Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Matthew 7:7-12

Psalm 63

John 4:(1-3)4-42 -- In our final week of our series we come to the second part of John's presentation of Light and Dark in the early chapters of the Gospel account.  We met a character last week who was meant to be compared and contrasted with the character we meet this week.  How they encounter Jesus and what comes of the encounter are all an invitation to us to be like the nameless Samaritan woman.

In our culture, we pride ourselves on what we know and how quickly we can come by information.  We rarely seek patience and we struggle to trust a process that takes time...

But this is precisely what our faith is: a gradual movement towards a new kind of life that is lived in what the Gospel write calls Light.

Let us encounter today's scene with an open heart and mind as we continue our Lenten journey of being TESTED.

Let us be led into the Light simply offering what we have in the place where we are--with full trust that God will do the rest.

John 3:1-21 -- In our second week we turn to one of the most recognized passages in all of our Bible.  Can we hear it with fresh ears?

Jesus wants to invite you into an entire new way of life--a life from above.

We have to be ready...

We have to prepare...

We have to submit...

We have to embrace the light instead of the darkness, for all of its comfort and convenience.

Are you ready?

Matthew 4:1-11  --  We begin our Lenten Sunday Series by considering the per-adzoh (tempting/testing) of Jesus in the wilderness.

Lent is a time of being TESTED.  Who better to lead us in this time than our Messiah?

Now, this passage was not intended to be a Lenten passage, per se, but it can guide us.  If we can understand what this passage's purpose was, then we can apply it to our own time.  But we must submit to this.  We can understand it and study it in every way, shape, or form...but we must submit to it if we are going to experience the life that TESTING can offer.

Are you ready to be TESTED?

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18   --   We begin the season of Lent by hearing Jesus' instruction from the "Sermon on the Mount" constructed by the author of the Gospel we call Matthew.

The whole idea of this section of the teaching is about practicing our faith and religion for God alone.  In Jesus' culture, tribal/family honor and shame were the pulse of society.  In our culture it's economics, but the message still applies to us as the body of Christ, the church.

Do we serve God for our own purpose and benefit...or do we serve God for God alone?

We should really consider what we do and why we do it.  All too often do we find ourselves striving in our faith for ourselves rather than God.

Lent is a great time to focus and examine our hearts, souls, and minds.

Let us begin this time by setting out to to serve God alone.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20  &  Matthew 5:21-48 -- In our final week of our REVIVAL series, we come to a choice: we wither pursue life and wholeness, or death and exile.  This seems like a choice that exists beyond our everyday lives, but Jesus invites us to bring that choice to the forefront of our every day lives.

The invitation Jesus extends is to "Repent!" or, to say it in a clearer way, detached from the years of religious baggage usually associated with it, "Reframe your thinking!"

Let us hear the invitation once more to REFRAME and be REVIVED so that we may have life and wholeness in God through the presence of Jesus Christ experienced through the Holy Spirit.

Are you ready to wake up?

Isaiah 58.1-12  &  Matthew 5.13-20 -- We continue our series of REVIVAL: to be restored to life/consciousness--to be awakened!

Our word is Ev-ed (EVD = עבד) and it means a number of things: labor, work; to serve...and... worship.  What a loaded word!

We will look at how this word is used as a theme in the Hebrew Bible (and the Christian Scriptures--see Paul's work on being a slave to God and others) to understand how it can impact how we live our every day lives.

Let's revisit the words of the prophet Isaiah for the people, Israel, and hear it with fresh ears.

Let's revisit Jesus' words to the disciples and crowds upon the mount to understand the life to which we are called.

Are you ready?

Micah 6.1-8  &  Matthew 5.1-12 -- Calling upon an old word which evokes image more than a century old...we enter into a quest for REVIVAL.

We begin with the prophet Micah who is seeking to awaken the people, Israel, back to consciousness so that they can remember who they are.

Jesus announces the reality of the Kingdom of God upon a hill in Galilee to awaken the people, Israel, back to consciousness as he ushers in the new Kingdom.

And here we are today--in need of awakening... remembering... REVIVAL.

Are you ready?