Coming to the Still Waters

  In the Bible, some numbers are very significant.  7 as the number for perfection or completion.  12 as the number of the tribes of Israel or the disciples of Jesus.  40 as days and nights or 40 as years in the wilderness or the length of a generation.  This Sunday I used the number 2 for its significance is found throughout the Bible.  We have it here in the opening chapters of Genesis and we also find it in the closing chapters of Revelation.   In our Genesis passage we have 2 sons, occupations, offerings, responses, questions, paths, sins, voices, wives and people.  The one I want to focus on is the 2 paths.  There is the wide road and the narrow path; there are the sheep and the goats; there are the wheat and the tares; and the list goes on.  Today we have the way of Cain or the way of Abel. We start off the passage with a worship experience.  Both boys brought an offering to God.  Abel's was a blood sacrifice of the firstborn and the best.  Cain's was a bloodless sacrific

  A couple weeks ago I told the joke about the chicken and the pig in my sermon.  They were going into business together and the pig asked the chicken what kind of business.  "Ham and Eggs" was the chicken's response.  The pig responded, "What a minute, you are only giving a contribution but I am making a sacrifice."  Last weekend a lady in the congregation brought me this plate that she found at a flea market.  Now I have a prop to tell my joke! July has 5 Sundays so I have the opportunity to speak about humble service and generous lifestyle one more time.  Jesus speaks of this often to His disciples because they and we are steep into a culture that emphasizes pride and selfishness.  The disciples were always arguing about who was the greatest and we are continuing trying to figure out who is the GOAT (greatest of all time) of our time.  In the midst of that, Jesus is calling His disciples and us to be humble and selfless. We were able to include some physical