First Sunday After Christmas

Psalm: Psalm 148 
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26  
Gospel:  Luke 2:41-52 
Epistle: Colossians 3:12-17

Today is the first Sunday after Christmas, or if you are following along with the Christian Calendar, the 3rd day of Christmas. So I guess we should be looking for "french hens" clucking around somewhere. The tradition I am a part of (The Church of the Nazarene) has recently done a better job of incorporating the preparatory seasons of the Church year, Advent and Lent for example, but I think we still have a ways to go in terms of actually celebrating the celebratory times of the year, Christmastide and Eastertide for example. Just as the preparation, waiting, and fasting are important in the communal life of the Church, so is celebrating what Christ has done and offering proper thanksgiving. Recognizing Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter as seasons, distinct from and after their respective holidays, also allows the church to give due time for reflection, thought, and sermons on each event. Following the Christian Calendar I believe is just one way (certainly not the only way) of creating space for churches and pastors to think deeper about the Sunday morning service and sermon. It allows and encourages both the pastor and the congregation to think about our lives in new ways in relation to the life of Christ. And it also creates ways for both to grow deeper in their understanding of theological concepts.

Advent Week 4

Psalm: Luke 1:47-55 or Psalm 80:1-7 
Old Testament: Micah 5:2-5a 
Gospel: Luke 1:39-45, 46-55 
Epistle: Hebrews 10:5-10

Today is the last Sunday before Christmas and so obviously the last Sunday of Advent. Christmas preparations are in full swing and many of us will be getting on the road or on a plane to travel somewhere. It is appropriate then as many of us prepare to travel that our reading this week concerns Mary as she travels to visit her relative, Elizabeth. In fact, the birth of Jesus revolves around 2 different trips: the first to Elizabeth and the second one is of course the trip to Bethlehem when Jesus was born. We have an idealized picture of Mary's pregnancy and Jesus birth, but Mary had to go on two journeys during her pregnancy and these were not like trips we take today. We have an image of Mary on a donkey as she traveled to Bethlehem but it's possible she had to walk the 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem at 8 months pregnant! So as you travel this week imagine Mary and Joseph as they journeyed to Bethlehem. When you experience flight delays, screaming children, or traffic remember that Jesus also entered into our world of chaos and travel.

Advent Week 3

Psalm: Isaiah 12:2-6
Old Testament: Zephaniah 3:14-20 
Gospel: Luke 3:7-18
Epistle: Philippians 4:4-7

The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally the Sunday of joy: a time when we celebrate the joyous news of the incarnation. But our reading from Luke seems to be the exact opposite of a joyous message. Rather, it concerns the judgment of the world, and the wheat being separated into the barn while the chaff is thrown into the fire. The message is not really one of hope, joy, or salvation. But in verse 18 we have the interesting words, "So with many other exhortations he [John the Baptist] preached the gospel to the people. It is interesting that John the Baptist is the first one to preach the Gospel in the book of Luke. The angles have already announced good news (gospel) to both Zechariah, John's father, and to the shepherds at Jesus' birth, but it falls to John to bring this good news to the people.

Advent Week 2

Psalm: Luke 1:68-79
Old Testament: Malachi 3:1-4 or Baruch 5:1-9 
Gospel: Luke 3:1-6
Epistle: Philippians 1:3-11

Today begins week two of Advent. The second week of Advent can focus on things such as love, John the Baptist, or even Bethlehem, depending on how the season is arranged for that year in each church. But I really think the Scriptures lend themselves this week to the idea of preparation. Last week, we looked at the idea of hope and waiting on what the Lord will do when he returns and inaugurates his Kingdom. But his followers are not supposed to just hangout on the sidelines and not engage the world. Jesus left us with tasks to do. We don't bring the Kingdom, only God can do that, but we do bear witness to it, and through the help of the Spirit, we can in some sense "prepare the way of the Lord."

Advent Week 1

Psalm: Psalm 25:1-10

Old Testament: Jeremiah 33:14-16

Gospel: Luke 21:25-36

Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and in some way you were able to take a secular holiday and turn it into something a little more sacred. Ultimately, all our gratitude must flow to God as the creator and sustainer of all life. With Thanksgiving over, all of America now moves onto the “Holiday Season.” But I think we all know that in the retail world the holiday season has moved up to anything after Halloween. And so we have 2 full months of frenzied activity where everywhere we look there is a barrage of messages to buy, consume and find happiness in the things we have or in being able to buy a better car than our neighbors. It is in the midst of this culture, far removed from anything Christian, that the church celebrates Advent.

Ordinary Time Week 25

Psalm: Psalm 16

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 1:4-20

or 1 Samuel 2:1-10 or Daniel 12:1-3

Gospel: Mark 13:1-8

Epistle: Hebrews 10:11-14, 15-18, 19-25

We are approaching the end of normally time (finally), which there is really no way to miss since all of the stores and commercials are screaming that the “shopping season” is upon us. The commercialization of Christian holidays doesn’t seem to be something the church is willing to address in any meaningful way right now. We give lip service to keeping Christ in Christmas and make a big deal when a secular retail store fails to say Merry Christmas on their products, but we don’t seem to challenge the consumerism inherent even in these issues. For many Christian families, there is no difference between how they celebrate the holiday and how the rest of America celebrates. Advent is ignored in the hustle of the season, attending a church service on Christmas Eve/ Christmas Day is afterthought or doesn’t happen at all, the 12 days of Christmas are skipped for many reasons not least of which is because it has no place in the secular culture, and the giving of gifts fuels the Western societies greed and desire to consume and waste.

Ordinary Time Week 24

Psalm: Psalm 127 or Psalm 146

Old Testament: Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

 or 1 Kings 17:8-16

Gospel: Mark 12:38-44

Epistle: Hebrews 9:24-28

This week I feel like we have to discuss the story of Ruth. The Lectionary covers the whole book in week 2, but last week we used the readings for All Saints’ Day so we didn’t read or discuss this particular section. Ruth is the great-grandmother of King David and I think that is the primary reason why this story is told and included in the Hebrew Bible. But we can also wonder what other issues the author was trying to explore in telling this story.

Ordinary Time Week 23/ All Saints Day

Psalm: Psalm 24

Old Testament: Isaiah 25:6-9

or Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9

Gospel: John 11:32-44

Epistle: Revelation 21:1-6a

Today is All Saints’ Day, the day after Halloween. This is why Halloween is also called All Hallows Eve. All Saints' Day is a day in the Church when we celebrate those in the Church who have died. There are different views and ways to celebrate this holiday and the corresponding All Souls’ Day, which is celebrated on November 2nd. In the Catholic Church, All Saints’ Day celebrates those who have been beatified by the church officially as Saints. All Souls’ Day is when all Christians who have died are celebrated. However, from a more Protestant perspective, where Saints are not emphasized and we believe in the sainthood of all believers, both days have become a celebration of all Christians who have passed away. We don’t want to sentimentalize those who have gone before us and we don’t have to go as far Catholics do in praying to the dead or prayers to the “Saints,” but much like we do in the USA to celebrate those who have died in military service on Memorial Day, it is appropriate and useful for us to remember, celebrate and learn from those who have walked before us in the Church.

Ordinary Time Week 22

Psalm: Psalm 34:1-8, 19-22 or Psalm 126

Old Testament: Job 42:1-6, 10-17

 or Jeremiah 31:7-9

Gospel: Mark 10:46-52

Epistle: Hebrews 7:23-28

I have been discussing the reading from Hebrews and the other passages for a few weeks so I think it is time to return to the Gospel reading today. The passage in Mark is the healing of blind Bartimaeus on the road from Jericho. I am glad that the Lectionary has us reading this story from Mark because it seems like the writer of Mark, or his audience, had some intimate knowledge of Bartimaeus or maybe his family. I want to include a Gospel parallel so you can see what I am talking about this week, but Mark's version of this account is quite different than the other two Synoptic Gospels. You can find that link to the other two accounts HERE.

The first obvious detail that Mark gives us, that the other Gospels don't, is Bartimaeus' name. He then throws out the comment that he is the son of Timaeus. First, this type of comment is unnecessary if he was writing to a Jewish speaking audience. It would be obvious that his name literally means, "Son of Timaeus." So, I wonder why Mark told us this man's name and not other people's name Jesus came in contact with. I also wonder why Mark let us know that he is the son of Timaeus. Perhaps Bartimaues later became a leader in the church or was somehow so well-known by Mark's audience that this detail would mean something to them. Presumably, some of these people Jesus healed and interacted with later became leaders in the church even if they are never mentioned in Acts or Paul's letters. We only get little snippets of Jesus' life and the early church, but there is so much more to the story that is never told in detail. One thing we do know is that after Bartimaeus received his sight, Mark tells us that he "followed [Jesus] on the way." (vs. 52)

Ordinary Time Week 21

Psalm: Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c or Psalm 91:9-16
Old Testament: Job 38:1-7, 34-41
   or Isaiah 53:4-12

Gospel: Mark 10:35-45
Epistle: Hebrews 5:1-10

I want to continue our discussion of the Epistle to the Hebrews this week because chapter 5 is the start of a new section in the book and sets the ground work for what is to follow. The writers starts a new section here comparing the priesthood of Jesus with that of the Old Testament priesthood. The writer actually called Jesus a priest one time each in chapters 2 and 3 and these two instances set the scene for the argument that is to follow in the rest of the Epistle. We tend to take Jesus' priesthood and the argument Hebrews makes almost for granted, but the argument back then may have been novel and even revolutionary. Outside of the Gospels and acts, where the priests are mentioned numerous times, the word is only mentioned once in Romans and three times in Revelations. In the Gospels it is clear that Jesus is not considered a priest, at least that vocabulary is not used. The priests and the religious establishment are often at odds with Jesus and Jesus seems to be interested only in tearing down their power structures. The 4 examples of the word "priest" outside the Gospels and Hebrews all refer to believers in Revelation and to Paul himself in Romans. (The word "priesthood" also appears twice in 1 Peter, once again in reference to believers.) In Hebrews however, the word priest is mentioned 36 times, more than any other book in the New Testament.

Ordinary Time Week 20

Psalm: Psalm 22:1-15 or Psalm 90:12-17

Old Testament: Job 23:1-9, 16-17

  or Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

Gospel: Mark 10:17-31

Epistle: Hebrews 4:12-16

We have had some very interesting readings the last few weeks. I was all set to discuss the Gospel reading, which has some really interesting and challenging things to say about following Jesus, but the Hebrews reading stopped me dead in my tracks today.

I think we all know the words of Hebrews 4:12 quite well: "For the word (logos) of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges (kritikos) the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." For my whole life, I have never heard anyone say anything other than the fact that the "word" here is in fact the Bible. And although that may be true and what the author intended, verse 13 surprised me. It says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." In looking at these 2 verses in parallel, I immediately thought that the "word" in verse 12 must be Jesus. The "word" and God both penetrate the soul and reveal all things. They are functioning in the same way. The real difficult thing in trying to understand this is that I think we mostly have to deal with the Greek texts. As an example of this, logos is actually used in both verses 12 and 13. The first instance we know, "word" in verse 12. In verse 13, the NIV translates it to "give account." The Greek actually lacks a verb, it reads "to whom we a word (logos)." These are the types of subtleties we miss when translating and also remind us the difficulties of both translation and interpretation of the text.

Ordinary Time Week 19

Psalm: Psalm 26 or Psalm 8
Old Testament: Job 1:1, 2:1-10 or Genesis 2:18-24
Gospel: Mark 10:2-16
Epistle: Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

We continue Ordinary Time this week, and just as a refresher, "ordinary" does not mean basic or plain, but rather it comes from the Latin word, "ordinal," or counting. Ordinary Time is the weeks that are counted between Pentecost and the last Sunday before Advent. So actually the majority of year is dedicated Ordinary Time. The interesting and difficult thing about how the Lectionary is set up during Ordinary Time is that the four Scripture readings do not revolve around any particular theme. In fact, all four passages have pretty distinct emphases. So this makes it pretty difficult when one is trying to integrate the readings and find connections through the text. The challenge is that we don't want to read things into the text (referred to as eisegesis) and make connections that aren't there. We still want to let each text speak for itself and still try to figure out what the original authors and hearers meant and understood. So, that is the challenge and often this year during Ordinary Time connections just haven't been there. That has led me to many weeks during this Ordinary Time to just discussing one or two passages on their own rather than trying to integrate the readings.

Ordinary Time Week 18

Psalm: Psalm 124 or Psalm 19:7-14
Old Testament: Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22
  or Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Gospel: Mark 9:38-50
Epistle: James 5:13-20


I want to talk about Esther this week because from what I can tell, this Sunday is the only time in the 3-year Lectionary cycle that any part of Esther is read! That is a little bit surprising, but after doing a little reading this week, it is less so. Esther is set in the Jewish diaspora following the first wave of Jews back to Jerusalem in 536 B.C, but before the events of Ezra and Nehemiah, which happened in roughly 458 and 432 respectively. The king in Esther is identified as Xerxes I, who rained from 486-465 and Esther was his wife from 478/479 to at least 473. So the Jews at this time were both in exile, but apparently doing well in the Persian Empire as shown in the example of Mordecai, but also some had begun to return to Jerusalem to start the work of restoration there.

Ordinary Time Week 17

Psalm: Psalm 1 or Psalm 54
Old Testament: Proverbs 31:10-31
  or Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22
  or Jeremiah 11:18-20
Gospel: Mark 9:30-37
Epistle: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

The Calendar may say that fall starts tomorrow, but there is no hint of any autumn air in Southern California. It is hot! But, that doesn't prevent us from reading the Bible. I want to focus in on the Gospel reading this week. In Mark 9:31, we have the second of Jesus' predictions of his suffering and death; the other 2 are found in 8:31 and 10:33-34. These 3 chapters actually lead us up to the Triumphal Entry in Mark 11, so these Passion predictions provide the framework with which Jesus and his disciples enter Jerusalem. But the context of these 3 predictions is interesting; There is the first prediction followed by the transfiguration, the second prediction followed by his disciples trying to get Jesus to stop other people from casting out demons in Jesus' name, and finally the last prediction followed a few verses later by James and John asking to be on Jesus' left and right when he comes into his Kingdom. (An event they no doubt thought was soon since they were on their way to Jerusalem, the place where the Messiah would announce his Kingdom.) I think in each case the episode revolves around the issue of power.

Ordinary Time Week 16

Psalm: Psalm 19 or Psalm 116:1-9
Old Testament: Proverbs 1:20-33 or Isaiah 50:4-9a
  or Wisdom of Solomon 7:26-8:1
Gospel: Mark 8:27-38
Epistle: James 3:1-12

 I want to discuss our Proverbs and Psalms readings this week because we haven't discussed them in awhile and especially the proverbs reading presents a lot of themes that are present throughout the book of Proverbs. Also, in terms of genre, the Epistle of James is in the same tradition as the Old Testament wisdom writings (Job, Psalms, Prov., Ecc., and Song of Sol.). And since we have been discussing James the last few weeks, I think it is appropriate to explore the tradition it flows out of.

First, let us look at Psalm 19: a Psalm of praise to the Lord. The Psalm begins by declaring that the heavens reveal the glory of God. This is an important point to make not only in our time, where the main counter-claim to that is atheism, but also in the time of the Psalmists where the prevailing wisdom was that nature itself was to be worshiped. Verse 4 says that "God has pitched a tent for the sun," and the implication is that the Lord is over the sun and thus there is no reason to worship it. The Israelites constantly struggled with idolatry and Psalms like this remind them and us that God is the Creator and to be worshiped.

Ordinary Time Week 15

Psalm: Psalm 125 or Psalm 146 
Old Testament: Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
  or Isaiah 35:4-7a 
Gospel: Mark 7:24-37 
Epistle: James 2:1-10, 11-13, 14-17

I am really enjoying reading through James the last few weeks. The author presents everything in a clear picture and always seems to be dealing with the practical issues of how we are to live. Today is no different. He begins with the exhortation not to so favoritism. The Church, or its individual members, shouldn't be partial to the rich, the powerful, the beautiful, or the strong. The worlds way of engaging in relationship is to ask what can I get out of the relationship. What can this person do for me? If I'm seen with that person will I be judged a certain way? But the way of the Kingdom is the exact opposite; the question is what can I do for them. Or maybe a better question is what is God already doing in them? Rich or poor, strong or weak, beautiful or plain, we are all created in the image of God and called to reflect that to creation. If the church engages in its relationships the same ways as the world, then it is no different from any social club and it fails to honor Christ. James reminds us also that God seems to be in the business of lifting the lowly, the poor, and the down-trodden

Ordinary Time Week 14

Psalm: Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 or Psalm 15
Old Testament: Song of Solomon 2:8-13
  or Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Epistle: James 1:17-27

There are many challenging passages in the New Testament, and the write of James is guilty of writing a few of them. His words from chapter 1 are a challenge to all those who confess to be followers of Christ. Christianity has never been about purely believes: being able to consent to a few propositional phrases. There are other religions where this is the case, and indeed the Early Church struggled with this view in their debates with the Gnostic Christians. James is unequivocal in his argument that if we only believe in Jesus, but that this doesn't stir us to action, then perhaps we have wrong beliefs or have not yet come to understand who Jesus truly is. He exhorts his readers to be "doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." (vs. 22) Later on in his letter James writes, "faith, if this has no works, is dead, being by itself." (17) One of the classic debates in Christianity, which reached its breaking point in the Protestant Reformation, is between faith and works, law and grace. Paul repeatedly deals with these ideas in his letters, but here in James the author just cuts through all the polemics and says the two can never be separated. Faith and belief may come first, and we are saved purely through faith in Christ alone, but salvation always produces works.

Ordinary Time Week 13

Psalm: Psalm 84 or Psalm 34:15-22
Old Testament: 1 Kings 8 (1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43
  or Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
Gospel: John 6:56-69
Epistle: Ephesians 6:10-20

'Tis the season for all things Back to School! Many of you have already started or you kids have, but students come back to classes this week for us. So this has me thinking about beginnings and starting things off right, and I think other than our Psalm this week, the scriptures all have something to say about how to start something off on the right foot.

Our Ephesians reading is a well-known passage of Scripture, especially for anyone who has ever been a child in church or been involved with children's ministry for awhile. In Ephesians 6:13-17 Paul uses the metaphor of a soldier getting ready for battle to explain how Christians are to approach their conflict with the worldly powers. He calls this the "armor of God." Of course we can see why this metaphor is used in children's ministry: it is easy to visualize and relatable to things children have seen before. But in terms of what I want to talk about today, armor is all about preparation. First, and obviously, armor is done before any actual battles begin. Second, armor must be put on in a certain order to be effective. Third, the sword must be sharp and all equipment fine-tuned to its specific purpose. Finally, in order for the armor to be effective, it all must be present. You can't go to battle, without a sword or a shield; every part serves a function from the boots all the way up to the head gear. Paul uses the metaphor of armor to his own uses and reminds us of the importance of being prepared and intentional in how we approach our lives.

Ordinary Time Week 12

Psalm: Psalm 111 or Psalm 34:9-14 
Old Testament: 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14 or Proverbs 9:1-6 
Gospel: John 6:51-58 
Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-20

We continue the story of David and his family this week. In 2 Kings 2, David dies and is succeeded by his son Solomon.  Our reading leaves out the end of chapter 2, but I think it is important to read over because it reveals how tenuous the David monarchy is at this point and some of the themes we have discussed in the past weeks about the royal family come through. After David's death, the first incident concerned the immediate line of succession. There was no guarantee that the next king of Israel would be from the line of David, and indeed, there is a rebellion after Solomon's reign which leads to the split of Israel--Judah in the south and Israel in the north. But after David, it seemed clear that the next king would be one of his sons and the heir-apparent was Adonijah, the eldest son alive it appears. Adonijah tried to force David's hand and attempt a coup almost declaring himself king before David's death. The coup however was not against David, but rather against his younger brother Solomon. Of course, we all know that Solomon becomes king, but what I didn't know was that immediately following David's death, he executed Adonijah; Joab, David's nephew and former general of the army; and Shimei, a man who at one time cursed David when he was running from Absalom, then begged for and received forgiveness from David, and finally on David's deathbed, was condemned by David to be killed for his deeds. So Solomon's reign started a lot more violently than I knew, and also marked a turning point from his father's reign.

Ordinary Time Week 11

Psalm: Psalm 130 or Psalm 34:1-8 
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
  or 1 Kings 19:4-8 
Gospel: John 6:35, 41-51 
Epistle: Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Well since last week I misread the Lectionary passage and discussed some of the struggles the David had with his children, I think we can leave the reading from 2 Samuel aside this week. But in chapter 18, David's family struggles continue and his son Absalom, who is the leader of the rebellion against him, is killed by David's soldiers. So this chapter kind of acts as a closing bookmark to the familial struggles that were begun in chapter 13, which we explored last week.

Instead I want to focus on the words of Jesus from John 6. John 6:35 is the first of Jesus' seven "I am" sayings in John. It doesn't take a Biblical scholar to realize that the author of John is placing Jesus in the same category as the God of the Old Testament. If there is any doubt about Jesus being divine, the author also uses seven sayings--seven being a divine number. So these seven sayings are critical I think to the life and mission of Jesus according to John, and how Jesus is to be understood in relationship to the Father, humanity, and indeed all of creation.

Ordinary Time Week 10

Psalm: Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 78:23-29 
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
  or Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15 
Gospel: John 6:24-35 
Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-16

***Editor's (me) note: I misread the 2 Samuel passage, so I was working with 2 Samuel ch. 13. So you get a bonus reading and post about a passage the Lectionary leaves out. Congratulations!***

Another week has come and gone, and I cannot believe we are already into the second week of August. The summer is going by quick! Of course all the stores are full of back-to-school sales and we're about to get into the swing of all the school activities.

But the Church Calendar doesn't really focus on things like going back to school or the start of the English Premier League this weekend, but we do have some interesting passages from scripture nonetheless. I want to focus on the reading from 2 Samuel because it presents to me a pretty clear picture of what happens when humanity abandons God and his decrees. To set the scene for what happens with Amnon and Tamar we have to back into David's story and a particular command that the Lord gave the Israelites. When Amnon's birth is announced in 2 Sam 3:2, along with five other brothers, the text says that each son was born of a different mother. And apparently these six sons and six wives was just the start because in 2 Sam 5 it says, "Meanwhile David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron." (13)

Ordinary Time Week 9

Psalm: Psalm 14 or Psalm 145:10-18 
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 11:1-15
  or 2 Kings 4:42-44 
Gospel: John 6:1-21 
Epistle: Ephesians 3:14-21

This week we have 3 really classic and well-known passages of Scripture. First in 2 Samuel we have the narrative of David and Bathsheba. John 6 tells the story of the feeding of the 5,000. And finally our passage in Ephesians is one of Paul's powerful prayers for his readers and is used around the world every Sunday as a benediction to church services.

I wish I had time to discuss all the readings, but I want to continue our discussion from last week concerning Ephesians.

Our passage this week starts in verse 14, but Paul picks up where he left off in verse 1 of this chapter. "For this reason..." he writes in both instances. Verse 1 is the start of the prayer that is then picked up again here in verse 14. The reason he is praying for the Ephesians, and the reason he is in chains incidentally, is because of the burden placed on him to be the disciples to the Gentiles. We discussed last week Paul's message of  unity in Christ for all peoples--Jew and Greek. We must also remember the struggle and persecution the Ephesians Christians were facing and even the fact that Paul was writing this letter from prison. So that context of fear, hurt, maybe a sense of shame placed by non-christian family members, and doubt perhaps about their Faith all go into the prayer Paul offers to the church in Ephesus.

Ordinary Time Week 8

Psalm: Psalm 89:20-37 or Psalm 23 
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a
  or Jeremiah 23:1-6 
Gospel: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 
Epistle: Ephesians 2:11-22

I want to try and tackle our reading from Ephesians this week, if indeed Paul can ever be "tackled," much less in only 800 words. Millions of words have no doubt been written on just these 11 verses alone. But what is Paul trying to get at in these verse? I think he is once again speaking of the unity found for all in Christ. Paul is writing to a Gentile audience trying to figure out how and where they fit into the Story of God. Things that we take for granted now, weren't settled when Paul was writing his letters. The New Testament wasn't around and all the early Christians had was the Hebrew Scripture and some oral traditions about Jesus. The story of Jesus is about a Jewish Messiah, who came from the Jewish God and now these new believers in Jesus can't avoid the question about what to do with all that Jewish heritage.

Ordinary Time Week 7

Psalm: Psalm 24 or Psalm 85:8-13
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
  or Amos 7:7-15
Gospel: Mark 6:14-29
Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-14

Ordinary Time continues this week and I want to explore the Ark of the Covenant since that is what our reading from 2 Samuel refers to. Perhaps you are familiar with Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark or the numerous documentaries and specials on TV that typically play around Easter or Christmas. I think the Ark still holds the imagination of people. 2 Samuel 6 relates how the Ark was moved from its resting place in a small Israelite village to a tent in Jerusalem.

Ordinary Time Week 6

Psalm: Psalm 48 or Psalm 123

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

  or Ezekiel 2:1-5

Gospel: Mark 6:1-13

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

I somehow have managed to get way behind on the Blog this last few weeks because of vacation and other things. So I am trying to catch up. So this is last Sunday's reading that I am just getting to.

I was drawn this week to the Gospel reading because I found the topic to be pretty interesting. In Mark ch. 6 Jesus returns to his Hometown of Nazareth to teach and perform miracles like he had done in other places since the beginning of his public ministry. Scholars use these types of verses to try and parse out and fill in the gaps of what the Gospels fail to tell us about Jesus' life. For example, Jesus is called "the son of Mary" so it is believed generally from this and other examples that Joseph must have died earlier in Jesus' life. In fact, Joseph isn't mentioned at all in Mark's gospel. This verse and others also show that after Jesus birth in Bethlehem  he spent the majority is his childhood and early life in Nazareth. We take this information for granted but there are very few non-Christian sources that mention Jesus and the Gospels, especially Mark, are sometimes scarce on things we would like included.

Ordinary Time week 5

Psalm: Psalm 130 or Psalm 30
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
  or Lamentations 3:23-33
  or Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15, 2:23-24
Gospel: Mark 5:21-43
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15


Well the last week of June has come and gone if you can believe it. Of course we on the coast here are still under some June gloom and humidity. In our readings this week we continue in the same three places we have been in the last few weeks: the story of David, the Gospel of Mark, and 2 Corinthians.

I want to start with 2 Cor. because we haven't had the chance to discuss it the last few weeks. It is very difficult to read these 9 verses out of context. Even looking at the rest of chapter 8 doesn't really tell us what Paul is talking about. In order to make since of the "gracious work" Paul is talking about we have to look back at 1 Cor. 16:1-4. In Paul's closing remarks of that Epistle he asks the "holy ones," by which he means the people in the church, to raise money and bring it to their gatherings for the believers in Jerusalem. Paul was planning for him or his representatives to present a gift to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem from the churches in the rest of the Roman Empire. And we know that he was able to accomplish this mission from the book of Acts. But in our passage here in 2 Cor. 8, Paul is reminding them of the task he had set before them and urging them to be charitable and to actually desire that they would want to be charitable. Something might have happened in the church to stop them raising money, but Paul is reminding them that it is a good thing they are doing.

Ordinary time week 4

Psalm: Psalm 9:9-20 or Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
  or Psalm 133 
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 17 (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
  or 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16 or Job 38:1-11 
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41 
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

This week we have 2 interesting stories juxtaposed with each other. One the one hand, in our Old Testament reading we continue the story of David and the early monarchy in Israel. On the other hand, In the Gospel reading Jesus calms the storms while he and his disciples are on the Sea of Galilee. Let us look at each story and then see what they have in common.

Ordinary Time Week 2

Psalm: Psalm 138 or Psalm 130
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 8:4-11, 12-15, 16-20,
  11:14-15 or Genesis 3:8-15
Gospel: Mark 3:20-35
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Today marks the second week of Ordinary Time, but since last Sunday was Trinity Sunday, it feels like the proper start to Ordinary Time. For some of you it may also feel like summer has begun, but here on the coast we are still mild and nice. I must confess that after reading our 4 passages today there is very little connection between them. One the one hand we have the finding and anointing of King Saul and then in the Gospel reading Jesus embarrassing his family and his teaching about where his authority comes from. Then a Psalm about the Lord's favor and Paul's words about being more concerned about the inward unseen things then the outward visual things. So at first reading, my question was why these 4 passages? I have been thinking about this for a few days and I still haven't come up with an answer so I would love some insight into the matter if any of you have any.

Trinity Sunday

Psalm: Psalm 29
Old Testament: Isaiah 6:1-8
Gospel: John 3:1-17
Epistle: Romans 8:12-17

Well today is Trinity Sunday and it also happens to be my five year wedding anniversary. So it was a busy and fun weekend celebrating. Needless to say, I have not had much time to reflect on the nature and doctrine of the Trinity much this weekend. I do remember that last year I shared this humorous video about bad analogies for the Trinity. The video is still funny and still presents the challenges the church historically and still today has in trying to rationally explain the Trinity.

Pentecost Sunday

1st Reading
  Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14
  Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
2nd Reading
  Romans 8:22-27 or Acts 2:1-21
Gospel
  John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

Today is Pentecost Sunday; hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to anybody. I know it is also Memorial Day, so that might have superseded Pentecost in some churches. In our church this morning, neither Pentecost nor Memorial Day was celebrated, although both were mentioned, and I suspect that is probably typical in Evangelic/Nazarene circles. But the fact that we don't celebrate "Memorial Day" is a shame. And by this I mean remembering our Christian heroes and saints who have gone before us. Testimony time has gone to the wayside and there is a definite lack of knowledge when it comes to church history. Remembering, or memorializing, is important not just for a country seeking to promote patriotism, but for a church hoping to keeps its story alive. It is also a shame that we don't celebrate Pentecost much. Pentecost can be a time when we reflect, celebrate and seek to understand just what the Church is--as a local entity, a denomination and as the Body of Christ across the world and throughout history from its beginning in the first century until now. I think both of these topics are underrepresented in our sermons and bible studies, but especially the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Easter Week 7 (Ascension Sunday)

Psalm: Psalm 47 or Psalm 93 
Acts: Acts 1:1-11 
Gospel: Luke 24:44-53 
Epistle: Ephesians 1:15-23

Today we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus which occurred 40 days after the Resurrection. Traditionally, this celebration occurred on Thursday since that would actually be 40 days after Easter Sunday, but the feast has been moved since Sunday is an easier day to celebrate. The Ascension is kind of one of those weird churchy things that most evangelical churches have no idea what to do with and basically seem to ignore. This is somewhat strange because it is important to Jesus' ministry on earth and also crucial to the creeds of the Church. But the Ascension is also strange because if it were not for Luke's Gospel and his Acts of the Apostles, we wouldn't really know about the Ascension. So it is an event crucial to the life and ministry of Jesus and to the creeds of the Church, but one also that three Gospel essentially ignore.

Easter Week 6

Psalm: Psalm 98
Acts: Acts 10:44-48
Gospel: John 15:9-17
Epistle: 1 John 5:1-6

I want to continue our discussion of Acts this week especially in terms of the historical precedence set by Acts chapter 10 and the significance of where Luke places this account in his narrative of the early Church. Previously, the most notable non-Jewish convert in Acts was the Ethiopian eunuch we discussed last week who was converted to faith in Jesus by Philip. Following the account of Philip the narrative takes a turn to the conversion of Saul/Paul and the beginning of his ministry around Jerusalem and other cities in the areas of Judea and Samaria. But then beginning in chapter 10 the narrative takes a break to interject an account of Cornelius and Peter. We are probably familiar with Cornelius' and Peter's complementary dreams. Cornelius' dream tells him to find a man named Simon Peter in Joppa and invite him to your house. Peter on the other hand has a dream that tells him to kill and eat unclean and forbidden food for devout Jews. Peter was reluctant to make himself unclean, but as he woke-up Cornelius' servants arrived and invited him to visit the home of the gentile Cornelius. Although Cornelius was "one who feared God," it is unclear if he was a full proselyte--one who had converted to Judaism and followed all the Jewish customs, including circumcision. In any case some in his household, or his associates, were uncircumcised because Peter latter causes controversy by entering the house of and eating with uncircumcised Gentiles. But Peter interpreted his dream to mean that in Christ he was able to associate with unclean gentiles. (10:28)

Easter Week 5

Psalm: Psalm 22:25-31 
Acts: Acts 8:26-40 
Gospel: John 15:1-8 
Epistle: 1 John 4:7-21

I hope you all are enjoying the start to May and the change in weather. Perhaps you also have been watching the TV show AD on NBC. Perhaps that is what is inspiring me to work with Acts in the weeks since Easter. But I am also finding the readings really interesting and learning some new things. I hope that your readings of Acts have been insightful as well. As interesting as Acts this week is, we also have to touch on our 2 readings from John and 1 John for no other reason than the importance of what they say.

Easter Week 4

Psalm: Psalm 23 
Acts: Acts 4:5-12 
Gospel: John 10:11-18 
Epistle: 1 John 3:16-24

This week we continue where we left off last week, exploring the early days of the Christian movement. The way the narrative of the book of Acts reads, the events in Acts 4 happen quite soon after the event of Pentecost, which was about 50 days after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. So we are talking about a short period of time when all of these events are happening. We went over this a lot last week concerning both the bravery of Peter and the other disciples, and also in terms of understanding the religious authorities'  and crowd's reaction. Jesus' name no doubt still had great cache; to his admirers, sorrow and fear because they did not yet understand the resurrection, and to his detractors, anger and fear that the name of Jesus was still being proclaimed. Peter kind of ratchets up the language this week in words before the Sanhedrin especially in his ending remarks:

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. (vs. 12)

 Peter leaves no one in doubt about who he thinks Jesus is. To say that there is salvation from no one else but Jesus and that only by his name must we be saved is to say that Jesus is God. Full stop. Jesus is God!

Easter Week 3

Psalm: Psalm 4 
Acts: Acts 3:12-19 
Gospel: Luke 24:36b-48 
Epistle: 1 John 3:1-7

We continue this week looking at the early days of the fledgling Christian movement. In our reading from the book of Luke we have the first episode of Jesus visiting his disciples after his resurrection. In Acts we have the beginning of Peter's second recorded sermon in Acts. The reading from Luke presents the more "traditional" appearance of Jesus in the locked upper room or at least what we might first think of when we think of resurrection appearances by Jesus. We explored John's retelling of this event last week. There are some notable differences however between the way Luke told the story and John did. To begin with, Luke has an interlude, between the episode with the women at the tomb and Jesus' appearance to his disciples, the two men on the road to Emmaus, which is absent in John. The Lectionary has us skipping over that account this year in favor of Jesus' first encounter with the disciples. After Jesus appeared to the two men heading to Emmaus, the two men rush back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples they saw Jesus. As they are relating the tale, Jesus appears to all of them. Much of that is different than the way John told the story. The other noticeable difference is that in John's telling Thomas is absent at this first encounter and thus we get the subsequent account of Jesus appearing and encouraging Thomas despite his doubting. But in Luke all 11 disciples are present for this first post-resurrection encounter with Jesus. In both Luke and John Jesus' shows them his wounds to both encourage them and to alleviate any fears that he is just a spirit. And then in both accounts Jesus offers them a kind of commission, much like the Great Commission in Matthew. But, whereas John also says Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Spirit at this point, the lukan Jesus only tells them to wait in Jerusalem until they receive the Holy Spirit. Luke later tells us that story in the opening chapters of Acts.

Second Sunday of Easter

Psalm: Psalm 133
Acts: Acts 4:32-35 
Gospel: John 20:19-31
Epistle: 1 John 1:1-2:2

Today we continue the season Easter, which runs from now through Pentecost. Thus our Gospel reading this week immediately follows the episode of last week between Mary Magdalene and Jesus on Easter morning and still takes place on that first Easter Sunday. That evening, Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room, encouraged them, and in the Gospel of John immediately breathed on them the Holy Spirit. Of course, we are all familiar with the fact that Thomas for some reason missed that first encounter and brashly proclaimed that he would never believe in Jesus' Resurrection unless he could touch the nail-pierced hands and place his hand in Jesus' side. Although we have heard this story many times, we can't forget that Jesus goes out of his way to engage Thomas and invite him into the community. He confronted Thomas right where he was, but then immediately moved to grace and an offer of community.

Easter Sunday

First Reading
  Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 25:6-9
  Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Second Reading
  1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or Acts 10:34-43
Gospel
  John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8

Happy Resurrection Sunday! The Church celebrates some holidays on basically arbitrary dates, but Easter is the one holiday, connected to Passover, where we can actually date the time of year when the event occurred. So every year, around the time the Jews celebrate Passover, Christian's celebrate the new meaning of Passover given through Jesus. The Resurrection is the the central event that makes Christianity legitimate and true. I know I brought this Scripture up last year, but it becomes so crucial as to why Easter is such a big deal. In 1 Cor. 15, a few verses after our reading today, Paul writes:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. (17-19)

The Resurrection is the vindication and validation that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus also predicted that he would rise again after three days, had he not done so, then he would have been a liar. The Resurrection also anticipates and provides the hope for the new heaven and new earth coming (and indeed already breaking in) in Christ. The Resurrection also anticipates the resurrection all who follow Christ will experience.

Palm Sunday

Liturgy of the Palms
  Psalm: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
  Gospel: Mark 11:1-11 or John 12:12-16


Today is Palm Sunday; I am sure that comes as no surprise to anybody. If your church is like most then you might be hosting some type of Easter Fest or EGGtravaganza to really get to the heart of what Easter is. Nothing celebrates Jesus suffering, death, and resurrection better than candy, eggs, bunnies and shopping! One doesn't have to look very far, much like Christmas, unfortunately, to see all the ways we have allowed the culture to influence what and how we do things. We allow the consumerism and concepts of beauty to determine that again we must buy things to be happy and that there is no way you can show up to church with a dress you have previously worn. But enough of that. Moving on to the Scriptures. This week we only have two scriptures to read and our Psalm is quoted in our reading from Mark.

Lent Week 5

Psalm: Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16 
Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:31-34 
Gospel: John 12:20-33 
Epistle: Hebrews 5:5-10

Today is the last Sunday of Lent before Palm Sunday next week (Which is still during the season of Lent as well). We have been exploring the theme of wilderness this Lent, partially because that is what our church's theme is this Lent. But this week, we move away from the wilderness and are invited to explore what God has done for us through Jesus.

Lent Week 4

Psalm: Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 
Old Testament: Numbers 21:4-9 
Gospel: John 3:14-21 
Epistle: Ephesians 2:1-10

We are more than halfway through Lent this Sunday and the themes of Lent naturally continue: wilderness, sorrow, sin, repentance, but also salvation. Our readings this week revolve around an episode which happened early in the creation of Israel. Toward the end of Israel's wandering in the desert, the people once again complained against God and Moses. The interesting thing about it this time is that they were coming off a great military victory over some Canaanites and were raring for a fight against Edom despite the Lord having told them not to fight against them. (In Deut. 2 it says that this land had been given to the descendants of Esau, and thus the Lord would not allow Israel to take it.) The people got inpatient because they were taking the long way around Edom. A bit silly when you think that they had literally been taking the long way around for 40 years wandering around the desert. The complaint also took the same form it had throughout Numbers, they loathed the food (manna) that they got, so felt that there was no bread and water. So basically The Lord disciplined them through fiery snakes which caused sickness and death. The solution was for Moses to fasten a replica of the snakes to a pole and whoever looked at it would live.

Lent Week 3

Psalm: Psalm 19
Old Testament: Exodus 20:1-17
Gospel: John 2:13-22
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

This week is a bit of a challenge for me to try and find connections between our four passages. I always wonder when it comes to the Lectionary why the church has brought these four particular passages together for each Sunday in the church year. Why during Lent do we read these four passages and what does each passage say to the other? Some weeks these questions are easier to answer than others.

The reading from Exodus is the giving of the 10 Commandments. Psalm 19 is a song of praise of God revealing himself through creation and through his law and precepts. These two arenas are referred to as natural or general revelation and special revelation. Our Gospel reading from John is the episode of Jesus throwing out the merchants and traders in the Temple. Finally, in 1 Corinthians, Paul challenges the wisdom and power of the world through the perceived foolishness and weakness of the cross.

Lent Week 2

Psalm: Psalm 22: 23-31 
Old Testament: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 
Gospel: Mark 8:31-38 or Mark 9:2-9 
Epistle: Romans 4:13-25

Lent continues this week and I hope God is using this time and space to meet with you. I feel like this week we have 2 Scriptures that go together well, Genesis and Romans, and then the Gospel reading of Mark stands alone. Genesis and Romans both deal with the story of Abraham and the faith he had in God.

In Genesis 17, we have what may be considered the final covenant making time between God and Abraham. God reveals the covenantal sealing act of circumcision for all male individuals in Abraham's household. He also reveals that the promise of children and inheritance will come not through Hagar or any other means, but through Abraham's wife Sarah. Abraham seems to be one of those people who likes to solve his own problems. Although, we have to give him credit; he was 86 years old before he took matters into his own hands and conceived Ishmael through Hagar. And, even before this when he left his father's household and brought Lot with him to receive his inheritance if the time came and he had no other child. Finally, in these verses in Genesis, God gives Abraham and Sarah new names, previously they were Abram and Sarai. Thus, chapter 17 is one of the key passages in the life of Abraham and the creation of Israel.

Lent Week 1

Psalm: Psalm 25:1-10 
Old Testament: Genesis 9:8-17 
Gospel: Mark 1:9-15 
Epistle: 1 Peter 3:18-22

Welcome to the first week of Lent. I hope you have had time to reflect on what this season means as we draw closer to God. We went to an Ash Wednesday service at our Church, and the speaker said something that I think is important to say at the beginning of season such as Lent where we, humanity, act and strive to grow closer to God. It may seem like we are trying to earn God's love or blessing. Or maybe like we are trying to convince God to truly love and accept us. But all of this is not the case. The speaker said that it is not God who changes during Lent; it is us. God loved us the same on Tuesday as he did on Ash Wednesday as he will next Thursday. God's love never fails and never gives up, as our church sang this morning. What changes during Lent is our awareness of who God is, his great love for us, and our great need for him. As we move through Lent, we are made aware once again of our sin and desperate need for God. We intentionally arrange our lives so that God can encounter us. And as we move towards Easter, we prepare our hearts and minds again to receive God's overwhelming mercy and love given to us on the cross. We fast, we repent, we serve, and we worship, not so that God loves us, but out of our great gratitude for what God has done for us through his son Jesus. So I hope you recognize Lent as the gift it is to us from the Church so that we are fully able to celebrate Easter when it arrives.

Transfiguration Sunday

Psalm: Psalm 50:1-6 
Old Testament: 2 Kings 2:1-12 
Gospel: Mark 9:2-9 
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Today is Transfiguration Sunday. Which is always the Sunday before Ash Wednesday in the Revised Common Lectionary. We are actually at a church retreat this weekend so I haven't had much time to think or write today. (Thus this post is being published on Monday.) Our theme today invites us to explore Jesus' transfiguration in parallel to Elijah being taken up to heaven. I'll just put a few thoughts down real quick.

Epiphany Week 5

Psalm: Psalm 147:1-11 
Old Testament: Isaiah 40:21-31 
Gospel: Mark 1:29-39 
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

This week we continue the theme from Paul's letter to the Corinthians. He elaborates on the responsibility we have to our brothers and sisters in Christ. If you remember last week, we briefly discussed that if we do something that causes someone else to sin, then, in fact, we also are sinning in the eyes of Christ. He takes this even farther in our verses today when he writes, "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more." (verse 19) Not only do we refrain from things that cause our siblings in Christ to sin, but we adapt to others so that we can lead them to Christ. This brings up a number of questions: do we adapt so far that we live a life of sin so we can "fit in?" Or do we have no center so that we are always changing like a chameleon?

Epiphany Week 4

Psalm: Psalm 111 
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 18:15-20 
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28 
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Today will be a relatively short post since as we all know today was Super Bowl Sunday, and thus we all probably partied most of the day.

Today, in our reading from Deuteronomy, God tells his people that due to their request at Horeb, he will no longer speak to them directly but rather through prophets. (See Ex. 20:18-19) Israel's request makes sense when we consider how things seemed to go when the presence of God showed up. Even when God spoke to only Moses on the mountain, Moses' face shown so brilliantly that he had to wear a veil over it. (Ex. 34) The presence of God often came in power and glory and people were known to not survive the encounter. So the people ask God for him not to speak to them directly. But God in his desire to reach his people provided the prophets to continue to deliver his words and call his people to faithfulness.

Epiphany Week 3

Psalm: Psalm 62:5-12 
Old Testament: Jonah 3:1-5, 10 
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20 
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

If you can believe it, we are in the last week full week of January; New Years Eve and all those resolutions people make are probably starting to feel like quite awhile ago. This week, we continue with the theme of Epiphany, or God's self revealing to creation. God is constantly revealing himself to creation in a variety of ways. 

This week, we have one extreme example found in the story of Jonah and Nineveh. Nineveh was a city of great evil that was so far lost God was on the verge of destroying it. This was not the first time God had threatened to destroy a whole city or people group; there was the flood in Noah's time, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Canaanites and other people groups who lived in the land promised to Israel. This episode in Jonah hearkens back to the destroying of Sodom and Gomorrah. In both cases, the wickedness of the cities is so great that their cry had come up before the Lord and God felt like he must act. There was also a chance for each city to be saved. In Sodom and Gomorrah's case, if just 10 righteous people were found and in Nineveh, if they heeded Jonah's call to repent.

Epiphany Week 2

Psalm: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 11-20 

Gospel: John 1:43-51 

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

I was thinking today about what to talk about and what themes this week emerge from these four Scriptures and I came around to the fact that we are celebrating tomorrow the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. Two of our texts, 1 Samuel 3 and John 1 are about people being called by the Lord for his work. We are probably familiar with the two accounts.

Epiphany Week 1

Psalm: Psalm 29 

Old Testament: Genesis 1:1-5 

Gospel: Mark 1:4-11 

Epistle: Acts 19:1-7

Well, we are officially in the time of Epiphany in the Church Calendar. Epiphany is the time of the year when we celebrate God revealing himself to us through many ways, but primarily through Jesus. From the beginning of creation, God has been active and engaged in creation, revealing himself to humanity. The day of Epiphany, more specifically, has traditionally celebrated the Wise Men who came to Jesus as a baby to bring him gifts in worship. Thereby, they reveal Jesus’ kingship to the world. So it is interesting that this week our Gospel reading comes from the same passage as the second week of Advent.

Second Sunday After Christmas

Psalm: Psalm 147:12-20
  or Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21 

Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:7-14
  or Sirach 24:1-12 

Gospel: John 1:1-9, 10-18 

Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-14

Happy New Year! If you follow the major dates on the church calendar, this time of year is full of celebration. After the 12 days of Christmas, with New Year’s in the middle of that, Epiphany is always celebrated on January 6^th. That makes today the 11^th day of Christmas and tomorrow the 12^th. You might remember Shakespeare play Twelfth Night, it occurs on the 12^th day of Christmas.

Well, that is just some extra information for you. I think this week we will deal mostly with the reading from Ephesians. We discussed John 1 a couple of weeks during Advent which deals with the Incarnation. Jeremiah 31 and Psalm 147 are both psalms of praise to the Lord. But the beginning of Ephesians is something we haven’t dug into in a while.