Reading: Matthew 13: 36-43 Verse 43: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father”. As Jesus and the disciples return to the house once again they ask him to explain a parable. Jesus had just told a story about planting seeds and they needed help with the interpretation. Jesus explains that he is the sower, planting good seeds in people’s lives. He does this work in the world – everywhere he goes. At the same time, Satan is at work in the same wo

Reading: Genesis 25: 19-34 Verse 21: “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren”. Last week we looked at the miraculous story of finding a wife for Isaac. The baby born when mom and dad were 90 and 100, respectively, marries a wife that clearly God had a hand in selecting. Remember how the servant’s prayer was exactly how things unfolded in finding Rebekah? It seemed like a fairy tale beginning to a storybook marriage. But then, in today’s passage

Reading: Romans 6: 12-23 Verse 14: “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace”. Paul is writing to the church in Rome because they are struggling with living righteous lives. Sin is present. Some people have even adopted the belief that they can do whatever they want because grace will cover all sin. This passage remains very applicable today – maybe even moreso than the day it was written. Paul begins by encouraging the followers of

Reading: Psalm 13 Verse 5: “I will trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation”. David follows the typical pattern found in lament Psalms: pouring out his heart and his pain and then coming to the Lord in praise. I think that this pattern is typical of many of our deepest relationships. At times we need to express the hurt or frustration or anger that we are experiencing and then we can move on in that situation or relationship. On a smaller scale that i

Reading: Genesis 21: 8-15 Verse 17: “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid”. Hagar and Ishmael are sent out into the wilderness. They are given a small amount of food and water. Soon these run out. Hagar must have been struggling with this fate – we all would. Why would life have to end like this? What do you think being rejected and cast out felt like? People all over our nation are wrestling with the idea of being outcast, rejected, marginalized. Some are like Hagar,

Reading: Genesis 1:26 – 2:4a Verse 28: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it”. Our passage today begins with God creating humanity in “our image, in our likeness”. This description says we are to be like God in how we look and act, in how we think and feel. God is loving and kind, merciful and forgiving, compassionate and slow to anger, creative and life giving. While this is just a partial list of God’s qualities it begins to inform how we should

Reading: 1 Peter 3: 13-22 Verse 14: “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed”. I believe that each of us are created in the image of God and that all people are woven together by the Creator. Because of this, I believe we each have a spark or a piece of the divine within us. If you watch young children you can see this. There is a pure love in children that reveals the divine within. It shows in the inherent kindness that children naturally display. T