Madison Ave. Church of The Brethren

The Lamplighter

September 2007
vFrom the Pastor’s Desk
Quick quiz for you:
1. What is the 40^th book of the Bible?
2. What’s the only miracle story included in all four Gospels?

3. Can you identify this verse: “Is any among you sick? He should call the elders of the Church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
            So how did you do?  It should have been, and probably was, quite easy for most of you. Unfortunately, for many Christians in our modern day churches, that simple quiz would have been a serious challenge. Though we claim the name of Jesus (Christians), few of us really are students of The Word. We assume we know much of what Jesus said and what is in the Bible, but too often, we don’t really know for sure.
            Our country was founded on religious freedom. Many of the first people who settled here came because they could not worship God and practice their faith freely in their countries of origin. Our Constitution was formed around the principle of freedom of religion (not freedom from religion!). Our founding fathers wanted to be sure that every citizen could freely worship and practice the faith of which they wanted to be a part.

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