Andrew DeCort - Guest Speaker

Blessed Are the Others: Jesus' Way in a Violent World - Book

Scripture Reading— John 9:1-41

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.  We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,  saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am he.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

John 4:5-42

Luke 4: 16-30

Scripture Reading— Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone,  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,‘He will command his angels concerning you,’and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory,  and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Matthew 17:1-9

Scripture Reading— Matthew 5: 13-18

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

Scripture Reading— Isaiah 58: 1-12

Shout out; do not hold back!

    Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion,

    to the house of Jacob their sins.

 Yet day after day they seek me

    and delight to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness

    and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;

they ask of me righteous judgments; they want God on their side.

3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”

Why do we fast, but you do not see?

    Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day

    and oppress all your workers.

 You fast only to quarrel and to fight

    and to strike with a wicked fist.

Such fasting as you do today

    will not make your voice heard on high.

 Is such the fast that I choose,

    a day to humble oneself?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

    and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them

    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

    and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator[b] shall go before you;

    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

    you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”

If you 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.

 The Lord will guide you continually

    and satisfy your needs in parched places

    and make your bones strong,

and you shall be like a watered garden,

    like a spring of water

    whose waters never fail.

ike a spring of water

    whose waters never fail.

 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

    the restorer of streets to live in.