Click for PDF version Holy Monday Read Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48 In the Christian calendar, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is known as Holy Week. It is common during Holy Week for believers to reflect upon Jesus’ last week before His crucifixion, to walk with Him to the cross, so to...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Genesis 49:10-11; Job 19:25-27; Mark 11:1-10 Messianic anticipation was feverish in early 1st century AD Israel. Over seven centuries earlier the Northern Kingdom experienced Assyrian captivity, Israel’s tribes generally losing their unique Jewish identities via assimilation (Jewish-Assyrian intermarriage produced the Samaritans) or dispersion into other lands. Babylon exiled...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Exodus 19:1-8, Hebrews 12:18-24 I loved camping … when I was younger. But now that I’m older … I love “glamping.” My body and mental constitution cannot handle a sleeping bag on the ground, smokey fires, and feeling gritty. So when I think about the Israelites traveling to...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Isaiah 40:1-5; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-18 Preparing the Way How did John the Baptist prepare the way for Jesus? John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance preparing the way for God’s Son, Jesus. We all need God’s help to smooth the rough roads and straighten the crooked paths...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Exodus 11:9-10 The Nation in Slavery Over the past few weeks, we have been considering the well-known account of the children of Israel in Egypt, enslaved by a cruel Pharaoh who “did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8) and simply saw the rapidly expanding population of Israelites as a...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Exodus 6:1 The LORD Delivers When God called Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, both He and Moses knew that Pharaoh would not favor this idea. In Exodus 5, Moses had returned to Egypt, first having met the leaders of Israel at a wilderness...
Click for a PDF version Monday Read Exodus 1:6–7 Too Comfortable? On account of Joseph’s heroic actions, Jacob’s entire clan was allowed to enter and reside in the land of Egypt. They were more than welcomed, not only on Joseph’s account but also because they had expertise in work that the Egyptians despised: raising...
Click for a PDF version Monday Read Luke 24:13-35; Jeremiah 29:13; Isaiah 59:1-2 Our unbelieving nephew, Greg, sometimes complains much like others: “Why doesn’t God just reveal Himself clearly, making it easier for everybody?” In today’s post-resurrection “Road to Emmaus” story, we see God the Son initially unrecognized by two disheartened followers (Luke 24:16)....
Click for a PDF version Monday Read Luke 23:35-43; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 We are in a sermon series called “Welcome to the Table” and the associated acts of Christian hospitality. This week we focus on the “Sacrifice of Hospitality.” Earlier in this series, Pastor Tim taught us that, as Christians, our hospitality is the...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Luke 22:14-20; John 12:23-33; Matthew 21:33-42 There are several common misconceptions regarding Jesus’ first Advent mission. One is that He was merely an innocent victim. While He was innocent—innocence and purity essential to His fitness to atone for our sins—the Savior came for the specific purpose of sacrificing....
