Read: Romans 8:1-11 Meditate: Romans 8:1 Reflect: What is your mindset? Is about wealth, comfortable living, fancy dinner parties and getting out of it what you can? Or is it about justice, equality and giving life to others? One mindset is living with the world’s values at heart, or as Paul calls it: living by the flesh. The other is about the reign of God, putting into place the values of God’s...
Read: Genesis 25:19-34 Meditate: Genesis 25:27 Reflect: In front of you are two people to choose from to lead an ancient great nation: one’s a skilful hunter, the other’s a quiet man who lives in tents. Who would you choose? In the ancient world, it was assumed that a great hunter would be a great leader—that’s why you see so much art depicting Assyrian kings hunting lions. It demonstrated their...
Read: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Meditate: Matthew 13:23 Reflect: Seeing recent pictures of people gathered on beeches makes me imagine Jesus teaching this parable in a whole new way. In Matthew’s retelling, there’s a vast group crowded on the beech while Jesus is in a boat ready to teach them: what does he shout? Listen! I imagine they would have needed to listen attentively. In the context of them...
God of all creation,
who declared that all you had made was good,
who crafted a world intended for harmony and wholeness,
who made us physical and spiritual beings,
we praise you for the wonder of your creation...