Bishop Mike's Podcast

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Central African Republic Companion Synod Sunday

Jeremiah 31:27-34 – The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.ORGenesis 32:22-31 – Jacob wrestles with the angel at Peniel.

Psalm 119:97-104 – Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long.ORPsalm 121 – I lift my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5 – Jesus will judge the living and the dead. Proclaim the message. Be persistent.

Luke 18:1-8 – Parable of the Judge and the Widow (pray and don’t lose heart)

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Lamentations 1:1-6 - Post-exilic. How lonely sits the empty city, once full of people! She who once was great among the nations is now a vassal. Her greatness is gone.ORLamentations 3:19-26 - The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! My hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.OR Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 - How long, O Lord, will I cry to you for help and you will not listen? How long will we cry, “Violence?” and you will not save?

Psalm 137 - By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps.ORPsalm 37:1-9 - Don’t worry too much about the wicked. In due time they will fade like grass. Trust in the Lord and do good.

2 Timothy 1:1-14 - To Timothy, my beloved child: I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Luke 17:5-10 – Parable of the mustard seeds. Undeserving slaves.

October 4 is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.Several congregations do a blessing of the pets around this day. RESOURCES

October is Clergy Appreciation MonthRESOURCES

October 6 is the Commemoration of William Tyndale.

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Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 – As the Babylonians are about to break through the walls in 588 B.C. Zedekiah asks Jeremiah why he’s prophesying the exile. Jeremiah responds by saying he’s so certain that God will restore the fortunes of Zion that he’s even bought a plot of land. Jeremiah the speculator.ORAmos 6:1a, 4-7 - Amos warns those who lie on ivory beds, lounge on couches, who sing idle songs, anoint themselves with the finest oils and drink plenty of wine (the rich), that they will be the first to be carried into exile.

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 – This is the “Eagle’s Wings” psalm: You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord and abide in the presence of the Almighty, he will deliver you from the hand of the fowler, under his wings you will find refuge. You will not fear the terror of the night or the arrow that flies by day, though thousands fall around you… ORPsalm 146 - Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. 5Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God who … executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry… lifts up those who are bowed down… who watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow…

1 Timothy 6:6-19 - We brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it (Fits with the rich man and Lazarus). The love of money is the root of all evil. Be rich in good works, generosity and sharing

Luke 16:19-31 – Parable of the Rich man and poor Lazarus

Consider using “Eagles’ Wings” for Psalm 91. 

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Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1 - My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?ORAmos 8:4-7 - Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, 6buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat…”

Psalm 79:1-9 – The nations have laid ruin to Jerusalem and given our bodies to the birds. How long, O Lord, will you kindle your anger against us?ORPsalm 113 - Praise the name of the Lord, from the rising of the sun to its setting. He raises the poor from the dust and the needy from the ashes. 

1 Timothy 2:1-7 - I wish everyone to raise up their hands without anger or argument. Pray for government leaders. For this is the will of God who wishes everyone to be saved.

Luke 16:1-13 – Parable of the Shrewd Manager. "And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes." Interpretation: Use your filthy, stinkin’ money to do some good in this life, so that in the next the poor will vouch for you.

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Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 – My people are stupid children with no understanding, who know how to do evil, but not good. The whole land shall be a desolation. ORExodus 32:7-14 – Moses pleads with God to turn back his wrath against the people.

Psalm 14 – The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” You confound the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge.ORPsalm 51:1-10 – I was a sinner from my mother’s womb. Create in me a clean heart, O God…

1 Timothy 1:12-17 – Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of which I am the foremost.

Luke 15:1-10 – Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin.

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Jeremiah 18:1-11 – The potter’s house: “Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, what the potter has done?”ORDeuteronomy 30:15-20 – I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live…

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 – O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You formed me in my inward parts. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. ORPsalm 1 – Happy are those who walk not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the seats of scoffers… They are like tress planted by streams of water, that yield fruit in due season…

Philemon 1-21 – Nearly the entire letter to Philemon, I would read the last three verses as well. Paul’s ominous, “Prepare a guest room for me” indicates: I’m coming to check up on you to see if you followed through with my request. This letter proves that when Paul says there is no longer slave or free (Gal 5:28-29), he means it. He doesn’t mean we’ll pretend when we’re in church, that these very real social distinctions don’t exist. He means a very real upheaval in relationships in the very real world.

Luke 14:25-33 – Renounce family and possessions. Take up your cross and follow me. Count the cost. Don’t start a tower and then fail to finish it.

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Revised Common Lectionary readings for Sunday, September 1, 2019.

Jeremiah 2:4-13 – God states the case against the descendants of Jacob.ORSirach 10:12-18 – The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord.ORProverbs 25:6-7 – Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great; for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. 

Psalm 81:1, 10-16 – I brought you out of the land of Egypt, but you did not obey me. So I gave you over to your stubborn desires. ORPsalm 112 – Blessed is the one who obeys the Lord. His house contains riches.

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 – Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

Luke 14:1, 7-14 – Jesus heals on the Sabbath and lectures on the law. Jesus teaches about taking the lower place. When you give a luncheon or dinner invite the poor and crippled.

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Jeremiah 1:4-10 – Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I knew you. Do not say, “I am too young.” I will give you the words you are to speak for me. ORIsaiah 58:9b-14 — God’s chosen fast: Remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.

Psalm 71:1-6 – In you O Lord, I have taken shelter. Let me never be confounded. I have trusted you since you pulled me from my mother’s womb. ORPsalm 103:1-8 – Praise the Lord who forgives your sins, heals your diseases and delivers you from the Pit.

Hebrews 12:18-29 – Jesus, mediator of a new covenant. The blood of Jesus replacing that of Abel.

Luke 13:10-17 – Jesus heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath.

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Isaiah 5:1-7 – I will sing to my lover about his vineyard: It produced wild grapes. Therefore I will make it a wasteland.ORJeremiah 23:23-29 Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 – Shepherd of Israel: You planted a vineyard, then tore down its walls. Support us again, and we will not turn from you.ORPsalm 82 – Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy…. Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for the nations belong to you!

Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2 – By faith the people passed through the Red Sea… By faith the walls of Jericho fell. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient… Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Luke 12:49-56 – I have not come to bring peace but sword. Read the times like the seasons.

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Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 – Yahweh condemns Sodom and Gomorrah’s sins: injustice and oppression to the orphan and widow.


OR

Genesis 15:1-6 – The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23 – The Lord calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

OR

Psalm 33:12-22 – Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 – Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God. By faith Abraham obeyed. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old.

Luke 12:32-40 – Have no fear. Sell your possessions. Give alms. Be prepared like the householder and thief. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.