Matthew 5:27-30
Reflect
In 2013 an American pizza company had a promotion that offered a free pizza to all those who called the Superbowl coin toss correctly. The offer was restricted to 1 pizza per email address. Some people created close to 100 unique emails and had a lot of pizza after the Superbowl. The spirit of the promotion was people could enter once, but there were those that chose to take advantage of what was a loophole in the promotion.
Apply
Jesus addresses those who were inclined to say that they had not sinned; in this case adultery is mentioned. Jesus speaks to what might be considered a loophole in the Law of Moses, for by the letter of the Law people could claim innocence, but knowing full well that in the spirit of the Law they were not. I don’t believe Jesus here is advocating a regular practice of self-mutilation as a means of avoiding sin. But here Jesus wants us to understand how serious it is when we try to “beat the system” when it comes to our spiritual integrity. On the outside, things may look like we are doing great, but what is the state of our inner life?
Pastor Mike
Pray
- Pray for Pastor Lyle, his family and ministry.
- Pray for Eric Peters, Facility Manager; Custodians, Adit Gamble, Stan Goodnough and Anne King; Maintenance, Joe Richards.
- Pray for our Church Board members: Barbara Whidden, Bee Stiansen, Cam Klapstein, Darryl Sparling, Gerhard Hiob, Julie Leverette, Matt Barker, Matt Chute, Mike Pedde, Nick Mitchell, Seth Jansen, and Tyler Elmgren.
- Pray for our office staff: Robin Radke and Naomi Voss; Bookkeeper Lynette Carlson.