Scripture Passages of the Week
Exodus 17:1-7
17From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ 3But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ 4So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ 5The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’
Reflection of the Week
This week, our “Key to Survival” is Wait
It seems as if the mood of our lives during these difficult days is to hurry up and wait. And not just for things we want, but things we need. We need to get back to work, to see our loved ones, to have our communities and our support systems. But, in order to get to the point where we can have all of these things again, we have to wait. In order to reach the other side of this seemingly endless pandemic, we have to wait.
In our scripture this week we will see that this is not a new experience. The Israelites in Exodus did a lot of waiting before they reached the Promised Land, and faced a lot of challenges along the way where they were asked to wait for even food and water.
As you go through the rest of this week ask yourself, How can we learn to survive in the waiting? How can we still our souls and trust in God?
Service Highlights or Announcements for this Sunday
Please join us Sunday as we are blessed by Rev. Stephanie Rice who will bring our message.
Come check out our virtual Gather(ing) via Zoom on Wednesdays at 7 pm. We would LOVE to see you there. Come ready to discuss our scripture passage and raise our voices in song! If you would like the Zoom link, please sign up here.
Sign up to for the Gather Zoom meeting information here.
Peace and Health,
Pastor James
