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: Genesis 24: 42-49 Verses 47-48: “Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord”. As our story continues today, we can see how God is orchestrating the servant’s mission to find a bride for Isaac. All unfolds just as he prayed that it would. The prayers and events that follow seem to be fully God ordained. In fact, it is so obvious that Rebekah’s family is willing to let her go with a total stranger to marry a m

Reading: Genesis 24: 42-49 Verses 47-48: “Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord”. As our story continues today, we can see how God is orchestrating the servant’s mission to find a bride for Isaac. All unfolds just as he prayed that it would. The prayers and events that follow seem to be fully God ordained. In fact, it is so obvious that Rebekah’s family is willing to let her go with a total stranger to marry a m

Reading: Matthew 10: 1-23 Verses 19-20: “Do not worry about what to say or how to say it… it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit”. Yesterday we read and heard about the harvest being plentiful but the workers being few. Today Jesus gathers the twelve disciples and sends them out to the towns and villages to minister to the Jews. Jesus empowers them to preach that the kingdom is near and to heal and to drive out demons. The disciples are to travel light and to rely on the

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

Reading: Acts 2: 1-21 Verse 4: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them”. As we continue to look at Acts 2 we focus in today on communication. A small group of Jesus followers is gathered together and the Holy Spirit bursts in and settles on each one. At that moment, “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them”. The languages that they spoke mat

Reading: Acts 2: 1-11 Verse 11: “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues”. Today and for the next two days we will focus on Pentecost – the day largely accepted as the birthday of the church. A small group of Jesus’ followers were gathered together for worship. A loud and powerful wind announced the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Represented by what appeared to be “tongues of fire” that lit on each one, the followers were filled by the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile