“Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything…
Hebrews 4:14-16 “14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested[d] as we…
“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it…
Give us eyes to see the deepest needs of people. Give us hearts full of love for our neighbors as well as for the strangers we meet. Help us understand what it means to love others as we love ourselves. Teach us to care in a way that strengthens those who are sick. Fill us…
“Cut away the thick calluses from your heart and stop being so willfully hard-headed. God, your God, is the God of all gods, God is the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome. God doesn’t play favorites, takes no bribes, makes sure orphans and widows are treated fairly, takes loving care…
Joel 2: 12, 13 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he…
Isaiah 43: 18, 19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. “Lent is intended to lead us into an always…
“We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and God is shining through it all the time. God manifests Himself everywhere, in everything – in people and in things and in nature and in events … The only thing is we don’t see it … I have no program for this seeing. It…
Isaiah 30: 15 “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength….” Repentance, in the original Greek the word metanoia, means “to change one’s mind.” Following spiritual transformation, repentance is the action of changing how one lives because one’s heart has been converted. Repentance as a spiritual practice of Lent…
Isaiah 58: 6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” “What are you giving up for Lent?” If you’re connected to a congregation that observes the church year, this may…