Spiritual Sounding Board – This is your place to gather and share in an open format.
by Kathi
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Luke 5: 17-38
One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.” Jesus answered, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them; in those days they will fast..”
He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.'”
Isaiah 1: 17
Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
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May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness: protect you from the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing: once again into our doors.
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Feel free to join the discussion.
You can share your church struggles and concerns.
Let’s also use it as a time to encourage one another spiritually.
What have you found spiritually encouraging lately?
Do you have any special Bible verses to share, any YouTube songs that you have found uplifting?
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photo credit: Kathi – Alpaca in Peru at 16,000 ft. elevation
Spiritual Sounding Board 
“May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you. . . may he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you.” Maybe I’ll hit the stores while Super Bowl 50 is in progress—in anticipation of the wonder of some relaxing, crowd-free shopping.
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Well, I had a wonderful experience in church this morning! I shared a while back that the Lord has led me back to my old church, one that treats women as equals and is full of genuine love for one another. The reason we left this church is that when I was married, my ex’s abuse got so bad that I did not feel like I could return there (long story). So, lo and behold, we ended up in one of the worst, mysoginistic, abusive, patriarchal church in this entire metropolitan area! That is the church that sided with my abuser and did not believe me when I went to the elder and pastors. Well today, back at my old, loving church, not only did I serve communion (what, shocker you say, a woman serving communion??) but we had a guest preacher and when he started talking about abuse and the church’s correct response to it, I could not believe it!!!!! He basically said, right up there from the pulpit, that an abused woman should leave her abusive husband, that this is the most loving thing she could do with him (the sermon was about love and showing God’s love to one another). I mean, he hammered this point so well that he even said he didn’t want to belabor the point any longer. I was in shock! A true man of God who understands the dynamics of abuse! And he called out the church for telling such a woman to pray harder, love more, etc! Thank you Jesus. If I was not so happy with my church, I would definitely go to his church. What a breath of fresh air today. I just wanted to share with y’all. I hope you have a blessed Lord’s day!
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Wow, that’s wonderful, Overcomer. Thanks for sharing. I wish I could have heard his sermon.
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How nice, Overcomer! I don’t think I have ever heard a preacher speak about domestic violence or child abuse. It’s nice to know that someone is making it known that the church is willing and able to help victims.
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What a great story Overcomer! That preacher’s sermon is as it should be.
(Sorry I haven’t been around much lately y’all. Work and stuff. I’m still reading, I just haven’t had much to comment with.)
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Good to see you again, Dash! Hope all is well!
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