Month: March 2019
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Forth Sunday during Lent
Isaiah 12:2–6, Jeremiah 31:31–34, Luke 22:14–20 Isaiah is often not filled with much encouragement. This particular “song”, however, is a pronouncement of the saved telling the unsaved that they can be saved. Isaiah starts out with his salvation, and that his relationship with God is sound. He then tells the wayward hearer that they will…
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Fourth Saturday of Lent
Psalm 104:1–15, John 6:53–58, 1 Corinthians 11:17–11:27 From the Christian perspective, God breathed life into us. We’re not just talking about the lungs, but the spiritual life, too. God is the great sustainer. While there are those whose perspective of God is the Clockwork God (the concept that God started the whole thing and “walked…
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Fourth Friday of Lent
Joshua 22:9–34, 1 Samuel 2:12–17, Psalm 40 What’s for dinner? In other denominations, Fridays in Lent are meat-free. No steak or burgers. No bacon. Oddly, due to the latin root “carno” (i.e., carnivore), fish isn’t a “meat”. So, fish Friday it is. If you’ve ever gone out to dinner on a Friday, there is always…
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Fourth Thursday of Lent
Joshua 4:1–13, Jeremiah 10:11-13 A pile of rocks. What is this supposed to mean, exactly? Thanks for the field trip to the river. It’s a pile of rocks. I can make my own at home. How we connect the past to today is essential to passing forward history. If we make it boring and dry,…
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Fourth Wednesday of Lent
Psalm 78, Judges 17:1–13 “We will not hide [the miracles of the past], but will tell a future generation…” Except what are we telling? This is a very personal question for anyone. There have been generations of self-defined Christians whose entire families have walked away from the faith. It may be because the church is…
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Third Tuesday of Lent
Psalm 84, 1 Chronicles 28:1–29:9 When we speak of legacy, it is usually about what we leave behind. In Shakespeare’s play Julias Caesar, Anthony says, “The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.” That sad truth is that often the bad that people do (even if simple,…
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Out of Line Annunciation
Job 28:12–28, Luke 1:24–45, Hebrews 10:4–10 It is often the case that humanity has to confront reality. Humanity is quite foolish. When confronted by its own folly, humanity tries to hide it in so many ways. While searching for knowledge and wisdom, it analyzes and categorizes. Humanity can only be so knowledgeable and so wise.…
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Third Sunday during Lent
Isaiah 55:1-9, Matthew 6:1-15 When one works with the homeless, one learns that the homeless have an amazing network of information. This network includes which ministry provides food on which day. It can include which ministry provides sundries and clothes. Then there are the ministries that provide free clothes cleaning. They are quick to share…