Listen to Nick read the Firestarter and the reading.

Themes of old and new weave themselves through the infancy stories of Jesus in Luke. The aged Zechariah and Elizabeth are types of the ancient longing, seen next to the young Mary and Joseph. Now it is Simeon and Anna contrasted with Mary and Joseph who arrive to present Jesus in the Temple. Faithful Simeon is there and Anna, who spent eighty-four years of her widowhood praying constantly in the Temple for the coming of the Messiah. The Holy Spirit tells them that the quiet, gentle couple arriving this day is the answer to their deepest prayer.

Old and new meet; patience and joy embrace. The song of Simeon sweetly lifts itself every night as those in monasteries bid farewell to a day of grace and fall asleep. May you rest assured that the Lord has indeed come, a fact that the Holy Spirit gives to you right now. Receive the child in the temple of your heart and rest.

Luke 2:22–40

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: I let go and rest in peace.

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
During the Winter Season of Advent to Epiphany this year, we read the Gospel of Mark, chapters 1-2.

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 Nick read the Firestarter Genesis 45:28 – 46:7.

Jacob receives a comforting and wondrous vision from God during the night. This is the seventh time that God has spoken of the covenant—twice to Abraham, twice to Isaac, and now the third time to Jacob. Jacob is reassured about the promises of the Lord; he will see his son Joseph before he dies.

Respect the power of the night. When you awaken during it, turn to the Lord who wants to share with you the intimacies of the covenant God offers to you in Jesus through the Spirit. All the great revelations that God made to patriarchs and prophets are gathered in Jesus. The Lord wants to speak to your heart and tell you of the love, plans, and promises held out to you. Take time to listen to God with a pure, open heart—day or night.

Genesis 45:28—46:27

This is the second of three parts of the Torah Portion Vayiggash (And He Approached)
Conservative and Reform Jewish congregations read only this part this year,
as also in this Bible plan.
Here is the entire portion in all three parts.

Gen. 44:18—47:27

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Staying with You in the night

The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

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 Nick read the Firestarter and the reading.

“No room for them in the inn.” Francis of Assisi in the fourteenth century contemplated this fact, beginning the tradition of meditations on the manger with stable and animals as an expression of the poverty of Jesus’s birth. While Luke would agree, there are two further points he wants to bring to our silent, prayerful attention.

First, there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn, because Jesus did not just come for a visit to stay awhile, as we do when we stop at a motel. Jesus came to stay!

Second, Mary and Joseph laid Jesus in a manger, the place where animals eat. Jesus rests for the first time in a place reminding us that he would become our food one day, the day before he rested on another wooden framed structure—the cross.

Luke 2:1–20

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Mary ponders in her heart. v. 19

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the Winter Season of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Luke 1-2; Mark 1-3

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.