Scripture - Romans 8:12-17 Romans 8 is the high-water mark of Paul’s letter. That fact is generally conceded by all interpreters of this great letter. It may very well be the high-water mark of all of Paul’s writing. Someone said, “We enter this chapter with no condemnation, we close with no separation & in between all things work together for those who love God.” Friends, how can it get any better than that? We find that there is to be given to the child of God in this life

Scripture - Acts 2:1-13 Come, Holy Spirit, come. Open our hearts & minds & lives to your call through this holy word. Amen. The first 11 chapters of the Bible tell us about God’s work with the whole of God’s creation & with all of humankind. Though God created the world to be unified & good, the selfish actions of human beings fragment that unity & introduce evil. The climax of that pre-history is the story of the Tower of Babel, in which the human beings build a monument t

Scripture - John 15:9-17 Like an innocent child wandering alone into a kitchen & turning the knobs that could set the house on fire, some biblical passages have been taken out of their context & used in ways that would have horrified the author. This passage is one that has exactly that history. No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends, Jesus says in v. 13. This is true; for Christians it is most certainly true. In fact, Jesus was on his way to his

Scripture - Acts 8:26-39 When asked by Philip if he really understood the Scriptures he was reading, the Ethiopian replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” As we prepare to read today’s Scriptures, ask the Holy Spirit to be your guide. Then, with the Spirit’s help, listen for the Word of God. The strangest of all the stories that Luke tells is that of the Ethiopian eunuch in his chariot riding from Jerusalem to Gaza, the one to whom Philip spoke. He is an Ethiopian. I