What does Scripture look like on the streets? Here are reflections from regular folks in our church, sharing how each Sunday’s text relates to your everyday life.
All in with Dependence
Then (the angel of the Lord) said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” Genesis 22:12 In Genesis 22, God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Yes, to...
All in as an Alien
In Deuteronomy 26:5, Moses referred to Abraham as “a wandering Aramean” which is a pretty good description of what it meant to be a nomadic alien in the Near East 2,000 years before Christ. The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives two definitions for “alien”: 1) not a...
All in Despite Fear
Lately I’ve been thinking about two distinct ways to react to fear. It’s human nature to react the first way. It’s God’s grace that allows us to react the second way. Abraham’s behavior in Gerar (Genesis 20) demonstrates the first way. Fear was the center of his...
All in on Intercession
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 There is much we can learn from this passage from Abraham’s approach to God in prayer, or...
All in While Waiting
“Wait!” is not a word most of us enjoy hearing. Particularly in the 21st Century, we have gotten used to “immediately”. We are very immature as a species and that appears to have been the norm for millennia. Like toddlers, we want what we want and we want it now....
All in on God’s Promises
Here is an excerpt from Wendell Berry’s poem “A Vision”: a long time after we are dead the lives our lives prepare will live here, their houses strongly placed upon the valley sides, fields and gardens rich in the windows. The labor of well-informed preparation...
Ascend With Unity
For a long time I’ve liked the music and imagery of verse two of Psalm 133 in the ESV translation: It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! I was so in love with that precious...
Ascend Toward Contentment
I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like a weaned child. (Psalm 131:2) This is one of my favorite word pictures in the Bible. A nursing child will sit on his mother’s lap and literally pull off his mom’s clothing trying to...
Ascend Toward Hope
This is a particularly rich Psalm. Not “rich” like expensive, but more like highly nutritious spiritual food. Reformer Martin Luther counted Psalm 130 as one of his four favorite Psalms. “They teach us that forgiveness of sins is granted without the law and without...
Ascend with a Mission
Remember, O Lord, in David’s favor, all the hardships he endured (Psalm 132:1) Time is going to pass and our energy is going to run out whether or not we live missionally. Getting distracted and chasing fantasies will not put any more food on the table (Proverbs...