Tuesday, January 27. Matthew 5:21-26 Did you know that you can murder someone with your eyes? In my family, we call it “the Look.” I have died a thousand deaths from that glare, believe me. And I, too, am a murderer. Today’s reading continues...
Here is an updated illustration of John 15:1-5. I’m trying to connect Jesus’ metaphor of the Vine to a contemporary metaphor of electricity. In John 15, the Creator is the Vinegrower, Jesus is the Vine, the Spirit is the power of life flowing from every...
Monday January 26. Psalm 1:1-3 Have you ever noticed that when you spend a lot of time in a certain place, or with a certain person, you find yourself talking and acting like the people from that place? This happens to my family all the time. We love the Chronicles of...
Friday, January 22. Matthew 4:18-22 Think about what you do for a living. If you are a student, and are still thinking about your coming career, then think about how you spend most of your time as a student. Why do you do it? Are you motivated by money? Are you trying...
Thursday, January 22. Deuteronomy 8:1-10 Have you ever been really hungry, or really thirsty, and then got to eat or drink? When I played football in high school we would have three practices a day for two weeks in August, before school started. August can be brutal...
Wednesday, January 21. Genesis 3:1-7 The serpent must have been in advertising. Think about most of the commercials you watch on TV or hear on the radio. What is their tactic? They try to convince you that you are somehow incomplete until you buy their product....
I’m preaching from Matthew 5:1-20 this weekend. Jesus said, You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In...
Tuesday, January 20. Genesis 1:26-27 The main text for this week is Matthew 4:1-17. Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness. He begins each temptation with the phrase, “If you are the Son of God…” Do you see what he’s doing? Satan is trying to get...
Monday, January 19. Psalm 91:9-12 Our main text for this whole week is Matthew 4:1-17. Jesus has been in the desert, fasting for forty days. He’s famished. Then Satan comes after him with three temptations. The reading for today has to do with the second...
Friday, January 16, Numbers 31:21-24 The reason this passage was chosen for our Narrative Lectionary reading was because it is about purifying things with fire and water. It relates to our main text in Matthew 3:1-17 because John the Baptist said that he baptized with...
