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Through the Wilderness
Through the Wilderness Exodus 17:1-7 · Water from the Rock Israel is underway in this story, as the church is underway. Israel’s story is our story. She has been redeemed out of slavery in Egypt, just as we have been redeemed by the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ out of our slavery to sin…
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Bloody Lintels Broken Bread
Bloody Lintels — Broken Bread Exodus 12:1-30 · The Passover Two Russian surgeons and an anesthetist took turns lying on an operating table beside a critically-ill patient, according to the then government newspaper, Izvestia, and saved the patient’s life with direct transfusions of their own blood. Fresh blood was needed because the patient’s own blood…
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Dreaming Impossible Dreams
Dreaming Impossible Dreams Genesis 37:2-11 To dream the impossible dream, To fight the unbeatable foe, To bear the unbearable sorrow, To run where the brave dare not go. To right the unrightable wrong, To love pure and chaste from afar, To try when your arms are too heavy, To reach the unreachable star. Those lyrics…
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Climbing the Right Ladder
Climbing the Right Ladder Genesis 28:10-19a How do you define success? Oliver Wendell Holmes at age 90 said, “The secret to my success is that at an early age, I discovered I was not God.” Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To leave the world a bit better, to know that even one life has breathed easier…
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Abundant Life
Abundant Life John 10:1-10 Our scripture lessons for today contains one of the best-known sayings of Jesus. It is exceedingly well known, but often sadly misunderstood. This saying is the second half of John 10:10 and is best known in its King James translation. Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and…
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When We Feel Lost
When We Feel Lost Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 George Buttrick, has said that Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son captures “the essence of the Christian faith.” It is a story of repentance and forgiveness and grace. It is also a story of self-righteousness, resentment and anger. It has a familiar beginning, “There was a man who…
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When We Are Uncertain About The Future
When We Are Uncertain About The Future Genesis 14:11-19 A young man tells of visiting a college, which had a series of security call boxes every few hundred feet or so. If you were wandering around the campus at night and felt uneasy about somebody following you, you could hit the button and summon a…
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Every Day God Enables
Every Day God Enables 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 I remember reading a book of letters from children to their pastor. One of them read: “Dear Preacher, I’d like to bring my dog to church on Sunday. She is only a mutt, but she is a good Christian. Love, Sissy. PS I’m sorry I can’t leave more…
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Saints Are Awake to Life’s Deepest Joy
Saints Are Awake to Life’s Deepest Joy Luke 6:20-31 Today we observe All Saints. Because it is an important celebration, we need to come to some agreement on what is meant by a “saint.” If you Google the word, you discover many different definitions and understandings. Among some Protestant groups, every Christian becomes a saint…
