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August 25

    [media presentation below]

GospelThink

Monday, August 25

MATTHEW 23:13-22

The religious leaders missed the message of religion and were not open to change.

Prayerthoughts
a. This section of Matthew’s Gospel takes to task the religious leaders of the Lord’s time. In general, in Jesus’s mind they act like they are pious and prayerful, but in reality, they are not. Is hypocrisy part of my life at all?

b. The scribes and Pharisees went to great lengths to convince others of their way of belief.  How convincing am I of my way of belief as seen in, say, my actions yesterday?

c. Jesus takes the scribes and Pharisees to task in how they “swear” that something is true. Are my words completely honest? And if they are not, why am I being dishonest, and  how should I change?

d. Elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel (5:34), Jesus says that taking oaths or “swearing by....” is not necessary if we have given our whole lives to the Lord and his teachings. As I considered my actions yesterday, where could I have been more convincing of my Christian belief?

e. My prayerthoughts… 

  Today, I will read 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5,8b-10 and write
an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

 THE TEACHERS WE SHOULD BE

+ Matthew chapter 23 continues Jesus’s and Matthew’s strong words against the Scribes and Pharisees

- this is the roughest language that Jesus uses in the Scriptures

- and therefore important to study why he is using the language

- why did he feel so strongly?

- these were religious leaders who were not leading well

- making a mockery of religion, making it something that you do instead of something that you live


+ Here, in particular, the Scribes and Pharisees were not the teachers that they should have been

- they were frauds

- blocking their own and other people’s entrance into the Kingdom

- making devils of people


+ In contrast to the language of condemnation, we hear Paul speak in terms of praise for the Christian church of Thessalonica

- and in particular, their faith and their labor of love


+ As we make applications from our readings today:

1 – the whole question of the way we influence others comes to mind

- we may not be formal teachers

- but we do touch people’s lives and we are teachers of our families, to be sure

- that accusation of making “devils” of people is especially disturbing

- that is, leading them to sin, as, say, in the area of criticism of others, talking others down, etc.

2 – as Paul praises the Thessalonians, he remembers their work of faith and labor of love and their hope in Jesus

- the thought of “labor of love” is a good one

- that should be the driving force of a Christian’s life, namely to live the labor of love


+ We are all called to be people who labor with love, teachers of God’s way to others

- it is good to study ourselves in that light.


 

 

 

 

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Good News" (Shaboozey)

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The Gospel





Gospelthink


“Man, what a hell of a year it’s been, keep on bluffin’, but I just can’t win, drowned my sorrows, but they learned to swim. Head in a bottle for my heart in a case. Yeah, it’s getting’ harder to act my age. Play a sad song on a tiny violin for the man at the bar confessin’ his sins. I need some good news; sittin here, sippin’ on cold truth. Nobody knows what I’m going through; bet the devil wouldn’t walk in my shoes; wish someone told me. Still stuck singin’ these blues. All I really need is a little good news. Love keeps knockin’, but I just stay home.”


+++++


All of the top evening news shows are presenting segments called in one way or another: what is the good news of today. They realize that most of the reporting that is done is bad news. I think that that is a pretty good thought for our show as well. Actually, most of our songs go into good news anyway since we are asking a question of each song that has to do with making our lives be a bit better. But we have a song in our top 10 called “Good News” and it leads us to think of each of the songs of our show from the point of view of what is the good news that can be taken from the song. We will do that, but first of all, the song.

There is nothing but bad news for him, and he needs a solution to his feelings, and the solution probably has something to do with understanding the life he has been given. The good news connected with the song is that at least he is still alive and able to change if he wants