{"id":2830,"date":"2016-02-19T22:29:20","date_gmt":"2016-02-19T22:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/?p=2830"},"modified":"2016-02-19T22:30:24","modified_gmt":"2016-02-19T22:30:24","slug":"weekly-newsletter-february-19-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/2016\/02\/19\/weekly-newsletter-february-19-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Newsletter: February 19, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disculpa, pero esta entrada est\u00e1 disponible s\u00f3lo en English<\/a>. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.<\/p>

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Verse for today:<\/h1>\n

Romans 8:28<\/span><\/h3>\n
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28\u00a0<\/sup>And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a<\/a>]<\/sup> for those who are called according to his purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

English Standard Version (ESV) \u00a0Footnotes:\u00a0<\/em>Some manuscripts \u00abGod works all things together for good\u00bb, or \u00abGod works in all things for the good\u00bb<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Can we still believe in Romans 8:28?<\/h5>\n
You\u2019ve heard it thousands of times:<\/div>\n
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\u201cDon\u2019t worry; everything will work out just fine.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
All things are not good. It would be mockery to say that they are. The death of a child is not good. Cancer is not good, drug addiction is not good, war is not good, blasphemy is not good.<\/div>\n
It\u2019s the eternal optimism that is borne not in the crucible of reality but in the wishful thinking of dreams, of Hollywood make-believe, or of a naive Pollyanna outlook. We know of countless tragedies and needless suffering, yet we repeat the myth to our children without blinking an eye: \u201cDon\u2019t worry; everything will work out just fine.\u201d<\/div>\n
The overall context of Romans 8:28<\/a> is one in which Paul addresses living by the power of the Spirit in the midst of suffering and pain. Paul was no stranger to suffering; his several near-death experiences, beatings, imprisonments, and persecutions were enough to eradicate any Pollyannaism that might have lurked in his heart.\u00a0In the chemistry of the cross God takes things that, in and of themselves, are bad, and He puts them together, much as a chemist might take chemicals that, in and of themselves, may be deleterious and mixes them to make a medicine that brings healing.<\/div>\n
The focus is not on isolated events in the believer\u2019s life, but on the sum total of all events.<\/div>\n
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Is Paul saying, \u201cWhatever happens is good\u00bb? No.<\/div>\n
Is he saying that suffering and evil and tragedy are good? No.<\/div>\n
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Is he saying everything will work out if we just have enough faith? No.<\/div>\n
Is he saying that we will understand why God allowed tragedy to come? No.<\/div>\n
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God is actively at work in your life!<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What, then, is <\/em>he saying? He is erecting a sign over the unexplainable mysteries of life, a sign that reads, \u201cQuiet. God at work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When I was young, my mother used to bake delicious cakes. Before she made a cake, she would lay out each one of the ingredients on the kitchen counter. One day I decided to try an experiment. One by one I tasted each one of the individual ingredients to a chocolate cake. Think about it. Have you ever tasted baking powder? How about baking soda? The flour was horribly bland and I won\u2019t try to describe the raw egg. Even the \u201csemi-sweet\u201d chocolate tasted terribly bitter compared to the sweet milk chocolate I was used to eating. To sum it up, almost everything that goes into a cake tastes terrible by itself. The striking thing was that when my mother mixed it all together in the right amounts, placed it in the oven, and then laid it out to cool, an amazing metamorphosis took place. The cake was delicious.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Do you see the difference between saying \u201ceach thing by itself is good\u201d and \u201call things work together for good\u201d? Think about it. The difference is tremendous. The verse does not tell me I should say \u201cit is good\u201d if my leg gets broken, or my house burns down, or I am robbed and beaten, or my child dies. But it does say that God will use these events, and weave them together with every other facet of my life in order to produce what He knows to be the very best for me.<\/div>\n
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THIS SUNDAY AT BALBOA UNION CHURCH<\/h1>\n

Worship Service at 10 a.m. \u2013 ALL ARE WELCOME!<\/strong><\/p>\n

SPEAKER: Speaker – Betsy Moran<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday School Teachers: Jillian Monaghan & Shery Hansraj<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
First Testament Readings and\u00a0Psalm<\/td>\nGenesis 15:1-12, 17-18\u00a0, Psalm 27<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Epistle Reading<\/td>\nPhilippians 3:17-4:1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gospel Reading<\/td>\nLuke 13:31-35<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0Prayers Concerns<\/h2>\n

Please Pray for Our Brothers and Sisters from Siria and Iraq<\/p>\n

Lord, please remind the world that we are all brothers and sisters and there should be no violence among us, only love and attempts to understand one another.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We also remember in prayer our former pastor:<\/p>\n