Reading: Matthew 13: 24-30 Verse 29: “…while you are pulling the weeds you may root up the wheat with them”. I tend to be a fixer. When problems or issues arise I want to fix them. In general, most of us get uncomfortable when things are not right. In those cases our leaning is to make things right then and there. Many of us are like the servants in today’s parable. The parable begins with the planting of wheat in the field. During the night an enemy sows weeds in the same fi

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: Matthew 11: 25-30 Verse 29: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart”. In the second section of this week’s passage from Matthew 11, Jesus begins by reminding us that faith comes to those who are pure in heart and who have a childlike heart. Faith is, after all, a thing of the heart, not of the head. The wise of this world have no need for faith in Jesus – at least in their minds. Only those whom God chooses to reveal the Son to w

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 86: 1-10 and 16-17 Verse 5: “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call on you”. In our Psalm for this week, David cries out to God and he praises God for all God has done. The emotions and feelings in the Psalm cover a wide spectrum of our faith and of our lives. In the opening lines, for example, David asks for protection and mercy and to experience joy. In the next stanza we read, “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in l

Reading: Matthew 28: 16-20 Verse 17: “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted”. At the very end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gathers with his disciples for the last time. Once they see the risen Christ the disciples worship him. In this gospel only the women who came to the tomb have seen the resurrected Jesus. If we only had this gospel it would seem a big leap from seeing Jesus die to receiving these instructions that we read today. Fortunately in Luke’s gospe

Reading: Acts 1: 6-14 Verse 8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you”. Now that Jesus has completed his earthly ministry, maybe now is the time that the mighty, kingly Jesus will appear to restore Israel to its glory. The disciples ask if the time is now. Jesus plainly tells them that it is “not for you to know” when Jesus will return in glory. It will not be as a great warrior in the way they are imagining. Instead of worrying about the future, Jesus focu

Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-14 and 5:6-11 Verse 10: “The God of grace… after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast”. Peter is writing to encourage the followers of Jesus Christ who are in trials and sufferings. As foreign as this sounds to us, suffering for their faith was a regular event. For much of the first 300 years of the church, it was dangerous to be a Christian. The Jews and the Romans were both openly hostile t