Scripture: Matthew 13:15-17 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn— and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many
Scripture: Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Thought for the Day: We must always understand that prayer is not putting coins in a heavenly vending machine. It is not picking out
Scriptures: Proverbs 1:22 (the Message) Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance? Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism? Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn? Matthew 11:30 (the Message) [Jesus said,] “Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Thought for the Day: The translation of the Proverb is tough and causes some discomfort, but we’ve all played witness to
Scripture: Mark 10:17-18 As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Thought for the Day: In his book, “If the Church were Christian,” Philip Gulley raises the question, “Was the
Scripture: Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.” Thought for the Day: In the translation known as the Message, it renders the ‘wide gate’ as the easy way, the surefire way, that everyone is trying to get you to buy. “Don’t fall for that stuff, even though
Scripture: Matthew 6:31-34 Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “So
Scripture: Matthew 12:15-21 When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he
Scripture: John 17:18 And Jesus said, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” Thought for the Day: I invite you to reflect on these words from Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon (from their book, “Resident Aliens”), “The church exists today as resident aliens, an adventurous colony in a society of unbelief. As a society of unbelief, Western culture is
Scripture: Matthew 13:24 Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field… Thought for the Day: In 1843, a Mennonite immigrant from Russia came to America, and settled in Halstead, Kansas. Among his meager belongings, he carried a pocket full of wheat seeds. He planted those seeds, and they produced a very nice crop that
Scripture: Matthew 16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Thought for the Day: As we read the story of Jesus in the Gospels, this is the first use of the word ‘church’. Now scholars believe it was not a word used by Jesus, but had become a part