Faithful God

The Gift of Faith
Tests of Faith

Powerful Faith

Genesis 15:1-6  The Message

15 After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I’m your shield. Your reward will be grand!”

^2-3 Abram said, “God, Master, what use are your gifts as long as I’m childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?” Abram continued, “See, you’ve given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all.”
⁴ Then God’s Message came: “Don’t worry, he won’t be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir.”
⁵ Then he took him outside and said, “Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You’re going to have a big family, Abram!”
⁶ And he believed! Believed God! God declared him “Set-Right-with-God.”

 

For Reflection 

What we are we owe to God.   What we will become is grounded in God's will.  We are the promise of God.  We are the sons and daughters of Abram.  What we inherit we dedicate to God.

Pray

prayers of gratitude for the Creator who made you, who animates you, who sustains you, who comforts you, who dwells within you.  Praise God,   Pray so that you can become intimate with God, so you can become one with your maker.

Jesus and the Journey

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
The Feast of Booths

John 3:14-21  The Message

^13-15 “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.
^16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
^19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

For Reflection 

Because Jesus lived and lives again, God is knowable.  God is approachable. The resurrection of Christ is God's offer to reside in us. God's promise to fulfill our human destiny; a promise of a whole life, a life lived for each other, a life in the light of God, a life saved from the illusion of self reliance.

Pray

Hallelujah!  Amen!  Praise the living God. Realize the joy of the intimacy with God gained only through prayer and service to God and each other.  Pray for unreasonable, irrational trust in God.

Stephen and the Journey

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
The Feast of Booths

Acts 7:30-43  The Message

^30-32 “Forty years later, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to him in the guise of flames of a burning bush. Moses, not believing his eyes, went up to take a closer look. He heard God’s voice: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Frightened nearly out of his skin, Moses shut his eyes and turned away.
^33-34 “God said, ‘Kneel and pray. You are in a holy place, on holy ground. I’ve seen the agony of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their groans. I’ve come to help them. So get yourself ready; I’m sending you back to Egypt.’
^35-39 “This is the same Moses whom they earlier rejected, saying, ‘Who put you in charge of us?’ This is the Moses that God, using the angel flaming in the burning bush, sent back as ruler and redeemer. He led them out of their slavery. He did wonderful things, setting up God-signs all through Egypt, down at the Red Sea, and out in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to his congregation, ‘God will raise up a prophet just like me from your descendants.’ This is the Moses who stood between the angel speaking at Sinai and your fathers assembled in the wilderness and took the life-giving words given to him and handed them over to us, words our fathers would have nothing to do with.
^39-41 “They craved the old Egyptian ways, whining to Aaron, ‘Make us gods we can see and follow. This Moses who got us out here miles from nowhere—who knows what’s happened to him!’ That was the time when they made a calf-idol, brought sacrifices to it, and congratulated each other on the wonderful religious program they had put together.

For Reflection 

The strength of the Christian movement has always threatened the common ways.  The inherent subversive counter culture of Christianity upsets the common culturally derived norms and changes all assumptions of perfection. Here, in these passages, Stephen, argues against accusations of blasphemy in a kangaroo court with bribed witnesses designed to destroy the Jesus movement.

In their attempt at self-reliance, the Israilites made a calf idol, [sacrificed to it] and congratulated each other on the wonderful religious program they had put together." In the fall of the people of Moses, I am reminded of the passages from Carl Sanburg's Playthings of the Wind.  "It has happened before.  Strong men put up a city and got a nation together and paid singers to sing and women to warble: We are the greatest city the greatest nation, nothing like us ever was."

Without God all human endeavor is useless and without substance.  Godless creation is bound to fail and as Sandburg puts it,  " [after the fall] ...the writing of the rat's footprints tells us nothing about the greatest city, the greatest nation... Nothing like us ever was."

Pray

Prayers of thanksgiving and praise for the living God.  Pray that God's steadfast love for humanity will be recognized by us all.  Pray for the Kingdom of God in which there is a residing place for justice peace and forgiveness.   Pray so that you are not seduced by the common call to self-sustenance.

The Journey Falters

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
The Feast of Booths

Deuteronomy 1:29-33  The Message

^29-33 I tried to relieve your fears: “Don’t be terrified of them. God, your God, is leading the way; he’s fighting for you. You saw with your own eyes what he did for you in Egypt; you saw what he did in the wilderness, how God, your God, carried you as a father carries his child, carried you the whole way until you arrived here. But now that you’re here, you won’t trust God, your God—this same God who goes ahead of you in your travels to scout out a place to pitch camp, a fire by night and a cloud by day to show you the way to go.”

For Reflection 

We are human.  We struggle each day to survive. We lack the vision to predict success in the face of threat. Prosperity and peace are but a brief respite that leads to false security and a delusion of self sufficiency.  Our first response to impending threat is to flee or fight.  We live with fear of failure and death is failure's consequence.  We delude ourselves into thinking that prosperity and security are products of our own making.  We in our comfort have forgotten that God made all prosperity possible.  We have lost our trust in God.

Pray

Stay in touch with God.  Pray often.  Fight fear with radical trust in God.  Live as though all will be made well.  Pray so that you will know that God will show you the way and protect you on your journey. 

The Journey Begins

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
The Feast of Booths

Exodus 3:1-6  The Message

3 ^1-2 Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn’t burn up.

³ Moses said, “What’s going on here? I can’t believe this! Amazing! Why doesn’t the bush burn up?”
⁴ God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
He said, “Yes? I’m right here!”
⁵ God said, “Don’t come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You’re standing on holy ground.”
⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God.

For Reflection 

God was unapproachable.  God was unknowable.  God established God's own persona to which only a few were granted an intimate yet distant encounter.  God was to be feared and respected.  God influenced humankind by leading the obedient to a reward and leaving those who rejected God to suffer from the folly of their own devices.  The journey to Jesus begins as a father would guide, support and discipline his children.  The abstract mystery of humankind's relationship to God was made concrete by actionable law.  Thus the cycle of obedience, reward, delusions of self, disobedience, and repentance begins.  And all the while, God remains steadfast, committed to God's covenant with God's people. God never abandons God's people.  God forgives.  God embraces.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving and praise for The God of Moses.  Pray prayers of gratitude for those who, in their obedience to God showed unreasonable trust in God who could not be seen, who could not be touched but would always be present in Grace.

God of the Journey

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
The Feast of Booths

Psalm 68:5-10  The Message

^5-6 Father of orphans,
    champion of widows,
        is God in his holy house.
God makes homes for the homeless,
    leads prisoners to freedom,
        but leaves rebels to rot in hell.

^7-10 God, when you took the lead with your people,
    when you marched out into the wild,
Earth shook, sky broke out in a sweat;
    God was on the march.
Even Sinai trembled at the sight of God on the move,
    at the sight of Israel’s God.
You pour out rain in buckets, O God;
    thorn and cactus become an oasis
For your people to camp in and enjoy.
    You set them up in business;
    they went from rags to riches.

For Reflection 

God is again "on the move."    Why in today's world do so many find little value in Christianity, (or, for that matter, any religion).  Why do some call themselves atheists and yet yet claim to believe in God?  In the "Age of Me" there is an alternative when "Me" is no longer satisfying, when "Me" does the community a grave injustice, when "Me" fails.
One of the major questions of our time is, "How can Christians reclaim an authentic Christianity, a Christianity which is undefiled by a history of perversions.  Can we realize the potential grace that human beings were meant to achieve?  Can we evolve beyond our fear to recognize and to release the power that resides within us to grow into Grace?  Or, must we be forever mired in the darkness of temerity?

Pray

to the living God Jesus has shown us.  Pray for the courage to accept the transformational offer which has been placed before each of us.  Pray so that you will experience life as life was meant to be, full of mystery, wonder, Love and Grace.

Sin Offering for Atonement

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Day of Atonement

Leviticus 16:1-10  The Message

The Day of Atonement

16 ^1-2 After the death of Aaron’s two sons—they died when they came before God with strange fire—God spoke to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter into the Holy of Holies, barging inside the curtain that’s before the Atonement-Cover on the Chest whenever he feels like it, lest he die, because I am present in the Cloud over the Atonement-Cover.

^3-5 “This is the procedure for Aaron when he enters the Holy Place: He will bring a young bull for an Absolution-Offering and a ram for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; he will put on the holy linen tunic and the linen underwear, tie the linen sash around him, and put on the linen turban. These are the sacred vestments so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. Then from the Israelite community he will bring two male goats for an Absolution-Offering and a Whole-Burnt-Offering.
^6-10 “Aaron will offer the bull for his own Absolution-Offering in order to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he will set the two goats before God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and cast lots over the two goats, one lot for God and the other lot for Azazel. He will offer the goat on which the lot to God falls as an Absolution-Offering. The goat on which the lot for Azazel falls will be sent out into the wilderness to Azazel to make atonement.
 

For Reflection 

Perhaps one of the most important outcomes of the Christ event was that God was shown to live among us.  God was no longer unapproachable.  God became knowable to all.  Jesus, the Christ, made obvious that willingness to be obedient to God's will, leads to a new covenant with Jesus interceding for each of us.  With His blood, Jesus has purged the earth of its sinful contamination.  Christ has shown us the way of salvation.  Holiness is restored to the community of God's people. 

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the living God, found in Jesus Christ.   Pray so that you remain in an intimate relationship with Christ.  Pray that you will emulate the living Christ.

Obedience and Atonement

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Day of Atonement

Leviticus 8:30-36  The Message

³⁰ Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the Altar and sprinkled Aaron and his garments, and his sons and their garments, consecrating Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments.
^31-35 Moses spoke to Aaron and his sons: “Boil the meat at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and eat it there with the bread from the basket of ordination, just as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it.’ Burn up the leftovers from the meat and bread. Don’t leave through the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for the seven days that will complete your ordination. Your ordination will last seven days. God commanded what has been done this day in order to make atonement for you. Stay at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days. Be sure to do what God requires, lest you die. This is what I have been commanded.”
³⁶ Aaron and his sons did everything that God had commanded by Moses.

For Reflection 

Moses anoints with blood, the essence of life itself, and, thus, consecrates Arron and this sons to the will of God.  For seven days they rested from this world so that they may emerge at one with God.   We tend to underestimate the holy meaning of resting, to reflect on the wonder and mystery that is God.

How do you enter the sanctity of your ordination into the community of the Holy Spirit?

Pray

that you will look to Jesus as the mentor, the guide, everyone's advocate in their journey into Grace.  Pray so that you well seek obedience to the will of God.

Preparation for Atonement

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Day of Atonement

Exodus 30:1-10  The Message

The Altar of Incense

30 ^1-5 “Make an Altar for burning incense. Construct it from acacia wood, one and one-half feet square and three feet high with its horns of one piece with it. Cover it with a veneer of pure gold, its top, sides, and horns, and make a gold molding around it with two rings of gold beneath the molding. Place the rings on the two opposing sides to serve as holders for poles by which it will be carried. Make the poles of acacia wood and cover them with a veneer of gold.

^6-10 “Place the Altar in front of the curtain that hides the Chest of The Testimony, in front of the Atonement-Cover that is over The Testimony where I will meet you. Aaron will burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he polishes the lamps, and again in the evening as he prepares the lamps for lighting, so that there will always be incense burning before God, generation after generation. But don’t burn on this Altar any unholy incense or Whole-Burnt-Offering or Grain-Offering. And don’t pour out Drink-Offerings on it. Once a year Aaron is to purify the Altar horns. Using the blood of the Absolution-Offering of atonement, he is to make this atonement every year down through the generations. It is most holy to God.”

For Reflection 

In old testament days, coming into the presence of God was a matter of life and death.  Priests made extensive preparation to make sure that when they entered the holy space in the temple, the inner sanctum was purged of all potential contamination of the place where they would commune with God.  They made sure the smoke from the incense they burned would hide their vision from the unapproachable God.

Fasting, self-denial, and compete rest were essential rituals for repentance and atonement.  Perhaps we should try it.   Take time to get in touch with God.

Pray

that you will sacrifice your self by cleansing your body by fasting, focus not on your will, but on God's will for your life and take a rest from the pressures of your world.

Completed Atonement

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Day of Atonement

Romans 3:21-26  The Message

God Has Set Things Right

^21-24 But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

^25-26 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.

For Reflection 

We all can come up with a long list of sins.  Most stem from violations of the ten commandments.  Some are derived from parables.  Some are culturally derived.  But, I will be willing to bet, most if not all, are individual sins.

We may long for community but, rarely do we see a connection between our sinning and the effect those sins have on the community.  Individuals spread sin like an infectious disease.  Hurtful words spoken by one yield hurtful words spoken by those who have been hurt.  What happens when we engage in gossip? Or unethical behavior in business? Or a government mired in divisiveness? Or a Christian group turns destructively in on itself?

Sin not only affects the sinner, but also, the community and who we are as a people of God, Christians.  Sin contaminates the sanctuary of God and threatens God's presence on Earth!

Will God ever leave because of our wanton disobedience?  God promises not to abandon us.  But, we sure make God's promise difficult to keep!

Pray

that you will be more aware of the sins you commit.  Pray that you will take special care in reducing your sins of omission. Pray that you will repent of your sin and strive for a righteous life.

Perfect Atonement

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Day of Atonement

Hebrews 2:10-18  The Message

^10-13 It makes good sense that the God who got everything started and keeps everything going now completes the work by making the Salvation Pioneer perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory. Since the One who saves and those who are saved have a common origin, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to treat them as family, saying,

I’ll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters, all I know about you;
I’ll join them in worship and praise to you.

Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says,

Even I live by placing my trust in God.

And yet again,

I’m here with the children God gave me.

^14-15 Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.

^16-18 It’s obvious, of course, that he didn’t go to all this trouble for angels. It was for people like us, children of Abraham. That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.

For Reflection 

We are members of God's family.  God has rescued us from our errant ways, not by force, or cunning, or coercion, or reward, or the threat of divine punishment.  God has saved us by sending God's son to show us the path to righteousness, and to help us understand how to live in the household of God.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the gift of God's son. Pray that you will adopt the way of Jesus Christ as the ultimate sacrifice of your life to the living God.

Increasing Thanks

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Feast of Weeks

2 Corinthians 4:7-15  The Message

^7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!
^13-15 We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

For Reflection 

We carry around the Gospel in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives!  Our clay pots infinitely different from each other, scarred, cracked and broken, poor as they are, are rich in spirit, a compliment to God.  Thanks be to God for the aura of the sanctity which surrounds us.  Thanks be to God for living in our lives.  Thanks be to God for the opportunity to be the vessel of the Holy Spirit.  You believe and it is impossible to ignore it.

Pray

thanking God for all your blessings.  Thank God for the Holy Spirit which resides in you.  Thank God for the opportunity to become a beacon to others.  Thank God.

In Spite of Everything

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Feast of Weeks

Romans 7:14-25  The Message

^14-16 I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.
^17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
^21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
²⁴ I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?
²⁵ The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

For Reflection 

"I'm not just that spiritual. I feel odd, phony, when I try to pray. God knows my insincerity.  God will never answer my prayer."

Get over it.  Stop whining!  Quit making excuses for not praying.  Even Paul questioned his spirituality.  So why can't you question your spirituality?

Sure, prayer at first may feel awkward. So what?  Maybe your prayer isn't answered the way you want it to be.  Maybe the reason for prayer isn't all about  God giving you an edge or removing an impediment to your accomplishment or your comfort.  Maybe your discomfort arises from your lack of trust in God and not your supposition of God's opinion of you. Maybe, just maybe, in spite of everything, when you pray your relationship with God will become more intimate; your comfort level with prayer will improve, your wisdom will become more God centered, your hunger for something spiritual will result in a more satisfying spiritual life.

Pray daily, quietly, and alone.  Talk to God.

Pray

three times today.

In All Things Thanks

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Feast of Weeks

Ephesians 5:15-20  The Message

^11-16 Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.

Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!

So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

¹⁷ Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.
^18-20 Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.

For Reflection 

How much time do you spend on things you would rather not do?  Ask yourself,  "Why in God's name am I so busy?"  Start today to do only one small thing that satisfies the soul of your being.  Make time for it each day. You will begin to understand what the Master wants you to do.

Pray

that you will feed your soul as you feed you body, "Soul Food." 

Thanks Be to God

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Feast of Weeks

1 Chronicles 17:16-27  The Message

^16-27 King David went in, took his place before God, and prayed:

Who am I, my Master God, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this place in life? But that’s nothing compared to what’s coming, for you’ve also spoken of my family far into the future, given me a glimpse into tomorrow and looked on me, Master God, as a Somebody. What’s left for David to say to this—to your honoring your servant, even though you know me, just as I am? O God, out of the goodness of your heart, you’ve taken your servant to do this great thing and put your great work on display. There’s none like you, God, no God but you, nothing to compare with what we’ve heard with our own ears. And who is like your people, like Israel, a nation unique on earth, whom God set out to redeem as his own people (and became most famous for it), performing great and fearsome acts, throwing out nations and their gods left and right as you saved your people from Egypt? You established for yourself a people—your very own Israel!—your people forever. And you, God, became their God.

So now, great God, this word that you have spoken to me and my family, guarantee it forever! Do exactly what you’ve promised! Then your reputation will be confirmed and flourish always as people exclaim, “The God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!” And the house of your servant David will remain rock solid under your watchful presence. You, my God, have told me plainly, “I will build you a house.” That’s how I was able to find the courage to pray this prayer to you. God, being the God you are, you have spoken all these wonderful words to me. As if that weren’t enough, you’ve blessed my family so that it will continue in your presence always. Because you have blessed it, God, it’s really blessed—blessed for good!

For Reflection 

Have unreasonable trust in the Lord. Look for God in your life.

God has protected you.  God has nurtured you.  God has promised you. God walks with you. God has made a place for you. God has loved you. God has made you God's own.  God will never stop loving, protecting, guiding, and blessing you.  Thanks be to God!

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the living God, found in Jesus Christ.   Pray so that you remain in an intimate relationship with Christ.  Pray that you will emulate the living Christ.

Praise the Lord

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Feast of Weeks

Psalm 147:1-11  The Message

147 Hallelujah!
It’s a good thing to sing praise to our God;
    praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.

^2-6 God’s the one who rebuilds Jerusalem,
    who regathers Israel’s scattered exiles.
He heals the heartbroken
    and bandages their wounds.
He counts the stars
    and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
    we’ll never comprehend what he knows and does.
God puts the fallen on their feet again
    and pushes the wicked into the ditch.

^7-11 Sing to God a thanksgiving hymn,
    play music on your instruments to God,
Who fills the sky with clouds,
    preparing rain for the earth,
Then turning the mountains green with grass,
    feeding both cattle and crows.
He’s not impressed with horsepower;
    the size of our muscles means little to him.
Those who fear God get God’s attention;
    they can depend on his strength.

For Reflection 

Copy and paste me into your browser.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RZTYDPavEY

Pray

Sing your own song of praise.

When Your Children Ask

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Passover

Joshua 4:1-7  The Message

4 ^1-3 When the whole nation was finally across, God spoke to Joshua: “Select twelve men from the people, a man from each tribe, and tell them, ‘From right here, the middle of the Jordan where the feet of the priests are standing firm, take twelve stones. Carry them across with you and set them down in the place where you camp tonight.’”

^4-7 Joshua called out the twelve men whom he selected from the People of Israel, one man from each tribe. Joshua directed them, “Cross to the middle of the Jordan and take your place in front of the Chest of God, your God. Each of you heft a stone to your shoulder, a stone for each of the tribes of the People of Israel, so you’ll have something later to mark the occasion. When your children ask you, ‘What are these stones to you?’ you’ll say, ‘The flow of the Jordan was stopped in front of the Chest of the Covenant of God as it crossed the Jordan—stopped in its tracks. These stones are a permanent memorial for the People of Israel.’”

For Reflection 

Pass your faith on to your children.  Involve them in the rituals of your faith.  Talk to them about God and Jesus.  Tell them the stories of God and God's people.  Instruct them in the ways of Christian ethics.  Provide them with opportunities for learning about God's will for justice, peace, forgiveness and grace.

Pray

that you will instruct by your righteousness.  Pray that all children will find their way in truth and light.

Detailed Instructions

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Passover

Numbers 9:1-13  The Message

Passover

9 ^1-3 God spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai in the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt: “Have the People of Israel celebrate Passover at the set time. Celebrate it on schedule, on the evening of the fourteenth day of this month, following all the rules and procedures.”

^4-5 Moses told the People of Israel to celebrate the Passover and they did—in the Wilderness of Sinai at evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. The People of Israel did it all just as God had commanded Moses.
^6-7 But some of them couldn’t celebrate the Passover on the assigned day because they were ritually unclean on account of a corpse. So they presented themselves before Moses and Aaron on Passover and told Moses, “We have become ritually unclean because of a corpse, but why should we be barred from bringing God’s offering along with other Israelites on the day set for Passover?”
⁸ Moses said, “Give me some time; I’ll find out what God says in your circumstances.”
^9-12 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, If one or another of you is ritually unclean because of a corpse, or you happen to be off on a long trip, you may still celebrate God’s Passover. But celebrate it on the fourteenth day of the second month at evening. Eat the lamb together with unraised bread and bitter herbs. Don’t leave any of it until morning. Don’t break any of its bones. Follow all the procedures.
¹³ “But a man who is ritually clean and is not off on a trip and still fails to celebrate the Passover must be cut off from his people because he did not present God’s offering at the set time. That man will pay for his sin.

For Reflection 

Participation in rituals is extremely important.  The function of set patterns is to remind us of the relationship we have to God.  It is within a pattern that we feel the comfort of our faith and the support of the fellowship of others that practice our faith.

Pray

Pray that you will participate in the rituals of you faith in such a way that preforming the ritual will sanctify your action.

The Eighth Plague

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Passover

Exodus 10:12-20  The Message

¹² God said to Moses: “Stretch your hand over Egypt and signal the locusts to cover the land of Egypt, devouring every blade of grass in the country, everything that the hail didn’t get.”
¹³ Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt. God let loose an east wind. It blew that day and night. By morning the east wind had brought in the locusts.
^14-15 The locusts covered the country of Egypt, settling over every square inch of Egypt; the place was thick with locusts. There never was an invasion of locusts like it in the past, and never will be again. The ground was completely covered, black with locusts. They ate everything, every blade of grass, every piece of fruit, anything that the hail didn’t get. Nothing left but bare trees and bare fields—not a sign of green in the whole land of Egypt.
^16-17 Pharaoh had Moses and Aaron back in no time. He said, “I’ve sinned against your God and against you. Overlook my sin one more time. Pray to your God to get me out of this—get death out of here!”
^18-19 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to God. God reversed the wind—a powerful west wind took the locusts and dumped them into the Red Sea. There wasn’t a single locust left in the whole country of Egypt.
²⁰ But God made Pharaoh stubborn as ever. He still didn’t release the Israelites.

For Reflection
The essence of the Passover is lodged in the protection that God gives freely to God's people.  That God's people will be a sign of God's power and grace is part of the great covenant between God and humankind.  Even in the face of strong evidence of the majesty and healing power of the Holy Spirit not all will accept God's reign.

Pray

for those who know of God's power and grace and yet ignore God's invitation for reconciliation.  Pray that you will abide in the grace of God in humility and obedience to God's holy word.

The Last Passover

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days
Passover

Matthew 26:20-30  The Message

^20-21 After sunset, he and the Twelve were sitting around the table. During the meal, he said, “I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators.”
²² They were stunned, and then began to ask, one after another, “It isn’t me, is it, Master?”
^23-24 Jesus answered, “The one who hands me over is someone I eat with daily, one who passes me food at the table. In one sense the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense that man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!”
²⁵ Then Judas, already turned traitor, said, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?”
Jesus said, “Don’t play games with me, Judas.”

The Bread and the Cup

^26-29 During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:

Take, eat.
This is my body.

Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:

Drink this, all of you.
This is my blood,
God’s new covenant poured out for many people
    for the forgiveness of sins.

“I’ll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I’ll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father.”

³⁰ They sang a hymn and went directly to Mount Olives.

For Reflection 

Often a shared meal becomes a holy event. This common every day necessity is transformed into an opportunity for deep spiritual enrichment.  It is not so much the topic of discussion that is important.  Often sharing a meal is the action which binds us to each other in the community of God.  How often do you break bread together with friends and family?  In the discussion of every day affairs, do you seek to discover God in your midst?

Pray

that you will interpret the events in your life to be Holy and centered in God's grace.  Pray that you will find spiritual sustenance in fellowship with each other and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus and the Passover

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Holy Days

Passover

Luke 2:41-50The Message

They Found Him in the Temple

^41-45 Every year Jesus’ parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up as they always did for the Feast. When it was over and they left for home, the child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn’t know it. Thinking he was somewhere in the company of pilgrims, they journeyed for a whole day and then began looking for him among relatives and neighbors. When they didn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for him.

^46-48 The next day they found him in the Temple seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. The teachers were all quite taken with him, impressed with the sharpness of his answers. But his parents were not impressed; they were upset and hurt.
His mother said, “Young man, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for you.”
^49-50 He said, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be here, dealing with the things of my Father?” But they had no idea what he was talking about.

For ReflectionWhy were the teachers so remarkably impressed with Jesus?  Could it be that their amazement stemmed from the fact that Jesus was not only from an artisan class, but also, perhaps, Jesus could not read!

Not many could in Jesus time.  However, not being able to read did not mean that many did not know the oral tradition scriptures. The stories of God and God's people were transmitted and received orally within a discipline of creative performance.  Thus oral tradition was quite different from scribal recordings.  Oral tradition was not just gossip, rumor or memory.  Rather things known and understood in the oral tradition were stated in terms which were used carefully and exactly as taught by oral masters to apprentices.  Thus, Jesus understandings of the meaning of scripture was enriched by the depth of the practice of the oral tradition.  Scribes and other literate religious leaders spoke from the authority of the written word.  Jesus spoke with authority from the oral tradition.  His arguments and declarations were based and evidenced in His memory and interpreted as divine guidance.  Jesus was not bound by the written word.

Pray

for wisdom as found in the written scriptures.  Pray that you will be encouraged and challenged to interpret the practice of the gospel as found in multiple versions of the Bible.  Pray that you will open your mind to God's guiding wisdom.