Day: January 12, 2014

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“Gold” – An Alphabyte

Nick reads the Alphabyte.

Kings and gold go together.
And so the Three Kings bring their gifts of gold to the little King who has none.
Yet the three do not know that this is the One
in whom all the earth and gold is found.

Gold: the ultimate possession. Earth holds it …Heaven gives it away.
What do you claim and cling to as ultimate in life?
Let go. Nothing can be possessed as yours.
Even your body is not yours, but rather a gift given to you
through the One in whom we live and move and have our being.

Yet there are two things that are truly ours: thoughts and feelings.
So go to that place deep within where lie these buried treasures and
give them to the Infant King.
They become gold in the offering.

Alphabytes are object meditations
that move through the alphabet two times
in the course of the fifty-two weeks in the year.
“Gold” introduces the Second Week in Epiphany:
winter in the north, summer in the south.
To view all of them, see the menu option Alphabytes

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Embrace of Saving History

Sunday, January 12
Matthew 3:13–17

Click or touch “Firestarter”
To listen to Nick read the one-minute introduction.


Photo Courtesy – http://commons.wikimedia.org/
“Baptism of Christ” by Davezelenka

Jesus launches his public ministry as he emerges from the waters of the Jordan. Biblical themes about water are touched upon and blended in this account. Recall the Spirit hovering over the chaotic waters in Genesis, Noah, the ark, the dove, the crossing of the Jordan in Joshua 3, and the Exodus readings these Saturdays. All are gathered into one event that unites heaven and earth, the divine and the human. Jesus embraces all of God’s saving history to himself. The saving energy of God is fused into one laser beam of Christ’s light as we celebrate this second Epiphany of Jesus—his baptism.

It is a moment in history with cosmic dimensions. Immerse all your senses in the scene. Renew your baptism. Rise with Jesus and be free.

The Reading for Today
Text     Audio

Bible Breaths
Jesus, John and the Jordan v. 13
Fulfilling all of God’s plan v. 15
Holy Spirit descending v. 16
“This my Son: the Beloved” v. 17

Click or touch the image
for the version for children and families.

This is the Second Week in Epiphany, Year A.
See “Solar and Sacred Seasons” in the menu above.
Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from
The Revised Common Lectionary.
Year A is dedicated to the Gospel of Luke.

Scripture Recordings in over 700 languages!
Faith Comes By Hearing
Audio Bible App from www.bible.is

The Firestarters and readings are posted in the timezone UTC+12,
so that they are available in New Zealand and other regions
near the International Date Line.