Tonight we read:
15 ¶ And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves avictuals.
19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and abrake, and gave the loaves to hisdisciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they atook up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
18 ¶ And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were afishers.
20 And they straightway left their nets, and afollowed him.
23 ¶ And Jesus went about all aGalilee, bteaching in their synagogues, and cpreaching the gospel of the kingdom, and dhealing all manner of esickness and all manner of disease among thefpeople.
And Luke 10:38 - 42
38 ¶ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named aMartha received him into her house.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art acareful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath achosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
We sang "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus"
Tonight we talked about some of the stories about Jesus. It stuck me how loving and compassionate he is. He truly cares about the heart of each one of us.
We read this story someone gave to me. It is one of my favorites and once again, I choked up reading.
A Christmas Gift
Emma Lou Thayne
Jan Cook and her husband lived for three years in Africa, in deepest Africa. His work had taken them and their three small children there, and any church meetings they attended took place in their own living room with only themselves as participants. By their third Christmas, Jan was very homesick. She confessed this to a good friend, a Mennonite. Jan told her how she missed her own people, their traditions, even snow. Her friend sympathized and invited her to go with her the next month to the Christmas services being held in the only Protestant church in the area, saying that there would be a reunion there of all the Mennonite missionaries on the continent.
It took some talking for Jan to persuade her husband, but there they were, being swept genially to the front of the small chapel. It felt good, being in a church again on Christmas. The minister gave a valuable sermon on Christ; the congregation sang familiar carols with great vitality. Then, at the very end of the meeting, a choir of Mennonite missionaries from all over Africa rose from their benches and made their way to stand just in front of Jan and her family. Without a word, they began singing. Without a leader, without music, without text, they sang, "Come, Come Ye Saints." Every verse.
Disbelieving, totally take by surprise, Jan and her husband drenched the fronts of their Sunday best with being carried home on Christmas. When the choir finished, Jan's friend said simply, "For you, our gift."
Jan's Mennonite friend had sent to Salt Lake City for the music to the hymn that she knew Jan loved, had had it duplicated and distributed to every Mennonite missionary in the area; they in turn had learned it very carefully in order to bring the spirit of Christ to their own reunion, where foreigners to their faith would be waiting to hear.
I have seen a bumper sticker that says, "Invite someone to church this month". With all the activities of the month, that is my challenge to you. Invite someone to church this month - a Sunday service, a dinner, an activity. Share the spirit felt and help ease other's spiritual hunger.
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