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Monday after Easter
John 1:19–23, Acts 2:22–32 Not it! That what John says, at least. Yet, his behavior causes people to call into question what his purpose is. If we look at this part of John’s story through the lens of today’s media and internet world, someone saying, “not it,” is not quite what is expected. Many people,
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Resurrecting Perspective
Matthew 28:1–8, 1 Corinthians 15:12–23 HE IS RISEN! “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in
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Sacred Mourning
Psalm 25, Lamentations 3:22–27, Matthew 27:62–66 Are your clothes in 1 piece? One of the traditional Jewish responses of extreme grief or anguish is the tearing of their clothes. Yesterday was Good Friday. Jesus died on the cross. Are your clothes torn? While they were able to put Jesus’ body in the tomb in time,
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Surrender the Pain
Isaiah 52:13-53:11, Luke 22:39–23:56 You might wear a cross. You might have one on a wall in your home. You probably have one on your bible. Today the cross has lost much of its brutality and disgrace. Movies like the “Passion of the Christ” attempt to convey the brutality, but it is so very hard
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Maundy Thursday
Psalm 116, Psalm 117, Mark 14:12–52, Ephesians 5:15–21 Many churches observe Maundy Thursday through a communal recreation of the Last Supper (or the First Communion). It is an especially poignant time to do it, as the shadow of Good Friday sits right there…waiting. John 13–18:27 is a much longer version of Maundy Thursday, and well
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Whys of Betrayal
Psalm 55, 2 Samuel 16:15–17:10, John 13:21-32 Betrayal. It’s not that we expect our enemies or adversaries to “play” fair, but our friends? Co-workers? Family? It’s hard. It hurts. We often feel absolutely powerless in the midst of it. Then we feel angry. All very human. The psalmist (probably not David, but maybe) goes through
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Holy Tuesday
Psalm 89:19–37, Isaiah 52:13–53:3, John 12:20-43 Imagine all the rumors you were hearing about Jesus, who had dared to ride into Jerusalem as a king. There were Greeks that were ever looking for Jesus. For some that just proved Jesus was not really the Messiah or a righteous man. To others, it added something else
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Holy Monday
Ecclesiastes 8:8–15, Psalm 51, Mark 11:12–18 When the writer of Ecclesiastes notes that no one has authority over the wind, he had no concept of the wind power generation farms we have. We may have harnessed the wind to provide power for us, but we have no authority over it. We put the wind farms
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Palm Sunday
Psalm 24, Zechariah 9:9-17, Mark 11:1-11 When it comes to the words victory and triumph, the cultural baggage that we bring along (specifically, US Americans) is more on the battle end of things. Whether it was a rugged political “fight”, the athleticism of sports, or the blood and sacrifice of our military, there is a
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Bringing Gifts
Matthew 2:1–12, John 12:1–11 The Magi’s visiting Jesus presented 3 gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh. Often they are respectively tied to Jesus’ roles as king, prophet/priest, sacrifice/savior. How accurate that is may be questioned. That they were costly and significant gifts is not questionable. Gold is gold. We all have a pretty good idea about it.