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Piwong Vibrant Evangelical Church, Hingyon (2026)

12/08/2026

Honoring Our Aging Parents
Proverbs 23:22-25

Some years ago, as our nearly adult daughter was on the verge of “leaving the nest,” I mentioned something about the fifth commandment’s call for children to obey their parents. She looked me in the eye and asked, “Does the Bible really teach that adult children need to obey their parents?”

That was a great question, and I’ve often thought about it since then. On the one hand, she was right: as children grow into adults, the dynamics of obedience to their parents will change. Yet the instruction for children to honor and respect their parents, regardless of their age, remains at the core of the commandment.

In this section of Proverbs we find the helpful advice to “listen to your father”—and this points to the fact that through experience gained from years of life’s ups and downs, our parents may well have significant wisdom to offer us. We also find here a wise reminder not to dismiss or neglect our aging parents. In fact, for many of us today, caring for aging parents can be one of the most challenging seasons of our lives. Yet as God placed our early care into the hands of our parents, he also places the care of our elderly parents into our hands.

May we strive to do our best to love and honor our parents throughout our entire lives, as God calls us to do. ❤️
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Pray

Father, thank you for the gift of parents. Help us to obey them when we are young, and to honor and respect them throughout our lives. Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

11/08/2026

Honor Your Parents
Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1-4

Have you ever noticed that most of the Ten Commandments forbid certain behaviors while only some call for positive action? The fourth commandment, for example, is positive, calling us to keep the Sabbath. And the fifth calls for honoring our parents. What’s more, only the fifth commandment includes a promise.

The people of Israel took this commandment very seriously. Children could be stoned to death for being stubborn and rebellious to their parents (Deuteronomy 21:21).

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul takes this commandment seriously as well, but he frames it positively in the context of life in Christ. While discussing family relationships and how to submit to each other in love, Paul instructs children to obey their parents. He doesn’t call for merely obeying parents’ directions, though; he calls for the deeper duty of honoring and respecting parents as well. When we honor and obey our parents, we honor and obey God and celebrate his gift of this fundamental human relationship in our lives.

Paul notes that parents too have a basic responsibility to their children. Parenting children is an awesome responsibility that includes nurturing love, wisdom, and patience. When children and parents submit to each other in love in the life God has given them, we can expect to see flourishing, peace, and wisdom. ❤️
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Pray

Father in heaven, thank you for the blessings of family life. Help us as parents and children to mirror your love and care. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

10/08/2026

Eternal Rest
Matthew 11:28-30

Often Sunday nights are my least favorite time of the week. Though I enjoy my work, Monday morning means rising early to face a demanding new workweek. At times, however, those feelings of reluctance about the coming week remind me of the promise of the eternal Sabbath.

In the context of our Bible reading for today, Jesus rebukes the Jewish religious leaders for taking a legalistic approach to daily living. They were critical of the way Jesus and his followers observed the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-14), and those leaders thought they had all the answers about following the law and getting right with God.

But it’s impossible for any of us to get right with God by trying to follow the law perfectly, and Jesus knew that. So he invites all who are weary and burdened to come to him, because he alone will give us true rest.

Couched in Jesus’ invitation is his declaration that he is the only Savior. Only he has the power to give his followers rest from sin and from fruitless striving to please God. In short, Jesus himself is our true Sabbath. He promises us peace with God—true, lasting peace —and this is available for us now, wherever we are.

Though it may seem as if we are forever facing challenges, we can count on Jesus to be our forever Sabbath. We can look forward to resting in God’s presence with all of his children eternally. Freed from pain, sorrow, and fear of death, we can worship God and enjoy him forever in Christ. ❤️
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Pray

Lord Jesus, Savior of all who come to you, help us to find our rest in you, now and always. Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

10/08/2026

Keeping the Lord’s Day
John 20:1-10

While I was growing up, there were certain things our family did not do on Sundays. We did not eat at restaurants, go shopping, or work in the yard, among other things. Occasionally we would go swimming on a Sunday, but only after sunset. Over the years, that definition of “keeping the Lord’s Day” has changed for many of our friends and family.

The understanding of keeping the fourth commandment has changed since the people of Israel received it as well. The Israelites strictly and carefully (and often legalistically) observed their Sabbath on the seventh day of the week (Saturday). But after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, the early Christians began to celebrate their Sabbath on the first day of the week (Sunday), calling it “the Lord’s Day” in celebration of Jesus’ rising from the grave.

While observance of this day has varied in different times and places, a core element stands at the center of remembering and celebrating Jesus’ victory over sin and death: worship.

Though we can and should worship God in everything we do, the New Testament emphasizes the importance of meeting weekly as Christ’s body to worship together— praising God, hearing his Word, sharing the sacraments, and fellowshiping with each other. Till Jesus returns, worship will remain at the heart of keeping the Lord’s Day. ❤️
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Pray

Lord Jesus, your resurrection frees us from sin and death and unites us as one body throughout the earth to worship and praise you when we gather together. Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

08/08/2026

Have a Rest
Exodus 20:8-11

On Friday night, after a long, busy workweek, it’s not unusual for me to fall into bed with a sense of relief. I am so ready for a rest!

After creating the heavens and the earth, God gave us the example of taking a rest, and he blessed the seventh day of the week as holy. Does that mean God was exhausted like we can be at the end of a week of work? No, God has infinite power and energy; he doesn’t need rest as we do. God paused because he was finished creating. We are limited and finite in our power and energy, however, so we all need to rest from our work. To help us, God built into the rhythm of our world the gift of a day of physical and spiritual rest.

Does God’s gift of a day of rest mean that we can use this rest for whatever purpose we like? No, at the very heart of taking a day of rest is the deliberate pause to confess that God is our Creator, sustainer, and provider. The fourth commandment reminds us that we depend on God to provide rest for us. However, if we use that day of rest merely for our own delight, we act as if the day belongs to us because we have earned it. When we honor God’s gift of rest as the commandment directs us to, we acknowledge that only in God do we find the rest we truly need.❤️
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Pray

Thank you, God, for the wonderful world you have made. Thank you also for the gift of weekly rest in our busy lives. Help us to trust in you as we honor your gift of rest. Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

07/08/2026

Taking Oaths
Genesis 21:22-31

An oath is a solemn promise or declaration of the truth. In Jesus’ day, it was common for people to offer oaths to add weight to their promises or statements. For example, people would claim to solemnly swear by “heaven,” “earth,” or “Jerusalem.” But depending on how their oaths were worded, they might or might not be binding. For instance, swearing by Jerusalem wasn’t necessarily binding, but swearing toward Jerusalem was binding. Jesus strongly denounced this deceptive approach, saying, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’” (Matthew 5:37).

Does this mean that if you take an oath, calling on God’s name, you would violate the commandment against misusing God’s name? The simple answer is both “yes” and “no.” If you rashly say something like “I swear to God” or “As God is my witness” to a promise or a statement just for the sake of emphasis, that may indeed be a misuse of God’s name—especially if what you are stating is questionable or not even sincere. It’s different, though, with oaths taken in a court of law or in some other weighty situation. In cases like that, an oath can “promote truth and trustworthiness for God’s glory and for our neighbor’s good” (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 101).

In general, we need to take care that we honor God in all that we say, and we especially do so when we speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). ❤️
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Pray

Help us, Lord, to honor you by speaking the truth. And please forgive us when we fall short. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

06/08/2026

Honoring God’s Name
Psalm 148:1-14

In the third commandment, God teaches his people to revere his holy name, warning that they may not treat his name lightly. Over time, the Israelites took this command so seriously that they refrained from even saying God’s name aloud.

As a result, whenever we read the name “LORD” in our English Bibles today, we are reading what the people of Israel said—Adonai, meaning “Lord” —in place of the name that God revealed to Moses: Yahweh, or “I AM WHO I AM.” The word “Lord” (Adonai) fittingly indicates “power,” “authority,” “influence,” and other important attributes of reverence for God’s name, showing respect for God’s ultimate place and authority over the whole universe.

Today, many Christians boldly say aloud God’s name “Jehovah” (a rendition of Yahweh) because the opposite of taking God’s name lightly is to take it too seriously, as ancient Israel did. We need to acknowledge and confess God’s greatness and almighty power by properly expressing and honoring his name. Even better, we may respectfully and devotedly call God “Father,” as Jesus taught by his own example. Calling God “Father” not only acknowledges the Lord’s power and authority but also reveals God’s tender, loving care for us. We are God’s children, reconciled to him and adopted through the work of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. ❤️
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Pray

Father, thank you for making us your children through Jesus, your Son. Help us to live each day in devotion to you and with love for others. Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

05/08/2026

Hallowed Be Your Name
Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 24:10-16

Many years ago I climbed a mountain in Colorado to watch the sun rise. As the sun peeked over the eastern horizon, someone in a nearby group of hikers used a vulgar, profane reference to God to describe the breathtaking beauty of that dawning morning. All of these years later, I still shudder when I recall that exclamation of blasphemy.

We should never misuse God’s name. But what about times when we might use popular expressions that connect with God’s name? Some argue that, like Christmas trees and Easter eggs, those words have lost all connection to their original religious meaning. The point of the third commandment, however, is to treat God’s name as holy—at all times, in all places, and in all situations.

With some humility and self-discipline, we might think it can be fairly easy to keep this commandment. But truly honoring God’s name means more than not saying something inappropriate.

We truly honor God’s name by trusting in his promises and taking his Word seriously, and by representing God and his love faithfully in the ways we interact with others, wherever we are. If we don’t honor God with faithfulness every day in all we do, our attempts to keep the third commandment may be more like holding on to a superstition.

When we seek to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, we will honor his name as well. ❤️
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Pray

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” May we keep your name holy by living faithfully for you, in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

04/08/2026

Graven Images
Exodus 20:4-6

Years ago, while visiting in Kolkata, India, I passed through a narrow alley tightly packed with small workshops. These shops were a beehive of skilled artisans noisily hammering metals, carving wood, and pouring plaster casts to make idols. And after they were colorfully decorated, the figures were worshiped by millions of Hindus in the city.

In the first commandment, God calls his people to worship him alone. In the next commandment, God forbids the making and worshiping of idols or of any representations of himself for worship. God abhors idols, and he warns that people who keep worshiping them will be punished. Seeing idols should fill us with sorrow and compassion for the people who worship them, and this should prompt us to share with them about the one true God and Savior of us all.

Now, if we don’t worship idols crafted by artisans, does that mean we can lightly skip over the second commandment? No—this commandment also deals with how we worship the one true God.

And how do we rightly worship God? Jesus explained that we “must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” This means we are called to worship God by acknowledging him as the Creator of heaven and earth and by following his Son, Jesus. We worship God by gathering to hear and obey his Word. We worship God by loving and serving people who are made in his image—that is, everyone. ❤️
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Pray

Father, may all who worship idols turn to you in their spiritual longing. Teach us all to worship you “in the Spirit and in truth.” Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

03/08/2026

Worshiping God Alone
Exodus 20:1-3; 1 Chronicles 16:25-30

Some years ago in Cairo, Egypt, I saw an image of Ra, the Egyptian sun god. Ra is portrayed as a colorful, striking figure with a falcon’s head and a sun disk perched above him. Ra was worshiped as the most important and powerful of the gods of ancient Egypt. But he wasn’t the only one; the Egyptians worshiped over 2,000 gods and goddesses.

Gathered at Mount Sinai after more than 400 years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites were familiar with Ra and other Egyptian gods. So it’s no surprise that in the first of the commandments God gave them, he said, “You shall have no other gods before me.”

The God who had brought Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12- 14), who provided for their every need and made promises to them, also called his people to give him their sole allegiance. As the one true God, the Lord who made the heavens and the earth called Israel to worship him as their only God. He commanded them to worship him alone, trust only in him, look to him for every good thing, and humbly and patiently love him, fear him, and honor him with all of their heart, soul, and mind.

I saw Ra, the old sun god of Egypt, in a museum display of dusty, ancient history. Ra was just a figment of the Egyptians’ imagination. But the one true God, who is still with us today, is as living and active as ever, and he commands us to love and serve only him, with our whole being, as Jesus did. ❤️
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Pray

Father God, you made us to worship you alone. Keep our hearts focused on you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Words for meditation from the Bible
By: Kurt Selles

Piwong Vibrant Evangelical Church

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