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Luke 5 8-11

[8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying,” Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” [9] For he and all were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, [10] and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon,” Do not be afraid for now on you will be catching men.” [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they LEFT EVERYTHING and followed him.

Well If you stuck along we made it to the end of this trilogy, the hardest part if you truly see. Not only did Simon Peter as he is referred to in verse 8 shamelessly admits of his unworthiness, but he tells him to depart from him (I assume because of how great he sees his sin). Not only did Jesus flip this on its head but he gave him a mission, catching men. I might’ve gotten ahead of myself yesterday and spoke about this already but to paraphrase we should be out there being a light in the world without shame or worry. 2 Corinthians 5;17, Mathew 10;33, Luke 5;10, Mathew 6;30, Psalms 34;10, Job 38;41, Genisis 9;3, Psalm 145 15-16 among many other verses.

I think verse 11 is my favorite of this short section of the text, they took their boats to land and left everything, can you imagine Jesus walking up to where you work, and out of nowhere you simply get up and start following him? I couldn’t imagine that but it is exactly what Simon Peter, James, and John did. Sometimes, well most times I think we value our physical possessions too much and can’t imagine living without them, for example, those in our 20s to 30s imagine out of nowhere phones disappeared what would you do? Or those of an older generation imagine if cars and television vanished wheat you do? I admit I, myself rely quite a bit on my phone and computer from having things such as my email and the Bible app. I’m not trying to villainize these products but even from Genisis, we were made to work and to rest and love [Gennisis 2;15, Galatians 5;14 and Mark 2;27] even warning us that being alone is not good [Genisis 2;18].

Every now and then I find myself trying to enforce my plans instead of God’s will. If I were a nonbeliever that would seem to be the evident choice, however, that isn’t the case for myself. As a believer, I should seek His will counting it a joy to do His work, but there are times I turn a blind eye or give God the cold shoulder, I quickly find myself searching for His help to fulfill the desires of my flesh.

One huge example I know many can relate to is the search for a girlfriend/boyfriend, often sooner than we are ready. I know I want a family of my own someday to extend my lineage, but at this current time I I’m not ready to commit into a relationship. I am not yet financially stable, but that’s a topic for another day. Still somehow I have just enough for my bills and sometimes even a few dollars left to my name, something I’m sure many of us are all too familiar with. With that said, in the times when I don’t know how I’m going gather enough to pay for such and such, right when I tell myself I’m out of time, God shows up. God shows up seconds after the brink in some fashion, often by getting a hidden bonus or an unexpected check coming in the mail.

Continue….

December 18, 2021, The Mercy Table celebrates their 1 year anniversary!

By December 31, 2021, The Mercy Table will have succeeded in the following

• 1,600+ meals and 2,200+ beverages served
• 132  winter beanies given away
• 1008 Wash cloths donated to Operation Christmas child
• 4 Rooted Groups partnered with The Mercy Table for their service projects
• 1 College student satisfied his community service hours with The Mercy Table
• 2 Volunteers received their Food Handler’s Safety Training (available upon request)
• 60+ hours of volunteer opportunities x 30+ volunteers x 12 months = 1800+ hours of volunteer service hours
• $10,746.51 Received in donations and $3250 in grants for a total of $13,746.

How were these funds used

• $4237.29 Food/Grocery, paper products, and packaging
• $2,164.45 Charitably given to organizations i.e. Operation Christmas Child, Backpack Snack Sacks School Lunch Initiative, Winter Benevolent Fund Blanket, Youth Groups & Food Drives
• $761.86 Kitchen upgrades
• $393.24 Volunteer Appreciation
• $510 Wages paid for Childcare for our volunteers to serve
• $199.76 Activity, Games, or Craft began with our June event
• Remaining balance used for operating cost to become a 501c3 tax exempt non-profit, and marketing, website, etc.

If you would like to partner with The Mercy Table please reach out to Jenn Beaumont 915.321.0674 or via email themercytable.in@gmail.com.

It is because of the generosity of our volunteers and individuals like you that we are able to serve our community. We thank you for your continued support http://www.themercytable.net/donate and look forward to what’s to come in 2022.

Thank You!

Wednesday, September 22nd is the first day of the new season

John Clare

I love the fitful gusts that shakes
 The casement all the day
And from the mossy elm tree takes
 The faded leaf away
Twirling it by the window-pane
With thousand others down the lane

I love to see the shaking twig
 Dance till the shut of eve
The sparrow on the cottage rig
 Whose chirp would make believe
That spring was just now flirting by
In summers lap with flowers to lie

I love to see the cottage smoke
 Curl upwards through the naked trees
The pigeons nestled round the coat
 On dull November days like these
The cock upon the dung-hill crowing
The mill sails on the heath a-going

The feather from the ravens breast
 Falls on the stubble lea
The acorns near the old crows nest
 Fall pattering down the tree
The grunting pigs that wait for all
Scramble and hurry where they fall

_{From Read Me 2: A Poem For Every Day of the Year}

Listening to Bema Discipleship podcast offers a lot of literary tools and cultural tools in understanding biblical text and text to context. One of the teaching examples given was about why co-host Brent Billings is free to eat a pint o bacon at his cousins restaurant and why rabi Marty Solomon would or would not. Brent’s cousin opened a new restaurant, and a pint o bacon is an actual menu item to order. Marty Solomon spoke of being born into a line of Jewish men and women and although he professes Jesus Christ he has chosen with his fellow Jews to be a keeper of the law, (the first 5 books of Bible). As a result, he is committed to the biblical text and a set of laws that demonstrate his love for God, is distinctly different than the world, separated and sanctified. So what is my point to all this? A personal understanding I did not previously understand, and the love displayed.

At a previous job a breakfast potluck was given. Matt was very proud of his breakfast casserole, which was specifically requested for this occasion and had pork product within it. Matt made an unknowingly inconsiderate comment toward Daniel joining the community of workers as he chose to eat a portion of the breakfast casserole Matt was so proud of.

Daniel, a Messianic Jew made an ill-informed comment toward a co-worker Julie who chose to have tattoos. Culturally there is so much more between the lines that are not so obvious.

As a Messianic Jew Daniel is called to be a keeper of the law like rabi Marty Solomon and therefore is not permitted to have tattoos. Julie a gentile, (anyone not born a Jew) is not called to be a keeper of the same law Daniel is. Daniel may have meant well, but in his ignorance did not demonstrate the love of God to Julie. Daniel choosing to eat the pork breakfast casserole and as a keeper of the law is required to perform a ritual cleansing and in Matt’s ignorance he did not realize that Daniel did demonstrate the love of God by joining us in a meal.   

So if rabi Marty joined Brent at his cousins restaurant and there is nothing on the menu he can eat, he probably won’t. But, if his cousin is as proud of his pint of bacon as Matt is of his breakfast casserole, he might. There is a greater cost to rabi Marty than there is to us who are free from the law.

It is better to love than to obey, it is better to obey than sacrifice, it is better to sacrifice than to do nothing. We are called to take care of one another demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ to ALL people.

It was some years ago when attending Redeemer Church in Downey, California that my family and I were invited to a dinner. Which does not sound like a big deal, but the way it was done made it a very special invitation. It was a “Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner” invite. At the end of service that one Sunday morning as we exited the church building we were given an envelope and inside the envelope was a name and address of where we would be having dinner. The guessing part was more for the host as they discovered who would show up to their home in time for dinner that very same Sunday evening about 6 pm. Our invitation stated to bring a side dish or a dessert. The host was asked to open up their home and given advance notice of the “Guess Who’s coming for Dinner” event where it was suggested to serve a crockpot meal they could prepare the night before or the day of.   

When we arrived at dinner things were already in full swing as guest after guest entered our hosts Rick and Nicki Ellis’ home. The atmosphere was filled with conversation and laughter as the aroma of comfort made its way from the crockpot meal asking to be consumed. Laughter filled our host home as she displayed the love of Jesus Christ with hospitality keeping our drinks of coffee, soda, and water filled to the brim and our stomachs full of good food.  

Our children remained in eyesight not too far away coloring, playing video games, and other age appropriate activities. Adult guest gathered around the table men on one side and women on the other as they prepared to engage in a game of Taboo men versus women style. The objective of the game is for a player to have their partners guess the word on the player’s card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card. We quickly learned men versus women in this game is not a good idea. For example the word on the card was “Diamond” and the men described it as what you find in the minds, sometimes associated with blood, etc. whereas the women’s description was, a girls best friend. Card after card and word after word it continued like this. Needless to say the women took the victory.

This is what COMMUNITY looks like, this is what FRIENDSHIPS look like, this is what it looks like when your LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE. This is what it looks like when you take your seat at THE MERCY TABLE.

We would like to have several Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner events in 2022. If you are interested in hosting or attending please let us know. It would be really great if we could have 12 homes ready and willing to fill the next 2022 year. We are stronger together.  

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured
by the compassionate actions of its members.” -Coretta Scott King

What is Community?

A community is defined as a group of people who interact with one other and share common characteristics. Within these communities, people develop strong relationships from romantic relationships to friendships, and anywhere in between that heavily influence an individual’s personal attributes. 

Communities are everywhere! How important are these groups to the mental stability of the average person? The answer is: VERY. With access to more data collected from research, we are able to understand that a person’s overall health is not only determined by their physical well-being, but also how well their mind is doing. The body, mind, heart, and spirit are linked together, (Deuteronomy 6:5, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27).

Successful ways of life to keep a person’s body healthy are common sense and more well-known: you eat healthy, nutrient-rich foods and maintain a good exercise regime. Understanding how to truly stay mentally healthy is a little more complex and begins at a young age through the development of solid connections. 

Family Community from Childhood 

One of the first, and arguably the most important, communities an individual is exposed and belongs to is their family community. It is said the significance of good parenting and a person’s socioeconomic status plays a huge role in the development of a child’s personality. Yet it is the people that grow up with the least that give the most.  

Children learn a lot of mimicking the speech and action of their parents, along with the way their parent disciplines and rewards them. For example, if a parent uses swear words often, then the child will use the same derogatory words their parents use. 

Another example is if a parent continuously lies to their child, a child may develop strong trust issues since they do not know how to successfully develop and maintain and trustful bond with another person.

A parent who influences their child successfully understands that there is a needs for authority and leniency. To demonstrate this as a parent, you must set understandable, clear, and age appropriate guidelines for your child, and following through with consequences both negative and positive. Consistency in enforcing these guidelines will help your child develop stability and an understanding of discipline. 

Culture Community

We are also influenced by our culture community, work, school, friend, medial (social and otherwise), and/or any other group organization we may belong to or look up to. Every experience or encounter develops general mental health as a person.

People who surround themselves with communities that make them feel welcomed, valued, and like they can be exactly who they are as a person without feeling any judgment are the people who set themselves up to have the most successful and peaceful state of mind. 

Workplace CommunityA work community can have a couple members or an endless amount. Not everyone is going to get along with one another in the workplace, but generally people who are satisfied with their leaders and coworkers have a better chance of mental peace. People who are psychologically overwhelmed with the members of their work community will have more stress and less motivation to go to work.

Internet Community

Another community example is our online community. Technology plays a huge role in communication nowadays. People have developed an online presence and share this community with other peers. Unfortunately, there has been uproar that social media has sparked higher levels of anxiety and depression amongst the current generation. Social media is a place of communication via comments, likes, shares, posts, etc. People who works towards endlessly impressing members of their social media community versus positively reinforcing themselves, will be less mentally stable. A tip for success is to remember that happiness does not come from the acceptance of others.

Community Connections

Connections matter. A sense of security, support, love, and acknowledgement helps to give us a feeling of purpose and mental safety and stability. As important as it is for a person to love themselves, it is equally important to feel loved and wanted by others, and to love others, (Leviticus 19:18). Human connections and communities allow humans to relate and learn from one another in order to understand what it takes to be mentally healthy.

At the heart of the matter it is really simple, Love God, Love People.

Resources: https://socialmettle.com/what-is-importance-of-community/, https://www.claritychi.com/the -importance-of-community/