Reading: Genesis 22: 1-14 Verse 5: “We will worship and then we will come back to you”. In yesterday’s reading, we focused on Abraham’s trust and obedience. There is also a second person who demonstrates a great deal of trust and obedience. Isaac accompanies his father Abraham and plays his role as son, obedient to the father. In other ways we see Isaac as an example of the kind of faith and trust that Jesus modeled on his way to death. Only then, the son was not spared. Thro

Reading: Genesis 22: 1-14 Verse 5: “We will worship and then we will come back to you”. In yesterday’s reading, we focused on Abraham’s trust and obedience. There is also a second person who demonstrates a great deal of trust and obedience. Isaac accompanies his father Abraham and plays his role as son, obedient to the father. In other ways we see Isaac as an example of the kind of faith and trust that Jesus modeled on his way to death. Only then, the son was not spared. Thro

Reading: Genesis 22: 1-14 Verse 8: “Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering'”. Our passage from Genesis 22 is one of those stories of faith that we read and wonder if we could do what that Biblical hero did. For me, this passage is right up there with David facing Goliath, Daniel facing the lions’ den, Esther facing the king, and Peter taking that step out onto the water. When our faith feels strong, these are actions we too could take for

Reading: Matthew 10: 24-39 Verses 38-39: “Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me… whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”. Jesus’ words today are really about the cost of discipleship. Over the years, the cost has been varying degrees of suffering and sacrifice, depending on the era and location. In Jesus’ day, he and his disciples were oppressed by both the Jews and the Romans. Both saw Jesus and his small group of followers as a pot

Reading: John 17: 1-11 Verse 11: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name… so that they may be one as we are one”. Sometimes people think a trial or time of hardship will draw a group closer together. Someone may cite a sacrifice made by someone to save a dear friend or fellow soldiers. Another may tell of how this church surrounded a family that experienced that traumatic event. While all of these things do occur, they are predicated on one fact: there was a bon

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