The Commandments

 

 

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

 

Moses with the Ten Commandments

REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn

1659

Gemäldegalerie (Berlin, Germany)

Berlin

Germany

https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/gemaeldegalerie/collection-research/collection-highlights.html

 

Rembrandt has gone down in history as one of the greatest painters, printmakers and etchers in the whole of European art and the most important Dutch artist to date. Even at an early age he gained a very high reputation as a portrait painter and in his most active period, during the Dutch Golden Age, he executed a spectacular array of works. In 1627 he began to accept students in his big workshop and became master of several artists, including Carel Fabritius and Ferdinand Bol. Some years later he moved on to Amsterdam, where he started his professional career as a portraitist. His focus would always remain on portraiture, but he also created landscapes and narrative paintings. His style was initially quite 'smooth' and fine, later though it became 'rough' due to his variegated paint surfaces which gave a highly tactile quality to his paintings. He is also considered a master of chiaroscuro due to the contrasts of light and dark which so characterize his works. The themes he took up in his paintings served many artists as inspiration, during his lifetime but also after death. The last years of his life were dominated by serious poverty due to high debts. In 1656 he was even declared bankrupt. 

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/moses-with-the-ten-commandments/kQHX7sr3-DlCHA

 

 

 

 

 

It is not only what we do,

but also what we do not do,

for which we are accountable.

~ Moliere

 

 

 

 

 

He who is not contented with what he has, 

would not be contented with what he would like to have.

~ Socrates













I forgot my camera all week!

These are from our Rotary meeting

taken with my iPhone 5.

Time for an upgrade?

Chris Weiss

The Second Wind Fund

 

 

Heather Ning Aberg with her father, Dr. Ted Ning

 

 

 

 

 

 

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains,

but to live in a way that respects and enhances

the freedom of others.

~ Nelson Mandela

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 8, 2019  Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

           Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18) 

 

Previous OPQs may be found at: 

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

 

Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”  

Luke 14:25-33

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein  

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

Image result for psalm 1

 

 

color_green.jpg

 

 

Jeremiah 18:1-11 with Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 or
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 with Psalm 1
Philemon 1:1-21
Luke 14:25-33

 

 

 

Jeremiah 18:1-11

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

with

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

O God, you have searched me 
   and known me.
You know when I sit down 
   and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts 
   from far away.

You search out my path 
   and my lying down,
and are acquainted 
   with all my ways.

Even before a word 
   is on my tongue,
O God, you know it 
   completely.

You hem me in, 
   behind and before,
and lay your hand 
   upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful 
   for me;
it is so high 
   that I cannot attain it.

For it was you 
   who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together 
   in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, 
   for I am fearfully 
and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works; 
   that I know very well.

My frame was not hidden 
   from you,
when I was being made 
   in secret,
intricately woven in the depths 
   of the earth.

Your eyes beheld 
   my unformed substance.
In your book were written
   all the days 
that were formed for me,
   before they existed.

How weighty to me 
   are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

I try to count them —
   they are more than the sand;
I come to the end - 
   I am still with you.

or

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

with

Psalm 1

Happy are those 
   who do not follow
the advice of the wicked,

or take the path 
   that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat 
   of scoffers;

but their delight 
   is in the law of God,
and on God's law they meditate
   day and night.

They are like trees planted 
   in streams of water,
which yield their fruit 
   in its season,

and their leaves 
   do not wither.
In all that they do, 
   they prosper.

The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff 
that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand 
   in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation 
   of the righteous;

for God watches over the way 
   of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked 
   will perish.

Philemon 1:1-21

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

Luke 14:25-33

Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."