10–16 February 2019. Matthew 26:57–75 (click to read). A friend once told me how when she was back in school she decided to find a new church to attend. One Sunday morning she visited a church nearby, and during the service she noticed that one of her classmates was there, too. After worship her classmate […]
3–9 February 2019. Matthew 23 (click to read). We all know about Jesus’s incredible love, his graciousness, mercy, and gentleness. But in today’s reading we see a very different side of Jesus. We see him truly furious. Matthew 23 is unique in all the gospels, because it’s in this chapter that we hear Jesus’s harshest, […]
27 January – 2 February 2019. Matthew 18 (click to read). One of Jesus’s most difficult teachings is his command to forgive. It isn’t difficult because it’s hard to understand – after all we have all heard this teaching before, we all know that Jesus commands us to forgive others “seventy times seven” times (v. […]
20–26 January 2019. Matthew 13:36–58 (click to read). At the very end of John’s gospel, the disciples sit by the sea with the resurrected Jesus and eat breakfast together. During that meal, Peter quietly approaches Jesus and tries to ask questions about one of the other disciples (21:20–23). But Jesus immediately stops Peter and, in […]
13–19 January 2019. Matthew 10:1–20 (click to read). When new Christians come to the faith and join the church, they are so excited to be part of a new family of sisters and brothers, to be part of a loving and supportive community that follows Jesus’s command of love. While it’s truely great and wonderful […]
6–12 January 2019. Matthew 5:1–20 (click to read). Ever since the ancient days of the Old Testament, followers of God have known that they cannot simply open up scripture and immediately understand the will of God. Scripture needs to be interpreted, and wise teachers are needed for that. In Nehemiah 8:8 we see how Ezra […]
30 December 2018 – 5 January 2019. Hebrews 12:1–13 (click to read). When we look back over the past year we see that there have been good times but also difficult times – times of stress, sadness, and even suffering. Hebrews 12 talks about the way suffering can be used by God the Father to discipline […]
23–29 December 2018. Hebrews 5 (click to read). From the perspective of organized religion, Jesus and Paul – the two greatest people in the New Testament – are both controversial figures. Paul was the greatest theologian of the early church, the one who shaped the beliefs and doctrines of all Christianity and put the church on […]
16–22 December 2018. Ecclesiastes 10 (click to read). The Bible talks a lot about the importance of wisdom. And many of us really do appreciate just how valuable wisdom is. Sometimes we even sit back confidently and think how wisdom has a great power to shape our world and our lives. But sadly, the situation […]
9–15 December 2018. Ecclesiastes 3 (click to read). Sometimes we find ourselves in a moment when everything is just perfect. Our plans have worked out, we have reached that goal we were after, we are together with the person we love, and our lives feel full of hope and peace. When that happens, we just […]