 Sunday, April 1, 2007 |
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Palm Sunday is the
beginning of Christendom's most sacred time, Holy Week,
Good Friday, and Easter. The coming of Jesus to the world
was for the purpose of redeeming or saving humankind from
its estrangement with God because of sin.
Palm Sunday was when Jesus triumphantly rode into
Jerusalem, capital of the Jewish nation, to establish his
kingship and a new era in the relationship of God and
humanity. At the heart of this new relationship is the
belief, through Christ, that life triumphs over death if
we have faith. Jesus paid a terrible price--death on a
cross--to establish this new relationship, but through
his sacrifice and suffering we are set free. Through his
blood we are liberated from the chains of death.
What better time of year than this to recall the lives of
Deamante Driver and Devante Johnson. Perhaps you have not
heard of these two young men. Both were adolescents. Both
displayed tremendous promise in their lives. Both are
dead. Deamante, 13 years old, from Maryland, died because
of a persistent toothache that went untreated and led to
surgery on his brain. Dental coverage was not provided in
the Medicaid insurance he and his family utilized. Had
simple dental coverage been provided, he would still be
alive.
Devante, age 14, died of kidney failure. He went without
healthcare for four months as his mother tried to renew
his Medicaid coverage.
The great tragedy of these two deaths is that as the
politicians debate the extending of health care for the
indigent, poor children are dying. The Children's
Defense Fund, under the leadership of Dr. Marion Wright
Edelman, has aggressively taken on this travesty of
justice and is calling for legislatures to develop
Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIPS) that would
provide medical coverage for all children. We encourage
all Shiloh members to advocate for these initiatives
.Write your elected officials and demand they make
children's health a major priority.
Jesus rode into Jerusalem so that all might have life. We
must not allow the machinations of politicians to deny
life to those least protected in our society, our
children.
Readings for April 8,
2007: Acts
10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26,
John 20:1-18
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OUR PURPOSE
Building the Village by Caring
Concept: Our pastor, the Reverend Wallace Charles Smith, envisions a holistic Ministry of Building by Caring, which includes a 3-tier approach - Care for Ourselves (spiritually), Care for Our Relations (family, friends and members), and Care for Our Community (outreach). In building our capacity to care we will also create an atmosphere that will increase our church's membership, winning more souls to Christ; they will know we are Christians by our love;.
