All are invited to join us for service on Sunday, March 30 at 10 am.  There is Sunday school during the service and coffee in the Fellowship Hall after church.

Here are Rev. Marlene’s thoughts on the upcoming message for Sunday morning.

Marlene’s Rev. Notes:

“For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”  Luke 15:24

Using simple, homespun images, Jesus expresses profound truths in a way that holds his audience captive.  His parables (concise short stories) have won high praise, even from literary experts who do not accept their spiritual message.  Some of the most famous of these parables appear only in Luke’s Gospel.

The three stories in chapter 15 stir up feelings for the lost – and for the loser.  A shepherd scours the hillside in frantic search for a missing sheep.  A woman turns her house upside down over a lost silver coin.  A runaway son turns his nose at a life of comfort and ends up half-starved in a pigpen.  In a few brief sentences, Jesus’ parables tug at feelings of loss and remorse that lie buried just beneath the surface in all of us.

Yet all three parables end the same: Spectacular good news floods in to replace the sadness, and partying breaks out.  All the parables point to the limitless love of God for those in real need.  God stands ready to forgive all those who cry out to him.

The parable of the lost son tells the story of two sons, one irresponsible, the other hardworking.  One wastes his life and comes home humbled; the other proudly refuses to celebrate his brother’s homecoming.  The story ends with one son inside, enjoying a joyful family celebration; his brother lingers outside, bitterly unwilling to forgive.  Which son is really lost?

Life Questions: When did you lose something important and then find it again?  How would you feel if you were the hardworking son?

                                                                                      Rev. Marlene