Luke 7:28 Jesus said, “I tell you—among those born of a woman, no-one is greater than John; yet the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Nobody really knows exactly what Jesus meant here, but most people think he was acknowledging John the Baptist as the last and greatest of the Hebrew prophets. He was also trying to look into the future, into a whole new era in which everyone would be a prophet in some way, everyone would be walking with God in the way John had. We aren’t there yet, but we see glimpses of that Kingdom and we long to live there. Maranatha—Come Lord Jesus.

Colossians 2:12 When you were buried with him in Baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God.

Those of us who baptize in just a little water lose sight of the possibility of drowning during our baptism! In a river or an ocean we might be more mindful of going down with Christ into the darkness of death and coming back out into the light with him. The early Christians never forgot that as they were being born again the old self was dying, right there in the water.

Wisdom 5:5 Why have they been numbered among the children of God? And why is their lot among the saints?

These are the incredulous questions that the unrighteous will be asking after the resurrection, when they see the righteous poor there with God. The ones that everybody else looked down are among the saints!! Wisdom says, all will be revealed sooner or later!

Psalm 45:6 Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever.

Up until now, the psalmist has been talking to King David—describing his palaces and princesses and power. Then right in the middle he addresses God, the one who never dies and will reign forever. Even with all the trappings of royalty King David is a man, here for a short while only. Not so the living God.

Luke 6:5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath—the day of rest for all believers. When the religious authorities took offence, Jesus tried to model for them the priorities of his Father in heaven. Always, the priority is to heal, to serve, to love. He is the Lord of every day—the day of work and the day of rest and the day of worship.

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on God, because he cares for you.

The apostle Peter is writing here to all believers, not just a select few from one church or one town. He understands what we sometimes forget—that God cares for each and every child of his vast creation. Why should we spend valuable time and energy worrying, when the creator and redeemer of the universe knows our situation, and cares about it? And about us.

3John 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Every parent and grandparent says AMEN to that. In this case, the evangelist John wasn’t talking about his own children, but about his children in the faith—those who had come to Christ through his ministry. When we preach and teach, we only hope that those words of life take root, and grow into lives of truth.

Psalm 105:17 God had sent a man ahead of them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave.

Psalm 105 is a lengthy narrative about the people of God, and the many trials and experiences they had in Egypt. It includes their deliverance through the Red Sea, and the leadership of Moses. But long before Moses, long before the Red Sea crossing, God saved his people from starvation by sending Joseph into a place of plenty. His brothers badly used and abused him, but Joseph himself forgave them, and came to understand that it was God himself who had gone before him into Egypt. Wow.

1 John 5:12 There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree.

The three witnesses are in agreement that Jesus is the Lord, the Son of the Living God. The water comes to us in Baptism, the blood comes to us in Communion, and the Spirit breathes in and among us at all times. He is Lord….they all say.

Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are truth and his ways are justice.

It was through Daniel, a Jewish captive, that the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar first came to hear about the one true God. The king came to understand his ways and his power, and came into relationship with the living God. Maybe that was the greatest legacy of the great prophet and visionary we remember as Daniel.

Psalm 25:4 Make me to know your ways O Lord; teach me your paths.

Quite often we forget that we might not actually know all the ways of God. We know a lot of them, and the challenge is to actually do them/keep them. But what are the paths/ways of God that we still need Him to show us? It might be quite a long list!

1 Peter 4:9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining.

You have to love it—these instructions are part of an End Of The World Set Of Rules. Never mind the complicated, theologically grounded sermon Peter might be tempted to preach—just be polite to one another, and show hospitality, he says, until the end is here. We can do it!

1 John 3:18 Little children, let us love—not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

As an adult (56 birthdays to prove it!) it is interesting to read something addressed to “little children” and to know it has been addressed to me. John the Elder, writing here to all believers, has a word for us: love. He recognizes our propensity for words of love that don’t necessarily translate into acts of love. Hence, Little Children…. Our elder speaks, and we listen.

Psalm 16:5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup.

In the division of land among the tribes of Israel, the Levites were not included. They didn’t get any inheritance because they had the privilege to serve as priests to God. He was their inheritance—their chosen portion. The idea was amazing, really. The Levites knew what they had—the best portion of all, the cup that flowed to overflowing.

Luke 3:2 The word of the Lord came to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.

Before John was born, his father Zechariah had some inkling of what he would become: a prophet and servant of the living God. Then one day in the wilderness, it began. The Word came to him, and he began preaching and baptizing. He was a willing vessel, poured out there in the wilderness countryside. He was the last of the prophets, preparing the way for messiah.

Daniel 2:27-28 No wise men, enchanters, magicians or diviners can show to the king the mystery that the king is asking, but there is a God who ....

... reveals mysteries.

Daniel, the great hero of our faith, was given the ability to interpret dreams and visions. He is careful, though, not to take credit for the gift himself. Daniel always points to God, the giver of the gift. He is not a magic worker, he is the voice of the Living God.

1 John 1:9 Whoever says, “I am in the light” while hating a brother or sister is still in the darkness.

Loving our brothers and sisters can be really hard! By comparison, preaching about Jesus or studying his ways is really easy. The author of 1John says we have to do both: preach about the love and live the love. That is where the true light shines for all to see.

Psalm 3:5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.

It is amazing that we sleep night after night—losing consciousness in a little death every day. We are entirely absent from our surroundings during those many hours. God isn’t absent—he is the one sustaining us so that we will rise again to serve him.

John 14:1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.

Jesus was assuming that his disciples believed in God. He was proposing that they believe in him in the same way. The result would be fearless hearts. He goes on to reassure them about their home with him in eternity.

Acts 4:20 WE cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.

In the book of Acts, we hear about the miracles and amazing preaching of Peter, James, and John. And others. In this episode, they were called before the authorities and told to stop--stop talking about Jesus and all that he had done for them. They couldn’t stop. The words and actions of the Lord has so filled them that there was no turning back. Is there any turning back for us? Pray for those believers in places where the authorities pose a threat to their witness.

John 21:4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciple did not know that it was Jesus.

They came to know that it was him pretty quickly! The disciples were out fishing, maybe in a time of discouragement or lack of understanding. The risen Lord sorted them out there on the shore, as they shared breakfast over a charcoal fire. Back they went, to their life’s work and ministry of fishing for people

Psalm 8:1 O Lord, our sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

This is a very ancient hymn of praise and of procession. From the days of King David—around 1,000 B.C.—to now, it has been ringing forth set to every kind of music possible. My personal favorite is Amy Grant’s very contemporary setting. Singing these words ties us together with century’s worth of worshipers. We all sing praise of the one true God, our majestic sovereign.

Luke 24:30 When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

This bread-braking was at the end of a long walk, in which the risen Lord had been speaking with two disciples along the way, but they hadn’t known it was him. The two had listened carefully to all “the stranger” had told them. Then when he broke the bread, they realized who it was. Their eyes were opened to recognize the Lord. Can we see him in the breaking of the bread?

Acts 2:41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Well, here’s a challenge to all preachers everywhere! Before we think it can’t happen in our own day, remember the crusades of Billy Graham into Russia, and an entire stadium full of people coming down to dedicate their lives to Christ at the end of the evening. May we support those few who have that kind of preaching gift, and may all preachers everywhere strive to take their responsibilities seriously!

Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118 was well known to the Lord Jesus and his disciples—they quote it often in their preaching and writing. Even in our own day, I wonder how many preschool children sing loudly: “This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made…” We would do well to remember at the beginning of every single day who it is who made that day and has graciously allowed us to see it and take part in it!

John 20:18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”

!” On that first holy and joyous and truly unbelievable Easter morning, the first witness to the Lord’s resurrection didn’t have to give a lot of details or theological background for what she had seen. She didn’t even need to understand it herself. She had seen the Lord Jesus alive, and her eyewitness testimony would rock the world. It’s still rocking!

1Peter 4:6 For this is the reason the Gospel was proclaimed even to the dead.

In the ancient words of Christian creeds, we remember that on this day—Holy Saturday—Jesus descended to the dead and preached to them. The body of Jesus lay resting in the grave, but there was still work to do! Thanks go to the Apostle Peter, who gives us this Word and this understanding in his first letter to all the Christians.

John 19:30 Jesus said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Even in this awesome and terrible moment Jesus was in charge of his own destiny—his spirit was not taken from him, he willingly gave it up. He somehow knew that his hour had finally come, the work on earth was done, it was finished. Those who stood with him in this hour were drawn to him in whole new way, as he was lifted up. He had told them what would happen. He had told them about his gift to them—eternal life.

Exodus 12:14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you ...

... shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Maybe “perpetual” is a pretty far-reaching term for any human event, but even now in 2011 the Jews are remembering and celebrating the day of the Passover as a festival to the Lord. We remember that the Lord Jesus celebrated this Holy event with his disciples on the night before he died for us. It was the Passover of the Lord, and it would be the beginning of his own Passover from death into life. And our own.

Hebrews 12:3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

Consider Jesus, in other words. If it seems that you might be about to grow weary or lose heart, consider Jesus. Keep your eyes fixed on him, and on what he endured for your sake, and you will find your burdens lifted.

John 12:21 “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

Some Greeks were in Jerusalem at the time of the big Passover festival. The scripture doesn’t tell us what they had heard about Jesus, only that they wanted to see him for themselves. They were in for a surprise: They learned that day about dying in order to yield a harvest for the kingdom of God. Maybe not what they were expecting?

Isaiah 42:1 Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights.

On this Monday in Holy Week we remember the images of the servant in Isaiah—one who will suffer for us in extraordinary ways: silently, without doing injury or harm to anyone. As we walk the long pathway of Jesus in the final days of his life, I have to wonder: As he grew up reading and hearing those passages in Isaiah read in the synagogue, did he know?

Philippians 2:5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

In these very famous verses, Paul goes on to talk about what kind of mind it is that Jesus and us should share in common. He was in the form of God and lowered himself to be a servant, a slave, even a slave in the grave. God highly exalted him, but first he emptied himself entirely. Can this mind be in us?

Jeremiah 31:33 I will be their God and they shall be my people.

The prophet is talking about a whole new arrangement, a whole new covenant between God and the people. Instead of the old covenant, where leaders and teachers had a lot of control over the people, Jeremiah envisions a way of life where all the people know God and love him, from the greatest to the least. His name is written on their heart, and they are his. We see here a very early glimpse of the life and ministry of Jesus.

Romans 11:13 Inasmuch as I am an apostle to the gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous—and thus save some of them.

Paul was a Jew himself, and always trying to figure out ways to bring his own Jewish brothers and sisters to Christ. This was just one of his many attempts: show them the wonders of GENTILES who had come to believe. What would make US jealous enough to get us serving and believing?

John 10:30 Jesus said, “The Father and I are one.”

The Lord Jesus has just finished a long teaching about the good shepherd—himself, and the sheep gate which is also himself. He will live out the will of his father in many ways, not the least as the shepherd of all the whole flock of the living God. Then he wants us to be sure about one thing: he and the father are one. There is no cross purpose or confusion in the meeting of their wills: they share one will.

Romans 10:14 And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?

It is the job of every believer to be proclaiming him—proclaiming Jesus. Whether we use words or actions or prayers, we have been sent to make that proclamation. How else will a non-believer come to know him?

Psalm 122:1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Some things really do make us glad, some make us sad. Some things are difficult, some easy, some fun, some a lot of work. I love to hear the Psalmist (and anybody else) jump up and yell: “Yeah!!! Time to go to God’s house…”

John 9:11 The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.

This guy had to explain over and over how his blindness had been healed because nobody believed him the first time. With each telling, he got more confident and came to understand Jesus more clearly. As the day ends, he says: “I believe.” And he worships Jesus. His eyes were really open.

Mark 8:34 Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and ...

... take up their cross, and follow me.”

What is your cross to take up? Jesus knew that an actual wooden cross was his destiny, and he knows that some kind of loss/giving over/suffering is ours. I think we should be careful when we call something like car trouble or a cranky kid “our cross.” But we do have one. Pick it up, and follow.

Psalm 108:5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; and let your glory be over all the earth.

All the whole created world exalts God in one way or the other. The skies, the seas, the birds, the people--we did not make ourselves, not at all. Our breath and light and warmth and waves exalt him, over all the earth.

Romans 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Well, it turns out that none of these can separate us from Christ. The Apostle Paul had experienced them all in his ministry, by the end. They made things harder, Yes. But did they separate him in any way from Christ? NO.

Jeremiah 22:16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is this not to know me? Says the Lord.

Jeremiah was talking here to a guy named Jehoiakim. He was a king, like his Dad, Josiah. His Dad was famous for worshiping the one true God and caring for the poor. Not so the son. God calls to Jehoiakim: Please know me like your father knew me.

Romans 8:11 He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his spirit that dwells in you.

You are the actual dwelling place of Christ’s powerful spirit of life. So am I. Wow. We still have a mortal body, thank God, but we are enlivened, enriched, empowered in that body to do amazing things in God’s name.

John 6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake, and they were terrified.

Why did Jesus walk on the water, I wonder/ That walking is one of the few miracles that shows up in all four Gospel accounts, exactly the same. It didn’t heal or revive or feed anyone, but it definitely got their attention. Maybe that was the reason/

Jeremiah 16:20 Can mortals make for themselves gods? Such are no gods!

Worshiping hand-made statues was a big issue for the prophet Jeremiah and his people. “Don’t Do It!” he says, a million different ways. What are the man made idols in our own homes that would get the prophet’s attention? Whatever they are, they certainly are not gods!

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore ,and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Paul was concerned for the Galatians: that somehow they had come to prefer the old legal requirements over the new life in Christ. It may be that hundreds of picky, small laws are actually easier than the one law of LOVE. “NO,” says Paul. Those many laws are chains holding you down.

Psalm 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.

WE do love to sing the praises of Zion, the city chosen by God himself out of all the cities in the world. He is in the midst of her forever. WE pray today for the peace of the earthly Zion, Jerusalem. May all who love her rest safely within her boundaries.

John 8:36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

The Son, Jesus of Nazareth, offers freedom to all those who believe in him. It is the freedom of joy, power, and peace. Some believers have been held captive or prisoner for many years, but knew themselves to be free the whole time.

Romans 5:18 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification ...

... and life for all.

The first man, Adam, led the human family into the mire of sin and sorrow, even death. “It wasn’t really my fault,” I say, “I wasn’t even there.” I wasn’t there on Good Friday either, but I still receive the unspeakable benefit of Jesus—the second Adam.

Romans 5:8 But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

Christ did not wait for his followers to become worthy of a great sacrifice, or for them to stop their sinful behavior before he went ahead and gave it his all. No, while we still lost and disobedient he went to the cross and beyond because of love. No other reason—just love.

Jeremiah 7:25 I have persistently sent all my servants, the prophets, to them day after day.

In the next sentence, God goes on to say that it didn’t do much good to keep on sending prophets, nobody really wanted to listen to them anyway. Are we any different? When we hear the voice that we KNOW is speaking a word of truth, do we listen with a whole and receptive heart?

John 7:33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.”

Things would be different for the disciples after Jesus returned to the Father, and he needed to warn them ahead of time. Later, after he had been raised from the dead, he told them that he would be with them always, to the end of the age. He is with us and he is with the Father, and the Spirit keeps us all One.

Psalm 93:1 The Lord has established the world; it shall never be moved.

I wonder what the psalmist would have thought if he or she had gotten to see the view from Apollo 11??! As the astronauts attest, there’s quite a lot of movement going on with regard to our world. The planet never stops moving, but the WORLD of God is still. Still, and in motion.

Romans 3:23 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The great Apostle Paul never forgot that he had sinned himself, and in a big way. He also knew that falling short of the Glory of God is what we do best, even after we have been born again in the waters of baptism. Is there any hope for us? Yes--Jesus Christ!

John 5:35 John the Baptist was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

I wonder what made people quit rejoicing after a while? He went away and the power of his sermons faded? Maybe they got tired of living in a new, more disciplined way. Maybe they just got busy, or discouraged, or began to forget what he had said. Jesus calls John a burning and shining lamp. We know some lamps, too, don’t we? May we always rejoice in their light. Like John’s, it’s really the light of Jesus.

John 5:25 Very truly I tell you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God—and those who hear will live.

There are lots of ways to be dead. And the process of dying can stretch out for a whole lifetime. I think that Jesus, here, was talking about dead people in the grave. They were certainly in for a big surprise. But he was also talking about the spiritually dead, the emotionally dead, the walking dead from among his own people. He still speaks to the dead, and the result is that THEY LIVE.

Jeremiah 3:15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Now this is an amazing thought for a shepherd looking after his or her flock. We assume that food and water and a safe shelter go along with the job description. But God assumes that the shepherds of his beloved people will teach them as well. Knowledge and understanding are right up there with food and water. The shepherd must be a teacher.

Psalm 61:2 From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint.

No matter where we happen to be when our heart grows faint, it seems like the end of the earth, doesn’t it? Even we, who mostly know that the earth is round, know what this feels like. We have come to the end of our resources, the end of our rope, the end of our strength. Not to worry—God is there, at the very end of the earth.

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God.

“Gospel” can also be translated as “Good News.” In this passage, “Servant” can also be translated as “Slave.” Is it possible to be a slave to the good news of God? Paul would say yes, he just did! He forsook all other plans, all other goals, all other priorities in his life for the one priority that owned him: the Gospel of God. He writes to the Romans so that each one of them will want to do the same thing, become a slave.

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you appointed you a prophet to the nations.

No matter what the economic, political or international issues are, one thing is sure: being a prophet to the nations is hard. They always draw fire from one side or another, they are always the target. What keeps them strong and solid, we might ask? The knowledge of their call, the confidence they all share in the one who called them and set them apart. On this day, let us pray for all those in our own day who witness to the nations.

Psalm 55:17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he will hear my voice.

The psalmist wants to be sure that we understand: He is not just whining to God once a day but all day long! He has a lot to complain about, more than a simple Morning Offering can handle. Sometimes, so do we. What a comfort that He hears my voice.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.

This might be the most often quoted and memorized verse in all of scripture. God loves us, he loves the whole world. He loves us enough to send us his son, so that all who believe in him can live—really live. God longs for our return to him, and his son is the way back home, the way we take for the return journey. Thanks be to God.

Psalm 50:2 Out of Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

Zion can mean the name of an actual place, or it can be symbol for the realm where God is in charge. We long for Zion in both senses of the word. A great thrill of my entire life was stepping off the El Al aircraft on the tarmac of Ben Gurian airport in Tel Aviv. The moon shining over Jerusalem made me have palpitations: Zion, at last!! Home, at last!!

John 3:1-2 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night.

Nicodemus was afraid of what people would say if he was seen in public with Jesus, so he snuck around. He wanted to be really, really sure before he took a chance on Jesus. He was, finally, sure—really, really sure. But I think there is a blessing in store for all who stand up for and with Jesus, in broad daylight, even before they actually have the proof.

Deuteronomy 9:4 Do not say to yourself, “It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to occupy this land.”

These words of advice come from Moses—warning the people of Israel not get too proud of themselves. We should hear them as well. How often do we receive the awesome gifts of God and then chalk it up to our own vast righteousness and faithfulness???

Hebrews 2:17 Therefore Jesus had to be like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.

Jesus could have been many, many things WITHOUT becoming one of us—but he could not have become a merciful and faithful high priest. As we imagine him before the throne of God, interceding on our behalf, we give thanks that he knows us and he knows what our lives are like. He can be merciful because he knows.

1 Corinthians 1:23 But we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.

Whatever the Jews and Gentiles of Paul’s day had to say about the crucifixion of Christ, Paul understood it to mean power and wisdom and salvation. Christ crucified is our life and strength—today and in the days of the great apostle who was writing to Corinth.

Titus 3:15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Letter writing, and the long wait for a reply, and the great joy of seeing the mailman approaching, are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. In the early days of our faith, written letters and greetings were a treasured event and a community possession. In our own day, what will take the place of those treasured possessions? Can we imagine a whole church full of people waiting to hear a letter read out loud? “Greetings, my beloved in the Lord…”

Psalm 95:7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

When Jesus announced to a whole crowd of people that he himself was the Good Shepherd, I think he had this verse on his mind! The shepherd, God, is the one who seeks after the lost sheep, binds up their wounds, leads them to clear water and cool green pasture land. Jesus was calling himself our God, our shepherd.

John 1:29 Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

The Jewish people, in the days of Jesus, were well acquainted with the Passover lamb that was killed every year in every household. It was a remembrance of the lamb of God—the lamb that was killed in every household in the land of Egypt, and whose blood marked their doorposts as a sign to the angel of death: pass over this house. They were saved by the blood of the lamb. WE are also saved by the blood of Jesus, the second Lamb of God.

(Ash Wednesday) Luke 18:13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying: ...

... “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

It was an ancient custom for a notorious sinner to cover himself or herself with ashes as a sign for all to see that they were sorry. They had repented. Somewhere along the line, the Christian community came to understand that all have sinned, and that all are in need of repentance. So, we all come forward to wear ashes in the shape of a small cross on our forehead. We are sorry. Thank God for the life-giving sign of the cross.

Psalm 26:12 My foot stands on level ground, in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.

Unlevel ground has its place in our lives—a place of climbing up or climbing down or climbing around. Level ground seems to be the place of rest, of security. The level ground is where we live and move and have our being. From that solid place comes the confidence to join the great assembly and let our praises rise up.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

As the 4 Gospel writers gathered their thoughts, each began their story at the beginning. For Mark, it began with the ministry of John the Baptist in the wilderness. For Matthew and Luke, the good news began with the birth of Jesus, under amazing circumstances. For John, it begins in the beginning, before all time and all creation. It is a new creation, a new Genesis, in which the Word already WAS.

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone.

Around the world, the Jews repeat this creed every day, from ancient days until now. They, and we, proclaim the one true God. On this Sunday morning, at least 5 people will be baptized into the faith of the one true God, and of his Son Jesus Christ. They will be born again and raised to a whole new life in Christ. Alleluia.

2 Corinthians 13:9 For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong.

What a gift we give to all those around us when we really do rejoice in their success, their victory, their influence, their prize. When we lead from that second chair, that second place, we witness in a whole new way to the power of the good news.

Psalm 16:6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.

Maybe the psalmist was talking about his property lines, and the acreage that he would be leaving to his children after him. These words could just as well point to the other boundaries that fall for us: limits that God has set on our behaviors and resources and relationships. They are also a priceless heritage.

Matthew 7:1 Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.

We are all the very best at figuring out when someone else has behaved poorly. How hard it is to keep that observation quiet, and simply name them in prayer. How lovely it is when we behave badly and the other person lets us off the hook is such a gracious way!

Deuteronomy 4:29 From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you seek after him with all your heart and soul.

In this case, “From there” means from a place of rebellion and disobedience. God knows that when his people get all settled into the land he has given them, they will forget his ways and the things they have promised to do for him. We are the same—we get comfortable and happy and forget how we cried out to him in our distress and clung to him in our sorrow. No matter—seek him out again and you will find him.

Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

We recognize the truth of this—if somebody wants to see the priorities of our life, look at the bank account. Where did all that money go??! I find that sometimes, if the priorities are out of alignment, a heart is hard to pick up and move. It’s actually easier to move some treasure from one place to another, then watch our heart follow.

2 Corinthians 10:17 Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

The great apostle and missionary, Paul, recognizes the temptation to boast about our accomplishments. He also keenly recognizes the temptation to boast about our particular gifts and talents. No—he says—only boast in what the Lord has done for you and in you. We don’t want our talents to get the attention, but the one who gave them to us in the first place.

Psalm 146:10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Forever is a long time, and all generations is a lot of generations! We tend to forget that one short lifetime is a speck in the overall picture. Nations and empires and mountains and oceans come and go, but the God who created them is forever.

Matthew 6:9 Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

How many times have these words been spoken today, all over the world? In how many languages? In churches, homes, fields, caves, offices, trains, planes, automobiles? The words of prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us continue to carry us along in the faith. Amen.

Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

These are actually the words of Jesus, preaching along on the side of a mountain. The idea is that we are better off without the eye than continuing to sin and ending up in a hot, burning hell. Of course, there’s still the other eye to mess us up? Then when both of them are gone, we can probably think up a new(blind) way to sin. Nobody thinks Jesus really meant us to do eye plucking—he was making a point, though: whatever it takes to stop the sin, DO IT!

Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous ordinances.

Psalm 119 goes on for page after page, all in praise of the rules and statutes and ordinances of God. The psalmist has the idea that following those rules are the way to a whole, happy, and powerful life. Maybe we should praise God for them even more than seven times a day?

Ruth 1:16 Where you go, I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God.

We associate these famous verses with wedding vows, but Ruth actually spoke them to her mother in law after both of their husbands has died. Ruth stood by her elder relative through thick and thin. She was a foreigner, and by the end of the story she had married again. Her grandson was a shepherd in Bethlehem named Jesse, and his son turned out to be King David!! She chose the right God after all.

2 Corinthians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The great Apostle and missionary, Paul, loved to start all his letters with this salutation. He was the first one to do so, and people have been copying him ever since! What better wish for all those on our “list” than grace and peace, gifts of the one true God.

Psalm 118:6 With the Lord on my side, I do not fear. What can mortals do to me?

What, indeed, can mere mortals do to defeat or discourage a believer? Not much, it turns out. Our Lord and God has defeated death, laying to rest our greatest enemy and greatest fear. He fills us with a Spirit of healing and peace and wholeness and calm and power. These are ours to claim, and as we claim them we say goodbye to whatever opposes us.

John 10:11 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

The Lord Jesus is the shepherd of the flock. It is him who seeks after the lost ones, feeds the hungry ones, heals the injured ones, calls them all by name. It is the good shepherd who will fight to the death to protect them from a wolf. He tells us that there are also others, not in this fold, and that he must save them as well. We can rest in the safety of his care and providence. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want….

Isaiah 66:1 Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What is the house that you would build for me? And what is ...

... my resting place?

We should not forget that the beautiful place of worship is designed to direct our minds and spirits toward the living God. We praise him and worship him in all kinds of places, and he wants us to know that he doesn’t live there! He is everywhere and we can’t box him in. And yet, he does dwell in the prayers of the saints and in the offerings of children and in the singing of his word in that place. Happy are those who enjoy the freedom to worship in his house.

Psalm 102:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, let my cry come to you.

Every voice of faith and need, of belief and sorrow, of trust and pain cries out to God with pretty much these same sentiments. Hear me Oh God, we cry, please be listening for the sound of my voice. Somehow, in ways we cannot begin to understand, the Spirit reveals to us that we are loved and heard. Not only that, we have power when we pray. Thank you, O Lord, for hearing my prayer.

Mark 12:17 Jesus said to them," Give to the emperor the things that belong to the emperor, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The people wondered if they needed to pay taxes, and Jesus pointed to the emperor’s picture on the coin. Those coins are Caesar’s. He gets the coins, but he does not get the things that belong to God alone: worship, praise, glory, loyalty above all other loyalty. God will not share those things with the powers of this world.

1 Timothy 3:8 Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money.

Sometimes we have to struggle to understand the message of a bible verse, and sometimes it’s pretty plain. This one couldn’t be any clearer: the ministers must commit themselves to a holy and sober life. We have all seen the painful results when they don’t. 65 A.D., 2011 A.D.—it’s pretty much the same, isn’t it? May all those called to be ministers of the Gospel re-commit every action and attitude and plan to the rule of holiness.

Isaiah 63:9 In all their distress, it was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them.

The prophet is reminding the people of their past history—reminding them that God went with them into the desert and crossed over the Red Sea with them. He was present in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day, leading them and guiding them. After awhile, they forgot about God as we all so often do—when things are going great and we’re no longer in danger or a crisis. He is with you now—and will save you still, just like those days long ago.

Psalm 89:9 You rule the raging of the sea, when its waves rise—you still them.

The sea is a really big mystery. It rose way up high when Noah and his family were there in a wooden boat, the only ones to recognize God’s power over the waves. The early Christians understood that ark as a “type” of the church—the image of a family set apart, safe, as the waters raged around them. St. Peter said that the water of baptism is a sign to us of that great big body of water. We are drawn o the sea, and we know the danger of the sea. We die with Christ in Baptism, and rise up out of the water to live for him.

John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them saying, ”I am the light of the world.

Later on Jesus told these same followers that they were the light of the world. He meant both. He is the light that is all light, he shines in glory on our pathway every day and every way, and we are the light that a dark and broken world longs to see and feel. He wants us to know that we don’t carry the light or reflect the light. We are the light. He is the light.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

At the end of his life, writing from a prison cell, the great Apostle Paul has time to look back on his life’s work. He had long since given up any mission of his own or any agenda of his own. The Lord Jesus became his mission and agenda and life’s work all wrapped up in one. His love for the churches, his anxiety for them, his tireless travel and preaching and teaching had taken a toll. But he was at peace in those last days, because he had remained faithful. So may we all.

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, ...

... to bind up the brokenhearted.

One Saturday morning, Jesus was in the congregation at the synagogue. He was asked to read one of the scriptures, and he chose this one. Then he made the amazing claim that it was coming to pass right then—in him those words were being fulfilled. It made for quite a scene, but at least he was warning people what to expect: the oppressed were about to get a break. The brokenhearted were about to be healed. The Spirit was announcing the next big thing, right there in church!

Psalm 146:8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.

When we think about that righteousness—a right relationship with the One True God—we remember that he loves us. And loves all whom he has created in his own image. Wherever we are blinded, he is our hope for a new pair of eyes. Wherever we are crushed under a burden, he is our hope to be lifted right up.

Mark 10:1 And the crowd s gathered around Jesus; and-as was his custom-he taught them.

We forget that everybody called Jesus “Rabbi” which means “teacher.” We forget that he spent a lot of time teaching. How else would people understand the things he did? How would they know what to expect after he was gone from them? How would they begin to comprehend who he was? Somebody had to teach them, and us, all of these things. The ministry of teaching is the foundation of everything else.

2 Timothy 1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, ...

... and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure lives in you.

Well, speaking for all grandmothers, this is our favorite verse in the whole bible! The Apostle Paul mostly writes to people reminding them that he himself had taught them and brought them into the saving life in Christ. Not so with Timothy—it was his Nanny. I wonder if she lived to see him a faithful disciple and evangelist, a famous saint and witness for her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? No matter, she fulfilled her own highest calling when she whispered the words of life into his little ears.

Isaiah 58:10 If you offer your food to the hungry, and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness,

... and your gloom be like the noonday.

The way out of gloom seems almost impossible to find, at times. A common thread in all the great religious and spiritual traditions in the world is the truth that serving others and helping those in need is the way into light and life. It is the way out of gloom into rejoicing.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that ...

... clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

It’s not somebody else’s race that we are being asked to run—it’s our own race, the one that has been set before US. Likewise the weight we need to throw off is our own weight, the sin is our own sin. Thank God that our own cloud of witnesses stands alongside us and around us to cheer us on. We know the sound of their voices, and we breathe in their encouragement like a powerful mist. Run, run, they say! You can do it, I know you can!

Psalm 75:3 When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants, it is I who keep its pillars steady.

The ancient people had no idea that we were on a big round ball spinning around the sun. Who could blame them, really, for imagining a flat earth up on strong pillars and getting shaky sometimes. God is the one who keeps those pillars steady. Well, we are counting on him to keep us in orbit, and all our fellow inhabitants. If we totter, I imagine he is still the one we should be calling out to?

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I love the image of fruit—of something that simply and naturally springs up on the tree, when it has enough water and sunlight ,and soil. The fruits of the Spirit naturally spring up anywhere the people of God worship him and live in the ways that he shows us. Love, joy, peace….they pop up all over the place!!

Mark 8:29 Jesus asked them, “But you—who do you say that I am?”

Many of the people who followed Jesus around were unsure who he really was. Some thought he was a prophet, some even thought he was the reincarnation of John the Baptist. Jesus wanted the disciples to think about it for themselves. Who was he, to them? Lord? Savior? Friend? Master? Teacher? He asks us as well. Who do we say that he is?

Psalm 72:18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.

The ancient people of God were quite anxious about everybody worshiping crummy statues that they had made themselves. And attributing all kinds of awesome blessings to the “power” of the statue! No, said the followers of the One True God. God alone does these amazing things for us.

Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news.

There is something deep in the heart of each one of us that longs for peace, and that longs to hear the approach of the messenger who brings us a message of peace. Peace in our family, in our town, in our nation, in the world. Sometimes we are conflicted within our own self!! The Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace, speaks to one and all saying, “Peace be with you.”