John 3: 1-17 They met at night, because a faithful Jewish man worked in the day and studied the Law at night. Pharisees were lay people, not priests – lay people like elders, deacons, trustees, moderators of committees, Godly lay people. The night is also the time when a person’s […]
John 14: 25-27 – PENTECOST Those of us who have been around the church for a while know the basic story of Pentecost, but a little refresher won’t hurt. Pentecost – one of three (some scholars say four) holy feast days in the Old Testament. It was celebrated between the end […]
John 17: 20-26 A simple way to read and understand Scripture: Content (what does the passage mean) Context (what does the passage mean to those who first heard it Conviction (what does the passage mean to me, or to us) Content I want to look more closely at the phrase […]
Revelation 21: 1-6 & John 1: 1-5 Do you remember the name, Marshall McLuhan? He is famous for the phrase, ‘The Medium is the Message’, which was the title of the first chapter of his book “Understanding Media” published in 1964. His theory, now I imagine universally accepted, is that […]
John 10: 22-30 His encounter in the temple courtyard reads as if it is some kind of job interview. Did Jesus have the necessary qualifications in the minds of the crowds to be “The Man”? ” They wanted a straight answer from Jesus. Was he, or wasn’t he, the Messiah? […]
John 21: 1 -19 I believe I was in high school taking a class in Comparative Religion when I read Victor Frankl’s short book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, written in 1946. Frankl was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, writer, and holocaust survivor. Both of his parents died in the camps, […]
John 20: 19 – 31 It has been years since that event we call resurrection. Decades perhaps, and John is writing for second and third-generation believers about that day. I understand that our current knowledge of eye-witness testimony is that it is unreliable in court. But John’s recollection isn’t that. […]
Luke 24: 1-12 The exact number of women who went to the tomb early Easter morning isn’t recorded by Luke. Regardless of the number, the group moved with a common purpose and goal – to finish the burial preparation of the body of Jesus – to render one final loving […]
Luke 19: 28-40 We might well imagine that, later when the disciples looked back on the triumphal entrance of Jesus, they had mixed emotions. It had been a grand and glorious day, filled with everything any public figure could ask for. First, the timing was perfect – it was the […]
John 12: 1 – 8 A dinner party with friends – everyone enjoys them and Jesus is no different. He was friends, good friends, with the sisters, Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus. He was no stranger in their house. Jesus enjoyed the quiet, the normalcy of their company […]