge like every child. He had all the temptations we have.  But being without sin so He never succumbed to those temptations. 

For 30 years James lived in the same house as Jesus. There was nothing except His perfect behavior to suggest He was all that different. Being sinless, however, meant His behavior put pressure on the others to measure up. 

Then one day Jesus went off and visited a country preacher named John, known more commonly as John the Baptist. While there Jesus was baptized, and John said He was the Lamb of God. James, if he was there, neither understood nor believed Jesus was the promised Messiah. Then it got worse. Jesus came back home and went into the local synagogue and there He took the Bible scroll containing Isaiah and read from it. Then announced He was the one who would fulfill it. His neighbors were so upset they decided to throw Him off a cliff because they believed He had blasphemed God. From what we are told, it appears that James felt the same way. He did not believe Jesus was the promised one. Read Mark 3:21 which tells us how James and the rest of His brothers and sisters felt about Him. When Jesus was crucified only His mother was present. We aren’t told why the rest of His family stayed away but it is easy to see that if they believed He was insane they not only did not want to be near Him, they did not want to be associated with one so cursed that He was being crucified. Jesus had already embarrassed the family far too much.

But James changed. James changed so completely that he became a key leader in the early church. What brought about that change? Read what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:3-7.

I wish Paul had given us more details on that meeting. We aren’t told when or where it took place or if all of His siblings were present with James. We know Jesus had second brother named Judas, who shortened his name to Jude, believed since he wrote a New Testament book that bears his name. It appears that all believed since Acts 1:14 tells us that that following His ascension the disciples, along with Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers, were together in an upper room praying. Try to imagine sometime the meeting of the risen Jesus with James. Sort of “Hi Jim, remember me, you thought I was crazy and died, well here I am. Now what do you have to say?” 

Wherever it was or whatever transpired, James became a believer. With the same energy that he opposed Jesus when He was alive, he jumped into the ministry of the early church. Once James saw the risen living Jesus his life was totally changed. Nothing will so radically transform us than seeing in a fresh way the truth that Jesus is alive and because He is alive, He can be with us always and in every way. One of the challenges of our faith is to get Jesus into the world we live in. It is too easy to think of Jesus as someone who lived long ago and with whom we will spend eternity instead of a close friend who wants to be real in every aspect of our lives here and now. 

In Acts 12, we read that Peter was arrested by King Herod and put in prison. Verse 5 of that chapter tells us that the church prayed for his release. On the night before Peter was to go before Herod an angel led him out of prison. Verse 17 says Peter instructed those he was with to tell James of his release.

Then a short time after that a major crisis developed in the church. The issue of the place of Gentiles all but split the church. Some, whom historians call Judaizers, believed that Christians were really Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and as Jews should follow all the Jewish customs including circumcision. You became a Jew and then a Christian. Others, like Paul, believed that one could become a Christian without first becoming a Jew. To settle the issue a major gathering of church leaders met in Jerusalem. Acts 15 describes that meeting and the issues that were debated. Verse 13 tells us that when they were finished James spoke up and drew it all together, summarizing the decision. Read verse 19. 

The final mention of James in Acts is in chapter 21. It simply tells us that when Paul went to Jerusalem with an offering for the church he met with James and the other elders to share all that God was doing among the Gentiles. Apart from that, Scripture tells us nothing of his continued ministry in Jerusalem. Tradition records that he ministered in Jerusalem for 30 years and died after he was thrown off a pinnacle on the temple and then beaten to death by those who found him still alive after that fall. It is hard to say how accurate that tradition is.

We know that James wrote the New Testament book that bears his name, a book many scholars believe was the first New Testament book written. It’s a fascinating book that details how Christians should live out the teachings of Jesus in everyday life. A study of it reveals much of the heart of James. James dealt with the source of true wisdom, pride, greed, wealth, selfishness and showing partiality to some members over others along with praying for those who are sick. It is a very practical book that details how Christians should act in a variety of situations that certainly challenged the early believers.  Read James 1:1. James did not call himself a brother of Jesus. James simply called himself a servant. 

The title he gave to Jesus is especially significant. James used His birth name, Jesus. James had called him “Jesus” all his life but now that name meant more than just a way to address Him. James knew that Jesus meant Savior and his big brother was in reality the Savior of the world. James knew that the claims Jesus made when He was among us were not the ranting of a mad man as he once thought, but the truth. Jesus truly had come to redeem His people. James also knew his older brother was the “Christ” or anointed one that the Old Testament had promised. Once embarrassed that Jesus would claim that position, James now openly acknowledged that the one he grew up with was the long awaited promised one or Messiah. 

And Jesus was more than an older brother who loved him along with the rest of us. Jesus was more than just the Savior who provided a way out of our sin problem. Jesus was the Lord and James was His servant. His brother was the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, too many today want a Savior but not a Lord of life. James knew that if his older brother was who He claimed to be, and having seen Him as the resurrected one James knew He was, then He should be Lord of life also. 

James did not begin with faith in Jesus but once he came to grips with His resurrection his life changed as should every life that truly knows Jesus not only died as a Savior but lives to be Lord. The challenge for every one of us is to live knowing the truth James expressed with he called his big brother the Lord Jesus Christ.