Archive for May 2019

DAILY READING Psalm 31:1-5Acts 7:1-16This week’s sermon text: Luke 10:25-37 FIELD NOTES If we read further on from today’s scripture, we know that Stephen’s speech in front of the religious leaders was not ultimately successful. Stephen would end up being stoned to death for his testimony of Christ. But Stephen’s speech is powerful in another way because…

DAILY READING Psalm 31:1-5Acts 6:8-15This week’s sermon text: Luke 10:25-37 FIELD NOTES It hurts to be falsely accused. It hurts when others attribute false motives for actions we feel are justified and needed. It hurts because our intentions might be pure, but we just can’t control what others might say or think. Even though we are blessed…

DAILY READING Psalm 100Matthew 20:17-28This week’s sermon text: Luke 10:25-37 FIELD NOTES Today’s scripture reminds us of the remarkable love of a mother. These two sons of Zebedee, for whatever reason, don’t ask Jesus for a place of prominence. But their mother will! She begs Jesus for her sons to rule with him in the new kingdom.…

May 28, 2019 DAILY READING Today’s reading: Matthew 5:43-48This week’s challenge: ASK FIELD NOTES We meet people everywhere – on a walk, at the grocery store, or in your favorite restaurant or coffee shop. We encounter servers, retail employees, other patrons, and countless other individuals on a daily basis. All these people have differing backgrounds,…

DAILY READING Exodus 16:27-35Psalm 95This week’s sermon text: Matthew 5:43-48 FIELD NOTES Keeping the Sabbath is hard work.  We might think that this is a modern day problem; that having our email in our pockets and cell service that covers us worldwide makes it even harder for us to escape from work and find real rest.…

DAILY READING Ephesians 2:11-22Psalm 95This week’s sermon text: Matthew 5:43-48 FIELD NOTES Years ago, I worked for a summer at a United Methodist camp. This particular summer, the leaders of the camp had been very intentional in hiring a staff that was diverse—racially, ethnically, and culturally. For some members of the staff, this was the first…

DAILY READING Colossians 1:15-23Psalm 95This week’s sermon text: Matthew 5:43-48 FIELD NOTES It is a mind-blowing thing to think that, in the person of Jesus, we see the “image of the invisible God.” This is one reason why reading scripture is so important—in the life and ministry of Jesus, revealed in scripture, we get a picture…

DAILY READING John 7:53-8:11Psalm 128This week’s sermon text: Matthew 5:43-48 FIELD NOTES In God’s Kingdom, there is a perfect balance between justice and love. As Christians, we know that God’s Kingdom is breaking into the world all around us and that we have to learn to see it through the lenses of the gospel. We also…

DAILY READING Romans 4:6-13Psalm 128This week’s sermon text: Matthew 5:43-48 FIELD NOTES “For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13 For Christians, faith is everything. We all reach points in our lives where we realize we…