Be a culture in which seekers meet Jesus, become Disciples, and are equipped, encouraged, and empowered to steward their talents and gifts in magnifying the name of Jesus - impacting the community around us, and discovering what God can and will do through them.
OUR VISION:
October 2024
Weekly Devotional
“‘Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.’ ‘Behold, we come to you, for you are the LORD our God’” Jeremiah 3:22. In the days before cars had air conditioning but could crank down windows, I bit off the bottom of my ice cream cone on a hot day. My dad, hearing the crunch, began to yell at me for being so stupid as I was going to make a mess of melted ice cream all over the back seat when we heard a second crunch and realized that my little brother, in the midst of the tirade, had just bitten off the bottom of his. This is where Jerusalem is as God’s people have just a century before witnessed the Northern Kingdom being taken off into captivity by Assyria because of their sin and idolatry. They also had rejoiced about twenty years later when God had delivered them from the Assyrians during the days of King Hezekiah. Yet, instead of that being a warning to them, they dove even deeper into sin with Mannaseh and Amon’s evil reigns over the next six decades. King Josiah was now making reforms and through Jeremiah God was trying to get them to see that they were also biting off the bottom of their cone, so they might return to God and He would heal them.
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“Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!” Psalm 70:1. Make haste is an expression that may be a relic from an older time. Today we might say ‘come quickly’ or ‘hurry up’! This psalm of David, which is the ending of Psalm 40 and also attributed to David, ask God to make haste to save him from enemies that seek his life and delight in his hurt. In the previous psalm, David concludes, “For the LORD hears the needy,” and in this one David wants God to “hasten to me” because he is “poor and needy.” There’s an urgency of his situation that many can identify with. When we are struggling in a situation and are emotionally out-of-balance, we need immediate help from God. Yet, there is a difference between suffering for righteousness’ sake and reaping the consequences of sinful behavior. The hymn, “I Am Resolved” speaks to our need to repent and determine to live for God. In the chorus, it is not God who is called to make haste to us, but we who are called to hasten to Him: “I will hasten to Him, Hasten so glad and free, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.” So, in prayer, be sure that you have first made haste to Him for Him to make haste to you.
ONLINE GIVING IS NOW AVAILABLE (TITHE.LY)
We are now able to accept contributions and donations online.
YOU CAN MAKE A CONTRIBUTION OR DONATION HERE:
https://tithe.ly/give?c=1322070
DO YOU HAVE A MEMBER ACCOUNT?
Attention: 36th Street Members
Our website contains much useful information for you as a member of the 36th street congregation. We are updating and improving www.36thstreetchurch.com on an ongoing basis.
In order for you to take advantage of the full (members-only) benefits of the site, you need to set up a personal account on the site. It's easy to do - just go to the homepage of the website and click on the 'MEMBERS' tab and select 'REGISTER' from the drop-down menu. You will need to complete the form there and set up a username and password. Your request will be forwarded to a web administrator, who will review the form and set you up in the system.
We encourage you to access the website and see how it can benefit you.
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
“[A Living Sacrifice] Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”(Daily Reading, ESV)
