'Lent' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” vs. 1 Psalm 107:1-3 Occasionally, especially in the middle of Lent or a particularly upsetting news cycle, it’s helpful for people of faith to pause and give thanks to the Lord for the relentless and unceasing love that undergirds our being. Sometimes we’re like old crows as we plod through life. Distracted by everything that moves or glitters we spend our days flitting from…
Daily Devotions
Ash Wednesday Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” vs. 1 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 For some believers, the season of Lent is a time for serious reflection on faith and its implications for daily living. They cherish the opportunity to retreat from some of their usual distracting activities by adopting one or more disciplines. Often thought of as “giving something up for…
Daily Devotions
Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.” vss. 12-13 Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 The people of Israel were facing an invasion, not of armies, but of a horde of locusts. Joel likely knew this wasn’t the first time–the devastation wreaked by the regular migratory cloud of insects had been seen before, but he knew the country was facing a crisis. There…
Daily Devotions
If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.” vss. 9b-10 Isaiah 58:1-12 For centuries the church has prepared for the season of Lent by indulging in one last festival of excess. Believers have reasoned that it’s the last chance for them…
Daily Devotions
It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?” vs. 9 Isaiah 50:4-9a Lent is a time for us to focus on our sin, humbly confess our iniquities, and pray for the restoration of our hearts. One of the by-products of such introspection can often be a strong and overwhelming sense of guilt. That’s to be expected. Sin and guilt are often partners on the journey of faith, unwelcome companions that need to be addressed and…
Daily Devotions
Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” vss. 9-10 Mark 11:1-11 It’s hard to believe that Palm Sunday is almost upon us. Some of us have almost completely lost touch with our congregations. YouTube and Zoom worship have been available but they’re not even close to what we’re used…
Daily Devotions
Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” vss. 31-32 John 12:27-33 John presents the basic outline of Jesus’ suffering and death in pretty much the same way as the other gospel writers, but the tone is entirely different. While the other three give the gruesome details of a horrible death, for John this is…
Daily Devotions
Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.” vs. 4 Psalm 51: 1-5 One of seven penitential psalms this prayer has often been attributed to David after his confrontation with the prophet Nathan, and the whole sorry Bathsheba affair. While its words are appropriate to such a setting, it’s unlikely that David was the author, and more likely that…
Examen: A Faith Practice for Lent and For Life, Week 4
This recording is Week 4 of a 6-part Lenten exploration via examen, the faith practice of looking inward, trusting that God wants the eyes of the heart to be illumined. Sheri Brown facilitates the series ~ through prayer, meditation, examen, reflection, scripture, poetry, fasting and almsgiving, participants learn to be a contemplative in action, connecting their spiritual lives with their active day-to-day lives. Examen is the practice of prayerful reflection on how and where God is speaking to us from…
Daily Devotions
For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?” vs. 36-37 Mark 8:34-38 Over the last dozen years or so many people in our country have taken advantage of the rising stock market to accumulate more money than they ever dreamed possible. And as tax rates have gone down they’ve found ever new ways to protect and increase their fortunes. And now they’re scared…
Daily Devotions
But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’” vs. 33 Mark 8:31-33 Having resisted the temptations of Satan in the wilderness, it must have surprised Jesus to hear the tempter’s voice coming from his most trusted disciple. But that’s how temptation works! Seldom can we be tempted by those who we don’t know well–we just don’t trust them…
Daily Devotions
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.” vss. 20-21 Romans 4:17-25 Paul’s extravagant description of Abraham’s faith stretches our credulity a bit, but there’s no doubt that he believed Abraham was the founder of the Judeo-Christian faith community. From his perspective salvation history began with the faith of Abraham and continued…