ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 20, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols! Thought for the Day: This is how the letter we call 1st John ends. It seems almost anticlimactic, a bit unsatisfying. Throughout the closing verses there appeared to be a big push in regard to who can sin and how prayer can or cannot help in certain situations. And then, the very last
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 19, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 5:5 Who defeats the world? Isn’t it the one who believes that Jesus is God’s Son? Thought for the Day: Hogwash! I had a grandfather who enjoyed using that word. I kind of knew its meaning from the context, but I always struggled to make the connection between cleaning a pig and something being nonsense. I was probably in my
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 18, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 4:21 This commandment we have from him: Those who claim to love God ought to love their brother and sister also. Thought for the Day: Jesus summarized all the laws with just one that had a Part-A and Part-B. We are to love the Lord and love our neighbor. The author of 1st John wanted to make sure we did
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 17, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 4:7 Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. Thought for the Day: I know a lot of people who love, and do so in powerful ways, but they claim to be atheists or agnostics. The author of 1st John expresses the belief that “everyone” who
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 16, 2019 Prayer for the Week: Though we’d like to believe that we have chosen you, O Source of Life and Love, the story of our faith recounts your diligence and patience, your fidelity and sacrifice to the holy task of choosing us. It was more than a tap on the shoulder, more than a nod or a wink. It was comprised of – faithfulness
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 15, 2019 Scripture: Mark 5:41-43 Jesus took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 14, 2019 Scripture: Mark 9:9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Thought for the Day: I love each of the Gospels for the unique gift each of them brings to the larger story of Jesus, but I must confess the special
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 13, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 4:1-2 Dear friends, don’t believe every spirit. Test the spirits to see if they are from God because many false prophets have gone into the world. This is how you know if a spirit comes from God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come as a human is from God… Thought for the Day: Docetism was a religious
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 12, 2019 Scripture: Isaiah 43:19 Look! I’m doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it? I’m making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness. A Thursday Prayer: Overwhelmed! Swamped! Buried! So often the news and the events of the world can leave us feeling incapacitated. Could there be, Merciful God, an agenda of despair? Could there be a strategy
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 11, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 3:23-24 This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other as he commanded us. The person who keeps his commandments remains in God and God remains in him; and this is how we know that he remains in us, because of the Spirit that he has given to us. Thought