Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Matthew 1:1-17.

Three great divisions of generations place Jesus into the immense tapestry of God’s activity in history. Each of these has fourteen generations—two times the perfect number—seven. They are described by Matthew in the conclusion of the genealogy in v. 17.

The New Testament begins with a grand sweep of the First Covenant. The list is taken from the paternal line. However, the symmetry is interrupted by the mention of foreign women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathesheba. The ways that God worked through these women outside the strictly male, Jewish line, set the stage for the miraculous intervention through Mary. This also anticipates the way in which God’s saving grace would include Gentiles.

The Lord has placed you in the generational list of those who will bear Christ. How will the next generation be brought to worship God because of you?

Matthew 1

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Being righteous as Joseph. v. 19

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Luke 1 2; Matthew 1 7.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Galatians 1:1-11.

Paul in Galatians will help you ponder in your heart as Mary did. The credentials he offers come from the decisive move of God upon his life on the road to Damascus. Paul first goes to the Arabian Desert, then on to a three-year period in Damascus. God gave the Gospel to Paul, unmediated by anyone else. Damascus was the jolt to Paul; later came the deep, inner preparation of the wondrous Apostle to come. Paul too, has his desert, just as John the Baptist, Jesus, and God’s people in the wilderness.

God’s unique intervention in history through Jesus breaks all the assumptions about how we think God is going to act. God wants to do great things in you by grace. Let God shake you. However, you receive your “wakeup call,” get busy with the daily, inner work of responding to God’s Word … for three years, as in this Bible plan, like Paul!

Galatians 1

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: God be glorified in me. v. 24

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Titus, Philemon, Galatians and Philippians.

For all the Firestarters in the original version, I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these Firestarters with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and the Psalm.

Tap here for a video meditation on Psalm 5.

If last week’s psalm can become your night prayer, this Psalm is perfect for mornings. The first attention of David upon awakening is God. Learn from David. Direct your words and your eyes straight into the Lord’s presence as soon as you awaken.

We are creatures who need the rhythms of daily cycles. Just as children love the security of routine, so we need that sense of comfort that comes through the repetition and return of regular practices of prayer. These can deepen our entry into God’s presence.

What are the habits of daily devotion that the Lord urges upon your heart? Though my own life has been through so many changes, I find continuity and peace to gently whisper into the morning what we used to pray as novices in religious life: “Laudetur Jesus Christus – in saecula saeculorum” Praised be Jesus Christ – forever and ever.

Go straight into the presence of your God and from there only, live out your day.

Psalm 5

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: Make Your way straight before me. v. 8

We read the Psalms in numerical order.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information