Sunday, February 26, 2023

The Sunday Lectionary and Prayers for Sunday, February 26, 2023 — First Sunday in Lent

 

The Sunday Lectionary and Prayers
Sunday, February 26, 2023
First Sunday in Lent
(Quadragesima Sunday)

Tempting!
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Psalm 32;
Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11
(Revised Common Lectionary Year A)

Opening Statement

The central ideas for this first Sunday in Lent are temptation, sin, right and wrong, and how we respond to each. The familiar story of the temptation and sin of Adam and Eve is no less relevant today than when it was first told, and Paul uses this story as a primary foundation for his doctrine of Christ’s atonement for the sins of humankind. The psalmist sings of the joy and relief of forgiveness, which comes from acknowledgment and confession. Finally, driven into the wilderness by the Spirit and armed with only God’s word, Jesus confronts temptation at the end of his forty days and nights of fasting without yielding to it.

Opening Prayer
(based on Genesis 2, 3; Psalm 32; Matthew 4)

Holy One, we are constantly bombarded with temptations and enticements. When we yield, when we fail, who will help us? You, Lord, have come to our aid. You teach us, counsel us, and guide us in the ways we should go. We rejoice in your unfailing love. Amen.

The Collect
(from the Book of Common Prayers)

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Call to Confession
(based on Psalm 32)

We keep silent before you, Lord—we are afraid to confront our transgressions; we are terrified to face the reality of our sin; we feel as if the weight of the world were upon our shoulders; we no longer recognize ourselves or what we have become as we keep our failings and fears inside. Help us admit our sins and accept our imperfections. Why is that simple act so difficult for us? Why do we hesitate, knowing that you stand ready to wash away our guilt? You are the sanctuary where distress cannot reach us. In your steadfast love, forgive us. In your healing caress, cleanse us. In your Holy Spirit, restore us. In the name of our Savior, we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon
(based on Psalm 32)

When distress and anxiety surround us like an angry flood, our pleas are heard. The Lord hears the prayers of a faithful heart. God has become our hiding place, our refuge from trouble. No harm can touch us here. The Lord wraps us in the arms of salvation. Shouts of deliverance enfold us.

Today’s Verse-of-the-Day:
1 John 4:9

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
Love is not merely a feeling—it is Jesus living in and through us (John 13:34, 35; 15:9–17; 1 John 4:7–21). If we say we believe in God and are maturing in our relationship with Him, but we are not growing in our unconditional love for others, something is wrong with our walk (1 Cor. 13). This is because as Jesus increases in us and we decrease, His loving nature should intensify within us as the evidence of His lordship in our life (Gal. 5:22, 23; 2 Pet. 1:3–8).

Today’s Lectionary Readings:
From the Pentateuch
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

Eating of the tree of knowledge

2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

A Psalm and A Prayer
Responsive Readings from the Psalms and Prayers
for Public Worship and Private Devotions

Psalm 32
Mercy embraces us

Beati quorum

Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven,
and whose sin is put away!

Happy are they to whom the LORD imputes no guilt,
and in whose spirit there is no guile!

While I held my tongue, my bones withered away,
because of my groaning all day long.

For your hand was heavy upon me day and night;
my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and did not conceal my guilt.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.”
Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.

Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble;
when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.

You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go;
I will guide you with my eye.

Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding;
who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will not stay near you.”

Great are the tribulations of the wicked;
but mercy embraces those who trust in the LORD.

Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the LORD;
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Heavenly Father, we join with those who love You, who have confessed their sins to You, who have repented of their sins, who have received Your forgiveness, and who rejoice in Your cleansing from all sin. We praise You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who made all these things possible for us. He showed and taught us how to live as Your children, and by His grace we received salvation and eternal life through His death. We thank You for raising Him from the dead. Help us to praise and serve You always in the power of His Spirit. Amen.

From the Epistles
Romans 5:12-19
Death came life comes


5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Gospel Acclamation
(based on Matt. 4:4)

Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Today’s Gospel Reading
Matthew 4:1-11
The temptation of Jesus


4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Here end the Readings

Click HERE to read today’s Holy Gospel Lesson message

The Nicene Creed

  • We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
  • And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and was made human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried. The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end.
  • And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy Communion

A nondenominational serving of bread and wine
Though no video can truly replace the experience of celebrating together in our places of worship, we know that where two or more are gathered, the Lord is present. This table is open to all who recognize Jesus Christ as healer and redeemer. This table is open to all who work to bring God’s Kingdom here on earth. No one is turned away because of life circumstances. No one is barred from this table. No one seeking God’s abundant grace and mercy is turned aside. We see before us the abundance that a life of faith offers as we respond to God’s everlasting mercy in prayer and deed.

Benediction
(based on Romans 5)

The Tempter appears to us in many guises and always in the manner to which we are most vulnerable. We know right from wrong, yet we become complicit with the Tempter when we use the word of the Lord to justify our disobedience and transgressions. Yet in Christ, our sin is overcome with a single act of obedience to God: one just act has brought acquittal and life to all.

Though we were condemned, we have found pardon. Though death held dominion over our lives, God’s grace and gift of righteousness now lives and reigns within us. We are free. We are forgiven. We are alive in Christ! Amen!


Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets].

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Responsive Readings from the Common Book of Prayer (1789).

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year A. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2023, we will be in Year B. The year which ended at Advent 2022 was Year A. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
The Sunday Lectionary and Prayers for Sunday, February 26, 2023
First Sunday in Lent
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

“Temptation” The Gospel Message for Sunday, February 26, 2023 — First Sunday in Lent


Our Gospel message comes to us today from the 4th chapter of Matthew, beginning with the 1st verse.

4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the Devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

   “‘He will command his angels concerning you,
     and they will lift you up in their hands,
     so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again, the Devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

11 Then the Devil left him, and angels came and attended him. (Matthew 4:1-11)

“Temptation”

What is a sinner? Let me repeat that question, what is a sinner? Pascal says: “There are only two kinds of people, the righteous who believe themselves a sinner and the sinner who believes themselves righteous.” Mary Wilson Little put it this way, “People who make no pretensions of being good one day out of the week are known as sinners.” Or, as Oscar Wilde says, “Nothing makes one so vain as being told that one is a sinner.”


Or here is what another person says about a sinner as he looks at his own life. “I often find I have the will to do good but not the power. That is, I don’t accomplish the good things I set out to do, and I find I’m always doing the evil things I don’t want to do. Yet, if I do the things I don’t really want to do, then it is not I, repeat, it is not I that do them, but it is my own nature in which I am a slave to sin and death. It’s a distressing situation, a constant conflict, and who on earth can free me from the clutches of my own sinful nature?” That was St. Paul writing to the Romans about his own struggle with sin.


The first couple of people I quoted about sin made it seem like something one could easily brush off, like water dripping off a duck’s back. Sin was not taken seriously in their lives. But I think Paul said it best. Sin is something that affects a person’s whole being. It is not something that can be brushed off very easily. It doesn’t work that way. You know it, and I know it. Every one of us labors under the terrible weight of guilt and sin. We feel guilty about the wrongs we have done and the hurts we have caused others, and at the same time, we feel guilty about those things we should have done but didn’t do. For example, maybe we needed to apologize to someone but were too proud. Or, perhaps, we couldn’t express forgiveness to another because of the hatred that filled our hearts. Or maybe, it was the hurt we said to a loved one, and after realizing what we had done, we couldn’t or wouldn’t say we were sorry. Or maybe we are guilty of not including the stranger, the new person to town in our circle of friends. Sin is more than what we have done wrong. It is also as our confessional service says: those things we have left undone.


In the scheme of life, we sin against not only people or creation when we are not good stewards, but finally, all sin is a sin against God Himself. In Rejoice and Realize, written by Richard Hoefler, he says: “When we sin, we do not break the law; we break our Father’s heart. God grieves when we sin against him, but he does not disown us. The certainty of our status in a loving Father’s family is found throughout the New Testament. It is Paul’s central message as seen, especially in Romans 8:31-39.”


Also, our gospel lesson this morning, The temptation of Jesus, is a clear example of God’s love for us as we face all the brownness of this world. For I think all the gospel writers included this story of the temptation of Jesus to show us, as clearly as possible, that God understands the human condition in which we live. We live in a fallen world. There are sin and brokenness all around. He even had His only Son tempted in the wilderness as a clear indication of His comprehension of the difficulties we face daily.


Many times this temptation story of Jesus seems far removed from our world, our life. On the surface, we have a difficult time relating to these temptations, turning stones into bread, or jumping off the highest part of the temple and having God’s angels catch us, or being placed on a very high mountain so that we can see the whole world, then having the Devil giving you a chance of owning it all. That is far removed from the sins we face day in and day out. However, as we look at just one of these temptations, it is in the subtlety of these temptations where we really find ourselves and see the real craftiness of the Devil and sin.


The first temptation speaks of turning stones into bread. As Jesus sits in the desert, his stomach is empty; he hasn’t eaten for 40 days, and his throat is parched. The Devil approaches, and I don’t believe he was the red-horned person with a pitchfork we dream of; he was more subtle, inventive, and the voice of reason in Jesus’ mind and ear. Maybe he said, “Jesus, sir, you look like you are having a rough time. By the way, you are the Son of God, right? So, why don’t you turn all of these stones into bread? I know you are a loving and compassionate person, not just for yourself but for all the starving people of the world. They need you. They need this food. They need the power you possess. Give them what they want, what they need. Give them food. And then you would be their hero. They would follow you anywhere.”


Think about that for a moment. That doesn’t sound too sinister, does it? Feed the world, and take care of the hungry. That is a noble cause. The temptation wasn’t in the act so much as in the attitude, the motivation. Jesus was tempted to take the easy way, a shortcut, if you will, to bypass God’s natural order of things. Instead of growing food, just change stones into bread. That is the essence of all of these temptations, to take the easy way, to bypass God’s plan, God’s order to life. Turn stone into bread, jump off the temple, show the people a great magic act, then they will follow. Be the ruler of the whole world, bring peace, bring justice, bring love, but in reality, it is the easy way, the way that leaves God out of the picture. Leaving God out of the picture is what sin is all about.


The temptations of Jesus are not so far removed from our lives if we think of them as leaving God out of the picture of life and you controlling your own life. Control, power, and accountability are the sins of our lives. We like to pretend, to play games with each other and with God, that we are not as bad, or as unrighteous, or as unholy as someone else we can point a finger at as we sit in the smugness of our own sin and pride. Living life my way is the calling words for many people. One of the fast-food chains had a slogan a few years back, saying, “Have it your way!!” or maybe some will remember Frank Sinatra’s hit song, “I did it my way!!” Isn’t there a lot of theological truth in those two lines.?? You and I like to have things our own way. We want to take God out of the picture of our lives. We want to control and run our lives our way. But many times, no, all the time, we do not live up to our potential, our goals, our vision of what we want for ourselves, so then we become angry, we lash out, maybe at God, perhaps at a loved one, perhaps at ourselves. We want control, but when we think we have it, we are in all reality out of control because we are like Paul as he says: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Romans 7:15)


In the situation we find ourselves in, two things can happen. We can become like the man in the following:


“A young man said this about his life. It seemed like I was a man trying to climb out of a muddy, clinging swamp, and every time I just about reached the solid bank, someone would come along, put his foot in my face, and push me back into the mud. And so, finally, I decided to stay in the swamp. And what the heck, I have a lot of company.” We can live a broken and desperate life, never finding our true selves, never being happy with who we are or what we are doing. Life can be one big swampy mud pit. We can constantly be moving, thrashing, and climbing out of the mud pit.


Or we can surrender our lives over to God and allow Him to recreate us. We can put God back into the picture of our lives.


Our lesson from Genesis this morning is the story of creation, how God turned to dust and mud into a human being. When God is in the picture, mud is changed. The difference between God and us is seen in the mud. God molded the mud, blew on it, and created life. We mold the mud, blow on it, and end up with—mud. We like to play God. We like to pretend that we are as wise and powerful as God. But we still end up with mud.


However, our mud pies, so to speak, our lives, get so complicated that even when we think we are allowing God to control our lives, He isn’t. The following poem was written in the poetry section of the New York Times: “I wish there was someone that would hear my confession. Not a pastor, I do not want to be told of my sin. Not a mother, I don’t want to bring sorrow. Not a friend, she would not know enough. Not a lover, he would be too partial. Not a God, He is too far away. But someone who would be a friend, mother, lover, pastor, and God all in one. A stranger besides, who would not interfere. Who, when everything is said, from beginning to end, would show the reason for it all? And then tell me to go ahead and work it out in my own way.” My friends, that is the perfect picture of someone, or maybe, I am afraid of a lot of people, who think God is in control of their lives, but in reality, He isn’t.


Working it out in your own way is stupid nonsense because you will never be able to make anything with that mud, your life, but keep playing with it until it is worn out and dies. You will never be able to change it, to make something else out of the mud. But turn it over to God, allow the breath of God to enter life, fill life, and pour Himself into your life, then change will happen. You will no longer be a mud turtle but a child of God. And in that relationship, God will be in control, and life will change. Maybe not all at once, perhaps not the way you might have expected it. But when God pulls us out of the mud and then remolds that mud, reshapes it, and breathes His breath, His Spirit, into that mud, into your life, amazing things can happen.


The first step is to acknowledge that my control of life is not getting me anywhere in terms of finding peace, self-worth, and a sense of contentment. I need to admit to myself and to God that I am a mud turtle caught in the swamp of life. No matter how much I try, or how much I struggle, or how busy I seem to be, or how far I bury in the closets of the deepest part of my soul, those hurts, those pains, those emotions, those situations which remind me over and over again, I am broken, and I live in a broken world. I cannot escape from these until I am ready to surrender control of my life to Almighty God.


Martin Luther had a prayer he prayed each day, asking God to allow him to surrender these things and then fill him with God’s breath, God’s Spirit. “Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in faith; strengthen thou me. I am cold in love; warm and make me fervent that my love may go out to my neighbors. I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust Thee altogether. O Lord, help me. In Thee I have sealed the treasure of all I have. I am poor, Thou art rich and didst come to be merciful to the poor. I am a sinner; Thou are upright. With me, there is an abundance of sin, in Thee is the fullness of righteousness. Therefore I will remain with Thee whom I can receive, but to Whom I may not give. Amen.”


The closing story, I think, sums up this surrendering of ourselves, our beings, our emotions, our pains, our hurts, and our hidden closet items over to God, who can handle it. He is God Almighty and can deal with our deepest emotions as He listened to His own son cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God can handle your life as it is with all of its brownness, with all of its sinfulness, with all of its self-pride. God can handle it, and He wants to be in the picture of your life.


The tragedy left the man homeless, widowed, and fatherless. A fire had swept through their trailer, and all was lost. It took some time for the full weight of the loss to descend, and when it did, he was nearly crushed. Like Job in the O.T., he would not be comforted. When the guilt of shock was lifted, anger and resentment filled every waking thought. God had not been fair to him—God had not protected his family. He had not come to him with a special visitation to explain the “why” and the “what next.” He was in a wilderness as rugged as the Sinai.


The greatest temptation was to add to his losses by forfeiting his faith. He felt justified. No one would fault him. Some might even support him. He prayed angrily now, daring God to hurt him further and challenging Him to give any reason to hold on to the thin thread of his faith that was left. He prayed angrily, but he prayed, and God could handle it. The anguish continued to mount until one afternoon. He uttered a cry so forcefully it could only be described as a scream. No word was spoken, just a loud, angry scream against the forces of heaven and hell, as if to say, “I’ve hurt all I can, and I’ve paid my dues for love... Help me!!!.”.......... The silence that followed was quieter than silence. Peace was evident for the first time in months.”


Scripture might have said, “angels came and attended him.” Satan had been overthrown, and health was coming back, for he believed, at last, that God was caring for those he lost. That God was caring for him. God could handle his honest anger and his honest emotions.


God can handle all our pent-up emotions, feelings, denials, and running away from the hurts and pain of life. God can handle it. We must let Him, for when we do, we will know the great and powerful love and mercy He has for us. God can handle it, period. Let Him.


Let us pray: Lord, it seems as though Lent came too early this year. We wanted more time to recover from the activity and anxiety of Christmas, yet here we are, the first Sunday in Lent. Our hearts need cleansing, Lord. Our spirits need restoration and healing. During this season of Lent, you send us on a journey to the cross with Jesus and beyond the cross to the resurrection. We would just rather skip to the happiness of Easter and enjoy the flowers and all the trimmings, but you insist on the journey. We cannot truly understand the power of the resurrection until we have been to the cross. Today we travel to the cross, where Jesus encounters Satan, who flashes visions of power, wealth, and individual security before him. How shall we respond to those same temptations when they are presented so seductively to us? Help us, O Lord. Guide and restore us. Give us courage and strength as we journey to you. Amen.


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Scripture is taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Sermon contributed by Rev. Tim Zingale.
There are only two kinds of people, the righteous who believe themselves a sinner and the sinner who believes themselves righteous.

The Morning Prayer for Sunday, February 19, 2023

 

The Morning Prayer
Sunday, February 19, 2023


I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1–2, NIV


Lord God Almighty, Lord our God, our refuge for ever and ever, bless us as we gather in your presence and turn to you. May we be your children, who can simply believe and stand firm in our lives and in our calling. We thank you for giving us your grace and constant help. In your grace we can be joyful, praising and honoring you. You are our father. You never forsake us. May your name be praised by us all. May your name be praised above and in the whole world so that all people may acknowledge you and receive what they need from you. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Sunday, February 26, 2023

 

Verse of the Day
Sunday, February 26, 2023


1 John 4:9
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
Love is not merely a feeling—it is Jesus living in and through us (John 13:34, 35; 15:9–17; 1 John 4:7–21). If we say we believe in God and are maturing in our relationship with Him, but we are not growing in our unconditional love for others, something is wrong with our walk (1 Cor. 13). This is because as Jesus increases in us and we decrease, His loving nature should intensify within us as the evidence of His lordship in our life (Gal. 5:22, 23; 2 Pet. 1:3–8).

Read the Full Chapter

Listen to First John Chapter 4


Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Travel the World from Home — Mt. Hermon: Getting God Completely Wrong By Choice

 

The Holy Land:
Connecting the Land with Its Stories
Mt. Hermon: Getting God
Completely Wrong By Choice
Season 3 — Episode 2

What could compel the Israelites to cast aside the one true God in favor of a golden calf?

“The Holy Land: Connecting the Land with Its Stories” Season 3 is a nine-episode series hosted by Dr. John (Jack) Beck that takes you to the Jordan River Valley systems to experience the land, the culture, and the customs that surround the sacred stories of the Bible.

In Episode 2, Dr. Jack Beck takes us to the ruins of Dan to learn about King Jeroboam, the High Place, and God’s persistent pursuit of His children no matter how far we may stray from Him.



Season 3 — Episode 2 | Mt. Hermon: Getting God Completely Wrong By Choice