 On St. Patrick’s Day 1905, Teddy Roosevelt’s niece Eleanor married Franklin, a member of the other branch of the Roosevelt family. Eleanor’s father, Elliott, had earlier died …so it fell to Teddy, then in his first full term as President, to give away his niece Eleanor to marry Franklin. The wedding was held in the Manhattan home of a Roosevelt relative, and, as [Teddy’s daughter] Alice noted , when Teddy entered the room all attention shifted from the bride to the President. “My father always has to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral,” Alice later observed. After the ceremony, T.R. slapped the groom on the back — “Well, Franklin, there’s nothing like keeping the name in the family” — and made a beeline for the dining room, the guests following, leaving Eleanor and Franklin standing alone. T.R. loved attention, adulation… (told by Carol Felsenthal)
Some folks like attention, ~ the center… In today’s scripture, the second part of the story of the prodigal son that Chad preached from last Sunday, the Prodigal Son returns home and the Father throws him a party. Enter the older brother. The word angry is used in the scripture. We can’t be too far off concluding the older brother is jealous. The older brother is all about spoiling the party.
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 Something happened when Jesus died on the cross. The world has never been the same. Prior to the cross there was great hope, God promised he would send a messiah to redeem the world. Jesus has come, YET we wait for the fullness of eternal life with God when Jesus Christ returns. AMEN! The best description I’ve heard describing the times in which we live: ALREADY BUT NOT YET. When I was young I remember my father was fond of talking about HIS-STORY. Where am I in HIS story of the plan to redeem humankind. The center of His-story is Jesus Christ ~ cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in it. The high point of creation: humankind. He gave us free will. We chose sin. The plan of salvation was set in motion for God to bring about a way for people to be reconciled to God. The promise was given that a savior would be sent, the hope of salvation that God would one day send the Messiah, to restore God’s people to a right relationship with Him. This is His-story. 99% is not good enough for God. He wants 100%. Underneath this scripture lies an important belief that makes a world of difference: Jesus Christ died for the sins of all people ~~ not a predetermined few people, but for all. Nobody is beyond the reach of the love of Christ. AMEN! Nothing can cause the Lord Jesus Christ to give up on you. In the story of the lost sheep, the bottom line: a shepherd searches for the one lost sheep. All are loved by Jesus Christ. 99 may be present and accounted for, but when even one is lost, God searches. God does not give up on anyone, and neither should we. In my crazy way of thinking, I imagine the main reason God has not yet brought about the end the world is because there are those who are lost that still need to be found.
We think 99% is pretty good. It’s not for God! One person said it this way: “If a batter gets a hit 99 times out of 100, he is the greatest player in baseball history. If a coach wins 99 out of 100 games, he’s the greatest coach in history. If you get 99 out of 100 on every test, you’ll end up with straight A’s. For most of us, 99 out of 100 is good enough. But it’s not good enough for God. He cares about the 1 just as much as he does about the 99. That’s the kind of God he is. He doesn’t write anyone off. As far as heaven is concerned, there are no hopeless cases.” (Ray Pritchard) |
 
Carl Crouse, Pastor
At SACC we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Every Sunday the worship service includes a message from the Bible. My words are an attempt to understand and apply the Bible to our daily living. I post weekly sermons and other biblical messages on this page. May you find meaning and hope as you read through each message and seek to hear God's voice. Leave a comment to ask questions or inspire others with your insights. Categories
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