Recently Ivana Trump was interviewed on television.  Ivana is the ex-wife of Donald Trump, one of the wealthiest men in the US of A.
Somewhere along the line the interviewer asked this lady what she had learned in life.  She replied, “I’ve learned that money doesn’t grow on trees.”
When I picked myself up off the floor I couldn’t help but wonder about the priorities of the rich and famous.  Here is a lady who reportedly received some twenty million dollars as a settlement of the divorce proceedings from husband Donald.  Then asked what lesson she has learnt in life the first thing she mentions is the profound (?) statement that money doesn’t grow on trees.  I would have expected to hear that from some husband or wife doing it tough, paying off the house mortgage in suburbia.
For me there are two problems here.

Some years ago Ali and I were concerned that all our “people involvement" was with Christians. That gave us little opportunity to personally reach unbelievers with the gospel. At that time we had reached the age where we were eligible for membership of the National Seniors Association (a sobering reality!) There were some economic benefits to be gained and it would give us contacts with people outside the church. So we joined up and attended our first meeting. Recently I dropped in on a meeting of the local branch of the NSA. As I sat there I was reminded that some of the reasons why one should not attend NSA meetings were remarkably like some of the excuses I’ve heard for not attending church.

Re-discovering

the Lord's Day (1)

Sermon by Rev M P Geluk

on Lord's Day 38 (Q&A 103 Heid Cat)

Exodus 20:8-11

Scripture Readings:

Genesis 2:1-3; Hebrews 4:1-13

Suggested Hymns:

BoW 84; 119a; 171; 160

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me begin this sermon on the fourth commandment with quoting the opening paragraph from a book called "Practising Our Faith", by Dorothy Bass:

"How often people today cry out in desperation or despair, 'I just don't have enough time!' There is so much to do: earn a living, fulfil a vocation, nurture relationships, care for dependants, exercise, and clean the house. Moreover, we hope to maintain sanity while doing all this, and to keep on growing as faithful and loving people at the same time. We are finite, and the demands seem too great, the time too short."