Renew Covenant Church Sermons: Recent Episodes
RC2 Lynnwood
Renew is a multethnic church located in Lynnwood, WA. We are laid-back, community-oriented, and relationally-driven. We are excited about living authentic lives that embody love, mercy, and hope in ways that are meaningful to our neighbors. We are a community that values diversity and desire to be multi-ethnic and inter-generational while encouraging the diversity of backgrounds within our leadership.
We live in a youthfulness and ability-centric culture where our seniors are regularly marginalized. In a healthy formation journey we honor our elders and sit at their feet for wisdom.
Peter Walks on Water. When he looks down out of fear and looking for certainty, he sinks.
—the divine rhythm of abiding in Christ and undergoing pruning, where seasons of struggle and surrender cycle into seasons of fruitfulness. Instead of chasing linear achievement, we are invited by Ecclesiastes to embrace the seasons of life, trusting that God is in control and that every breath is a gift to be enjoyed.
Western culture champions individual autonomy, but Genesis reveals God created humanity for interdependence, not isolation. As a relational Trinity, God designed us to be interconnected image-bearers.
On this Easter morning, we are invited to consider two very different ways of approaching the Resurrection. One is a race for control — a grasping for certainty, authority, and external proofs. The other is a journey of love — a movement toward relationship, presence, and intimacy with the living Christ.
Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan Women at the Well. More than physical thirst, Jesus offers the woman Spiritual water to quench her soul. Spirit and Truth comes in the desert.
Jesus has a conversation with Nicodemus about being born again in order to see the Kingdom of God. This passage also gives us a verse which has been an anchor for many people’s faith. However, beyond being born of the Spirit to someday enter heaven, what does this passage teach us about living a life with Jesus?
—is a reminder that his presence and touch provide peace during overwhelming or destabilizing times.
Psalm 133 uplifts he goodness, beauty, and blessing of godly unity among believers. What does this mean for our church community today?
Psalm 126 explores the movement from past deliverance to present struggle and future hope.
The Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134) are a collection of 15 psalms used by Jewish pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem for annual feasts, symbolizing a spiritual journey from hardship to God's presence in Zion, characterized by themes of God's protection, grace, and presence. We begin the pilgrimage with a look at Psalm 121
Psalm 98 is one of six Enthronement Psalms (Psalms 93, 95-99) that celebrate Yahweh’s universal sovereignty and eternal kingship. These Psalms depict God as a just and powerful ruler over creation, calling people to worship and highlighting themes of salvation, later reinterpreted in Christianity as Christ’s ultimate reign. Scholars have also linked the Enthronement Psalms to ancient New Year festivals, during which the community would ritually acclaim divine kingship and renew hopes for cosmic order and blessing in the coming year. In the New Year let’s sing out a new song orienting our lives around the kingship of God!
The people of Malta warmly welcomed Paul and his companions, offering fire, food, and shelter. Paul's healing of Publius affirmed their kindness and opened doors for ministry, showing how hospitality reveals God's character.Hospitality is a reciprocal and relational reality. We need to learn not only to give it, but to receive it. In receiving hospitality we contribute to vulnerable and safe space making.
God prepares a feast for all people, breaking barriers and inviting everyone to His table. This sets the foundation for our call to extend hospitality.Application: Reflect on how we can create spaces of abundance and inclusion in our homes, churches, and communities.
Jesus shifts the crowd’s focus from physical bread to Himself as the true, life-giving sustenance. God is not just a provider of temporary needs, but the giver of eternal life through Christ—the “bread from heaven” who satisfies the soul’s deepest hunger.
This week we will wrap our study of Matthew . As we walk as disciples with Jesus, we will need to ask: do our preconceived and culturally influenced notions of “how to live” fit with Christ’s teachings? Do our previously held expectations and traditions come with us as we follow? As we wrap up this series, we will be sure we are focusing on going where He leads, not what the world attempts to demand.
In Matthew 8:14-16, Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law by touching her hand, which causes her fever to leave her and she begins to serve them. This miracle demonstrates Jesus' power and compassion.
The Roman centurion demonstrates extraordinary faith by believing Jesus can heal his servant from a distance, without needing to physically visit. His humility is exemplary: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” He recognizes Jesus’ divine authority, likening it to his own command over soldiers: when he gives orders, they are obeyed.
Matthew 7:24-29New International Version24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Jesus presents a stark choice between two ways: the wide path and the narrow path. One leads to destruction and the other to life. The narrow path reflects the way of discipleship, marked by inward transformation and obedience.
Jesus delivers a strong warning against judgment and hypocrisy. He commands, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged," urging us to approach others with humility rather than condemnation, challenging us to engage in honest self-reflection before correcting others.
Jesus teaches about trusting God instead of worrying. He urges His followers not to be anxious about their basic needs—food, drink, and clothing—because God, who cares for the birds and flowers, will surely provide for His people as well.
Jesus continues to press into the “heart” of matters–that faith begins from the inside out. Jesus warns against performing righteous acts for public recognition and instead encourages sincere, private generosity that seeks God's approval rather than human praise.
Jesus' teachings in Matthew 5:38-48 are a powerful example of subversive non-violence. In this passage, Jesus challenges the traditional "eye for an eye" principle and instead calls for radical love, non-retaliation, and enemy love. He instructs his followers to turn the other cheek, give more than what is demanded, and go the extra mile—all actions that disrupt cycles of violence without resorting to aggression
Renew’s founding verses are embedded in this passage. What does it mean to live into the Good News of these words pointing forward to Jesus’ ministry? We are growing deeper roots as ambassadors of reconciliation and participants in God’s renewing of all things.
John 17:13-21 NRSV3 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.20 “I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Christ is Risen. And Jesus is real! Jesus reveals himself to his disciples, showing them his hands and feet. Though they continue to doubt, Jesus asks for something to eat and shares a meal with them. He then charges them to be his witnesses. What has Jesus done in your life? When do you doubt this? Continue to share the Good News of What Jesus is doing!
We are excited to welcome Lenore Three Stars as our guest speaker at Renew. Lenore speaks, rights, and teaches from a Native perspective on decolonizing theology and racial reconciliation.
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
As we begin the season of Lent, we are invited to follow Jesus’ example of being led by the Spirit into spaces that invite challenging choices and a clear dependence on God.
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Two major themes we have explored in the Sermon on the Moun so far: 1. the essential character of Jesus' disciples as described by the Beatitudes and 2. their purpose to be the salt and light of the world. Jesus pivots to a discussion of the Law and the Prophets to address concerns about traditional teachings by the Pharisees and other religious leaders, who have turned the Scriptures into strict codes for personal gain. Jesus clarifies that He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, bringing true illumination through His presence. Christ himself animates the Scriptures, our faith, and the Church's worship and ministry, and cannot be separated from the Law and Prophets.
Paul writes while in prison in Rome. He calls the Philippians to rejoice in all circumstances. What does it look like to rejoice even in pain and suffering? What is the relationship between Joy and suffering? As we journey in this Advent season, we recognize that all is not shiny lights and happiness in this season. We recognize that for many, Christmas time is a sad time. We also recognize that our world is hurting and groaning. What does it look like for the community of faith to be of one mind and spirit and to Rejoice at all times?
The gift of Jesus fills the empty spaces of our soul with joy, good news, and praise. This abundant grace overflows and spills out to other in contagious praise.
19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
As citizens of an upside down Kingdom our witness lies in our peace-keeping, love, and good deeds that run counter to values of empire. To give a defense for the “hope you have” is less about apologetics and more about how we live our lives.
Sending out of the 72 into the towns was not explicitly only to the “house of Israel” here in Luke. Jessica Hsieh and Pastor Dave Sim will offer both their takes on the passage as it relates to Renew being sent into our everyday lives/work to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.”
We live out our Kingdom citizenship, however, “in the world” We’re not supposed to huddle safely within the confines of the church. Let us de-center the “church” as the only place we do the “sacred.” How do we live our faith outside the walls of the church, in our places of work?
Christ is our Shalom! We in the church are called to be ambassadors of reconciliation and carriers of Shalom. With our citizenship in the KoG we are centered on the policies of Jesus, and work from there to pursue reconciliation, renewal, and love in the world.
From the start, John's Gospel declares Jesus as King through Nathanael's words: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:49). Throughout the Gospel, Jesus is shown as an unconventional king—one who speaks to the lowly, serves rather than being served, and remains humble. His unique kingdom is not of this world, prompting reflection on its significance for us today. Pilate’s question, "Are you the King of the Jews?" is answered through Jesus’ demonstration of kingship, authority, and reign on the Cross. We approach Advent and the close of the liturgical year reflecting on the implications of this.
Jeremiah 33:14-1614 “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.15 “‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.This is the name by which it[a] will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
We begin a series on the Sermon on the Mount with the question: is Jesus’ ethical teaching still relevant and pragmatic for us today?
Embodying Kingdom Values in our everyday lives. Shalom, a Hebrew word for “peace,” means wholeness and well-being in all areas of life–individual, communal, and societal. Human flourishing involves fulfilling God’s purposes, nurturing relationships with God and others, living an integrated life, and fulfilling our vocations. We are called to pursue justice, reconciliation, and holistic well-being for all creation. Non-Profit/Education Panel(Steven Li, Anna, Jenn Chong Jewell )
We look at the 1st 4 Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-6. The Poor in Spirit; those who mourn; those who are meek; those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. There is a quality of lack or an awareness of lack in this group of people.
Matthew 25:14-30English Standard Version14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Beatitudes 5-7. We will look at being merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers--These can be seen as “fruitful” outpouring of the first 4 beatitudes.
Though the Spirit had been moving hte early church towards being a more Gentile-inclusive community, Paul confronts Peter for being a hypocrite and ghosting the Gentiles after a delegation from Jerusalem show up on the scene. Christ-centered unity is more than just getting along, and it’s a difficult sustained journey of conviction. There will be push back. There will be loss of reputation and status. Faithful reconciliation involves conflict and truth-telling, with a spoonful of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus raises a widows son from the dead. From a terminal situation, Jesus’ heart goes out to a devastated mother and demonstrates that He is the Lord of the Resurrection.
In the center of Mark, Jesus touches a blind man who initially cannot see clearly but then can. The disciples earlier do not ‘see’ the meaning behind the loaves and the fish. Following the healing of the blind man, they see clearly that Jesus is the Messiah. What in our lives keeps us from seeing.
Unity isn’t about being the same or conforming to one culture. People can have different political views, dress differently, and eat different foods, yet still be unified. A strong mission, vision, and purpose can bring people together. True unity centers on the Gospel/Christ, True unity has love at its core. True unity recognizes and honors differences.
In chapters 8 and 9 JEsus goe on a whirlwind tour of healing. In Matthew 9:37-38 Jesus sees the many people seeking healing and has compassion on them “for they were like a sheep without a shepherd.” Then he looks to his disciples and points their attention to the harvest before them saying: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” We are invited to participate in Christ’s healing work in the world. When the need seems overwhelming and immense–Jesus tells us to prayer for more people to help out.
We are given a few episodes of Jesus very willing to cross the boundaries and propriety to heal people very intimately and with authority. As the prophet Isaiah wrote: Jesus takes ups our infirmities and heals our disease.”. He’s willing able and chases us down and holds us in our uncleanness.
Jesus heals a man who had been ill for 38 years at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. Unable to reach the healing waters, the man explains his situation to Jesus. Jesus tells him, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.” The man obeys and is immediately healed. What is the interplay between faith, grace, and effort in this healing? What does it look like for us to pick up our mats and walk when we haven't been able to before? What does it mean to "want to be healed?"
To preach Jesus is to preach healing.Only Luke records the healing of Malchus’ (ref. John) ear. In a situation where violence could rule the day and evil would “have its hour” Jesus would perform a miraculous healing and restoration on a rather seemingly insignificant body part. But this ‘little’ healing truly highlights the contrast of Kingdoms. Jesus in his incarceration chooses non-violence and even loving touch, when vengeance could easily have won the day. This is who we proclaim and worship!
“People of color have endured traumatic histories and almost daily assaults on their dignity.” The answer is not in “just getting over it,” or to simply “pray more,” and definitely not in denial or venting in anger/violence. We collectively need to recognize and acknowledge racial trauma and pursue active healing corporately. In fact, all of us, people of color and white people carry the history of racial trauma in our bodies, and it is literally passed on through our DNA through generations, cit. Resmaa Menakem “My Grandmother’s Hands”
We are paralyzed by body comparisons, self-loathing, discomfort in our own skin, etc. Some of us have wrestled with eating disorders or attempts to make artificial changes to our appearance. Especially in this age of social media we are comparing ourselves to altered-cyber selves. Filters, photoshop, and extreme models all skew our perception of beauty. But we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are beautiful. The church is called to be prophetically counter-culture for the healing and renewal of humanity.
We pause here to collect ourselves, recenter, and consider what it means to live lives in pursuit of health and transformation. Self-love: embrace yourself and who god has made you to be. Continue to pursue healing from pain/brokenness from the past; knowing your limitations and boundaries; spiritual rhythms: sabbath and rest; develop skills for loving others well.
There is deep hurt, wounding, and trauma that each of us have experienced in our lifetime. Physical and or Sexual abuse, the death of a loved one, the death of a significant relationship. Physical trauma and harm. Crisis and disaster. What does it mean to healthily go “through” trauma and forward into renewal and redemption. Deliverance “through” vs. “From”
We continue in our Healing series and address our families of origin and how family patterns can continue generationally and create hindrances to love in our lives today. God in his infinite Grace and Mercy can heal us and redeem these "family curses" for his glory and purposes.
We begin a series on inner healing and transformation. The God of peace is constantly at work to make us more whole in spirit, soul, and body–he will faithfully bring our healing and wholeness to completion. What is our part? Are we willing to roll up our sleeves and open ourselves up to this process?
Before his ascension, Jesus tells his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, then they will receive power from the HS and will be His witnesses to the world. The Holy Spirit is essential to the empowerment of the disciples for the mission. At the same time Jesus words teach them the importance of waiting for God’s promises.
This passage highlights the inclusion of Gentiles into the Christian faith and the recognition that the Holy Spirit’s work transcends cultural boundaries. It emphasizes unity and acceptance within the early Christian community.
Philip and the man from Ethiopia. In the post resurrection life, we are led and discipled by the Spirit who takes us off the beaten path
God doesn't "protect" us in the sense of shielding us from pain, nor grief, nor doubt. But when our journey includes those things, God our protector is right beside us and won't let us get lost.
Resurrection Sunday, Epilogue Part 2Wondering is the first step toward understanding, but we are invited to not sit in our confusion forever. We are invited to see Jesus’ presence in our lives, relying on Him to inform our understanding of the Scriptures and inspire us to share the Good News.
Resurrection Sunday, Epilogue Part 1When Jesus’ loved ones found the tomb empty, they were “perplexed” with what must be going on. Often in life we expect to be able to have access to all the answers, immediately, when in reality we are invited into a holy place of humility and wonder
We often become paralyzed by our worries, fears, and doubts. The are obstacles on the journey that seem insurmountable, that cause us to fret. The women going to Jesus’ tomb worry about the large stone that will have to be rolled away. In our tunnel vision we don’t see the amazing good news God has been
Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9’s prophecy. His “royal” entry is contra the Roman empire and the scene is set for a confrontation. The crowd’s enthusiastic response reflects hope in Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. However, Holy Week events lead to Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion. We examine the complexity of victory and suffering, and our choices in the midst of this. This passage invites us to reflect on our own responses to Jesus—faithful commitment or doubt
Pastor Eunice Do visits Renew with her word on "God with Us" during our "Names of God" series.
This is the episode before the Last Supper. We have another meal here that is disrupted by a woman who lavishly annoints Jesus with oil. Everyone is appalled, but Jesus praises the woman’s faith. Might we be disrupted by the scandalous and unconventional.
God is generous and compassionate towards His people, even when they are unfaithful and rebellious. God does not give up on them, but sends them many messengers and opportunities to repent and return to Him. God’s grace is not limited by human boundaries or expectations, but extends to all who are willing to accept it. On the flip side, the parable also challenges us to examine our own role and response to God’s grace. We are called to be stewards of God’s creation, to care for the vineyard and to share its fruits with others. We are also accountable for our actions and choices, and we will face the consequences of rejecting or abusing God’s gifts. We cannot claim to be God’s people if we do not live according to God’s will. There is a contextually specific challenge to the religious leaders as they are the tenants and Jesus is the Son/cornerstone.
Jesus has a discourse with a rich young ruler. The takeaway in the context of Mark 10 is that the path to eternal life comes via having a child-like wonder and dependance on Christ. What are the “riches” we hold onto that serve as buffers against a deeper journey with Jesus?
Where Jesus’ identity is declared with words in the previous chapter, now Jesus is revealed visually in illuminated Glory through the transfiguration. We are given a visual expression of God’s delight in His Son, and the disciples too are to delight and stand in awe of Jesus. Sometimes, we don’t explain with words or try to understand completely the Glory of Jesus Christ. The disciples stand on holy ground and are given the gift of a very intimate encounter with God.
The center of Mark is Jesus’ question “Who do you say I am” and Peter’s response “you are the Messiah” What is JEsus’ identity. But also, what does this mean? The disciples are caught up to what Mark has already told the reader: Jesus is the Messiah. But then Jesus continues relaying that the Messiah must suffer, die, and rise–which further highlights the disciples’ ignorance around the way of the Messiah. Jesus stands with the outcast and the marginalized and will die as one.
“Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” It’s not external objects or people that are evil, but that which comes from inside us. Humans can objectify other humans–we judge others based on the outside and the labels we give them. Jesus calls us to be relational and move past superficial excuses.
Jesus performs a miracle of feeding a multitude. We hone in on Jesus’ compassion and desire to meet the needs of his ‘sheep.’ We also consider the “abundance” of the Kingdom–is there always enough?
Jesus ministers in his hometown and experiences a wall of faithlessness. He is ‘unable’ to do more miracles there. Jesus sends the disciples on their own itinerant missions and prepares them for possible rejection among other things.
Simeon, a man filled with the Spirit, had been waiting for the consolation of Israel. Finally, he meets the Messiah and is released from his ‘waiting.’ He prophesies over the new family, pointing to how Jesus will confront power and pierce the hearts of many. May the Spirit pierce our hearts in 2024 and bring forth ‘new things’
Paul declares that Christ is our Peace who breaks down the walls of hostility, bring those who are far in community with those who are near. We (the church) are being built up together as Christ’s household of peace, a witness to the world.
The Magnificat, or Mary’s Song, is one of four Psalm like songs in Luke 1-2 surrounding the birth narrative of Jesus. Magnificat = my soul magnifies the lord. This is a song of reversals and joy, praising God for His timely deliverance. Let us sing a song of joy remembering what God has done for us.
Peter warns us against following false teachers down a path that neglects the call to live in the fullness of the knowledge of God. Through God’s promises, we have been invited to participate in His divine nature! He consistently models for us patience and love for all mankind. As we “intentionally wait” for his return, we are called to set aside selfish desires and live a life that, like God, is marked by patience with and a deep love for others.
The Prophet writes that God “works for those who wait for him.” In a culture of increasingly low attention span and impatience for the “good things that come for those who wait,” intentional waiting (“Hope”) is difficult. We display fidelity and faith when we trust that in time God will shape us into who we really need to be.
jesus frees a man afflicted by a legion of demons, and in his freedom he shares his testimony throughout the Decapolis. Evil is real and hurts real people. What does "Legion" look like for us today, for our society, for the people around us? What are the shackles that bind us?
Jesus tells a parable of a sower spreading seed on different ‘soils,’ and later explains the parable in more depth to the disciples. The soil represents the hearer’s receptivity to the Word of God. Good soil produces an abundance of fruit. What does this mean? What kind of soil do you have? Why does Jesus tell parables? What is the secret of the Kingdom? Openness and receptivity and a willingness to learn seems to be a part of it.
Jesus does not fit into the social expectations surrounding him, but he rather disrupts them and then redefines what it means to have identity and be family in the spirit-filled Kingdom life. The world is messed up and Satan’s behind it, but Jesus flips the script on it all offering everyone new identity and new possibility in his family structure.
From v13 to the end of the chapter Mark gives us 3 episodes which demonstrate that the Jesus way disrupts the religious status quo. Whether it’s 1. eating with sinners; 2. feasting, not fasting; or 3. breaking Sabbath Law, Jesus does things differently, but this is not simply to deconstruct the establishment but he acts in order to bring life into spaces and structures that are not life-giving and help human flourishing.
Jesus as the Word is the ultimate lossless coming together of ‘word’ and ‘action’The leaders challenge his authority once again on the ‘forgiveness of sins’ but JEsus backs it up with action.
The first ministry Jesus and his newly appointed disciples encounter is a demon-possessed person. What’s with demons and healing in Mark? Jesus is Savior, and it is the nature of the Savior to go to places where evil has taken over, where the shadow of darkness is sucking life and spirit out of people. Jesus not only proclaims Good News, but He carries the Authority and power to bring life to places of death.
As John is “handed over” for death, the transition now is to Jesus and his ministry: the proclamation of the Good News of the Kingdom, which is near/has come. Mark highlights the urgency of the call of the Kingdom as Jesus calls his first disciples. In what ways do we recognize the urgency of Jesus’ call in our lives? What will we drop to follow him?
John prepares the way for Jesus, who now enters the scene in Mark. Who is this Jesus? Baptized and honored Son of God. He now comes to proclaim the Good News. What is the good news?
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Entrenched in a patriarchal society and married to the "Alpha Man," Vashti risks privilege and position and even her life to stand up to power and say "no" to sexual objectification and abuse by her husband. Her refusal upsets the fragility of the male ego which threatens the entire power structure of the Kingdom. We don't know what happens to Vashti, but we point to a hero who does not get the attention deserved in traditional Biblical interpretations. This is actually a common strand in the witness of Scripture--that women in the margins are uplifted in God's narrative to central figures contra the hierarchies of power.
Genesis 11:1-9
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Jesus is not white. Decolonizing how White Supremacy has determined what is sacred and what is profane. Who is righteous and who is pagan What is beautiful and what is deformed. I have grown up with a layer of whiteness on top of my Bible on top of my spaces of worship.
One of the modernist, Western lenses by which Scripture has been interpreted in the American Church is that of radical individualism. The word “Oori” in Korean means “we,” and is used more often within a collectivist/group mindset. We should consider that many of the cultures from within which the Scriptures were written were more collectivist than they are individualist. What does this mean for our reading of Scripture and our living out as the church?
6 One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.
How very, very challenging it is in this society to live a life that isn’t influenced heavily by direct competition with one another and the need to “get ahead” of our neighbor. That is what we will be exploring this Sunday as we take a good look at Ecclesiastes 4: 1-16.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
In Acts 10, Peter has a vision from God that leads him to realize that Gentiles can also receive salvation through Jesus Christ. A Roman centurion named Cornelius has a similar vision and sends for Peter to come to him. Peter goes to Cornelius' house and preaches the Gospel to him and his household, and they all receive the Holy Spirit. This event marks a significant turning point in the early Christian church, as it shows that the message of salvation is not just for Jews, but for all people.
Paul in Athens finds common ground with the Athenians to take opportunity to preach the Gospel. To be relevant means to engage the marketplace in daily life with the Gospel.
God will gather all things up and make the old new again. This is the Christian hope, but it is also a gift we experience now in part. God redeems what we thought was beyond the human capacity for hope–the old, lifeless, abandoned, destroyed, maimed, broken things. We participate in this work of restoration in the world. We are restored along the way.
Because of Christ’s resurrection, we have been raised with him into new life. This new life is one where we are 1. Reconciled with God and grafted into God’s new family and 2. Reconciled with one another as Brothers and Sisters being built up as one church.
Christ is Risen! What does this mean for the disciples as Jesus appears before them and ‘touches’ them. He breathes the Spirit on them. He allows Thomas to touch him as Thomas is doubting. The renewed life is the spirit-led life moving out of the truth of Living, embodied Christ. We are carriers of Grace and Love to those we touch.
Jesus enters Jerusalem during the Passover–which was a tense time as it marked Israel’s deliverance from an occupier. Contextually Rome is the now the occupier. The triumphal entry and Temple demonstration should involves Jesus “initiating conflict during a stressful period with revolutionary associations.” Of all the rulers of the world, we pay homage to the Humble King who rides in on a Donkey.
There are 3 phases of Renewal in this passage. * Bones come together, flesh appears. Still no breath. (alive but no transformative power)Breath of life comes into dead bodies and they come to life and stand up (new life in Christ)”Our hope is perished. we are finished.” God makes his promise to plant them on fertile land. (purpose)Perhaps we can see these 3 stages as Jesus’ 3 days in the tomb before resurrection.
How to live in the difficult "already-not-yet" tension of the present: by faith standing in God’s grace and peace, through hope bearing up under whatever life throws at us, and in humble confidence boasting in God alone.
Abram is called into a journey he was actually already on with his family. But this time God is inviting him into a partnership as an active participant of that journey. God’s desiret from the start of Genesis is a thriving and diverse creation and humanity. Human sin consistently worked to undermine this, so God would call Abram all the families of the earth would be blessed.
The temptation of Jesus Christ demonstrates that Christ is a trustworthy, Spirit-filled Chosen one who faithfully chooses the way of the Kingdom even in the height of suffering. During lent we are reminded of the narrow path of faith, and are challenged to choose the path of faith over the way of evil.
Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the Psalter. It is a wisdom psalm that is an acrostic, with each stanza beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The pe stanza that we are looking at is themed around God’s Word. It is a light or guide for life. On our own strength we can’t have faith in God, follow/know God’s Word, or overcome Sin. We need God’s light, God’s blessing to guide us on the narrow path. Life of Discipleship.
Numbers 6:22-2722 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:24 “‘“The Lord bless you and keep you;25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Jesus prays to the Father about how his disciples, though not OF the world, are being sent into the world. While there are places in scripture that caution us to be aware of the darkness around us, we cannot spend our days fearful and hiding, surrounding ourselves with only those who are like minded. We are sent to reflect God’s light and to serve as ambassadors, sharing the good news of reconciliation. This requires us to understand the culture and customs around us, even as citizens of God’s Kingdom.
Many in the crowds still refused to follow Jesus, wanting more miracles and signs from him. Jesus turns everything inside out saying light comes from the inside out. This is a different use of the light metaphor from last week–where we shine our light outward so others will see. Here, the light is our “eye” that fills our insides with light.
As followers of Jesus and as his community of faith, we should be flavorful and stand out by our deeds and the way we live. But standing out and allowing people to see our good deeds isn’t for pointing to ourselves but so that people “praise [our] Father who is in heaven” Be shining lights for the Glory of God.
The Prophet reminds God’s people to recount the saving work of YHWH. Remembering is an act of worship which catalyzes a healthy move forward. When we forget we fall into pitfalls. As we consider the New Year let us stake stock of what God has done for us.
Joseph described as faithful to the Law, and we see that he is one who is reflective and kind. In normal circumstances Social norms would dictate an annulment and a worse fate for Mary. But it is the Angel’s words and the unconventional moving of the holy spirit that guides Joseph’s actions. Sexual intercourse no longer becomes the definition of this strange new family.
John is wondering if Jesus is that messiah, sending his disciples to question Jesus: are you the one? Jesus speaks of his mission in one of the clearest statements in the gospels about it: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them”
Matthew introduces John the Baptist, who is the one to prepare the way for Jesus. John is introduced as a prophetic figure in the vein of Elijah or Isaiah who called God’s people into Repentance. John’s is a harsh word, but in repentance and fire there is the Good News of fruit.
In Isaiah 2, the prophet provides a telescopic vision of restoration in the immediate for historical Jerusalem, as well as an eschatological hope for the renewal of God’s people in ‘end times.’ Everything is gonna change. What does this mean for us?
Our passage uses words like word; instruction; commandments; rules as references to God’s Laws. We may read into these words connotations of restriction, constraint, or legalism. But the psalmist sings of wanting to be opened up to the “wonders” of God’s Instruction,” and of “longing” for his rules. What does it look like to wonder at God’s Law? As if they were alive and full of profound mystery?
In the extraordinary moments in life, do we stand in wonder at the unimaginable deeds of God, or are we stuck in our own centrism and drama? Don’t be afraid to brag about the works of God!!!
“Who is like you among the gods, LORD? Who is like you, foremost in holiness, worthy of highest praise, doing awesome deeds?” This from Moses’ song after the crossing of the sea. There is none like our God! Let’s shout it!
As this passage shows, true believers' unity can provide a powerful and appealing witness to the world. It reveals the redeeming and reconciling power of Jesus. It shows that relationships can withstand the disappointments and pains of daily life. Unity also enables the body of believers to resist the pressures of the world, to care for those in need, and to take the gospel to the whole world. Living with humility, gentleness, and patience is hard… but why?
“Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” What does it mean to carry one another’s burdens? And how does this relate to restoring another from sin gently (v1) or being sure to carry your own load without comparing oneself to others (v4-5). Compassion (not competition) is a key component of carrying one another.
As the church we are God’s choice, holy and loved. Paul exhorts us to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. A specific expression of these characteristics is through forgiving one another. This is how we love and continue to work towards unity.
In a culture where people are more prone to listen to music on their own with airpods on, it is rare to hear people sing aloud together or recite something together unless alcohol is involved or there is some sort of strange cultic practice involved. And yet, when we gather we sing and we read psalms together and to one another. Why? Joyful singing, praise, and thanksgiving is an outpouring of the Spirit. We encourage and strengthen one another in song, and confirm with one another what is true about God.
Paul chastises the more well-off in the church for being selfish and insensitive to those who were poor. Some were getting drunk and indulging, while there were members in the community in hunger. Paul reiterates that a vital identifier of Christ’s body is how it eats together as Christ commanded. Christ’s table is a table of unity. We are to wait for one another when we eat.
John 13:14
14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
Jesus is tired and famished. So are the disciples. He asks the woman for a drink. Jesus is the Living Water given for this woman. He speaks to landscapes in her soul that are already shaped for worship. She is activated. How are you parched? Who are the thirsty around us? Who are the people not yet activated in our churches?
God rejects the reductive paths by which society allows these women to gain value (physical beauty and childbearing) and instead says that both women are loved, valuable and seen.
We look at Deborah, as well as the 'Proverbs 31 woman', to break apart some common extra-Biblical perceptions of what it means to be 'feminine.'
Traditional and popular cultural interpretations of Eve make her out to be a subordinate ‘helper’ and afterthought to Adam, as well as the seductive temptress that caused humanity’s Fall. Can we take a 2nd look at the Scripture and discover an alternate narrative or fuller vision for God’s intent for Adam and Eve?
Ezekiel 36:26-27 New International Version
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Genesis 1:26 Common English Bible
26 Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.”
Romans 8:12-17 Common English Bible
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it isn’t an obligation to ourselves to live our lives on the basis of selfishness. 13 If you live on the basis of selfishness, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live. 14 All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
Chapter 61 begins with a proclamation by the prophet that they are anointed by the Spirit: "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me . . . " This anointing is followed by good news for the poor; the broken-hearted; the captives, the prisoners; and those that mourn.
The Spirit moves within us to help us grow in times off rest/discernment. Just as yeast is used to transform dough before it is ready to bake, rest is necessary for growth before action.
At Babel in Genesis, God confused the language of the people and scattered them. Traditionally, this passage has often been mistakenly interpreted to imply that culture and languages is a curse put on people for their sin. But we must rather see it as the hidden blessing. After all, God’s command to humanity from creation was to “be fruitful and multiply” and to scatter and fill the land. Essentially–spread out! The temptation for humanity is to consolidate power however. Consolidate it into on person, one people, one ethnos. In Acts 2 we see not a reversal of Babel in Pentecost, but rather an affirming of languages and differences. But it is the power from above, that unites and empowers the community of differents.In the Spirit-Led church, social constructs of power are levelled and the body listens and affirms the diversity of voices and gifts in its midst.
In the liminal space, we are transformed. Moses is caught between two racial-cultural identities. This becomes a scary place for him and ultimately the place of exile. But it is in the liminal space in which God calls him to be the one to lead the people into the Exodus, it being a larger example of liminality between captivity and the promised homeland. mWe are called to be faithful in the liminal spaces, though we are afraid and uncertain. When we are practiced in the liminal we are able to see other bodies i. these spaces: the marginalized, the migrant, the refugee, the transitory
Elijah is on the run for his life. He’s an exile, a fugitive, a political and religious refugee. He is at wit’s end and lays down. God’s messenger tells him to get up and eat twice. He rests and restores his physical body for the journey ahead. Rest is an act of worship. We need it. Mind, Body, and Soul are all connected in our need for rest.
Jesus wept alongside Mary and Martha because he felt for their sorrow. Lament is an act of worship.
Jacob is fearful about meeting Esau again, the first time after having stolen Esau’s blessing. Surely Esau is out for blood. Instead, Esau runs to embrace him. This is an amazing picture of reconciliation, ending with Jacob’s statement: “seeing your face is like seeing the face of God.” This echoes the episode in the earlier chapter where Jacob wrestles with God and names the spot Peniel: “I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared” Living Face to Face means living as reconcilers. Through grace and forgiveness we see God and we become the means by which others can see God. As reconcilers we are the embodiment of God.
This is the 3rd time Jesus appears in resurrected bodily form to his disciples. The disciples return to the very real task of fishing for their livelihoods. Echoing earlier passages in the Gospels (calling of the 12; feeding of the 5000; Peter's denials) this passage details the disciples nets being filled with fish, Peter jumping into the water, Jesus sharing a meal and ‘feeding’ his sheep, and Peter being restored and redeemed for his prior denials. Jesus’ command is to turn and feed his sheep. Jesus' ministry involved engaging people’s spiritual, emotional, social, and physical needs, and he passes the baton to this band, the precursor to the church.
We begin our series around the ‘embodied’ faith. What does it mean theologically and missiologically that the resurrected Jesus retained his scars from the crucifixion? Christians can oftentimes be disconnected from the physical world because we cling to a disembodied vision of spirituality. Jesus sends his disciples into the world both having had them touch his physical body and having breathed the HS ‘on them.” Another key piece in this passage is the word translated “believe” from the Greek root pisteuo, which means “trust.” How does it change the way we read this passage if we substitute “believe” with “trust.” Faith is trust in Jesus more than mere cognition of him. May we be sent out as embodied witnesses of the Gospel and not disconnected passer-bys.
The miracle of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the renewal of wonder and awe and Life everlasting to all of humanity. On the first day of the week, early in the morning the women visit the tomb to honor the dead. But they are interrupted by the amazing. He is not here! Why do you look for the living among the dead?
What are we holding on to? Why do we cling to things that hold us mired in death. Arise arises into the renewed life!
Jesus came into the world like a small sliver, a mustard seed. a nuisance. an annoyance. a threat to the entire foundations of religion and culture. He is the King that is turning things upside down. But he is not entering Jerusalem as a glory-seeking king for the adulation of the crowds, nor as a conquering king exacting a violent revolution. He comes on a donkey. He comes in peace and humility to subvert the powers and usher in the Kingdom of God. Join the resistance!
Glad you can join us for our online service. Pastor Uriel Tzec will be preaching on Colossians 2:6-10 CEB “Roots”
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Glad you can join us for our online service. Pastor Magdiel Tzec will be preaching on Luke 4:1-13 " The purifying experience of wilderness"
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Glad you can join us for our online service. Alison Robison will be preaching on John 2:1-11 NASB “Manifesting God’s Glory”
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Glad you can join us for our online service. Paul Cabellon worship leader at Renew covenant Church. Preaching on Psalm 115:1-8 “Heavenly Exceptionalism”
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Glad you can join us for our online service. Associate Pastor at Shoreline Covenant Church Sally Carlson. Preaching on John 15:1-8 "Remain in me"
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Glad you can join us for our online service. ‘’Light in the Darkness’’ Polly Yorioka Director of Young Adult Ministry at UPC. Preaching on John 8:12-30 Like us on Facebook at: facebook.com/renewlynnwood Follow us on Instagram: @renewchurch98087
Pastor Uriel Tzec will preach from 1 Corinthians 10:10-14 CEB ‘’Knowing the Holy Spirit’’
So glad you could join us for our first service of the new year. Pastor Magdiel will preach from Colossians 3:12-17: "Gratitude in Your Hearts."
Micah 5:2-5a NIV
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses.
Luke 3:1-18
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.
One of the ways we see Jesus is by the fruit born in our lives. But sometimes we get discouraged. We don’t see Jesus. God is silent. Has he abandoned you? Are you forgotten in the discard pile? Paul’s encouragement here is that: God is the one who started the work in you, and that it is a sure thing that this work will continue to completion. Be encouraged Jesus is coming.
This small section is embedded in parables Jesus is telling involving seeds and plants. The theme in these parables revolve around the dynamic and organic growth of the Kingdom of God. In this particular parable, whether the man sleeps or rises, the seeds he sowed grow. This dynamic of growth is a mystery to us.
Jesus does not fit into the social expectations surrounding him, but he rather disrupts them and then redefines what it means to have identity and be family in the spirit-filled Kingdom life. The world is messed up and Satan’s behind it, but Jesus flips the script on it all offering everyone new identity and new possibility in his family structure.
This gem of a statement by Jesus is set right in the middle of episodes in which Jesus’ authority is challenged around fasting and then sabbath. The religious traditionalists are triggered by who Jesus is and what he does. The point Jesus is making is that what He has come to do and fulfill can’t be fit into old forms and traditions. Jesus’s teachings, miracles and authority are unlike what anyone had seen before. Sometimes we can’t move and change until our paradigms change and we pivot.
Jesus disrupts Levi’s life by calling Levi to follow him. Tax collectors were suspect charaters in Jewish eyes, and in calling Levi, Jesus also does life together with him, immersing himself in Levi’s community of “suspect” characters. Jesus came to be with the sinners. He is the good doctor come to touch the ill not the healthy. What does this mean for us?
In the old law, leprosy made one ceremonially unclean and placed that person ‘outside’ of the community. Jesus (reluctantly?) touches and cleanses this man restoring him holistically--bodily, spiritually, and socially. What is this man’s untameable response?
Jesus begins his public ministry teaching on the Sabbath in the synagogue. People immediately recognize him as someone who teaches uniquely with authority, unlike the traditional teaching of the law.
This is a difficult passage: 42 boys mauled by she-bears because they were taunting Elisha. We find this problematic because the punishment does not seem to match the offense. Did they really deserve this?
Jesus curses a fig tree for having no fruit even when it was not the season for fruit bearing. What is up with this? Is Jesus just being human with grumpiness, or is there a deeper meaning here?
Jesus calls Nathaneal as a disciple. The strangeness of this passage is in how Jesus ‘knows’ Nathaneal even as the two had never met before. Jesus simply says: “I saw you under the fig tree.” What was Nathaneal doing under the fig tree?
the view from the cave can be a dark and lonely place. The surrounding walls of the cave can block your perspective. The view from the cave can sometimes be depressing, but it does not mean that God is through with you or that God has forgotten his promises. God’s delays are not necessarily God’s denials. We need to remember that God is still God. He still has good plans for your life and he wants to be your only refuge.
After winning back Jerusalem and successfully unifying the two Kingdoms, David brings the Ark back to Jerusalem. On the way, the oxen pulling the cart stumble and Uzzah grabs a hold of the Ark to steady it. God strikes Uzzah down dead. David is angered and refuses to continue carrying the ark.
We can pay or manipulate situations to fall into our desired narrative--but God’s purposes will prevail in the end. Just as Balaam’s ass is God’s joke on Israel’s enemies--Jesus the Messiah is God’s joke on the powers of death in the world.
What did Jesus mean by a camel going through the eye of a needle? Did he mean it is impossible or was he using hyperbole to say it’s really hard? Is it bad to be a wealthy Christian? Should Christians shun making money? Aren’t we all saved by Grace? Is Godbiased against the rich? We should be sobered by the reality that we are more prone to idolatry when we have money to rely on instead of God. The rich ruler was missing a relational component which the disciples pick up on. Asking “how?” our weakness and poverty of Spirit, God can do the impossible!
A man should not wear head-coverings in church? A woman should wear head-coverings? Do we still need to do do this today? Man is the image and glory of God but woman is the glory of man? Is Patriarchy defended in the Bible? We look at different takes on this passage and address some engendered issues in Scripture.
God strangely tries to kill Moses. Zipporah acts quickly, circumcises their son, and God spares Moses. Though Moses has this newfound identity and sense “wokeness” for his people, he has not fully embraced his identity as a follower of Yahweh. He is made right by the intercession of Zipporah.
Who were the Nephilim in Genesis 6? And who were the “sons of God” and “daughters of me?” and how do they relate to these heroes of old? How does this all relate to us?
Elisha and his band of friends were chopping down trees to build a house, when one of the axes broke and sank in the nearby Jordan River. One of the men shouted the ancient equivalent of, “Oh no! The ax wasn’t even mine—I borrowed it.” Elisha just whipped out a stick, set it on the surface of the water, and the axe head miraculously floated to the top. As a result, the man kept his job. WWWhhhaaatttt?
The temple tax collectors ask Peter if Jesus paid the temple tax. Peter immediately answers ‘yes.’ Jesus uses this opportunity for a real live action parable. What’s the message? The moral of the story is not about being good citizens and paying taxes, but it is to point out that as children of God, we are free and exempt from ‘tax.’ On top of this, however, the miracle of the Gold Fish emphasizes that when you act in freedom and love -not under coercion or constraint - God himself works for you in ways you would never dream.
Paul arrives in Rome and is given the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel there. Paul encourages the JEws there that: “God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen!”
In every situation Paul is a light and witness to those around him. Here the sailors, soldiers, and prisoners are all in danger. Paul tells all to take courage because God will spare them all. As they cut bait, they only have one hope
Paul’s defense before Agrippa (1-23) covers 3 familiar points: 1. Paul was the most zealous of all Jews as a Pharisee 2. Is it so hard to believe God can raise the dead and 3. Paul’s conversion and vision. In the ensuing interaction we are given the ‘word’s’ perspective on change and the Kingdom reality of transformative power.
The JudeoRoman political system continues to kick the Paul can down the road. Noone is willing to convict a Roman citizen, yet no one wants a Jewish riot on their hands. The political situation is tenuous. But the truth of the Gospel remains the same.
A shady plot is born. Paul’s nephew learns of this and the Roman commander is informed.
Paul has a clear conscience before the Council. He knows what he stands for and who he believes in. The council is torn because of religious-politico reasons. Scribes vs. Pharisees disagree on the resurrection of the body.
While in Jerusalem Paul is seized by a crowd in the temple accusing him of rejecting the law of Moses. He makes his case in Aramaic as a former Pharisee. His makes his case to the Roman military by revealing his Roman citizenship--an appeal to the laws of the state spare him in that moment.
In this chapter we see the network of family that Paul and his companions have in the various towns they stop at. Paul is called to travel to Jerusalem to arrive there by Pentecost. People beg him not to go, but Paul nonetheless continues.
Paul says farewell to the leaders in Ephesus. Through his words we are made aware of his passionate conviction to his call to proclaim, love, and serve for the Gospel. Many tears are shed by the church, as they have all been touched/moved by Paul’s love.
We cannot control the HS: It is important for the church to know that we can claim to know more than we really do about the Holy Spirit and her power at work. We need to stop trying to limit and control the action of the Spirit.
12 disciples of Ephesus who only knew baptism in John the Baptist, are given fuller instruction in the Way--faith in Jesus Christ and Baptism by the Spirit.
We know from I Corinthians that Paul has grown tired and weary. In the vision here, God encourages Paul in his weariness. The promise given is the same throughout Scripture: I will be with you. When we follow Jesus and are sent by Jesus, we will inevitably come against opposition. In the midst of this God is with us.
“How Good and Pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity” This week we will take a contemplative look at our passage and create space for prayer.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! This is the sermon from Resurrection Sunday. Sermon: "Rise Up" John 20:11-18
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Paul has moved from city to city in Greece. The pattern is similar: He begins preaching and arguing in the synagogues to both Jews and Gentiles, to mixed results. Some recieve but others are offended and chase Paul off to the next city. We know from I Corinthians that Paul has grown tired and weary. In the vision here, God encourages Paul in his weariness. The promise given is the same throughout Scripture: I will be with you. When we follow Jesus and are sent by Jesus, we will inevitably come against opposition. In the midst of this God is with us.
There are some Greeks who wish to see Jesus. Jesus’ response is to foreshadow his final ‘sign’ in John: His death and resurrection. Truly seeing Jesus, true discipleship, means embodying a life given for the sake of others. Jesus is the model of losing one’s life for Glory of God.
Rev. Sim preaches from Mark 8:31-38 and commitment to the way of Jesus.
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Rev. Dave Sim takes a look at Acts 17:16-34, Paul visits Athens and converses with the locals.
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Matthew 15:10-20
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Jesus is touching and healing people, and word is spreading about the one who teaches with authority and casts out demons.
John 1:14 is the key verse and reads "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is the ultimate expression of God connecting with humanity. We were in fact created to connect with God and to connect with one another. We kick this series off asking: “so what happens when we feel disconnected?”
Simeon and Anna respond to the blessing of meeting the baby Jesus, Messiah of the World.
Luke 1:46-55
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
We start the season of Advent in Isaiah 64. Advent is a season of waiting as we cry out to Jesus, "come!"
Pastor Tash Crozier brings the Word from Ezekiel 34 and talks about the work of the Good Shepherd.
Acts 16:1-15 NIV
1 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Paul and Barnabas travel to Jerusalem to share God's work among the Gentiles. The Jerusalem council gathers to make a decision around Gentiles and circumcision.
Acts 14:11-17
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Barnabas is sent to Antioch, the cutting edge of the expanding church into Gentile lands. He goes to Tarsus to recruit Saul to lead the Antioch Church with him.
Acts 10:9-23 NIV
9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
Acts 9:32-43 NIV
32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”
39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
Acts 9:19b-31 NIV
19b Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. 23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. 26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,[a] but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Acts 9 New International Version
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Acts 8:26-40 New International Version
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Acts 8:9-25 NIV
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Acts 8:1-8 NIV
1 And Saul approved of their killing him.
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 6 NIV
1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
The Apostles perform signs and wonders at Solomon's Portico and are arrested. An Angel frees them from prison and commands them to continue to witness in the Temple Courts.
The priests of the Temple are enraged with jealousy.
We continue our Acts Series with the people praying and being filled with the Spirit after Peter and John's interrogation in the Sanhedrin.
Acts 3:11-26 NIV
11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see. 17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ 24 “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
Acts 3:1-10 New International Version
1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Acts 2:42-47 New International Version
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Peter frames the event of Pentecost withine the narrative of Scripture and the plan of God's Salvation through Jesus Christ in the Spirit.
We look at Acts 2:1-13 with the gift of the Holy Spirit given to the Apostles at Pentecost.
Psalm 66:8-20 Common English Bible
8 All you nations, bless our God! Let the sound of his praise be heard! 9 God preserved us among the living; he didn’t let our feet slip a bit.
10 But you, God, have tested us— you’ve refined us like silver, 11 trapped us in a net, laid burdens on our backs, 12 let other people run right over our heads— we’ve been through fire and water.
But you brought us out to freedom! 13 So I’ll enter your house with entirely burned offerings. I’ll keep the promises I made to you, 14 the ones my lips uttered, the ones my mouth spoke when I was in deep trouble. 15 I will offer the best burned offerings to you along with the smoke of sacrificed rams. I will offer both bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come close and listen, all you who honor God; I will tell you what God has done for me: 17 My mouth cried out to him with praise on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished evil in my heart, my Lord would not have listened. 19 But God definitely listened. He heard the sound of my prayer. 20 Bless God! He didn’t reject my prayer; he didn’t withhold his faithful love from me.
This is Jesus’ last teaching to his disciples before his death. When our hearts are troubled we remember that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life . . . in real-time.
John 10:1-10 New International Version (NIV) 10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Luke 24:13-35 Common English Bible (CEB) 13 On that same day, two disciples were traveling to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about everything that had happened. 15 While they were discussing these things, Jesus himself arrived and joined them on their journey. 16 They were prevented from recognizing him.
17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?” They stopped, their faces downcast.
18 The one named Cleopas replied, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who is unaware of the things that have taken place there over the last few days?”
19 He said to them, “What things?”
They said to him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth. Because of his powerful deeds and words, he was recognized by God and all the people as a prophet. 20 But our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. 21 We had hoped he was the one who would redeem Israel. All these things happened three days ago. 22 But there’s more: Some women from our group have left us stunned. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 and didn’t find his body. They came to us saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who told them he is alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women said. They didn’t see him.”
25 Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! Your dull minds keep you from believing all that the prophets talked about. 26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then he interpreted for them the things written about himself in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the Prophets.
28 When they came to Emmaus, he acted as if he was going on ahead. 29 But they urged him, saying, “Stay with us. It’s nearly evening, and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 After he took his seat at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road and when he explained the scriptures for us?”
33 They got up right then and returned to Jerusalem. They found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying to each other, “The Lord really has risen! He appeared to Simon!” 35 Then the two disciples described what had happened along the road and how Jesus was made known to them as he broke the bread.
Sunday After Easter sermon by Pastor Magdiel Tzec
John 20:19-31 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Matthew 28:1-10 New International Version (NIV) Jesus Has Risen 28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Matthew 21:1-11 New International Version
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Apologies, the sound clears up a bit after 45 seconds.
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Matthew 4:1-11 NIV
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 1:18-25 NIV
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
Isaiah 11:1-10 Common English Bible (CEB)
1 A shoot will grow up from the stump of Jesse; a branch will sprout from his roots. 2 The Lord’s spirit will rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of planning and strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. 3 He will delight in fearing the Lord. He won’t judge by appearances, nor decide by hearsay. 4 He will judge the needy with righteousness, and decide with equity for those who suffer in the land. He will strike the violent with the rod of his mouth; by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be the belt around his hips, and faithfulness the belt around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion will feed together, and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow and the bear will graze. Their young will lie down together, and a lion will eat straw like an ox. 8 A nursing child will play over the snake’s hole; toddlers will reach right over the serpent’s den. 9 They won’t harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain. The earth will surely be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, just as the water covers the sea.
10 On that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the peoples. The nations will seek him out, and his dwelling will be glorious.
Romans 13:11-14 Common English Bible (CEB) 11 As you do all this, you know what time it is. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your sleep. Now our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith. 12 The night is almost over, and the day is near. So let’s get rid of the actions that belong to the darkness and put on the weapons of light. 13 Let’s behave appropriately as people who live in the day, not in partying and getting drunk, not in sleeping around and obscene behavior, not in fighting and obsession. 14 Instead, dress yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and don’t plan to indulge your selfish desires.
Psalm 46 New International Version (NIV) For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song. 1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Jonah 4 Common English Bible (CEB)
4 But Jonah thought this was utterly wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Come on, Lord! Wasn’t this precisely my point when I was back in my own land? This is why I fled to Tarshish earlier! I know that you are a merciful and compassionate God, very patient, full of faithful love, and willing not to destroy. 3 At this point, Lord, you may as well take my life from me, because it would be better for me to die than to live.”
4 The Lord responded, “Is your anger a good thing?” 5 But Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city. There he made himself a hut and sat under it, in the shade, to see what would happen to the city.
6 Then the Lord God provided a shrub, and it grew up over Jonah, providing shade for his head and saving him from his misery. Jonah was very happy about the shrub. 7 But God provided a worm the next day at dawn, and it attacked the shrub so that it died. 8 Then as the sun rose God provided a dry east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint. He begged that he might die, saying, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”
9 God said to Jonah, “Is your anger about the shrub a good thing?”
Jonah said, “Yes, my anger is good—even to the point of death!”
10 But the Lord said, “You ‘pitied’ the shrub, for which you didn’t work and which you didn’t raise; it grew in a night and perished in a night. 11 Yet for my part, can’t I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who can’t tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”
Jonah 3 Common English Bible
1 The Lord’s word came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and declare against it the proclamation that I am commanding you.” 3 And Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s word. (Now Nineveh was indeed an enormous city, a three days’ walk across.) 4 Jonah started into the city, walking one day, and he cried out, “Just forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on mourning clothes, from the greatest of them to the least significant. 6 When word of it reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, stripped himself of his robe, covered himself with mourning clothes, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he announced, “In Nineveh, by decree of the king and his officials: Neither human nor animal, cattle nor flock, will taste anything! No grazing and no drinking water! 8 Let humans and animals alike put on mourning clothes, and let them call upon God forcefully! And let all persons stop their evil behavior and the violence that’s under their control!” 9 He thought, Who knows? God may see this and turn from his wrath, so that we might not perish. 10 God saw what they were doing—that they had ceased their evil behavior. So God stopped planning to destroy them, and he didn’t do it.
Jonah 1:4-17 Common English Bible October 27, 2019
1:4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, so that there was a great storm on the sea; the ship looked like it might be broken to pieces. 5 The sailors were terrified, and each one cried out to his god. They hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to make it lighter. Now Jonah had gone down into the hold of the vessel to lie down and was deep in sleep. 6 The ship’s officer came and said to him, “How can you possibly be sleeping so deeply? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps the god will give some thought to us so that we won’t perish.” 7 Meanwhile, the sailors said to each other, “Come on, let’s cast lots so that we might learn who is to blame for this evil that’s happening to us.” They cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they said to him, “Tell us, since you’re the cause of this evil happening to us: What do you do and where are you from? What’s your country and of what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of heaven—who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were terrified and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men knew that Jonah was fleeing from the Lord, because he had told them.) 11 They said to him, “What will we do about you so that the sea will become calm around us?” (The sea was continuing to rage.) 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea! Then the sea will become calm around you. I know it’s my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” 13 The men rowed to reach dry land, but they couldn’t manage it because the sea continued to rage against them. 14 So they called on the Lord, saying, “Please, Lord, don’t let us perish on account of this man’s life, and don’t blame us for innocent blood! You are the Lord: whatever you want, you can do.” 15 Then they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased its raging. 16 The men worshipped the Lord with a profound reverence; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made solemn promises. 17 Meanwhile, the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
Jonah 1:1-3 Common English Bible (CEB) 1 The Lord’s word came to Jonah, Amittai’s son: 2 “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their evil has come to my attention.”
3 So Jonah got up—to flee to Tarshish from the Lord! He went down to Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went aboard to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.
This week we begin our dip into Jonah with a reading of the full text in the Common English Bible Version. Readers:
Melanie Malone Christy Thwing David Sim
Sermon on the Lord's Prayer:
Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:9-13 New International Version (NIV) 9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Matthew 6:9-13 NIV
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Matthew 6:9-13 NIV
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Luke 18:9-14 New International Version (NIV) 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 17:11-19 Common English Bible (CEB)
11 On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten men with skin diseases approached him. Keeping their distance from him, 13 they raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, show us mercy!”
14 When Jesus saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” As they left, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned and praised God with a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus replied, “Weren’t ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 No one returned to praise God except this foreigner?” 19 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
1 Samuel 1:9-17 Common English Bible (CEB)
9 One time, after eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah got up and presented herself before the Lord. (Now Eli the priest was sitting in the chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.) 10 Hannah was very upset and couldn’t stop crying as she prayed to the Lord. 11 Then she made this promise: “Lord of heavenly forces, just look at your servant’s pain and remember me! Don’t forget your servant! Give her a boy! Then I’ll give him to the Lord for his entire life. No razor will ever touch his head.”
12 As she kept praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah was praying in her heart; her lips were moving, but her voice was silent, so Eli thought she was drunk.
14 “How long will you act like a drunk? Sober up!” Eli told her.
15 “No sir!” Hannah replied. “I’m just a very sad woman. I haven’t had any wine or beer but have been pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16 Don’t think your servant is some good-for-nothing woman. This whole time I’ve been praying out of my great worry and trouble!”
17 Eli responded, “Then go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you’ve asked from him.”
Acts 1:9-14 New International Version
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[a] from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Nehemiah 1 New International Version (NIV) Nehemiah’s Prayer 1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the king.
Genesis 16:1-16 (NIV)
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael,[a] for the Lord has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward[b] all his brothers.”
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen[c] the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi[d]; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Luke 10:38-42 NIV
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
John 11:38-44 New International Version (NIV)
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Esther 4:1–17 The New International Version Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help
1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes,v put on sackcloth and ashes,w and went out into the city, wailingx loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate,y because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.
6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews.z 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoneda the king has but one law:b that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepterc to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silentd at this time, reliefe and deliverancef for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”g
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fasth for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”i
17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.
Philippians 1:1-6 New International Version (NIV) Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Acts 2:1-13 New International Version (NIV)
2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Luke 8:12-18 New International Version (NIV)
12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
16 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”
Luke 24:13-35 NIV
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Mark 4:26-34 NIV
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
John 15:1-8 NIV
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Matthew 13:1-17 New International Version (NIV)
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Psalm 30 A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.
1 I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. 2 Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. 3 You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.
4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
6 When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” 7 Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.
8 To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: 9 “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? 10 Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.”
11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Luke 24:1-12 NIV
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Palm Sunday Text
Luke 19:28-40 New International Version (NIV)
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Luke 7:36-50
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 15: 1-3; 11-31
1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable:
11 “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ 31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
Isaiah 55:1-9
1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. 4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.”
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Luke 13:31-35
31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Luke 4:1-13
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
2 Corinthians 4:7-12 (NIV)
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
Mark 5:22-34 New International Version (NIV) 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Luke 10:25-37 New International Version (NIV)
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
John 2:19-22 New International Version (NIV)
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
We take a look at Renew's founding and namesake verse:
Isaiah 61:3b-4
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
Revelation 21:1-6 New International Version (NIV)
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Micah 5:2-5 New International Version (NIV) 2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace
Zephaniah 3:14-20 New International Version (NIV)
14 Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. 16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. 17 The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
18 “I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. 19 At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame. 20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.
Ephesians 6:10-20 NIV
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Ephesians 5:21-6:9 NIV
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
Ephesians 5:5-21 (NIV)
5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 4:20-5:4 NIV
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin” (be angry but do not sin): Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 5 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
Ephesians 4:1-16 New International Version (NIV)
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 3:14-21 New International Version (NIV)
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:1-13 New International Version (NIV)
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
Ephesians 2:11-22 Common English Bible (CEB)
11 So remember that once you were Gentiles by physical descent, who were called “uncircumcised” by Jews who are physically circumcised. 12 At that time you were without Christ. You were aliens rather than citizens of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of God’s promise. In this world you had no hope and no God. 13 But now, thanks to Christ Jesus, you who once were so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us. 15 He canceled the detailed rules of the Law so that he could create one new person out of the two groups, making peace. 16 He reconciled them both as one body to God by the cross, which ended the hostility to God.
17 When he came, he announced the good news of peace to you who were far away from God and to those who were near. 18 We both have access to the Father through Christ by the one Spirit. 19 So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household. 20 As God’s household, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 The whole building is joined together in him, and it grows up into a temple that is dedicated to the Lord. 22 Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:4-10 Common English Bible (CEB)
4-5 However, God is rich in mercy. He brought us to life with Christ while we were dead as a result of those things that we did wrong. He did this because of the great love that he has for us. You are saved by God’s grace! 6 And God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus. 7 God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus.
8 You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith.[a] This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. 9 It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. 10 Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.
Ephesians 1:15-23 CEB
15 Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, this is the reason that 16 I don’t stop giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, 19 and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God’s powerful strength. 20 God’s power was at work in Christ when God raised him from the dead and sat him at God’s right side in the heavens, 21 far above every ruler and authority and power and angelic power, any power that might be named not only now but in the future. 22 God put everything under Christ’s feet and made him head of everything in the church, 23 which is his body. His body, the church, is the fullness of Christ, who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:1-14 CEB
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will. To the holy and faithful people in Christ Jesus in Ephesus. 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing that comes from heaven. 4 God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in God’s presence before the creation of the world. 5 God destined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ because of his love. This was according to his goodwill and plan 6 and to honor his glorious grace that he has given to us freely through the Son whom he loves. 7 We have been ransomed through his Son’s blood, and we have forgiveness for our failures based on his overflowing grace, 8 which he poured over us with wisdom and understanding. 9 God revealed his hidden design to us, which is according to his goodwill and the plan that he intended to accomplish through his Son. 10 This is what God planned for the climax of all times: to bring all things together in Christ, the things in heaven along with the things on earth. 11 We have also received an inheritance in Christ. We were destined by the plan of God, who accomplishes everything according to his design. 12 We are called to be an honor to God’s glory because we were the first to hope in Christ. 13 You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ. 14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance, which is applied toward our redemption as God’s own people, resulting in the honor of God’s glory.
Pastor Erica wraps up our Flourishing series with:
- Shalom and Self-Care
- Testimony Time (not recorded)
- Rebuke of Self-Preservation
- Open time of prayer (not recorded)
- Creation Care
Mark 8:31-38
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Mark 6:30-34 NIV
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
John 6:56-69 NIV
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Mark 3:20-35 NIV
20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” 23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” 31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’” 19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 New International Version (NIV)
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Judges 6:11-16 New International Version (NIV)
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” 13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Acts 9:1-22 NIV
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Psalm 31:9-16
9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. 10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. 11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors and an object of dread to my closest friends— those who see me on the street flee from me. 12 I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. 13 For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life. 14 But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” 15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. 16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
1 Samuel 1:10
10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly.
Matthew 21:44 NIV 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Philippians 4:4-9 NIV
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Professor Jamie Coles Burnette returns to Renew to preach on discernig answered prayers
8 Once when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he took counsel with his officers. He said, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Take care not to pass this place, because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 The king of Israel sent word to the place of which the man of God spoke. More than once or twice he warned such a place[a] so that it was on the alert.
11 The mind of the king of Aram was greatly perturbed because of this; he called his officers and said to them, “Now tell me who among us sides with the king of Israel?” 12 Then one of his officers said, “No one, my lord king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.” 13 He said, “Go and find where he is; I will send and seize him.” He was told, “He is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent horses and chariots there and a great army; they came by night, and surrounded the city.
15 When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, “Alas, master! What shall we do?” 16 He replied, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed: “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
In Romans 16:7 Junia is a woman who is an apostle outstanding among apostles.
Pastor Dave Sim sets up our month of June when four called and gifted women preach the Word at Renew Church!
The final "s" in the acronym BLESS stands for "share our stories," the 5th missional practice of a church that blesses.
The scripture passage is 1 John 1:1-4
The first "s" in BLESS stands for "Serve with joy," the 4th missional practice of a church that blesses.
We take a look at Jesus washing his disciples feet in John 13:1-17
Matthew 15:29-39 New International Version (NIV) Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
The "E" in BLESS stands for "Eat Together," the 3rd missional practice of a church that "blesses." James Amadon of circlewood takes us through Scripture to highlight how the people of God should "eat together," and how this relates to Creation Care.
The "B" in BLESS stands for "Begin with Prayer," the first missional practice of a church that blesses.
BLESS is a new approach to prayer and evangelism. It’s less about downloading information or memorizing scripts, and more about loving our neighbors well. It helps us get “unstuck” and practice evangelism more effortlessly. BLESS is an intentional pathway for persons of all ages who follow Jesus to become like Jesus and join the mission of Jesus. BLESS is an initiative of Make and Deepen Disciples.
Find out more at: https://covchurch.org/evangelism/bless/
John 12:12-16 New International Version (NIV) 12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
Mark 16:1-8
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
John 12:20-33
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
Ephesians 2:1-10
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Mark 8:31-38 New International Version (NIV)
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Genesis 9:8-17 NIV
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
Psalm 51
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Luke 18:9-14
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 17:11-19
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Exodus 33:1-4; 12-18
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” 4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments.
12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” 17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
Luke 11:1-13
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 1:46-55
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
Galatians 4:4-7 NIV
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 Common English Bible Version
For the music leader. Of the Korahites. A psalm.
1Lord, you’ve been kind to your land; you’ve changed Jacob’s circumstances for the better. 2 You’ve forgiven your people’s wrongdoing; you’ve covered all their sins. Selah 8 Let me hear what the Lord God says, because he speaks peace to his people and to his faithful ones. Don’t let them return to foolish ways. 9 God’s salvation is very close to those who honor him so that his glory can live in our land. 10 Faithful love and truth have met; righteousness and peace have kissed. 11 Truth springs up from the ground; righteousness gazes down from heaven. 12 Yes, the Lord gives what is good, and our land yields its produce. 13 Righteousness walks before God, making a road for his steps.
Isaiah 64:1-9
1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. 4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. 5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? 6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Luke 16:1-9, 13
Luke 5:36-38
36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Jesus is the outlier in whom there is new life. What does it mean to be 'broken' upon the rock? We have a natural resistance to vulnerability and to change, and yet the path to transformation is found as we are broken upon Jesus. Pride and stubbornness, on the other hand, make us hard and brittle, so that we become crushed by outside forces, even those that are good and life-giving.
This Sunday's lectionary Gospel text is timely given our country's current context of protest and disdain for this protest, ie., NFL players/Trump. Jesus has just cleansed the temple and now occupies it in protest of the corruption/injustices rampant in the temple religious system. The Chief Priests and Elders of the people have come to challenge his authority: "By what authority [what right] are you doing these things?" Jesus counter-challenges with a parable about two brothers in a vineyard to convey his point about true righteousness and the faithfulness of Israel to being people of God. We are not Israel, but our hermeneutical approaches to cultural symbols risk a dangerous dogma of its own. A dogma that renders non-white expressions of freedom of speech and protest as un American and dangerous, while blindly defending relics of dominant culture and ritual that actually oppress people of color. What really does it mean to be American and 'patriotic?' Is it blindly defending enculturated, politicized symbols legalistically, or embodying and defending the values of freedom and equality those symbols were meant to represent? #Matthew 21:23-32
Jesus responds to the religious leaders' challenge with a parable about workers in a vineyard.
Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus is inviting us to get out of the boat and come to him . . . but just because Jesus is calling you out to him, doesn’t mean the storms will stop.
Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus has compassion on the crowds and commands the disciples to feed them opening the opportunity for all to witness his miracle of abundance.
Conversation #6 in the Tangible Kingdom Series. Bill Strunk discusses how we are a community of apprenticeship. Luke 5:1-11
Judges 6:11-16 & Luke 19:1-10
We Live out and invite in . . . conversation #5 of the Tangible Kingdom series.
We continue our series in the Tangible Kingdom as Claire discusses "The Gospel." We embody the Gospel.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 and John 1.14 A part of living into the tangible kingdom is that "we are incarnational."
God and His Kingdom is best reflected in the diversity of His children, and so at Renew we value ethnic/gender/age diversity and seek to reflect it
Micah 6:6-8
6 With what should I approach the Lord and bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with entirely burned offerings, with year-old calves? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with many torrents of oil? Should I give my oldest child for my crime; the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit? 8 He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.
God radically receives those who return home. In turn, we are people who seek and chase and invite others. We go out and are relational, we are incarnational, we are real. we don’t demand people be like us in order for them to be with us. And we celebrate when those who are lost are found again. And when we party, we party good. We throw huge banquets and go out of our way.
We are authentic We are relational We are invitational We are hospitable
Acts 2:42-47 Common English Bible
42 The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. 43 A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. 44 All the believers were united and shared everything. 45 They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. 46 Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. 47 They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.
Peter takes the opportunity present the Gospel Message.The Gospel Truth "cuts to the heart." Disciples are charactized by lives of conviction and are continually turning back towards JEsus from the ways of a dark world
Jesus enters as humble King, but more than just a celebration of joy, Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem marks a prophetic overturn of dominant system of the day
We need God for life. He fills us with His spirit and we are given new life. The dry bones can do nothing to bring themselves back--what can we do? Only God. Seattle Winters are tough, hard to maintain hope, we are often cut-off from community and we are isolated--God can bring the dead things in our lives, the dead places in our hearts back to life again.
God heals and redeems. Joseph's graciousness is a part of healing the relationship with his brothers. In reconciliation we move from "terror" or fear to intimacy by drawing closer to the other. Vulnerability and courage is a necessary component of reconciliation
Lent: "Death Of Dreams" by Dave Sim || Genesis 37:1-28 || March 12, 2017 by RC2 Lynnwood
Last week we talked about the Abundance of God's inheritance for all. Here, once again, we see a family torn apart by a struggle for blessing and inheritance. God is faithful to redeem and reconcile all things, in spite of how we muddle things up!
Rachel and Leah forget about God when they look around at what other people have or what other people think. Remembering God turns us away from envy and discontent, toward peace, joy, and love for others.
Psalm 146:5-10 NIV
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever. 7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, 8 the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. 10 The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.
Isaiah prophesies of a King in the line of David who will rise up and bring justice and compassion to the land. Under his rule and authority, the imbalances of power and the barriers which separate the rich/poor; weak/strong; prey/predator will be eliminated and there will be peace. Through prayer, we as a community long for Shalom and ask God to bring it to reality in the here and now.
"Unexpectedly" We await the first coming of Jesus with his words on his 2nd coming. He will come (He comes) unexpectedly. As his people, we are called to active waiting. To live lives prepared and alert for the Kingdom of God to come in our midst in power. Practical app: Prayer is a powerful way of waiting actively in hope.
Genesis 17:1-16 "Named and Claimed." God changes Abe and Sarai's names along with reiterating Covenant. God knows who we really are and gives us names and calls us to live into them. We find life and promise in knowing our true names and orienting our lives according to that which we are called, in faith. We cast off our old identities and live into the Covenant, a dependent discipleship relationship with God. God claims his people and gives them identity markers (circumcision) which is to set them apart. It is important to note that this identity for Abram and his family included being "immigrants" and strangers in this new land.
Genesis 16:7-16. Hagar is the servant of Abram mistreated by Sarai and forced to run away from harsh treatment. Though God's plan involves an heir for Abram through Sarai, God pursues Hagar going to where she was and blessing her. Hagar names God "El Roi" because He sees. God sees you in your deepest times of rejection and outcastness. God sees the rejected and outcast around us. He is "El Roi" the God who sees
In our journey we worry and have anxiety: "how is this going to work out for good?" God's says to us "Do not Fear."
God calls Abram to pack everything up and Go. Go to a strange land. Go from all that is familiar. To be sent, to move outward here is the counter-motion to what we had at Babel. God scattered as a preventative measure, God’s covenant with Abraham is the amelioration--a plan for blessing all nations through one nation. We will take a deeper look at moving past what is safe, what we know, what is comfortable, in order to “Go” and be sent where God is leading. Where is God leading you to “Go?”
The story line has been a cycling of two theological realities. Humanity's rebellion and insistence on grabbing for life on its own followed by growing consequences and then God's amazing grace to bring people back into relationship with Him and flourishing. Babel is another example of people grabbing life by hunkering down rather than scattering. God responds by mixing languages and scattering people. This sets the stage for the call of Abram and the rise of a people called to be a blessing to all nations.
The flood waters subside. God blesses Noah to be fruitful and multiply and then establishes a covenant with Noah. God makes a way for new life to spring up. Once again his desire is to connect with humans to establish good relationship with them, How are we to look at this story as insight into our own salvation story? Of insight into sin, judgment, forgiveness and New Life in Christ.
What can we glean from a family line? Reading into the genealogy in Genesis 4:17-5. What has God been naming you?
And God is saying, “sin is at your door, Cain. This is the crucial moment. I’m here and I want to deal with you. Before you go and do something crazy, and act upon that anger, act upon what’s festering inside you—come on, have a reality check. You can ask me, ‘what’s going on?’ Talk to me. If you open that door, man, something evil is outside that door and it’s going to overwhelm you. Don’t open the door.” And all of us understand that in our lives. Any of us who have been overwhelmed by sin, like a weakness that we have, we know what that door is.
Former Renew Associate Pastor Debbie Montzingo shares the Word on the Kingdom of God out of Matthew 13:51-52
Guest Speaker: Troy Anderson founder and International Director of Speak Up, an international NGO serving girls in poverty.
A Look at Psalm 126. Unfortunately there are a handful of gaps in the audio recording. If you can imagine 3 chairs to represent the structure of Psalm 126 (1. Past 2. Present 3. Future), and then utilize this same image into our own journey and prayers (1. what have we experienced 2. what is going on now in our lives 3. what do we desire God to do in the future.)