Tag: bible
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A Cure Not a Miracle
Acts 28:1-10 – 6/5/2026 It so happened that the father of Publius lay sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and cured him by praying and putting his hands on him. After this happened, the rest of the people on the island [of Malta] who had diseases also came and were cured.…
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God Does Not Demand Blood
Psalm 50:7-15 – 6/4/2026 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. Psalm 50:8-9 (NRSVue) God does not demand blood. Sacrifice, in the sense of taking a life to atone for sin, is not…
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Silence in the Face of Our Finitude
Job 39:26-4:5 – 6/3/2026 Then Job answered the Lord: “See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.” Job 4:3-4 (NRSVue) Job has a complaint with God and he makes it. God’s response is thunderous. Verse after verse, God asks Job if Job can do the…
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Everyone Means Everyone
1 Corinthians 12:4-13 – 6/2/2026 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13 (NRSVue) One Spirit, one body, one baptism, these are the rapid fire images Paul uses to describe the unity of Christians…
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The Liturgical Use of Scripture
2 Corinthians 13:11-13 – 5/31/2026 – Trinity Sunday & The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you 2 Corinthians 13:13 (NRSVue) Today’s Lectionary texts from the New Testament, both the Epistle reading and the…
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The Response to Love: Command and Promise
John 14:15-17 – 5/30/2026 If you love me, [you will] keep my commandments. John 14:15 (NRSVue) The connection between loving Jesus and keeping Jesus’s commandments is central to the life of a Christian. Loving Jesus provides the motivation to follow; keeping the commandments is simply the act of following Jesus. There is a certain amount…
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The Time of Our Salvation
2 Timothy 1:8-12 – 5/28/2026 [God] saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before [historic time]. 2 Timothy 1:9 (NRSVue with my re-translation) When I left the life of the…
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A Life-Affirming Gospel of Celebration
John 7:37-39 – 5/27/2026 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”…
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The Breath of God, Third Person of the Trinity
Psalm 104:24-35 – 5/26/2026 When you send forth your spirit [or breath], [living things] are created, and you renew the face of the ground. Psalm 104:30 (NRSVue) The word “Spirit” in both the Greek and Hebrew portions of the Bible is a tricky word. In both languages the word that gets translated as “spirit” primarily…
Dionysus on a Bike 