Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Inter-American Human Rights Court delivers long-awaited justice for the people of La Oroya, Peru

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Inter-American Hum...: It’s the first time an international court has held a nation responsible for environmental impacts generated by the private sector July 3, 2...

God and His Rebellious Children: A Study of First and Second Kings (The Glory and the Demise - 1 Kings 9:1–11:43)

As we enter the narrative offered in the books of the Kings, the nation of Israel is at the peak of its power and influence. By the end of the story, the children of God have become a captive people, living far from the land promised to Abraham, conquered by Joshua and ruled by David. Join us as we explore Israel’s decline and fall and God’s relationship with his rebellious children. During this series, we’ll consider the following:

  • Session 1 - Solomon Takes Charge (1 Kings 1:1–2:46)
  • Session 2 - Solomon the King (1 Kings 3:1–5:18)
  • Session 3 - The Temple (1 Kings 6:1–8:66)
  • Session 4 - The Glory and the Demise (1 Kings 9:1–11:43)
  • Session 5 - A Hostile Divorce (1 Kings 12:1–14:20)
  • Session 6 - Kings of Judah and Israel (1 Kings 14:21–16:34)
  • Session 7 -  Elijah and the Living God (1 Kings 17:1–19:21)
  • Session 8 - The End of Ahab (1 Kings 20:1–22:40)
  • Session 9 - Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah and Elisha (1 Kings 22:41–2 Kings 2:25)
  • Session 10 - Elisha’s Life and Ministry (2 Kings 3:1–5:27)
  • Session 11 - Elisha and the King (2 Kings 6:1–8:29)
  • Session 12 - Jehu and Joash (2 Kings 9:1–12:21)
  • Session 13 - The Dynasty of Jehu (2 Kings 13:1–15:7)
  • Session 14 - The Fall of Israel (2 Kings 15:8–17:41)
  • Session 15 - Hezekiah and Manasseh (2 Kings 18:1–21:26)
  • Session 16 - The Josianic Reformation (2 Kings 22:1–23:30)
  • Session 17 - The End (2 Kings 23:31–25:30)
During our fourth session, we discussed the rise of Solomon's Kingdom and the fall of Solomon (1 Kings 9:1–11:43). Below is a recording of our discussion and the passage we discussed. 


1 Kings 9:1–11:43 [New Revised Standard Version]

When Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build, the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you made before me; I have consecrated this house that you have built, and put my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’ “If you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them; and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight; and Israel will become a proverb and a taunt among all peoples. This house will become a heap of ruins; everyone passing by it will be astonished, and will hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, worshiping them and serving them; therefore the Lord has brought this disaster upon them.’”

At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, King Hiram of Tyre having supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul to this day. But Hiram had sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold.

This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord and his own house, the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it down, had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife; so Solomon rebuilt Gezer), Lower Beth-horon, Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness, within the land, as well as all of Solomon’s storage cities, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build, in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel— their descendants who were still left in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely—these Solomon conscripted for slave labor, and so they are to this day. But of the Israelites Solomon made no slaves; they were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, and the commanders of his chariotry and cavalry. These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: five hundred fifty, who had charge of the people who carried on the work. But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her; then he built the Millo. Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being on the altar that he built for the Lord, offering incense before the Lord. So he completed the house. King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. They went to Ophir, and imported from there four hundred twenty talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, (fame due to the name of the Lord), she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba had observed all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his valets, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. So she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your accomplishments and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. Not even half had been told me; your wisdom and prosperity far surpass the report that I had heard. Happy are your wives! Happy are these your servants, who continually attend you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness.” Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones; never again did spices come in such quantity as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. Moreover, the fleet of Hiram, which carried gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a great quantity of almug wood and precious stones. From the almug wood the king made supports for the house of the Lord, and for the king’s house, lyres also and harps for the singers; no such almug wood has come or been seen to this day. Meanwhile King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba every desire that she expressed, as well as what he gave her out of Solomon’s royal bounty. Then she returned to her own land, with her servants.

The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, besides that which came from the traders and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each large shield. He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. The king also made a great ivory throne, and overlaid it with the finest gold. The throne had six steps. The top of the throne was rounded in the back, and on each side of the seat were arm rests and two lions standing beside the arm rests, while twelve lions were standing, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom. All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver—it was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. The whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. Every one of them brought a present, objects of silver and gold, garments, weaponry, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. Solomon gathered together chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as numerous as the sycamores of the Shephelah. Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders received them from Kue at a price. A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty; so through the king’s traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the Israelites, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods”; Solomon clung to these in love. Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not completely follow the Lord, as his father David had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who offered incense and sacrificed to their gods.

Then the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this matter, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of your father David I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. I will not, however, tear away the entire kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

Then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal house in Edom. For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the dead, he killed every male in Edom (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom); but Hadad fled to Egypt with some Edomites who were servants of his father. He was a young boy at that time. They set out from Midian and came to Paran; they took people with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, assigned him an allowance of food, and gave him land. Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him his sister-in-law for a wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. The sister of Tahpenes gave birth by him to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the children of Pharaoh. When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.” But Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack with me that you now seek to go to your own country?” And he said, “No, do let me go.” God raised up another adversary against Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. He gathered followers around him and became leader of a marauding band, after the slaughter by David; they went to Damascus, settled there, and made him king in Damascus. He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, making trouble as Hadad did; he despised Israel and reigned over Aram.

Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, rebelled against the king. The following was the reason he rebelled against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the gap in the wall of the city of his father David. The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. About that time, when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment. The two of them were alone in the open country when Ahijah laid hold of the new garment he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. He then said to Jeroboam: Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes. One tribe will remain his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. This is because he has forsaken me, worshiped Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, as his father David did. Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom away from him but will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David whom I chose and who did keep my commandments and my statutes; but I will take the kingdom away from his son and give it to you—that is, the ten tribes. Yet to his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires; you shall be king over Israel. If you will listen to all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you, and will build you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. For this reason I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.” Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam promptly fled to Egypt, to King Shishak of Egypt, and remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did as well as his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. Solomon slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.

Bible Readings for July 3, 2024

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Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Going green by going solar

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PC(USA) Weekly News

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The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, June 30, 2024

On Sunday morning, Sligo Presbyterian Church gathered for its annual worship service and picnic at the Union Pool Park, in Sligo. Our service began at 10:00 followed by a carry-in picnic lunch. Below is a recording of the service and the sermon and the bulletin for the service. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT) You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page














Sunday's Message - How to Celebrate the 4th of July at Home

On Sunday morning, Sligo Presbyterian Church gathered for its annual worship service and picnic at the Union Pool Park, in Sligo. Our service began at 10:00 followed by a carry-in picnic lunch. Below is a recording and the text of the sermon. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT) You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page

Well, here we are, my fourth church picnic here in Sligo. And although it might be a little damp today, it’s really nothing like it was three years ago, when the Deacons were literally shoveling mud out of the shelter in the back. Do you remember that? And what y’all who came might find interesting is this; I’m not at all sure th ey washed their hands before putting out the food. Well, remember, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.

Of course, I’ve always enjoyed church picnics, particularly the ones held right before the Fourth of July. I mean, not only do they sort of put us in a picnicking frame of mind, they also give me something to preach about that’s a little different from what I’ve been saying on Sunday morning. Take this year, for example. We’ve been in a series dealing with Paul’s letter to the Galatians. And even though we’ll pick up on it next week, this morning I can focus on something that really stands alone, and I’m talking about the Fourth of July. 

And you know, it’s interesting, as I was doing some research on Friday, I ran across an article that was published on June 24, 2020, you know, right in the early stages of the pandemic, and it was entitled How to Celebrate the 4th of July at Home. Now in it, the writer suggested doing several different things, you know, like getting “some Fourth of July decorations to bring your home to life in lockdown” and having “some games ready for you and your family /quaranteam to keep you entertained” and making “sure everybody dresses the part and dresses up in spirit for the 4th!” Now those were some of the suggestions, and I’ll tell you, outside of words like “lockdown” and “quaranteam,” personally, I think they’re pretty good with or without COVID crashing the party.

But when you think about it, if you’re talking about suggestions dealing with how we might celebrate this day, it may make sense to go right to the source, and I’m talking about a person who served on the Congressional committee that actually wrote our Declaration of Independence. You see, along with Thomas Jefferson; Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were also members of this Committee of Five assigned to draft a document that would be presented to the Congress, which they did on July 2. And even though no one took any minutes as they were working, we do have a letter that John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail after the declaration was approved. And after giving her a little background information, he offered two suggestions about how Independence Day might be celebrated in the future.

And that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning. You see, we’re going to listen to what Adams wrote, compare it to similar ideas in the Bible and then we’re going to relate it ourselves. And hopefully, by the end of this little message, we’ll have a good idea about how to celebrate the 4th of July at home.

And like I said, I think we can get a pretty good idea about how we can do this by looking at two very clear and practical suggestions offered by John Adams in his letter to his wife. For example, first, according to what he wrote, we can celebrate the Fourth of July with joy as we look at the past. Just listen to what Adams wrote:

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

Now that’s how this founding father envisioned us celebrating our independence. And you know, what he was saying about how it was a Day of Deliverance, well, that sounds a lot like what Isaiah felt as he thought about what God had done with his people. The prophet wrote, 

You, Lord, are my God!

    I will praise you

for doing the wonderful things

you had planned and promised

    since ancient times.

You have destroyed the fortress

of our enemies,

    leaving their city in ruins.

Nothing in that foreign city

    will ever be rebuilt.

Now strong and cruel nations

    will fear and honor you.

You have been a place of safety

for the poor and needy

    in times of trouble.

Brutal enemies pounded us

    like a heavy rain

or the heat of the sun at noon,

    but you were our shelter.

Those wild foreigners struck

    like scorching desert heat.

But you were like a cloud,

    protecting us from the sun.

You kept our enemies from singing

    songs of victory. [Isaiah 25:1-5, CEV]

You see, both Adams and Isaiah could feel joy as they looked at what God had done for them in the past. 

And I’m telling you, on this Fourth of July, so can we. We can feel joy as we look to the past, our past; particularly when we consider the courage and the wisdom shown by our founding fathers and mothers. Of course, we all know they certainly weren’t perfect; My gosh, they either practiced or condoned racial slavery and our mothers had to fight and scrap to take their rightful place beside our fathers. Still, they had the courage to risk everything they had for a cause greater than themselves and the wisdom to promote ideas that are still developing and being applied in situations they could never have imagined, and I’m talking about principles like liberty and justice and equality. You see, we can feel joy and enthusiasm that such men and women lived and did extraordinary things. And so, following the suggestion of John Adams, I think we can celebrate the Fourth of July with joy as we look at the past. Now that’s one thing we can do.

And second, we can also celebrate the Fourth of July with hope as we look toward the future. In other words, not only can we feel joy looking at where we’ve been, we can also feel hope as we consider where we’re going. And I think that’s something else Adams wrote in this letter. He said, 

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. – I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. – Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

You see, for Adams, even though the price paid may be great, in the end, it’ll all be worth it. And I’ll tell you, this sounds a lot like what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews had in mind when he said this:

Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won't let go. And we must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. He endured the shame of being nailed to a cross, because he knew later on he would be glad he did. Now he is seated at the right side of God's throne! So keep your mind on Jesus, who put up with many insults from sinners. Then you won't get discouraged and give up. [Hebrews 12:1-3, CEV]

You see, we’re not running this race alone, not as individuals and not as a country. We’re surrounded by a large crowd of witnesses. And even when things seem rough and we feel as though we’re struggling and have lost our way a little bit, we can keep moving forward. We can keep moving forward, because we believe that the world was and the world is and the world will always be in the hands of God. And we can keep moving forward, because we’re confident that “through all the Gloom [we] can see the Rays of ravishing Light” that are illuminating our path. You see, we can keep moving forward, because, if we allow ourselves and our country to continue to grow and mature and not retreat and stagnate, there’s glory just ahead. And I’ll tell you, that’s why I think we can celebrate the Fourth of July with hope as we look toward the future, something else Adams suggested that we do.

Of course, doing this kind of thing won’t be easy. I mean, there are plenty of people who tell us that we should be ashamed of the past and plenty of others that want us to be afraid of the future. But since they don’t control us, let’s make the intentional decision to put these folks over to one side. And then as men and women who were delivered in the past and who are racing into the future, let’s follow the suggestion of John Adams and the examples of the faithful and celebrate the Fourth of July with joy as we look at the past and with hope as we look toward the future. And trust me, this is something we can do whether we’re at home or away. 

Bible Readings for July 2, 2024

Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for July 2, 2024:   Let's read the Bible together in the next year.  Today, our passages are  2 Kings 20:1–22:2; Acts 21:17-36; Psalm 150:1-6; and Prover...

Monday, July 1, 2024

Bible Readings for July 1, 2024

Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for July 1, 2024:   Let's read the Bible together in the next year.  Today, our passages are  2 Kings 18:13–19:37; Acts 21:1-16; Psalm 149:1-9; and Prove...

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Inter-American Human Rights Court delivers long-awaited justice for the people of La Oroya, Peru

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Inter-American Hum... : It’s the first time an international court has held a...