God is love. GOD is LOVE. Posted free of charge!!!

Skip to content Using Gmail with screen readers Enable desktop notifications for Gmail. OK No thanks 4 of 234 Shema's August Newsletter: Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful! Inbox x Congregation Shema Yisrael via mailchimpapp.net Jul 28, 2019, 8:59 AM (1 day ago) to me Visit The Shema Website! Click here. View this email in your browser Share Tweet Forward to Friend SHEMA! (Hear!) Congregation Shema Yisrael Office: 248 593-5150 Email: info@shema.com Website: www.shema.com Mailing Address: P.O. Box 804, Southfield, MI 48037 Sabbath Services: Saturday 10:30 a.m. Bible Study: Thursday 6:30 p.m. Services are held at: Bloomfield Hills Baptist Church 3600 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 Give To Shema! SHEMA! Tamuz/Av 5779 August 2019 TODAH RABAH! THANKS VERY MUCH! The Son of God taught us to have an attitude toward wealth that is the opposite of the world: Blessed (happy, better off, more advantaged) are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. The poor are blessed – not because poverty is so wonderful in and of itself. A person can be poor and wicked and decidedly unblessed! The poor are blessed because they tend to be less satisfied in this corrupt and dying world. Therefore they are more open to seek another world – God’s world, the better world, the lasting world. They are more willing to hear about the true riches that await the rejecters of this world. And those who know the Lord are also blessed if they are poor – if they are poor because they don’t pursue wealth – because they sacrifice time and energy and money for evangelism and to build up Messiah’s community. To those of you who impoverish yourselves to give to the work of Shema, thank you! And may you be blessed and have greater happiness knowing that you are part of God’s eternal kingdom! BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL! Click Here To Listen To The Audio The Lord has blessed Shema with talented artists and musicians, and those with other artistic talents. Good artists and good arts, and the One who made good artists and good arts, are to be celebrated. Good art includes beauty. Beauty is a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, form, design and pattern, that please the senses, especially the sense of sight. From the biggest things to the smallest, from galaxies to atoms, we are surrounded by beauty. Why? God has made everything beautiful – in its time. Ecclesiastes 3. The sun, moon, stars, nebulas and galaxies are beautiful. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19. And Psalm 8: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Sunrises and sunsets with their hues of colors and cloud formations, can be especially beautiful. Psalm 65: He makes the dawn and the sunset shout for joy. Metals like gold and silver, precious and semi-precious stones, rock formations like the Grand Canyon, landscapes and waterscapes, rainbows, water, animals, trees and plants – especially flowers – are beautiful. The Son of God, who made all these things, agrees: See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. People, especially women, can be beautiful. The things people make can be beautiful. The tabernacle was the most important place on Earth. It was the place where God manifested His glorious presence. It was designed to be beautiful. Israel’s best artisans used beautiful materials to make it: gold, silver and bronze metals; beautiful acacia wood; blue, purple and scarlet yarns and fine linen. Parts of it were decorated with beautifully embroidered winged angels. The breastplate the high priest wore was decorated with beautiful stones: carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; jacinth, agate and amethyst; topaz, onyx and jasper. Cities can be beautiful. Psalm 50: From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. There is beauty everywhere around us. Why? Because God Himself is beautiful, and delights in beauty, and made us so that we can enjoy what is beautiful – especially God Himself. Psalm 104: Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment. Psalm 27: One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. John was privileged to see a throne in heaven. The one who sat on it, God the Father, had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. In front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. Just as God is kadosh, kadosh, kadosh – holy, holy, holy, He is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. And the very special city that He made, the city we will live in throughout eternity, the new Jerusalem, is especially beautiful. It shines with the glory of God, and its brilliance is like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. Its walls are made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The 12 foundations of the city walls are decorated with precious stones: jasper, sapphire, agate, emerald, onyx, ruby, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, turquoise, jacinth and amethyst. The 12 gates are made of 12 pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city is made of gold, as pure as transparent glass. The river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flows from the throne of God and of the Messiah down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stands the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Can’t wait to live there! God is beautiful. He makes everything beautiful in its time. We are made in His image with the ability to make beautiful things. However, not all art is beautiful. Not all art is good. Good art conveys truth in a unique way. Good art enriches us intellectually and spiritually. Good art can help us become better human beings. Good art can help us get closer to God. Let’s appreciate the good art of good artists. Let’s thank God for the good art of good artists. And let’s take the time to appreciate the beauty of the Greatest Artist Of All. Let’s take time to look carefully at the landscapes and waterscapes, rainbows, animals, plants, trees and flowers, and the other beautiful things that the Greatest Artist Of All has given us to enjoy. And as we do so, let’s talk to Him and thank Him for being such a great designer and artist. Let’s thank Him for doing such amazing and beautiful and creative work. As we do, we will learn more about Him and get closer to Him. We will grow in our understanding of the truth. We will be enriched intellectually and spiritually. We will become better human beings. Men, one other thing: women are beautiful. Instead of seeing a beautiful woman, and lusting for her, talk to God and tell Him that He does very good work, and thank Him for making beautiful women. Shalom! Rabbi Loren follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend | donate online Copyright © 2019 Congregation Shema Yisrael, All Rights Reserved. Our mailing address is: Congregation Shema Yisrael P.O. Box 804 Southfield, MI 48037 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp