Reading: Romans 8: 12-25 Verse 15: “You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship”. In today’s passage we continue with Paul’s words concerning our struggle with sin. Over the past few weeks the readings from Romans have focused on our inner conflict with good and evil. In this week’s verses Paul begins by speaking of an “obligation” that we have. That obligation, using Paul’s word, is to live in alignment with God.

Reading: Psalm 139: 7-10 Verse 10: “Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast”. Even there. Even there God is with us. In the quiet of the sanctuary on a Tuesday morning, God is there. In the excitement of worship on a Sunday morning, God is there. In the prayer on the couch and in the prayer on the walk to work, God is there. As the baby releases its first cry and as the person draws their last breath, God is there. In the spaces where we seek God

Reading: Genesis 28: 10-19a Verse 17: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God”. As today’s passage opens we find Jacob leaving home, headed for Haran, the home of his mother’s family. Jacob is fleeing in fear because he stole the birthright from his twin brother Esau. By returning to the ancestral lands, he will first be safe and, second, Isaac and Rebekah hope he will find a wife from among the relatives. They hope that God will provide a good wi

Reading: Romans 6: 1b-11 Verse 8: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him”. Once we take on Christ, we die to self and are made into a new creation. There is a temporal and an eternal aspect to our new self. Yesterday we read about Christ’s defeating of sin and our call to walk in a new way. Sin is still something we struggle with from time to time, but it is no longer our way of life. In verse eight we read these words: “Now if we died with Ch

Readings: Acts 7: 55-60 and 1st Peter 2: 4-5 and 9-10 Verse 9: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood… that you may declare the praises of him who called you into his wonderful light”. In the first passage for today we see Stephen dying for his faith in Jesus Christ. Being filled with the Holy Spirit he declares that he sees Jesus in heaven. This leads to his stoning. It is a willing gift to God, to declare this and then to go to be with the one he saw in heaven. While