Differences of opinion and practice can wreak havoc on unity if left unchecked. In today’s reading, Paul addresses a community where differences have done just that, leading to condemnation and condescension. Paul argues that differences should not lead to these things, but rather, be an opportunity to welcome the other and witness to the Gospel. Opening Hymn: Great Is Thy Faithfulness Closing…
At the burning bush, God calls Moses to the nearly impossible task of liberating God’s people. Moses responds with a series of excuses that begins with “Who am I to do this?” Moses’ sense of inadequacy is met by God’s reassurance of the divine presence. Opening Hymn: Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven Closing Doxology: Glory Be to the Father
Our conversation continues from last week as we looked at who Jesus is. Not only are we wrestling with who Jesus is, but we are learning to listen to the new ways we are being called to follow him. Opening Hymn: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah Closing Doxology: Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow
Jesus asks us a question we all wrestle with, “who do you say that I am?” When we all begin answering differently, how do we hold these differences with awe and wonder so they can deepen our own relationship with Christ? Opening Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy Closing Doxology: Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow
After a glorious display of courage, Elijah is overcome with despair and flees to a cave. He prays that God would take his life, because he feels that his faithfulness is in vain. God tenderly and compassionately tends to his wounded heart with food, counsel, and a series of intense revelations – fire, wind, earthquake – that concludes with “the sound of…
In fear for their lives on the stormy sea, the disciples are shocked by a strange apparition walking on the waves that claims to be Jesus. Peter seeks to prove the identity of this unexpected visitor by getting out of the boat and walking on the waves to Jesus. For a moment, he is successful, but the sight of the winds proves…
Jacob’s life was characterized by deception and foolhardy ambition and he paid the price for it in having to flee his home out of fear for his life. Twenty years later when he returns, he encounters God in the form of a man who wrestles with him throughout the night. In the end, Jacob’s name (which means “deceiver”) is changed to Israel…
The conclusion of Romans 8 is considered by many Christians to be one of the greatest statements of assurance and comfort offered in the sacred writings. In the midst of a groaning creation riddled with struggles, anxieties, injustice, and fears, the Apostle boldly argues for the absolute triumph of God’s love, concluding that “nothing will be able to separate us from the…
In the middle of one of the most encouraging and inspiring chapters in the Bible, the Apostle Paul writes of a three-fold groaning, a “symphony of sighs” experienced by the world, ourselves, and God. It is in this hopeful groaning in a suffering world that we find ourselves, and it is precisely here where God is at work. Opening Hymn: Morning Has…
Jesus’s favorite method of teaching was telling stories — stories that have the possibility to disarm us, inspire us, and transform us if we are willing to “dig deep” into them. In today’s story, sometimes called “The Parable of the Four Soils,” sometimes called “The Parable of the Sower”, and sometimes called “The Parable of the Hundredfold Harvest”, we learn important truths…