Scripture: 1st Peter 1:22-25 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. For “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass
Scripture: Isaiah 32:17-18 The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Thought for the Day: The Prophet Isaiah dreams of a day when right-living will give rise to true peace — peace within ourselves and between groups of people. It is a marvelous vision,
Scripture: Psalm 149:3 Let them praise the Lord’s name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. Thought for the Day: I grew-up in a fairly traditional church setting, and worship was an experience that happened above the neck. We stood and sat on cue, but most of the praise was done inside our heads and through our voices. To even put our hands together was
Scripture: Habakkuk 2:1-3 I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint. Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it
Scripture: 2nd Corinthians 13:13 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Thought for the Day: The word with, as in the the Holy Spirit be with you all, is meta in the original Greek. What I love about the word is that it is most often translated as with or among
Scripture: 2nd Samuel 9:1 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” Thought for the Day: In tomorrow’s sermon, this is the opening verse of our focus text. In the verse, David asks an interesting question. At first glance, I missed an important aspect to the question. David is wanting to show kindness for the
Scripture: 1st Thessalonians 2:8 So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us. Thought for the Day: An individual can communicate certain ideas adequately without any personal involvement in the actual idea. I can explain a basic math problem or how to turn
Scripture: Genesis 40:15 [Joseph said,] “For in fact I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.” Thought for the Day: People often tell of how Edison failed 10,000 times before finally finding success with the electric lightbulb. I don’t know if that’s true, but it is often used to encourage
Scripture: Deuteronomy 11:1 You shall love the Lord your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandments always. Thought for the Day: I love God, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to always keep the divine charges, decrees, ordinances and commandments. The word ‘always’ makes me nervous as I don’t know if I am capable of even hitting 85%…maybe 70% on
Scripture: Philippians 4:6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Thought for the Day: A colleague in ministry, Rev. Courtney Richards, wrote the following: If we spent as much time DOING ministry as we spend wringing our hands ABOUT ministry, we’d have a lot less about which to wring our hands in the