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DAILY READING Luke 24:36-40 I don’t know about you, but I am so thankful to be reminded that even after resurrection, Jesus keeps his scars. It assures me that all that I’ve been through makes me into who I am. Those journeys don’t just disappear after healing. That wouldn’t be honest. Instead, the scars remain…

DAILY READING 1 Samuel 17:19-32 At this year’s Harvest Hands Advocates Breakfast, Rev. Brian Hicks talked about the gentrification of south Nashville. I was struck by his non-traditional way of accepting this change. Most non-profit directors would have said, “What a shame,” and began looking for ministry opportunities elsewhere. But Brian took what could have…

DAILY READING 1 Samuel 17:1-23 “When Saul and the Israelites heard [the threat of Goliath] they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” Boy, do I know the feeling.  A loved one was recently diagnosed with cancer. I heard the news and instantly a ton of bricks fell into the pit of my stomach. It was as…

DAILY READING Luke 24:1-12 In Luke’s resurrection story, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary mother of James, and a few other unnamed women are the first to preach the good news of Christ’s defeat of death to the apostles. Predictably, they are not believed.  Luke writes, “But these words seemed to [the apostles] an idle tale, and…

DAILY READING Psalm 118:19-20 Yesterday we focused on the 24th verse of Psalm 118, and gave thanks for the day the Lord has made. Today we’ll focus on these verses, as the psalmist says: 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,    that I may enter through them    and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord;    the…

DAILY READING Psalm 118:24 Here we are on the first Monday following a triumphant Easter. After an online-only service in 2020, and an outdoor service off campus last year, what a joy it was to be together back in our own sanctuary for a crowded, joyful, celebratory return-to-church kind of Easter! Praise be to God!…

DAILY READING Luke 19:28-40   Social scientists say that we make up our minds about someone in the first 100 milliseconds of our first meeting. First impressions matter, and can you imagine being Adam or Eve? Your first impression of God and the world God has just created was that rest was not an afterthought, rather it was…

DAILY READING Luke 19:28-40   What a sight it must have been to see Jesus ride into town with the people around enthusiastically praising him. They were celebrating all the mighty acts they had seen and heard, while also anticipating what was to come. These followers lived with enthusiasm the praise that they had for Jesus, the Son of…

DAILY READING Luke 19:28-40   As we read this text again today, we see several items given so that Jesus can enter Jerusalem in grand style. All of these gifts are important and of great worth but they each have a different focus. The owner gave his donkey because he was asked to by his master. He…