Proverbs 9:9   9 Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning.  Romans 12:5-7  5 …so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry,…

Psalm 82:3-4 “Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”  Ezekiel 22:29-30a 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the alien without redress. 30 And I…

I Kings 19:11-13, 2:1-18 “He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord…

Let us listen to part of the story of the patriarch Jacob, whose name later would be “changed” to Israel. Jacob is fleeing the murderous wrath of his brother Esau. You may remember from Sunday School that Jacob previously had traded lentil soup for his elder brother’s birthright. More recently, at his mother Rebekah’s suggestion, Jacob had pretended to be his brother…

Galatians 6:1-10 My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive…

Galatians 5:1, 13-26  “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”  “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment,…

Galatians 3:23-29 23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you…

Romans 5:1-5 “Therefore since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance…

Acts 2:1-21 This morning’s reading is the story of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the followers of the Risen and Ascended Lord. People were very nice to me and said “yes,” when I asked them to read the passage in different languages so we could imagine what it was like that day. There is an insert in your…

Luke 24:44-53  44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to…