Saturday, Luke 46-49

As I read this text, I thought about a great hymn of the church, My Hope Is Built. If you know it, sing the refrain:

On Christ the solid rock I stand
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.

In this scripture, Jesus is explaining that there are two types of foundations. One is solid. That’s the one that is dug deeply. The other is surface. That’s the one on shallow ground. I’d much rather have a house built on a solid foundation.

The message Jesus conveyed to His disciples is the same message Jesus conveys to you and to me. His words are rock solid. All we have to do is listen and then act. I believe anything we build on that kind of ‘grounding,’ (our friendships/relationships, lives, etc) will be well built.

And, remember, …all other ground is sinking sand.

Blessings for a meaningful Lenten journey.

igniting,
Pastor Dawn

Luke 6:43-45

Good and bad trees, good and bad fruit; figs and thorns, grapes and bramble bush; good treasure and evil people. What in the world is Jesus trying to convey with these analogies?

Sometimes reading Jesus’ parables is like playing one of those mind teaser games. It takes a while to figure it out, but once you do, you’ve got it. And, the really good feeling that comes with it is the creamy icing on the coconut cake. (hey, that’s one of my favorites)

When I think about Jesus’ parables I am reminded that this is a significant way how Jesus communicated to his disciplines. I think Jesus wanted to illustrate through every day images, how they were to govern their lives. Such is the case for us.

As I reflect on this text here’s the overwhelming thought that comes to my mind. When our hearts are filled with gladness and joy, we can share it. It is out of that kind of abundance that we can speak about the goodness of the Lord.

Blessings for a meaningful Lenten journey.

igniting,
Pastor Dawn

Luke 6:37-42

I’m combining Wednesday’s and Thursday’s scripture for my blog today since I reflected a bit on Ashe Wednesday for yesterday’s blog.

As I read this text, I immediately picture a literal imagine of a huge log protruding from my eye. My first thought is that would be extremely painful. My second thought is to simply laugh. I mean, come on Jesus, a log sticking out the eye. Really? Well, believe it friends, it happen to all of us, figuratively speaking.

I suppose it’s human nature to find the small faults in our friends, families and especially our enemies and overlook the glaring faults that we have. I suppose its human nature to want to ‘fix’ someone else and believe that we are perfectly fine.

Remember that ole saying, ‘when you a point a finger at someone, you have 3 pointing back at you?”

Jesus knows our human nature. Maybe that’s one reason why Jesus chose to use the analogy of a speck and log. Something so peculiar yet so profound.

Here’s a challenge for you and for me. During this Lenten season, before pointing out other’s fault, take a good long look in the mirror. Then, look some more. You know the rest…

Blessings for a meaningful Lenten journey.


igniting,
Pastor Dawn

Some thoughts about starting the Lenten Season…

I’ve been contemplating most of the day. About an hour ago, I participated in our Ashe Wednesday service at church. It was a meaningful service to mark the beginning of the Lenten season.

The Lenten season is a journey of penitence that lasts for 40 days. We do not count Sundays in the season as they are mini celebrations of Easter. For many people during this season, they give up something (chocolate, meat, drinking alcohol, etc). Some people fast for periods of time while others spend time in deep reflection.

Whatever you decided to give up or take on, spend some time in prayer. I know I will be praying and listening to what the Lord has to say to me.

Blessings for a meaningful Lenten journey.

igniting,
Pastor Dawn

Deuteronomy 4:31

God’s mercy. Wow, it is life sustaining. When I think about God’s mercy, I think about God’s compassion and God’s forgiving spirit. I think about God’s unmerited love for me. Oh to have that kind of love for all of God’s people. I know I fall woefully short.

God definitely showed that kind of love to the Israelites. Time and time again, God’s people wanted to go their own way and do their own thing. Time and time again, they did. I believe that is the same with many of us. Or, I should ‘speak’ for myself, that’s the same as it is with me. But, we serve a forgiving and gracious God. A God that knows our hearts. A God that loves us in spite of our trifling ways.

I’m reminded of a song that conveys God’s mercy. Here are some of the lyrics:

Your grace and mercy brought me through.
I’m living this moment because of you.
I want to thank you and praise you to.
Your grace and mercy brought me through.

Today, I’m really thankful for God’s mercy.

What about you?

igniting,

Pastor Dawn

Luke 6:27-31

Well, I’m on to blog this week. Lucky for me, I’m blogging about Jesus’ admonishment to ‘love your enemies.’ Oh, goodie.

I’m reminded of a song that the great Tina Turner sang and made quite popular. You may remember this one. What’s Love Got To Do With It? Here are some of the lyrics:

What’s love got to do with it?
What’s love but a second hand emotion?
What’s love got to do with it?
Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?

I think Turner wrote these lyrics out of great pain and heartache. I certainly can understand why. She was in an abusive relationship with someone that was supposed to love her. Love is not supposed to hurt like that.

Jesus’ admonishment to love your enemies goes beyond what many of us feel as a heart kind of love. This is where we can learn from the Greek expressions of love. Storge is natural affection. Philia is love between friends. Eros is a romantic love. That’s the love Turner was referencing. And, agape which is an unconditional kind of love. I believe this is love Jesus was referencing when He said, ‘love your neighbors.’ Oh, that’s so hard to do, particularly when our human inclination is to get even (however that looks to you) when we have been hurt or harmed.

Well, sometimes I can love my enemies and then there are times when I have to really rely on God to pull me through.

What about you?

igniting,
Pastor Dawn

Saturday 21, 2009 Luke 6:20-26

Let's review the chronology of this recent week's blogs: Jesus has spent the entire night on the mountain in prayer. When he finishes praying in the morning, then he chooses his twelve disciples (students), and then teaches them their first lesson at the foot of the mountain and in the midst of the crowd which has gathered to hear him. In laying out the four "blesseds" and their flipside "woes," Jesus is contrasting the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man. Jesus has already been thrown out of the two largest temples in his area-Capernaum and Nazareth. He is now forming his own "temple" of people who will begin to worship in "spirit and truth." What are your thoughts about Jesus' disciple selection process and his first public words to them?

Engaging the scriptures with you,
Pastor Paul

Friday, February 20, 2009, Matthew 5:12

If you read yesterday's devotion and blog, you will notice that today's text contains the same admonition about the difficulties faced by the prophets, only this one is from the perspective of the writer of Matthew's gospel. Matthew is often referred to as the "most Jewish" of the four gospels, because it's writer and audience are assumed to include the Jewish community of the first century A.D. This is a group that would have been intimately aware of their own social and religious history, and so the treatment suffered by the prophets would have been familiar to them. Is it possible that Jesus' words are aimed at changing the people's behavior as much as they are at encouraging the prophets? Remember that choosing the disciples is the beginning of Jesus' creation of a new community--a nucleus that would reflect the kingdom of heaven on earth. How do you think these possibilities hang together?

Engaging the scriptures with you,
Pastor Paul

Thursdsay, February 19, 2009 Luke 6:23

From the biblical perspective, the job of Prophet was about the worst one imaginable. Just think about it for a minute: You are responsible to God for delivering a message that, at best, most people did not want to receive, and at worst, they would beat you for forcing upon them. Their messages usually involved calling the people to faithfulness, as well as God's consequences for their failure to follow God's word. Not a popular position to be in, caught between God and your neighbors. The reward for the prophet was in the hereafter, not much in the here and now. So, what do you think? Are you ready to send in your application to be one of God's Prophets?

Have you ever met anyone during your life who seemed to speak with the voice of a Prophet? Someone who had a knack for cutting through all of the "stuff" and zeroing in on the real issue? What was your opinion of them?

Engaging the scriptures with you,
Pastor Paul

Wednesday February 18, 2009

Today's text follows on the heels of yesterday's text from Luke, both of which speak of Jesus' ability to heal. The story of the woman who has been ill for such a long time finally summons the courage to not only follow Jesus in the crowd, but also to touch the hem of his robe is healed. It's almost as if half the battle of healing is approaching him and believing that he can heal her. I have always found it curious that just touching his clothing was enough to grant healing, almost as if he was electric and "shocked" her with his healing touch. Did he know when his healing power was being tapped into, or was it like drinking from a free-flowing public fountain? Would everyone who was ill and managed to touch him have been healed, or was it selective? I don't have any particular wisdom or insight into these issues, but I am very curious. Any thoughts?

Engaging the scriptures with you,
Pastor Paul

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

How many times have we witnessed this kind of scene? Once again, Luke says that Jesus healed people from the crowd surrounding him. I said on Sunday that there were always two groups of people who followed Jesus: the crowd and the disciples. The crowd was filled with nameless, faceless people who were curious about this new rabbi about whom everyone was talking. Could he really heal disease? Maybe there's a chance he could heal me. When you've tried everything else, you'll do anything that even hints at a cure. And yet, these healings were never the central point of Jesus' ministry. They are mentioned almost as an afterthought. Why do you think Jesus bothered to heal people, if that wasn't the purpose of his ministry?

Engaging the scriptures with you,
Pastor Paul

Week 12, Sunday and Monday, February 15 & 16, 2009

The texts in our devotional guides for yesterday and and today are two sermons Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God. In Matthew, it was preached on a mountain side and is all about who will be blessed. In Luke, Jesus has come down from a mountain where he has been praying all night, and preaches on a "level place." In Matthew, he is preaching to a crowd, and in Luke, he is teaching his disciples as they stand in the midst of the crowd. Do you think these are different accounts of the same sermon, or are these two different events which same a similar message? Does the difference in audiences make any difference in how Jesus structured the content of his messages?

Engaging the scriptures with you,
Pastor Paul

Week 11, Saturday, Luke 6:17-19

I learn a lot about Jesus from this passage.

• Jesus is with. He is not apart.




• Jesus stood on a level place. Granted, it is probably a plateau, but it invokes a feeling of sturdiness, fairness, solidness.




• People want to hear what Jesus has to say. They know He has something for everyone, something important.




• People believe He can heal them; people want to touch him.




• Jesus emanates power and He does heal people.

This passage makes me want to know Him, too.

When I take my Sabbath and pray intentionally, I take one step closer to knowing Him.

How about you?

peace,

Pastor Judi

Week 11, Friday, Luke 6:12-16

Jesus spent the whole night praying to God. Think about that for a minute...the whole night.

Then He made one of the most important decisions in his ministry, He chose the twelve who would be send out with a special assiginment to spread the Good News. There were at least 72 others who had been sent out with the message, and over 100 believers who worshiped together in Jerusalem. Choosing twelve out of the hundreds wasn't "American Idol" style, but intentional. It was God-based and God-honoring.

If we pay attention to this model, wouldn't we all put ourselves and our big decisions before God before we made them? What would it look like if we prayed all night before we chose a spouse, decided to take a new job, made a commitment to lose 15 pounds, reprimanded an errant teenager or opted to end a marriage?

What big decision is on your horizon? Will you submit it to God first? Will you give it hours of prayer before your decide?

peace,
Pastor Judi

Week 11, February 12, Psalm 92

We should never forget that the Psalms give us a pattern for prayer. When we cannot find the words for ourselves, we have a rich deposit of prayers...for just about anything that is in our hearts.

Read Psalm 92. Now read it again, like a prayer. You have just experienced Sabbath rest in the Lord.

I especially love these words:

"It is good to praise the Lord"
"How great are your works, O Lord"
"But you, O Lord, are exalted forever"
"The Lord is upright; heis my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

Amen.

Wednesday, Week 11

Nothing - not even Scripture - happens in a vacuum. I'm writing this blog late tonight, after teaching a Bible 101: Discovering the Scripture for Yourself class at Matthews UMC. In the class, we discussed how one of the ways we learn to trust and believe in the Word of God is to realize that He doesn't just say it once. There are themes in Scripture that come up over and over again.

So as I read in 2 Kings 11:4-8 about what will happen on the Sabbath, I realize that this is a recurring theme. (Luke's been including it in his writing since chahpter 6 started.) Interesting that Jehoiada the priest commands troops to "do duty on the Sabbath" and issues instructions to protect the temple. Now, granted, Jehoiada isn't Jesus, but he's doing his best (in this situation) to protect the king-to-be Joash, who comes from the line of David. He is in covenant with God.

There's something in this...What am I to do with the Sabbath? It has something to do with a relationship with God, and love for others.

See you tomorrow.

peace,
Pastor Judi

Tuesday, Week 11, Luke 6:6-11

This passage is still about the Sabbath, but today my attention turns to Jesus Himself. His 'amazingness' is so very evident in this story. At the start He's calmly doing something somewhat ordinary - teaching in the synagogue. All around him intrigue is brewing; some people are looking for a way to find fault in Him. He's like the eye of the storm - calm but powerful.

Here's what's amazing to me:

• Jesus knows what they're thinking
• He calmly tells the man with the crippled hand to stand up (I'd certainly be riveted on what He's going to do next)...
• His simple question demands common sense...and those around Him are speechless
• Then He heals the man's hand.

If I imagine myself watching this scenario, I'm speechless, breathless, stunned, confused and waiting to see what in the world comes next!

How human-like that some of the people are furious. They thought they had the upper hand (no pun intended), and found out they were fools. I wonder which side I would have been on?

I wonder what Jesus is doing today that should be taking my breath away. Jesus knows what I'm thinking; He's at work in my life; He still demands common sense and common decency; He heals.

He's something, isn't He?

peace,

Pastor Judi

Luke 6:1-5 and Exodus 16:28-30

Aaaah, the Sabbath. Seems to me there's a lot of confusion about what that means, what we should and shouldn't do, etc. If I try to interpret the Sabbath from a 21st century point of view, here's what I get:

• "It's a day of rest; I don't have to work" (Then what about the people who serve me lunch at Jonathan's?)
• "It's a day of rest; after I go to church I can watch the game, ride my bike, wash my car, whatever" (Where is God in all that...in the hour I sat in church?)
• "It's a day of rest; I think I'll give myself a break and sleep in today..."
• "It's a day of rest; (I'll let you fill in this one...)

Frankly, I struggle with the Sabbath. I work on Sunday (most pastors do.) Could my Sabbath be on Tuesday? What should I actually do (or not) on the Sabbath? Does God want an entire day? You see I have a lot of questions.

The Hebrew verb related to Sabbath means "to cease, to stop." The Israelites who received this commandment from the LORD lived lives very different from yours and mine. They worked from sun-up to sun-down, not to buy bigger houses and fancier cars, or to live in the best part of town, but to survive. Theirs may have been a literal command to stop, and to rest in the LORD.

Their lives were different, but in some ways we're still the same. What is our level of willingness to trust in the LORD for His provision? Are we willing to stop for a day and rely completely on the LORD?

You'll note that I'm not answering all of my questions, but I'm inviting yours...and whatever answers YOU'VE come up with about the Sabbath!

Peace,

Pastor Judi

Luke 6: 27-32

What a counter-cultural concept! This is a teaching that goes against all our initial tendencies and reactions. “Love your enemies”…really??? It’s so much easier to hate them isn’t it? Look at what they’ve done to us. They deserve to be hated…right? According to the words and life of Jesus they don’t? He forgave, restored, and loved those who unfairly challenged, attacked and hated him.

This is one of Jesus’ most familiar teachings, but maybe the one we resist following the most. What keeps us from doing so? If we fail to love our enemies the way Christ instructed, then I believe we forfeit some of our ability to be a light to the world. What do you think?

God’s Peace,
Pastor Brad

Luke 5: 17-26

These men knew how badly their friend needed to see Jesus. They carry him for an undisclosed distance. They lift him up on top of the roof. They destroy someone’s property and finally lower him down to where he is right before Jesus. Then, from the roof top, they observe with amazement as Jesus not only heals their friend, but forgives his sins.

As we compare ourselves to these men we learn that we can only bring people to a place where they encounter Jesus. We are not the ones who do the healing or forgive sins, but just like these men we need to be the ones that bring others to Jesus. Look at the passion and commitment these individuals exhibit just to bring their friend to Jesus! They knew the life change he could bring. Do we believe as they did? Are we willing to do what it takes to bring people to a place where they can encounter Jesus? Friends, we don’t have to tear down someone’s roof. All we have to do is extend an invitation.

God’s Peace,
Pastor Brad

Luke 5: 12-16

What impacts me most about this account is not that Jesus heals this man, but that “Jesus reached out and touched the man”. This is very significant. Jesus could just as easily proclaimed aloud, “you are healed”, but instead he touches this man covered in leprosy. This very well may have been the first time in years that this man felt the skin of another human being. He would have been branded by those in his town as untouchable. Those gathered around would have been astonished that Jesus did such and “unclean” thing. Yet, Jesus disregards any societal limitation and out of his immense love does this life changing act for this stricken human being.

When was the last time you disregarded the thoughts of others to demonstrate immense love for another? Where are the so called “untouchables” in our towns, in our nation, and in our world? We need to find them, restore them and most importantly…love them! My friends this is what Jesus would have us do.

God’s Peace,
Pastor Brad

Luke 5: 10b-11

What keeps us from following Jesus in the ways that he directs? Unfortunately, the excuses are too numerous to completely list, but some favorites are…time, family, friends, $$$, incapable, etc…. Whatever the excuse I believe Jesus looks through it to see the real reason. You see Jesus understands that it is really our fear that keeps us from following in obedience and trust.

Jesus tells Peter, “Don’t be afraid”. We learn that Peter and the Sons of Zebedee trust Jesus as they “left everything and followed him.” These men examined their feeble excuses and realized that it was only their fear that was holding them back. Jesus astonished them yet again with the record breaking fishing trip and then comforted them by instructing them not to fear. They believe and they follow!

Friends what might happen in and through us if we would only believe and follow!?!

God’s Peace,
Pastor Brad

Luke 5: 1-5

One of the things I like about Peter is that each one of us can easily relate to him. He is by no mean a perfect individual. In fact there are numerous times in the Gospels when we observe Peter essentially messing up. He misses the point, says something out of turn, and at his worst denies Jesus.

In verse five of today’s reading we notice Peter doing something we all do from time to time…he gives a little bit of backtalk. Instead of immediately obeying Jesus, Peter feels obliged to inform Jesus that he really doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But, at least he eventually obeys Jesus and sets back out to the deep water. Why do you think Peter felt compelled to make that response instead of an instantly obeying? Why do you think WE make excuses and hesitate when we sense God asking us to do something?

God's Peace,
Pastor Brad