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: Psalm 13 Verse 3: “Look on me and answer, O Lord, my God”. When David wrote this Psalm he must have been in a pretty tough spot. He begins by asking, “How long, O Lord”? David feels as if his bad situation has gone on long enough. He even asks if God will forget him or let this go on forever. At times I too have felt like David feels. We can all relate to the emotional and spiritual valley that David finds himself in. Then, in verse three, David gets really direct wi

Reading: Psalm 13 Verse 3: “Look on me and answer, O Lord, my God”. When David wrote this Psalm he must have been in a pretty tough spot. He begins by asking, “How long, O Lord”? David feels as if his bad situation has gone on long enough. He even asks if God will forget him or let this go on forever. At times I too have felt like David feels. We can all relate to the emotional and spiritual valley that David finds himself in. Then, in verse three, David gets really direct wi

Reading: Genesis 21: 8-21 Verse 10: “She said to Abraham, ‘Get rid of that slave woman and her son'”. Several years after Sarah and Abraham took matters into their own hands, preempting God’s plan, God fulfills his promise to them. Ishmael had been born several years ago and he is now a young boy at the time that Isaac is born. In the story that we read today and tomorrow, there are a lot of emotions flying around. As we have observed over the last few months, this isn’t alwa

Reading: 2nd Corinthians 13: 11-13 Verse 11b: “The God of love and peace will be with you”. As we return to Paul’s closing words in his second letter to the Corinthians, we focus in on God’s love and peace. Paul promises the church in Corinth that the “God of love and peace will be with you”. This promise remains true for us today. Christianity does not have the corner on love and peace. People without faith have love in their lives. They fall in love and they feel loved. Peo

Reading: Acts 2: 14-18 Verse 17: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people”. For the followers of Jesus Christ, the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was a game changer. After his death and resurrection Jesus appeared for forty days as he continued to teach. Those that had orchestrated Jesus’ death felt pretty good about the outcome. There were some rumors of resurrection and appearing again, but all seems quiet now. The followers themselves ar