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Chain of Lakes Videos

Select a link below to view past videos of sermons. Don’t forget to also check out Pastor Paul’s blog!

March 26, 2023
“Greatest Letter Ever” – Transformation
Video shown above

March 19, 2023
“Greatest Letter Ever” – God’s Enduring Love

March 12, 2023
“Greatest Letter Ever” – What’s the Deal with the Apostle Paul and Homosexuality?

March 5, 2023
“Greatest Letter Ever” – Justification by Faith

February 26, 2023
Book of Romans -“Greatest Letter Ever”  – The Apostle Paul

February 19, 2023
“Spiritual Literacy” – What We Aspire for Our Heart

February 12, 2023
Jesus would say…”take me to the alley”  Guest preacher T. Mychael Rambo

February 5, 2023 
“Spiritual Literacy” – What Do We Need to Know

January 22 & 29 videos unavailable. Contact Pastor Paul pastor@colpres.org if you would like to have a copy of his sermon about suicide and/or a copy of his sermon about a vision for mental health at Chain of Lakes

January 15, 2023
“Uncovering the Veil” – Mental Health 101

January 11, 2023 Mental Health Series Talk by NAMI representative Kay King

May 29, 2022
First Ever Worship Service in the New Church Building

May 22, 2022
Memories – last worship service at Davenport location

Daily Devotions

Comments about the devotion can be emailed to pastor@colpres.org

Monday, March 27

Romans 13:1-14

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval, for it is God’s agent for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the agent of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s agents, busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due them: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.  Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

This chapter has three different sections. All are important to know and understand.

The first section (verses 1-7) mentions the importance of being subject to governing authorities and paying taxes. This passage might not be too positive for us with April 18 not far away! However, Paul is not making a universal statement about obeying the government and taxes. Instead, he is giving practical advice for people living in Rome about obeying the government. Consequences exist if people do not.

The second section in verses 8-10 is a universal statement. The main purpose of the law is to love each other. As Jesus mentioned and Paul expresses agape love is the end of the law. What we owe to another person is love.

The third section in verses 11-14 shares an important metaphor for us. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ”—verse 14a. Paul was expecting that Jesus was going to return. As people waited, Paul wanted them to put on Christ. “Put on the armor of light” he exhorted people.

What does it mean to you to put on or literally wear Jesus Christ on your spirit? Please share.

 

Tuesday, March 28

Romans 14:1-12

Welcome those who are weak in faith but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also, those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God.

For we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then, each one of us will be held accountable.

 Paul continued his advice in his first section of chapter 14 when he encouraged people not to judge each other. His is an important message which is consistent with the Core Value of Acceptance at Chain of Lakes. The wording of this Core Value starts out, “We accept each other without judgment …”

Paul made the case against judgment by sharing that each person is part of God and each person’s life is connected to God.

“We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:7)

Paul was sharing that since we belong to God so deeply, we have no reason to judge.

God is our ultimate judge, so we let go of our own judgment.

Do you find yourself judging other people? How often does judgment cloud your own perspective on others? Please share.

Wednesday, March 29

Romans 14:13-23

Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother or sister. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who considers it unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. So do not let your good be slandered. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  The one who serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and has human approval. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.  Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong to make someone stumble by what you eat; it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.  Hold the conviction that you have as your own before God. Blessed are those who do not condemn themselves because of what they approve. But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat because they do not act from faith, for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

 When Paul wrote this letter there was quite a debate about eating food sacrificed to an idol. Though this issue has no relevance for our own lives, the thought process that Paul shares can help us see how we are role models in faith for others.

Paul didn’t believe that eating food sacrificed to an idol was a sin. However, he didn’t want the eating of food sacrificed to an idol be a hindrance to another person who was weak in the faith. So though eating this food was not a sin, the example that a person shared was very important.

“Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died.” (Romans 14:15b)

Whether we acknowledge it or not each of us is a role model in the faith for another person. Our own example influences the faith life of others.

Being a role model doesn’t mean each of us wears the hat of pride or think of ourselves as better than others. It needn’t put pressure on us to try to be perfect. Each of us has enough pressure! What it does mean is we look to do our best in our faith. As we do our best others can see our own authenticity and grow in faith too.

How do you understand being a role model in faith? Has this added pressure to you in the past? Has it caused you to put a mask on your life and prevent others from seeing the doubts that you might have? Please share.

Thursday, March 30

Romans 15:1-13

We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. For Christ did not please himself, but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.  For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised-on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the ancestors and that the gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore, I will confess you among the gentiles
    and sing praises to your name”;

and again, he says,

“Rejoice, O gentiles, with his people”;

and again,

“Praise the Lord, all you gentiles,
    and let all the peoples praise him”;

and again, Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse shall come,
    the one who rises to rule the gentiles;
in him the gentiles shall hope.”

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 Two sections in these thirteen verses are worth committing to memory. Try it today.

The first is this:

“May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6)

The second section is this.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Memory is a process of repetition. Keep reading these two sections over and over. Eventually you will have the verses planted within your own spirit. You will have them memorized.

When you memorize them, they will most likely come up at important times.

Have you had the experience of having a memorized Scripture come to you at an important time?  Please share.

Friday, March 31

Romans 15:14-33

I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. For I will not be so bold as to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. Thus, I make it my ambition to proclaim the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written,

“Those who have never been told of him shall see,
    and those who have never heard of him shall understand.”

This is the reason that I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, with no further place for me in these regions, I desire, as I have for many years, to come to you when I go to Spain. For I do hope to see you on my journey and to be sent by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem in a ministry to the saints, for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to share their resources with the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. They were pleased to do this, and indeed they owe it to them, for if the gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material things. So, when I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will set out by way of you to Spain, and I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf, that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. The God of peace be with all of you. Amen.

 Paul started to wrap up this powerful letter by letting the people in Rome who received the letter that Paul would visit them soon. Remember that Paul dictated this letter to Tertius who then hand-delivered the letter to the people in Rome.

Paul wanted to travel to Rome and visit the people for whom he wrote this letter.

Paul asked the people in Rome to pray for him for refreshment as he prepared for this long trip. Paul was traveling to Jerusalem and then traveling to Rome.

Asking for prayers from others is an important part of our faith journey. Some of us might be shy to ask for prayers because we’re afraid of how others might look at us.

Have you had a time when you asked for prayers, and then experienced how these prayers were a significant help to you? Please share.

 

Saturday, April 1

Romans 16:1-27

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.

Greet Prisca and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but also all the churches of the gentiles. Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ. Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Israelites who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our coworker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. Greet my fellow Israelite Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and greet his mother—a mother to me also. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who are with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who create dissensions and hindrances, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. For your obedience is known to all; therefore, I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Timothy, my coworker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Israelites.

I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord.

Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you. Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

 We finally come to the end of Paul’s letter. In this chapter we read about the greetings that Paul wanted to extend to others.

Congratulations on reading through Romans! Share with others what your experience was like. Had you read Romans before? What was your experience in reading Romans? What did you enjoy about reading this book? What did you find challenging? Please share your thoughts as they can help others.

Monday, March 20

Romans 9:1-33  I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;  to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

 It is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all those descended from Israel are Israelites,  and not all of Abraham’s children are his descendants, but “it is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”  This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.  For the word of the promise is this: “About this time I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” Nor is that all; something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac:  even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue,  not by works but by his call) she was told, “The elder shall serve the younger.”  As it is written,

“I have loved Jacob,
    but I have hated Esau.”

What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!  For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

 So it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who shows mercy.  For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I may show my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”  So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.

You will say to me then, “Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”  But who indeed are you, a human, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?”  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use?  What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction,  and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the gentiles?  As he also says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
    and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”
 “And in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
    there they shall be called children of the living God.”

 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the children of Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,  for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth quickly and decisively.” And as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of hosts had not left descendants to us,
    we would have fared like Sodom
    and been made like Gomorrah.”

What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith, but Israel, who did strive for the law of righteousness, did not attain that law. Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall,
    and whoever trusts in him will not be put to shame.”

 

This week we will read a controversial section of the letter of Romans—the ninth through twelfth chapters. These chapters have formed many views about God—predestination, election, salvation, that have confused people.

In chapter nine Paul is trying to come to terms with his ancestors—the Jews—falling away from God. He acknowledged his great sorrow and anguish that was in his heart (verse 2). Paul asked the question of whether God had failed because of his ancestors rejecting Jesus. We can see this question in verse 14, “What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part?”

We can sense the turmoil that existed within Paul.

We might have had a time in our life when something went very wrong. In our grief about what had happened we looked to God for being responsible. If something didn’t go well, then God—who is in charge of all—must be accountable in our own minds. Right?

Paul answered the question he posed in verse 14. His answer is simple, “By no means!”

God was not responsible for some of the Jews falling away from Jesus.

Questioning God is a human vocation. It’s inevitable to question the intentions of God when something goes terribly wrong. It would be surprising if we haven’t questioned God in our own life.

Do you think that God is responsible for our own suffering? Please share.

Tuesday, March 21

Romans 10:1-21 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not based on knowledge.  Not knowing the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.  For Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down)  “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say?

“The word is near you,
    in your mouth and in your heart”

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim),  because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For one believes with the heart, leading to righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, leading to salvation.  The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?  And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”  But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”  So faith[ comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have:

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth
    and their words to the ends of the world.”

Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
    I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Paul turned to the topic of salvation in this chapter. He shared a significant teaching in verses nine and ten that most have undoubtedly heard.

“because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” Romans 10:10-11

The offer of salvation is for everyone.

We can take these words of Paul and do with them more than they were intended. Salvation is not a formula. Instead, it is receiving & opening up and ultimately enjoying a gift that God has given to all of us.

Paul would want people to be assured of their own salvation. He wouldn’t want people to experience anxiety or be frightened about it.

Have you at some time in your own life been insecure about your own salvation, or have you known someone who was or is? Please share.

Wednesday, March 22

Romans 11:1-32   I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.  God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?  “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.”  But what is the divine reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”  So, too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.  But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

What then? Israel has not achieved what it was pursuing. The elect have achieved it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written,

“God gave them a sluggish spirit,
    eyes that would not see
    and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”

 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and keep their backs forever bent.”

So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.  Now if their stumbling means riches for the world and if their loss means riches for gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

Now I am speaking to you gentiles. Inasmuch as I am an apostle to the gentiles, I celebrate my ministry in order to make my own people jealous and thus save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy.

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted among the others to share the rich root of the olive tree,  do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember: you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”  That is true. They were broken off on account of unbelief, but you stand on account of belief. So do not become arrogant, but be afraid.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you, if you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And even those of Israel, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

I want you to understand this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not claim to be wiser than you are: a hardening has come upon part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles has come in.  And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“Out of Zion will come the Deliverer;
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.”
“And this is my covenant with them,
    when I take away their sins.”

As regards the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their ancestors,  for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.  Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so also they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy.  For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

 Paul noted that when his own faith tradition rejected Jesus, this led him to share a message with Gentiles. The acceptance of the message by the Gentiles led Jews to receive the message of Jesus.

People in Paul’s day could take this message and criticize God. “God how could you have let or even encouraged this to happen?”

Paul didn’t want people to criticize God. He asked in the first verse of this chapter whether God had rejected God’s people. And Paul answered the question. No. God had not done that.

Have you ever felt or have you known someone who felt rejected by God? It’s a difficult place to be. If so, consider sharing your story.

Thursday, March 23

Romans 11:33-36    O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord?
    Or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him,
    to receive a gift in return?”

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

 This lengthy and somewhat complicated chapter ends with a beautiful verse.

“O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are [God’s] judgments and how inscrutable [God’s] ways.” Romans 11:33

This is a verse that is worth committing to memory.

Paul was sharing that God knew what God was doing. God’s wisdom and knowledge is unsurpassable.

It might seem odd to question God’s wisdom and knowledge, but all of us do this at some point.

Paul shared that God’s wisdom is complete.

How is this reality helpful to you on your own faith journey? Please share.

Friday, March 24

Romans 12:1-8   I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.  Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.  For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function,  so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;  the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

 Paul thankfully comes back to grace and the impact that grace has on people’s lives. That impact is transformation. The second verse shares this.

“Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

Discerning God’s ways or will is the most important task of a follower.

Each of us has different methods for discerning God’s ways or will. Discernment might involve prayer or fasting; it might involve worship or Bible reading; discernment might come after serving.

What do you find most helpful as you discern the ways or will of God? Please share. Your sharing might help someone else.

Saturday, March 25

Romans 12:9-21  Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good;  love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.  Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord.  Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.

 

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.  Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.  If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 Paul closes these chapters by sharing a flurry of imperative teachings. Any one of them could be put on a bumper sticker and hung in a place that we see them often.

These teachings illustrate the way to be a follower or disciple of Jesus. They teach what it means to be formed in God.

Our life on earth is a journey of living out these imperative teachings. We gather in community to help each other do this. And on our own journey we become more like Jesus.

Becoming like Jesus does not mean we suddenly have magical powers. It means that our spirit is a reflection of the spirit of Jesus.

What does it mean to you that your spirit would be a reflection of the spirit of Jesus? Please share.

Monday, March 13 
Romans 5:1-21 
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might dare to die.  But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.  Much more surely, therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.  But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned, for sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.  Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam, who is a pattern of the one who was to come.

 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.  And the gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the gift following many trespasses brings justification.  If, because of the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.  But law came in, so that the trespass might increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,  so that, just as sin reigned in death, so grace might also reign through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is one of the most significant chapters in the Bible. In these twenty-one verses Paul wrote about justification by faith, and he talked about we call “original sin.” 

Pastor Paul preached on justification by faith in his sermon on Sunday, March 5. See the video above to view that sermon. A very significant idea for our own faith is that God justifies us, and that we don’t justify ourselves with God. God is the acting agent.  One of many ways we can understand this term is to ask the question, “What makes us right in the eyes of God?” Until Jesus came, humans were justified or made right by following the law.  People followed the law by following the 10 Commandments, practicing Sabbath, and eating certain foods. Men were circumcised.  Paul wrote in this chapter that each of us is made right by the actions of Jesus when he died on the cross. The cross clears the way for a relationship with God. Faith is receiving this gift that God has given to us. Notice that faith is a passive verb and not an active verb. Certainly, faith can be active, but the point is we receive what God has done for us. 

It’s much easier to do; however, this is not the dynamic of faith. How are you doing at receiving? Please share. 

Tuesday, March 14 
Romans 6:1-14
What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase?  By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?  Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin.  For whoever has died is freed from sin.  But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you obey their desires.  No longer present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace. 

Paul wrote that all of us who have been baptized have been baptized into the death of Jesus. (Romans 6:3) 

This might seem a strange idea to communicate, for how can we be baptized into death? 

What Paul meant is the death of Jesus on the cross cleared the way for humans to have a relationship with God. We take our spiritual strength and identity from the love of Jesus demonstrated on the cross. Each of us receives grace when we are baptized. None of us could receive grace unless Jesus had died. The gift of grace is the result of baptism. We receive grace or we are baptized into his death. 

Have you reflected before on being baptized into Christ’s death? Have you thought much about what this phrase means for our life? Specifically, how does the phrase, being baptized into Jesus’ death make a difference in our own faith life. Please share. 

Wednesday, March 15 
Romans 6:15-23
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!  Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness.  I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.

When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Paul wrote about the word sanctification in verse 22. This is an important word for each of us to understand on our journey of faith. Sanctification is about the journey of faith. It’s the process of becoming who God wants us to be. Some describe it as being more holy.  Once a person accepts the gift of justification, a person travels the path of sanctification. This path is one where our works are very important. To keep growing in faith, we live out certain faith practices. We worship, we read the Bible, we pray, we participate in small groups, we serve, we give our money away. Each of these practices helps us grow with God or become holy. 

As we grow in faith and become more holy, we don’t become prideful about our faith. In fact, we become the opposite. We grow in humility. A holy person who is humble can change the world. What are your thoughts about being a holy person who is humble? Please share. 

Thursday, March 16 
Romans 7:1-25 
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!  Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness.  I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.

 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death.  But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is a remarkable chapter where Paul shares the inward struggle regarding sin. He noted that sometimes even Paul would do things that he didn’t intend to do. When this happened it was not Paul who was acting, but instead it was sin inside of him that had influence.  

All of us can think of times when we are not at our best. We might do things that we don’t intend to do. Paul would say that this is the sin in our own heart that has control over us. There is a way out of this struggle. That way is Jesus. “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” he wrote. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25) Acknowledging our own sins does not mean we think we are bad people. It does acknowledge that we are human.  Knowing the ways that we fall short can lead us to want to follow Jesus even more. Do you believe that knowing and identifying your own sins can lead us to appreciate Jesus even more? Please share. 

Friday, March 17 
Romans 8:1-17
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!  Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness.  I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.

When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death.  But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chapter 8 of Romans is one of the most beautiful chapters in the entire Bible. At the start Paul contrasts the way of the Spirit and the way of the Flesh. He tells his readers that they are in the Spirit because the Spirit of God dwells within them.  When a person is baptized, we celebrate that the Holy Spirit is in the heart of a person. That Spirit can never be taken away. It is always part of the person’s inner being. Acknowledging that the Spirit is inside of us is very important. We want to feed and encourage the Spirit. During Lent Pastor Paul has been talking about our heart number. Our heart number is the percentage of times we look at the world through the spirit of compassion. Looking at the world with compassion is one way that we can acknowledge the Spirit within us. It’s very difficult to view the world with compassion without the help of God. 

How is it going at growing in your heart number? Please share. 

Saturday, March 18 
Romans 8:18-39
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted  and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness.  I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.

 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul continues this theme of focusing on the Spirit that is inside of people who follow Jesus. The Spirit will help us in our weakness. It will help us let go of our own sins and the ways we trip ourselves up. The end of this Scripture is one that is often read at funerals. In the end of the reading, we find that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. As Paul wrote, “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:38-39) 

Celebrate the reality of this love today! 

Monday, March 6

Romans 1:1-17

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,  which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,  the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh  and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the gentiles for the sake of his name, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world.  For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened – or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.  I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you, as I have among the rest of the gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish, hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is God’s saving power for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith, as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”

Paul wrote this letter late in his life. Most people think he wrote it approximately around the year 58. He had already had much success in sharing the message of the gospel with others. When he wrote this letter, Paul was in Corinth. He wanted to go to Jerusalem to share a collection, and then he wanted to travel to Rome.

He shared his thankfulness to Greeks and barbarians because he had learned so much from them as he shared the message of Jesus. He now wanted to do this in Rome.

The theme of the letter is in verses 16-17. The message is that everyone who has faith would receive salvation. Through the cross the righteousness of God had been revealed.

Read over these two verses. The verses were shared on a prayer card on Sunday, February 26. The two verses are worth knowing.

Paul had a specific idea about what the righteousness of God looked like. He explored this idea in this book of Romans.

What does the righteousness of God look like for you? How do you understand this? Please share.

 

Tuesday, March 7

Romans 1:18-32

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those who by their injustice suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been seen and understood through the things God has made. So they are without excuse, for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

Therefore, God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason, God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Their females exchanged natural intercourse[a] for unnatural, and in the same way also the males, giving up natural intercourse with females, were consumed with their passionate desires for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.

 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind and to do things that should not be done.  They were filled with every kind of injustice, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die, yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.

 These verses have been inappropriately used to condemn people. Understanding them is important. Pastor Paul will be preaching about them on Sunday, March 12.

What’s important is to see how seriously Paul took sin. Paul saw each person’s sin as something that dishonors God. The results of a person’s sin could potentially be catastrophic.

This past Sunday Pastor Paul talked about a worship service where the preacher was trying to get everyone to admit sin. People were asked to raise their hands if they had committed sins and needed grace.

Talking about sin is tricky. It’s not healthy to think of ourselves as horrible people who sin. It’s also healthy not to think of ourselves as people without sin. These would be two extremes.

In Romans Paul started out writing about sin because people couldn’t appreciate the goodness of the cross unless they understood their own sin.

How do you understand sin? Do you see it in yourself? Do you feel bad about yourself because of your sins? Or do you see yourself in another way. Please share.

 

Wednesday, March 8

Romans 2:1-29

Therefore, you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others, for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth. Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God?  Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?  But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.  He will repay according to each one’s deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life, while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but injustice, there will be wrath and fury. There will be affliction and distress for everyone who does evil, both the Jew first and the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, both the Jew first and the Greek.  For God shows no partiality.

All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged in accordance with the law.  For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight but the doers of the law who will be justified.  When gentiles, who do not possess the law, by nature do what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, as their own conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God through Christ Jesus judges the secret thoughts of all.

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God and know his will and determine what really matters because you are instructed in the law, and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you, then, who teach others, will you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?  You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by your transgression of the law?  For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles because of you.”

Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So, if the uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then the physically uncircumcised person who keeps the law will judge you who, though having the written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law. For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something external and physical.  Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not the written code. Such a person receives praise not from humans but from God.

In this chapter Paul is talking about our own sin and the role of the law in terms of faith.

In the first part he is making the argument that since everyone sins no one can judge others.  God’s kindness for us is not meant for us to judge others but instead to grow in our own relationship with God (Romans 2:4).

He then started talking about the role of the law. The law here is the 10 Commandments and the regulations and practices that had been set up.  These regulations and practices were important. And the law could work if a person could follow it a hundred percent of the time. He’ll talk more about this in later chapters of Romans.

 

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “if I only do this, then I am a Christian?” You defined your own faith by an action. Or have you known of someone who has. Please share.

 

Thursday, March 9

Romans 3:1-20

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much, in every way. For in the first place, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.  What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?  By no means! Although every human is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written,

“So that you may be justified in your words
    and you will prevail when you go to trial.”

But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner? And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their judgment is deserved!

What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written:

“There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding; there is no one who seeks God.
 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness; there is not even one.”  “Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of vipers is under their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.”  “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Now we know that, whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.  For no human will be justified before him by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

The point that Paul has been driving at is in the last part of verse 9, “for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin.”

Paul was making the argument that it is impossible to follow the law a hundred percent of the time. The law is not a helpful way to go into a relationship with God because ultimately it is impossible to follow it at every moment.

All of us find ourselves at some moment under the power of sin.

Pastor Paul has shared that when it comes to sin, the church makes one of two mistakes. It either talks about sin so much that people hate themselves and are afraid of God; or it talks about sin so little that people don’t believe that they need God. Faith becomes a self-improvement program.

Have you experienced either of these extremes? Please share.

 

Friday, March 10

Romans 3:21-31

But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets, the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;  they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to demonstrate at the present time his own righteousness, so that he is righteous and he justifies the one who has the faith of Jesus.

Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? That of works? No, rather through the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of gentiles also? Yes, of gentiles also, since God is one, and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then overthrow the law through this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Verses 21-26 are a central theme of what Paul has been trying to communicate. The basic message that Paul is sharing is that everyone eventually falls short. And because of this falling short, following the law is not enough. The law actually convicts people of their own sin.

What people need is grace. This grace is what was offered to people on the cross. It is a gift that is given to everyone. The cross is the ultimate example of righteousness. Just as God passed over the Israelites in the story of the Passover, God passes over our own sins because of the death of Jesus.

This doesn’t mean that people should not follow the law. But it does mean that the law cannot provide us ultimate satisfaction in the eyes of the God. Humans don’t follow the law to become good. Humans follow the law because God first displayed grace on the cross.

This difference is important.

What are your thoughts about this? Please share.

 

Saturday, March 11

Romans 4:1-25

What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.  But to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. So also David pronounces a blessing on those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:

 “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered; blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.”

Is this blessing, then, pronounced only on the circumcised or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them,  and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.

 For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.  Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So shall your descendants be.”  He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already[f] as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.  Therefore “it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”  Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

 

The response to God is faith. The promise that God made to humankind was a promise to Abram. You can read this story in Genesis 12-17. Abram, later Abraham, didn’t respond to the promise that God made to him by following a regulation. He followed by believing. This believing is faith.

 

In the next chapter Paul will say that people are justified by faith. People are put into a relationship with God because of what God has done, not because they are good people. Instead God offered this relationship to everyone.

Pastor Paul has talked about being justified as a Christmas gift. It is waiting for us to open up the gift. When we open up the gift we are expressing faith.

What are your thoughts about this or any of the readings this week? Please share.

Monday, February 20

Matthew 9:18-26 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”  And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.  Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak,  for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.”  Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment.  When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.  But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread through all of that district.

 This past Sunday Pastor Paul encouraged everyone to demonstrate love from our heart. This demonstration of love is not something that we do. Instead, it is an attitude or orientation from which we approach the world. People will know us by the love (agape love) of our heart.

We need examples and role models for this agape love. Jesus, of course is one example. This week we will have the opportunity to read stories of Jesus sharing the compassionate love of his own heart.

One key part of this story is in verse 19 when Jesus got up and followed the leader of the synagogue with a desire to help the leader’s daughter.

Jesus was busy teaching his disciples when the leader approached Jesus. To follow the leader, Jesus had to stop what he was doing, and start something new.

It would have been understandable if Jesus had said, “I’m busy right now and cannot help. I’ll come and help later.” But the compassion in Jesus was so strong that this overrode any desire he possibly had to stay where he was.

We might diminish this action by Jesus because it was, of course, Jesus who did it. But diminishing his action takes away the power of it. How easy is it for us to leave something we’re enjoying to go and follow someone else.

What strikes you about the action of Jesus? Please share.

Tuesday, February 21

Matthew 11:28-30  “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 This passage is typically shared at the start of Communion. The passage shares the characteristics of the heart of Jesus. The heart of Jesus is gentle; the heart of Jesus is humble.

It’s worth reflecting on how we are described by other people. When we are not present and someone is describing us would they describe us as gentle? Would they describe us as humble?

Being gentle and humble are qualities that the world doesn’t always value. How often have we read articles that describe “five ways to be gentle” or “five paths to being humble.” Have we ever read articles or even seen a video on growing in gentleness or humility?

Sometimes recognizing the barriers to what we want is helpful. What are the barriers that we have to being more gentle or more humble?

Please share.

Wednesday, February 22

Matthew 14:13-21  Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.”  Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Once again, the actions of Jesus are marvelous and are worth reflecting deeply.

Jesus had just learned that John had been killed. To make John’s death even worse, he had been killed in a cavalier way. Herod made a promise because he was so taken by a dance by the daughter of Herodias. When the daughter of Herodias asked that John be killed, Herod followed through on the promise. Herod actually didn’t want to have John killed, but his commitment to his promise was more important than his feelings about John.

When Jesus heard this news, he wanted to get away. He needed to be by himself and process what had happened.

The crowds wouldn’t let Jesus be by himself. When they heard that Jesus was nearby, the crowds found Jesus.

When Jesus looked at the crowds, he could have experienced anger. In fact, most of us would have understood if Jesus had told the crowds to go home. Jesus needed to process his grief.

Instead, Jesus felt compassion for the crowds. His heart leapt out to them in love.

What does it mean to you that Jesus acted in this way? Please share.

Thursday, February 23

Matthew 9:35-38  Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;  therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Just like the story that we read yesterday, when Jesus saw the crowds he felt compassion for them. The Greek root of the English word, “compassion,” is splancha. It means guts or innards. It’s literally as if the innards of Jesus went out to the people. We can see that the heart of Jesus went out to the people.

The people in the crowds were not special. They were most likely dirty, perhaps smelly, probably not educated. They had diseases and sickness. Jesus didn’t share compassion because the people earned his compassion – he shared compassion because this was what his heart looked like.

This attitude or orientation of Jesus is something that does not come naturally to many people. It’s not as if people naturally experience compassion in their hearts. Compassion is something to be cultivated.

What helps you be compassionate? What have you learned over the years that has propelled you to be more compassionate? Please share.

 

 Friday, February 24

Matthew 20:29-34  As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”  The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet, but they shouted even more loudly, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!” Jesus stood still and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?”  They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”  Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.

 This story happened right before Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last week of his life. A large crowd was following Jesus and two blind men approached Jesus and asked for mercy. They wanted to be healed.

It’s interesting that the story says that Jesus was moved with compassion. It doesn’t say that the two men were healed. Instead, the story shares that Jesus had compassion and regained their sight when Jesus touched their eyes. The healing of the two men was a result of the compassion of Jesus. Our own compassion can have that effect on others.

On Sunday Pastor Paul encouraged us to live with a compassionate heart. This type of heart is not something we do. It’s our orientation or perspective on the world.

Today is the third day of Lent. Perhaps we can see Lent this year as an opportunity to grow in compassion in our own heart. One way we can grow is to be intentional about cultivating compassion. What helps us grow in compassion? Please share.

 

Saturday, February 25

Matthew 26:36-46  Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and agitated.  Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.”  Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?  Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Now the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. Look, my betrayer is at hand.”

In this story we once again receive a picture of the heart of Jesus. Jesus was deeply agitated and grieved. He was sorry about what was going to happen to him.

This story reveals the complex humanity of Jesus. He was not a God who came to the earth without experiencing emotions. Jesus experienced the same emotions that the rest of us humans experienced.

Jesus was able to let go of his emotions and follow the path that was laid out for him.

What does it mean to you that Jesus was deeply grieved? Please share.

Monday, February 13

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24  Seek good and not evil,
    that you may live,
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
    just as you have said.
 Hate evil and love good,
    and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.


I hate, I despise your festivals,
    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them,
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
    I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like water
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

In following up on T. Mychael Rambo’s sermon this past Sunday we will look this week at the topic of peace & justice.

The book of Amos was written in the 8th century before Jesus. The man called Amos was a shepherd and possibly a man who owned land that was able to support sycamore figs that were given to cattle.

God was upset with the people of Israel because they had neglected justice. He couldn’t stand their religious assemblies or their offerings or their songs. What God wanted from the people was a commitment to justice that sprung from their hearts.

In this book justice meant treating people who were poor with dignity. It meant not ignoring them or their plight.

Amos 5:24 is a very famous Scripture – Martin Luther King Jr. quoted it in his famous “Letter from a Birmingham jail.” The Scripture can be instructive as people in the United States come to terms with our country’s racial history.

The Scripture is this: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

In your life how can you live out this Scripture today? Please share.

 

Tuesday, February 14

Hosea 2:16-20  On that day, says the Lord, you will call me “my husband,” and no longer will you call me “my Baal.” For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more.  I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground, and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.  And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.

 

The book of Hosea was written in the 8th century before Jesus. The book is the first of the twelve minor prophets. The first three chapters of Hosea share a metaphor of Hosea’s relationship with a prostitute. This relationship mirrors that relationship between God and Israel. The people of Israel were going off to worship and serving other Gods. God’s heart was broken by the idolatry of the people.

In these verses from the second chapter God presented a vision of the relationship between God and Israel. The words are beautiful. “I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.” Hosea 2:19-20

These words could be the basis for anyone’s wedding vows.

Think about your most important relationships. How can you live out these words and in particular the call for righteousness and justice in those relationships? Please share.  

 

Wednesday, February 15

Jeremiah 22:1-5   Thus says the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, and say: Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah sitting on the throne of David—you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates.  Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.  For if you will indeed obey this word, then through the gates of this house shall enter kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses—they, their servants, and their people.  But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.

 

The man named Jeremiah was a priest in the line of King David and a descendant of Abiathar. He received a call from God to be a prophet when he was a young man, perhaps as old as a teenager, Jeremiah 1:4-10

 

In these verses for today God asked Jeremiah to go to the place where the king lived and proclaim a message. If this story happened in the United States, we could imagine Jeremiah going to the White House and sharing this message.

The message that Jeremiah shared was to act with justice and righteousness and go out of the way to help those on the margins of the world—the alien (person from another country), the orphan, and the widow.

This message is similar to the message of Matthew 25. “Whatever you do to the least of these my brethren you do it to me.”

 

We can learn from these words that God has a special place in the divine heart for those who are on the margins. God wants to see justice done.

 

Thursday, February 16

Isaiah 42:1-4  Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

    he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry out or lift up his voice

    or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

    and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

    he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed

    until he has established justice in the earth,

    and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

 
Isaiah is the longest of the Old Testament prophets. The book can be divided into three sections. Isaiah 1-39 happened before the exile; Isaiah 40-55 happened after the exile of the people; Isaiah 56-65 happened when the people were returning to Jerusalem.

Today’s reading is one of the four servant songs in Isaiah. The other three servant songs are 49:1-7, 50:4-11 & 52:13-52:12.

Some see this story as a foreshadowing of Jesus.

We read in these four verses that God put the divine spirit into a person. And that person would bring forth justice to the nations. The servant would follow God to do what was right and bring care to those who are most vulnerable.

 

In the last verse we read that the servant would not grow faint until justice has been established in the earth.

From the beginning of the servant’s life to the end, doing and creating justice was vital.

What does this servant song mean to you? Please share.

 

Friday, February 17

Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come before the Lord
    and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice and to love kindness
    and to walk humbly with your God?

The person named Micah was a prophet from the Judean town of Moresheth. Micah was active as a prophet in the 8th century.

The book of Micah is one of the twelve books in the Old Testament that are known as the minor prophets. Having the word “minor” as a description does not make the book less important than the “major” prophets. It indicates that the book is shorter than the major prophets.

 

These verses from Micah are very famous.

“What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Doing justice, loving kindness, and walking with humility are all significant parts of the life of a disciple.

How do you do on these three. How would you rate yourself on each of the three on a scale from one to ten with ten being the highest? Please share.

 

Saturday, February 18

Ezekiel 34:11-16 For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep and will sort them out. As shepherds sort out their flocks when they are among scattered sheep, so I will sort out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land.  I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God.  I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strays, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

 

Ezekiel was a man who was a prophet from 594 BCE to 574 BCE. He was the son of a priest and was one of the people who had to go into exile to Babylon.

Most people know the 37th chapter of Ezekiel where Ezekiel talked about the dry bones and the life that was brought to the dry bones.

In this 34th chapter Ezekiel shared that God was like a shepherd. “I [God] will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.”

People can never escape that which is right. Justice is at the core of the universe.

What does this mean to you? Please share.

Monday, January 30

Genesis 1:26-27, 31  Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

So God created humans in his image,

    in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them.

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

This is the final week of a three week focus on mental health in this devotion. We start this week by looking at a foundational story in the Scriptures, that of the creation of humans.

As humans each of us is created in the image of God. We all carry the imago dei or the image of God within us. One spiritual exercise each of us could do is to look in the mirror and say, “I am carrying the image of God within me. I reflect God.”

This really is a vision of who God wants and desires for us to be. We carry with us the “divine stuff.”

Of course, this does not mean that we are God or that we are to act like a God. What it does mean is we reflect God’s goodness and mercy and compassion with others. The ultimate reality is we express and share and reflect God to others.

This might seem a lot for us to process, but God will help us. Our task is to reflect what is already inside our inner spirit.

This is the vision of healing. The vision is that we come back to fully expressing and fully reflecting the image of God. 

You might imagine a prism reflecting many different colors as the light shines through it. This is us! We carry the image of God within us, and when the light of God is reflected through us people can experience a picture of beauty.

What does it mean to you that you are created in the image of God? How does this make an impact in your life and the life of people around you? Please share.

Tuesday, January 31

Exodus 15:22-26  Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. That is why it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he put them to the test.  He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.”

“I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:26b

What image of God do you carry with you? When someone asks you to share the picture of God that you have, what does that picture look like?

Hopefully you envision God as a healer. In this story the Israelites had just escaped the onrushing Egyptians. The Israelites had made it through alive. It was a glorious time—one of the most powerful experiences of anyone that is expressed in the Old Testament.

Right after this powerful story the people go without water for three days. Then when they came upon water it was bitter. Moses cried out to God and God showed them a piece of wood. When the wood was in the water the water was sweet. The people could live.

This is what God wants to do in our lives—God wants us to bring sweetness into our reality.

Do we see God as someone who wants to bring sweetness and ultimately healing? Is this an image of God that you carry with you? Please share your thoughts about God being sweet.

Wednesday, February 1

Luke 6:17-19  He came down with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.  And everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Many times in the New Testament Jesus would have large numbers of people come to him with a desire to experience healing. We don’t know how many people came to Jesus in this story. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that five or even ten thousand people approached Jesus.

The people wanted to experience healing from their diseases.

Jesus offered much more than physical healing. He helped those who were suffering spiritually and emotionally. Jesus offered healing to those who were troubled with unclean spirits. (Luke 6:18)

It’s important to note the difference between being cured and being healed. The people weren’t cured of the physical maladies that they experienced—they were healed. They were literally released from the pain that these wounds caused. The pain of these wounds might happen again. But for this moment the people were healed.

Can you imagine what it would have been like to be part of that crowd? Share what you think the experience would have been like.

Thursday, February 2

Luke 5:17-26  One day while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem were sitting nearby, and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but, finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus.  When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”  Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?  Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the one who was paralyzed— “I say to you, stand up and take your stretcher and go to your home.”  Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God.  Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen incredible things today.”

This story happened early in Luke’s gospel. A crowd of people were so concerned about their friend who was paralyzed that they brought him to Jesus. And even when a large crowd prevented the people from bringing the man to Jesus, this did not deter them. They brought him to a roof, dug a hole in the food, and then let the man down through the hole, so he would encounter Jesus.

Jesus didn’t heal the man of his physical problems immediately. He declared that the man’s sins were forgiven.

This might seem to be an odd statement by Jesus. But if we see Jesus as someone who combined the spiritual and the physical it is not an odd statement. Jesus offered healing to the man’s body and to the man’s spirit. He was starting by healing his spirit. “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 6:23)

Jesus was a both/and leader. He healed both the man’s physical problems and his spiritual ones.

What are your thoughts about this story? Please share.

 

Friday, February 3

Matthew 9:18-26  While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.  Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak,  for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.”  Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment.  When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,  he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.  But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread through all of that district.

 Jesus ultimately healed two people in this story. In the middle of this story we hear about a woman who intentionally touched the garment of Jesus, so she could be healed. She had lived with a hemorrhage for twelve years.

This is a long time to suffer with this physical malady.

When Jesus knew what had happened, he told the woman that her faith had made her well. This is a statement that Jesus shared quite often in the New Testament. Her faith in Jesus had brought her to the place where she wanted to touch his garment and experience healing.

This is more than a story of magic. It’s a story of the woman’s faith in Jesus. Her faith led her to seek out Jesus. She never gave up on the possibility that she could experience healing.

Often when people suffer, they turn away from Jesus. In this case, even twelve years of suffering did not turn the woman away from God or Jesus.

What are your thoughts on the example of the woman? Please share.

Saturday, February 4

Mark 10:46-52  They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”  So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.  Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.”  Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

 Bartimaeus wouldn’t keep quiet about his desire to encounter Jesus. Even when the people were shushing him, Bartimaeus cried, out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Even after he was told to be quiet, he shouted out this phrase even louder!

When Bartimaeus encountered Jesus, Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted. Bartimaeus wanted to see. Jesus healed him of his blindness.

Once again Jesus shared that it was the faith that made someone well, that healing is more than a physical cure. The faith of Bartimaeus was significant in his own healing.

Do you see faith and healing connected? Please share.

Monday, January 16

Job 30:16-31  “And now my soul is poured out within me;

    days of affliction have taken hold of me.

The night racks my bones,

    and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

With violence he seizes my garment;

    he grasps me by the collar of my tunic.

 He has cast me into the mire,

    and I have become like dust and ashes.

I cry to you, and you do not answer me;

    I stand, and you merely look at me. You have turned cruel to me;

    with the might of your hand you persecute me.

You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it,

    and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

I know that you will bring me to death,

    to the house appointed for all living.

 

“Surely one does not turn against the needy,

    when in disaster they cry for help.

 Did I not weep for those whose day was hard?

    Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

But when I looked for good, evil came,

    and when I waited for light, darkness came.

My inward parts are in turmoil and are never still;

    days of affliction come to meet me.

I go about in sunless gloom;

    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

I am a brother of jackals

    and a companion of ostriches.

My skin turns black and falls from me,

    and my bones burn with heat.

My lyre is turned to mourning

    and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

 

Job was in a difficult place. Look at what he shared with God.

“The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. With violence [God] seizes my garment; [God] grasps me by the collar of my tunic. [God] has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me.” Job 30:17-20

Other verses in this passage expresses Job’s disdain for God.

Many people who live with mental illness can identify with Job’s words. They would like to be rid of the pain that envelopes them and have cried out to God for that pain to be gone. But nothing has happened. God has been silent.

That a passage like this is in the Bible shows the honesty of the Bible. This passage illustrates that people can express honestly their anguish with God. God never condemned Job for sharing pain.

Have you ever been in a place that was similar to the place Job was in? What happened? Please share.

Tuesday, January 17

Luke 5:17-26  One day while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem were sitting nearby, and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but, finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”  Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the one who was paralyzed—“I say to you, stand up and take your stretcher and go to your home.” Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen incredible things today.”

 This is an amazing story of people who cared. People were so committed to bringing this man who was paralyzed to Jesus. Look at their effort! First, they put the man on a stretcher and brought him to the house. Imagine the strength it took to carry him on a stretcher.  When they came to the house, there was no way to get inside the house. So many people were crowded around the house that it appeared that the man would not be healed by Jesus. This was no problem! The men went to the roof and dug a hole in the roof and then gently lowered the man so he could be next to Jesus.

When Jesus recognized what was happening the first thing he did was to acknowledge the faith of the people who brought the paralyzed man to the feet of Jesus. It was their faith that inspired Jesus to ultimately heal the man who was paralyzed and to forgive his sins.

Sometimes this is the effort that is needed to help people who are living with mental illness. It takes extraordinary resolve and commitment to stay on the right path.

Can you think of people who have shown this level of resolve? Give a prayer of thanks for them. And then share a bit of their story. Their story is important to be recognized!

Wednesday, January 18

1 Kings 19:1-9  Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.”  He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

 Elijah was literally at the end of his rope. Jezebel had sent a message to Elijah that she and Ahab had won their confrontation with Elijah. Many prophets had been killed with a sword. Elijah had to escape because he feared for his life.

Elijah walked a day into the wilderness and sat underneath a solitary broom tree. He was ready to give up and die. He asked God to take his life.

Elijah must have felt like he was all alone.

This coming Sunday Pastor Paul will be preaching about suicide.  What Elijah felt is what many people who take their life feel. They are emotionally beaten down and feel all alone.

What’s significant about this story is what happened next. An angel came to Elijah and told Elijah to eat. God did not leave Elijah alone.

God never leaves us alone. Even if we don’t feel God or haven’t an experience of God or are going through a very dry period in our own relationship with God, God has not left us alone.

Communicating the presence of God to someone who believes God is absent might literally be the difference between life and death. Pray today for all who are at this place where Elijah was in this story.

Thursday, January 19

Mark 5:1-20

 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain, for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces, and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him, and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”  He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding, and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

This is Mark’s version of the story we heard this past Sunday. It’s the story of a man who was living with mental illness.

This man was very scary to others. The treatment for his illness was to be restrained with shackles and chains. The man was so strong that these chains and shackles could not keep him down.

The man recognized Jesus as the Son of God. It must have been scary for Jesus to be confronted by this strong man.

If Jesus was scared, he certainly didn’t reveal it. The first words out of his mouth are so important for us. “What is your name?” Jesus wanted to know the man; he wanted to understand his identity; Jesus was interested in the man.

Sometimes just showing a person who lives with mental illness that we want to help is enough. Just sharing repeatedly that we care and love the person is enough to allow us to help.

“What is your name?” To whom can we ask this question today?

 Friday, January 20

Psalm 42-43 

Psalm 42 – As a deer longs for flowing streams,

    so my soul longs for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God,

    for the living God.

When shall I come and behold

    the face of God?

My tears have been my food

    day and night,

while people say to me continually,

    “Where is your God?”

These things I remember,

    as I pour out my soul:

how I went with the throng

    and led them in procession to the house of God,

with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,

    a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

    and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,

my help and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;

    therefore I remember you

from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,

    from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep

    at the thunder of your torrents;

all your waves and your billows

    have gone over me.

By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,

    and at night his song is with me,

    a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God, my rock,

    “Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I walk about mournfully

    because the enemy oppresses me?”

As with a deadly wound in my body,

    my adversaries taunt me,

while they say to me continually,

    “Where is your God?”

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

    and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,

    my help and my God.

 Psalm 43 – Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause

    against an ungodly people;

from those who are deceitful and unjust,

    deliver me!

For you are the God in whom I take refuge;

    why have you cast me off?

Why must I walk about mournfully

    because of the oppression of the enemy?

O send out your light and your truth;

    let them lead me;

let them bring me to your holy hill

    and to your dwelling.

Then I will go to the altar of God,

    to God my exceeding joy,

and I will praise you with the harp,

    O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

    and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,

    my help and my God.

 These two Psalms were originally together as one Psalm. The writer of the Psalm was very upset. He was upset with God and he was upset with himself.

Even though he was upset he pleaded with himself to stay connected to God.

The end of both Psalms shares this.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.”

In the past Pastor Paul has shared that hope is keeping faith even when we’ve lost faith. The writer of this Psalm had lost faith, but he was still approaching God. This hope is not an “everything will turn out all right” type of hope. This is keeping hope even when optimism seems gone.

Have you had an experience, or do you know of someone who has had this type of experience? Please share.

Saturday, January 21

Romans 8:26-27   Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words.  And God, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

 The Spirit intercedes for us even when we do not know how to pray.  Knowing that the Spirit is always with us is a terrific source of comfort. Even if we feel a long ways from God and do not know how to pray, the Spirit will help us.

Look at the power of verse 27. It is worth memorizing. “And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

May this be your prayer today!

Knowing that the Spirit is always with us is a terrific source of comfort. Even if we feel a long ways from God and do not know how to pray, the Spirit will help us.

Look at the power of verse 27. It is worth memorizing. “And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

May this be your prayer today!

Monday, January 9

Genesis 17: 9-14 God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.  Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring.  Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

 

This week we have the opportunity to learn more about Communion or the Lord’s Supper.

It might seem odd to start out with a reading about circumcision. But understanding why God wanted people to be circumcised can help us understand the purpose of the Lord’s Supper.

God had freely established a covenant or contract with the people at the start of Genesis 17. God told the Israelites that a sign of the covenant for humans would be circumcision. It was a literal mark that people carried on their bodies. 

God told the Israelites that circumcision is a response to the covenant that God had established.

Circumcision was only offered to men—so it was an exclusive mark, though it was extended to slaves and foreigners.

When each of us receives Communion we are responding to the love that God has given to each of us. Communion is a sign of grace. We are marked by grace. This new covenant is given to everyone.

When each of us celebrates Communion we can think how our spirit is marked by grace.

What can you do today to share this spiritual marking that you have received? Please share.

 

Tuesday, January 10

Jeremiah 31:31-34  The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord.  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.

A covenant is made up of a promise by God and a response by God’s followers. God promised Jeremiah that a new covenant would be coming in the future. This covenant would be written in our hearts. Our connection to God starts with the devotion of our hearts.

We know that this covenant was illustrated by the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Our hearts connect to God through our own connection to Jesus.

When we celebrate Communion, our hearts are sealed in grace. One definition of a Sacrament is a sign and seal of grace. Yesterday we talked about the sign of grace; today we’re looking at how grace is sealed within us.

Celebrating Communion helps keep this seal strong.

A metaphor that can help us understand this relationship is a seal of an envelope. Over time that seal might lose its grip. Without attention the seal will be undone.

Celebrating Communion can help keep this seal strong. Every time we celebrate Communion we are reminded at some level of this covenant that God has given to us through Jesus.

Have you had a time when celebrating Communion was especially important to you? Please share.

 

Wednesday, January 11

Luke 9:10-17  On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. Then, taking them along, he slipped quietly into a city called Bethsaida.  When the crowds found out about it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who needed to be cured.

The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside to lodge and get provisions, for we are here in a deserted place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”  For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” They did so and had them all sit down.  And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.  And all ate and were filled, and what was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

As Presbyterians Communion is celebrated in community. People can receive Communion individually from an ordained person who should be accompanied by another person.

We get a sense of the power of community through this story of the feeding of the 5,000. In a way we could think of this story as a sacramental meal. The people received two elements—bread and fish. Like grace, the bounty of bread and fish was amazing. More people were fed then anyone could have imagined.

Imagine the power that went through the crowd that day. The people must have been struck with awe and wonder. How could this happen that 5,000 people were fed with five loaves and two fish?!

Grace is magical.

When we celebrate Communion with others, we want the Spirit to create a powerful experience among the people. Participating in the Lord’s Supper is more than a one-on-one connection to God. The people who celebrate are connected in an almost magical way to each other.

Have you had time when you experienced this connection when you celebrated Communion? Please share. 

 

Thursday, January 12

Matthew 26:17-30  On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?”  He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ”  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve disciples, and while they were eating he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.  The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”  Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 

When Jesus celebrated the Lord’s Supper with his disciples in the Upper Room, the celebration had long, historical roots. The disciples and Jesus were celebrating the Passover. They were remembering through a meal the story of God liberating the Israelites from Egypt.

Communion didn’t replace the Passover meal; the Lord’s Supper was an extension of what happened at the Red Sea.

When we celebrate Communion, we could think of the event that connects each of us to our Jewish roots.

It’s important to note that Jesus used the language of covenant in verse 27. This covenant would happen on the cross and the empty tomb. Jesus offered forgiveness of sins to all who participated in this meal.

What does it mean to you that when you celebrate Communion, you are connecting to our Jewish brothers and sisters? Please share.

 

Friday, January 13

Luke 24:28-35  As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.  But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!”  Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

In this story of the walk to Emmaus, Jesus broke bread with the people who walked with him. Look at what happened in verses thirty and thirty-one.

“When [Jesus] was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight.”

When we celebrate Communion our eyes are opened to see the working of God in the world. A metaphor to describe Communion is a set of glasses. Celebrating Communion helps us see God more clearly.

Each of us might have had an experience of someone sharing with us that the person couldn’t see God. A response to this statement is to ask if the person would like to celebrate Communion.

What does it mean to you that through Communion you can see God more clearly? Please share.

 

Saturday, January 14

1Corinthians 11:23-32  For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

 

People have taken these verses to develop some strange ideas about Communion. That somehow that by participating in Communion we are bringing shame on ourselves. This could not be further from the truth and would be inconsistent with the love that Jesus shared with everyone.

It’s important to see this story in its context. Paul was seeing abuses in the community that were not consistent with the love of Jesus. We can read more about this in verses seventeen to twenty-two.

It’s as if Paul was saying, “you’re not doing this right. You’re bringing shame on yourself through your practices.

These verses are not a universal teaching about Communion. They are specifically aimed at the people in Corinth.

Monday, January 2

Psalm 145  I will extol you, my God and King,

    and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you

    and praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;

    his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall extol your works to another

    and shall declare your mighty acts.

They will recount the glorious splendor of your majesty,

    and on your wondrous works I will meditate.

They will proclaim the might of your awesome deeds,

    and I will declare your greatness.

They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness

    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful,

    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The Lord is good to all,

    and his compassion is over all that he has made.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

    and all your faithful shall bless you.

They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom

    and tell of your power,

to make known to all people your mighty deeds

    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words

    and gracious in all his deeds.

The Lord upholds all who are falling

    and raises up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to you,

    and you give them their food in due season.

You open your hand,

    satisfying the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is just in all his ways

    and kind in all his doings.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,

    to all who call on him in truth.

 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;

    he also hears their cry and saves them.

The Lord watches over all who love him,

    but all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

    and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

  As we start a new year we have the opportunity this week to read the last six Psalms.

Psalm 145 is an acrostic Psalm. The Psalm starts out with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; each successive line begins with the word with the next letter. As you read this Psalm admire the skill of the writer who could create such a fabulous expression of praise within this acrostic method.

Pastor Paul defines praise as extolling God for a quality or act of God. The first sentence of this Psalm has the word, “extol” in it. And all throughout the Psalm qualities or acts of God are praised. It’s worth mentioning a few.

God’s acts are mighty (verse 4b)

God’s deeds are awesome (verse 6)

God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (verse 8)

Authentic praise is expressing our own love for God. Our love is dependent on particular qualities or acts of God which are meaningful to us.

It’s important to be able to identify the qualities or acts of God that are most important to us. What are the three qualities of God that are especially meaningful to you? In reading this Psalm you can come across a list of qualities or acts of God that could be most meaningful to you.

Read through this Psalm and come up with your list. When you have three qualities, spend some time sharing the following prayer.

I praise you God for (a particular quality of God)

What qualities of God especially resonate with you? Please share.

 

Tuesday, January 3

Psalm 146  Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

    I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

Do not put your trust in princes,

    in mortals, in whom there is no help.

When their breath departs, they return to the earth;

    on that very day their plans perish.

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

    whose hope is in the Lord their God,

who made heaven and earth,

    the sea, and all that is in them;

who keeps faith forever;

who executes justice for the oppressed;

    who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

    the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the strangers;

    he upholds the orphan and the widow,

    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The Lord will reign forever,

    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord!

 

In this Psalm we read about the contrast between God and leaders. The Psalmist was sharing that leaders will eventually disappoint us. It’s important to follow leaders and be thankful for their qualities. But eventually they are going to depart and their plans will perish.

In contrast, God is everlasting. God is never going to depart or leave us. God is always present. This reality of God is worth our praise.

 

At the end of the Psalm we read about the special place in God’s heart for those who live on the margins of the world. God looks out for the prisoners, the blind, those who are bowed down, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. 

If this Psalm was written today, we would say that God loves the homeless, and especially homeless teens.

This deep care by God for those on the margins is a reason to give God praise.

What does it mean to you that God has a special place in God’s heart for those who live on the margins? Please share.

 

Wednesday, January 4

Psalm 147 Praise the Lord!

How good it is to sing praises to our God,

    for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted

    and binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars;

    he gives to all of them their names.

Great is our Lord and abundant in power;

    his understanding is beyond measure.

The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;

    he casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

    make melody to our God on the lyre.

He covers the heavens with clouds,

    prepares rain for the earth,

    makes grass grow on the hills.

He gives to the animals their food

    and to the young ravens when they cry.

His delight is not in the strength of the horse

    nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner,

but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,

    in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem!

    Praise your God, O Zion!

For he strengthens the bars of your gates;

    he blesses your children within you.

He grants peace within your borders;

    he fills you with the finest of wheat.

He sends out his command to the earth;

    his word runs swiftly.

He gives snow like wool;

    he scatters frost like ashes.

He hurls down hail like crumbs—

    who can stand before his cold?

He sends out his word and melts them;

    he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.

He declares his word to Jacob,

    his statutes and ordinances to Israel.

He has not dealt thus with any other nation;

    they do not know his ordinances.

Praise the Lord!

 The character of God is expressed in multiple ways in this Psalm. One way is in verses 10-11:

“God’s delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of the runner; but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” (Psalm 147: 10-11)

God is most impressed in our character—in the ways that we have respect or fear of God. God is more impressed with our inner character then the strength of our body or the quality of our own outer beauty.

These pleasures that God has for us opens up the possibility of everyone having a relationship with God. A person doesn’t have to be strong or beautiful to be with God. God is most interested in our own spirit—that which is inside of us.

Everyone might not be beautiful by the terms of the world, but everyone has an inner character or spirit in which God can take pleasure.

What does it mean to you to fear or have reverence for God? Please share.

 

Thursday, January 5

Psalm 148 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens;

    praise him in the heights!

Praise him, all his angels;

    praise him, all his host!

Praise him, sun and moon;

    praise him, all you shining stars!

Praise him, you highest heavens

    and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

    for he commanded and they were created.

He established them forever and ever;

    he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.[a]

Praise the Lord from the earth,

    you sea monsters and all deeps,

fire and hail, snow and frost,

    stormy wind fulfilling his command!

Mountains and all hills,

    fruit trees and all cedars!

Wild animals and all cattle,

    creeping things and flying birds!

Kings of the earth and all peoples,

    princes and all rulers of the earth!

Young men and women alike,

    old and young together!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

    for his name alone is exalted;

    his glory is above earth and heaven.

He has raised up a horn for his people,

    praise for all his faithful,

    for the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise the Lord!

 In this Psalm the writer shares how nature expresses praise for God. The sun and moon and shining stars and waters can praise God.

The beauty of nature is an expression of praise to God. None of this beauty could happen without the creative expression of God. 

One way to express praise to God is to take some time in nature and reflect about what God has done. Seeing a sunset, or going to the woods, or spending time around water can feed our inner spirit. We can give praise to God.

What qualities in nature are especially meaningful to you? Please share.


Friday, January 6

Psalm 149  Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song,

    his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Let Israel be glad in its Maker;

    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.

Let them praise his name with dancing,

    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;

    he adorns the humble with victory.

Let the faithful exult in glory;

    let them sing for joy on their couches.

Let the high praises of God be in their throats

    and two-edged swords in their hands,

to execute vengeance on the nations

    and punishment on the peoples,

to bind their kings with fetters

    and their nobles with chains of iron,

to execute on them the judgment decreed.

    This is glory for all his faithful ones.

Praise the Lord!

 

The first five verses of this Psalm describe different ways to praise God. Each of us can praise God with dancing, with tambourine, with a lyre or harp.

It’s easy to get into a rut in our relationship with God; however, God is interested in the varieties of ways we can praise. We can praise God with our words and also with our actions. We can praise God through art or by reaching out to a friend who needs help. We can praise God with our thoughts and the attitude of our own heart.

We’re only limited in our praise of God by our own imagination.

Today as you pray, talk to God about the varieties of ways you can praise God. If you find yourself in a rut, ask God to help you get out of that rut. Ask God to reveal to you different ways you can express authentic praise right now.

Do you have some special ways that you praise God? Please share.

 

Saturday, January 7

Psalm 150  Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

    praise him in his mighty firmament!

Praise him for his mighty deeds;

    praise him according to his surpassing greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sound;

    praise him with lute and harp!

Praise him with tambourine and dance;

    praise him with strings and pipe!

Praise him with clanging cymbals;

    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

 The very last psalm in the book of Psalms is like a noisy worship service. What an appropriate way to end this collection of Praise Psalms.

Look at all the instruments that are mentioned—trumpet, lute, harp, tambourine, strings, pipe, clanging cymbals, loud clashing cymbals. It’s as if people are encouraged to use all different methods to praise God.

The last verse of the Psalm captures the essence of the message: “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!”

All creatures on earth are asked to extol God for a quality of God. 

How well do you praise the Lord? Please share.

Events

Church Calendar

Community Gardens

Very big pumpkin grown in the Chain of Lakes Community Garden by Jeremy Feuks. 10/7/2021
Chain of Lakes Church is excited to offer a Community Garden Ministry next to the new church building at 2650 125th Ave NE, Blaine, MN 55449. It’s just east of  Malmborg’s Garden Center on 125th Ave NE in Blaine or .8 miles east of Radisson Rd on 125th Ave NE, Blaine.
 
March 7, Tuesday, 7pm, at Chain of Lakes Church, come to a meeting for all who have, or want to have, a garden plot in the Chain of Lakes Community Gardens. The garden is open to the wider community, not just people who attend Chain of Lakes.
 
Contact the office for information at 763.208.8049 or info@colpres.org
 
If you are interested in a garden plot complete this form:
Community Garden Plot Application 2022 – Chain of Lakes
 
Please print and complete the application, and up until May 22, mail to:
Chain of Lakes Church
2650 125th Ave NE
Blaine, MN 55449

Event Photos

Serving at Feed My Starving Children – March 1, 2023
Christmas Eve 2022 – Greta
Christmas Eve Candlelight 2022
Christmas Concert 2022 – Kayla, Amy & Robin
Christmas Concert 2022 – Kayla, Val, Nancy & Alice
Christmas Concert 2022 – Charlie
Christmas Concert 2022 – Audrey
Sign at Edison Entrance 2022
Santa at Santa Shop Dec. 10, 2022
Santa Shop Dec. 10, 2022
Santa Shop Volunteers Dec 10, 2022
Bagging Groceries to raise money for Stepping Stone and Hope 4 Youth Dec 3, 2022
Bagging Groceries to raise money for Stepping Stone and Hope 4 Youth Dec 3, 2022
Local Impact Team giving Gift Cards to River Trail Learning Center, Nov. 2022
Craft & Vendor Fair and Bake Sale Nov. 5, 2022
Craft & Vendor Fair and Bake Sale Nov. 5, 2022
Trunk or Treat Serflings 2022
Trunk or Treat Fire truck 2022
Trunk or Treat 2022
Trunk or Treat Blaine police2022
Trunk or Treat Nissley clan 2022
Popcorn! Grand Opening 9/11/22
Bouncy House t Grand Opening 9/11/22
Balloons & Cotton Candy at Grand Opening 9/11/22
Remembering 9/11 before Ribbon Cutting 9/11/22
Sunday morning Grand Opening 9/11/22
Enjoying pie at Grand Opening 9/10/22
Platters of pie for Grand Opening 9/10/22
Bong Nwi Choir at Grand Opening 9/10/22
The OK Factor at Grand Opening 9/10/22
Greeting friends at Grand Opening 9/10/22
Serving at Feed My Starving Children, 7-6-2022
Grand Opening Banner 2022
New Brighton Celebrate Recovery Band July 31, 2022
Stepping Up 4 HOPE start of walk July 31, 2022
Stepping Up 4 HOPE sundaes July 31, 2022
Christmas in July, July 10, 2022
Christmas in July, July 10, 2022
Serving at Feed My Starving Children, 7-6-2022
Serving at Feed My Starving Children, 7-6-2022
Serving at Feed My Starving Children, 7-6-2022
Serving at Feed My Starving Children, 7-6-2022
First Worship Service New Building, May 29, 2022
Fellowship Team February 6, 2022
Signing the last Roof Truss January 23, 2022
Christmas Eve 2021
Christmas Eve candlelight 2021
Christmas Concert December 12, 2021
Celebrating Cultures & Halloween October 31, 2021
Celebrating Cultures October 31, 2021
Celebrating Cultures & Halloween October 31, 2021
HOPE Place Cookout October 27, 2021
Community Impact by Fundraising
Hope 4 Youth 4K fundraiser September 2020
Groundbreaking Celebration, ready to dig! August 15, 2021
Presbyter Gale Robb and Pastor Paul Moore
Groundbreaking Dig 8/15/2021
Paul, Hannah and Amy Moore 8/15/2021
The Rockensteins and John Ivers
Groundbreaking Praise Band 8/15/2021
Groundbreaking Worship Service 8/15/2021
Groundbreaking tear-down helpers 8/15/2021
Fundraising at 3M Open 7/21/2021
Stepping Stone 6/23/2021
Hope for the Community 5/20/2021
Hope for the Community 5/20/2021
Hope for the Community 5/20/2021
Donations for River Trail
Easter Egg Event 2021
Easter Egg Event 2021
Drive-In worshhip,10/18/2020, Wind chill 22 degrees!
Feed My Starving Children 9-24-2020
Pioneer Park clean-up 9/13/2020
Pioneer Park clean-up
Pioneer Park clean-up
Finding Comfort in the Dog Days
Finding Comfort in the Dog Days 2020
Serving at Feed My Starving Children
Serving at Feed My Starving Children
Pastor Paul Moore, Kevin Van Meter and Julie Carr leading Drive-In worship 2020
Serving at Manna Market 2020
Thanking first responders 2020
Thanking first responders 2020
Bagging groceries at Cub to raise money for homeless shelters Dec. 2019

Some highlights from recent events in the community! Click on image for clear, entire picture

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