Archive for April 2019

April 20, 2019 DAILY READING John 19:38-42This weekend’s reading: Matthew 28:1-10 FIELD NOTES Today we experience the darkness of Holy Saturday. Jesus has died and has been laid in the tomb by two secret disciples — Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. The disciples have gone home, each grieving his or her own heart-shattering loss. The…

April 19, 2019 DAILY READING John 18:1 – 19:42This weekend’s reading: Matthew 28:1-10 FIELD NOTES Good Friday has arrived. Jesus has been betrayed and handed over to the authorities for torture and execution by crucifixion. Love has found its ultimate expression in Jesus’ willingness to give his life for the world’s brokenness. Contemplate this love…

April 18, 2019 DAILY READING John 13:1-17, 31-35This weekend’s reading: Matthew 28:1-10 FIELD NOTES Maundy Thursday worship at Brentwood UMC has always been one of the most meaningful experiences of Holy Week for me. Remembering the last meal Jesus shared with his closest friends and how he demonstrated selfless love as he washed their feet, helps…

April 17, 2019 DAILY READING John 13:21-32This weekend’s reading: Matthew 28:1-10 FIELD NOTES Our scripture passage for today recounts how Jesus, greatly troubled in spirit, announces to the group of his closest friends that one of them will betray him. Can you imagine how Jesus must have felt? Out of the friends whom he had…

April 16, 2019 DAILY READING John 12:20-36This weekend’s reading: Matthew 28:1-10 FIELD NOTES A few years ago I went with my co-workers to one of those “escape” game places — where they lock you in a room and you have an hour to uncover clues to free yourself. The employee showed us to the room,…

April 15, 2019 DAILY READING John 12:1-11This weekend’s reading: Matthew 28:1-10 FIELD NOTES Martha, Mary and Lazarus — two sisters and a brother — were close friends of Jesus. It’s likely he went to their home in Bethany often (John 11:5, Luke 10:38, John 11:1-44) and during Holy Week it may well have been his…

April 13, 2019 DAILY READING Psalm 31:9-16This weekend’s reading: Luke 23:32-43 FIELD NOTES Psalm 31:16 says, “Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.” According to the Wesley Study Bible, “God’s ‘face’ is the divine presence that signifies protection for those upon whom it shines.” As a high school student, my…

April 12, 2019 DAILY READING Psalm 31:9-16This weekend’s reading: Luke 23:32-43 FIELD NOTES I’m struck today by verses 11-12: “I’m a joke to all my enemies, still worse to my neighbors. I scare my friends, and whoever sees me in the street runs away! I am forgotten, like I’m dead, completely out of mind; I am like a piece…