God's Word in Action: Ask the Pastor BLOG
Welcome to this new resource! At the suggestion of God's Word in Action (GWIA) subscribers, we are expanding this resource to include the opportunity to ask questions of our Pastors regarding their sermons, weekly Bible lessons for Sunday or any other faith/Bible based topics.
To best facilitate the question and answer process and to best share the benefits of all questions and answers with anyone who subscribes, we have choosen an interactive tool called a "BLOG". Short for "web log", the BLOG format allows for you to view the sermon summary from each weekly edition of GWIA and ask questions and view answers.
All questions or responses are welcome, but each week the staff will come up with a conversation starter that you are welcome to respond to. Find it by clicking on "comments."
How to Use the "GWIA - Ask a Pastor BLOG":
- Click the comments link under the sermon summary to ask your question.
- Scroll down to view a new "Post Comments" form is displayed below the GWIA sermon summary.
- Type a name. Even though a name is required, "Anonymous" and "Guest" are perfectly acceptable if you wish to ask your question anonymously.
- Type your email address. Also required but will not be publically displayed.
- Skip the Website field as it is NOT required.
- Type your question in the Comments Box.
- Click the "Add Comments" button at the bottom to submit your question. Your question now appears below the related GWIA edition.
- Click the <<back to the blog link to return to the BLOG and close the Post Comments box.
- Questions are reviewed and answered by our Pastors which can take anywhere from an afternoon up to 2 days in the event of questions posted on Fridays or Saturdays.
How to View Your Answer:
- Return to the GWIA - Ask a Pastor BLOG by clicking the Question Button in one of your weekly GWIA emails -OR- by visiting the All Saints home page and clicking the "view the current edition" link in the subscription box.
- Scroll down to view the GWIA edition you asked a question about and click the "Comments" link.
- This displays all the questions and answers posted for this edition.
- Once you have completed your review, you can click the <<back to the blog link and return to the complete list of weekly editions. From here you may choose to view other questions and answers posted for other edition, etc.
Questions about or difficulities with the BLOG:
Contact Bobbie Tomasek at btomasek@allsaintsphoenix.org or Gina King at ginaking@allsaintsphoenix.org
September 17 Edition: "and that was 78--gotcha!"
Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times"
"Home is the place where when you have to go there, they have to take you in." This popular quote from Robert Frost speaks about family being the ultimate in acceptance, tolerance and forgiveness. And like our home, our church is our family in Christ. We are all brothers and sisters in our connection to Christ. When Peter asks Jesus if seven times is an acceptable amount of times to forgive a member of his church family, he feels that Jesus will surely say it is. Instead, Jesus says that seventy seven times is the answer. Now if we keep track of those seventy seven times or even those seven times, we are missing Jesus' point. Keeping track of sins, slights and trespasses in any way defies the spirit of forgiveness. Tallying up the times you bestow forgiveness means you are not really forgiving and that you instead are storing up anger, offenses, and hurt. You are keeping score, preparing for revenge on that 78th time when you can self- righteously say "Enough." By saying seventy seven times, Jesus is asking us to offer forgiveness without limits, just as God freely offers it to us.
Listen to the Audio Sermon for this week
