November 12, 2023 Amos 5:18-24; Matthew 25:1-13 Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The kingdom of heaven seems to have an entrance exam. One that will assess whether one is foolish or wise. Well, what does it mean to be foolish? The term used here is the Greek…

November 5, 2023 Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 5:1-12 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The Sermon on the Mount is a quintessential moment in the ministry of Jesus. There are many other passages from the Bible that spell out his teachings, but this sermon sums up with great succinctness what Jesus was trying to convey. The…

October 29, 2023 Leviticus 19:1-2, 15; Matthew 22:34-46 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and…

October 15, 2023 Exodus 32:1-14; Matthew 22:1-14 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become…

October 8, 2023 Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 21:33-46 “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’” Jesus was confronting the leaders of the Temple. He was doing so through this very pointed story about the master and his tenants. Who are the…

October 1, 2023 Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Matthew 21:23-32 O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? Ezekiel is sharing the visions that he had from God. And one of the complaints of God against the people was about their idolatrous ways. They allowed other gods to be worshipped on the high places. They perhaps…

September 24, 2023 Jonah 3:10-4:11; Matthew 20:1-16 [G]od said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” There are many ways of understanding Jonah. As a prophet. As a man chosen by God. As someone who has gone through a great ordeal. But when we hear him complain about…

September 17, 2023 Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21; Matthew 18:21-35 Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.” That last line is considered the…

September 10, 2023 Exodus 12:1-14; Matthew 18:15-20 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. This passage from Exodus may sound familiar. It is the description of the Passover, both an event in the history of the Hebrew people,…

June 11, 2023 Hosea 5:15-6:6; Matthew 9:9-13 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. In the Book of Hosea, we are hearing something new. New in the scheme of the Bible because obviously this was written long ago. Steadfast love not sacrifices. The knowledge of God not burnt offerings. God does not want…