Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and the reading.

Jesus gives his seventh and last “I AM” name: “I am the True Vine.” There echoes in the hearts of the disciples this ancient symbol used by Isaiah (5:1–7), Jeremiah (2:21) and Ezekiel (19:10–12), among others. “Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard” (Isaiah 5:1). Jesus is the one who embraces the New Vine. The only Son of God is the place to find the New Community. We are to be branches of the vine, which is Jesus. The life force is the Holy Spirit.

Pruning increases our fruit-producing power. Suffering is the passage, unique to each person that can move us from death to self, to life in Jesus.

Abide in Jesus. Rest in him. As you sit, stand or kneel in prayer, let your imagination, illumined and made real by faith, engraft you onto this wondrous vine.

John 15:1–8

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: You in me and I in You v. 4

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.

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 Exodus 33:12-17.

The center of the year for the Jewish people is Passover, as Easter is for Christians. The Torah reading unfolds the beauty, the power, and the presence of God. The Lord’s goodness and mercy are described. Be with Moses as the glory of the Lord is revealed to him and to you, through the Holy Spirit.

Learn about the Seder, the supper that recalls the Exodus. There are foods symbolic of the suffering endured such as salt water for the tears shed, and horseradish for the bitterness experienced in suffering so much.

This is a day of solidarity with all those in bondage in one form or another. We intercede for them that the pathways to liberation would become open—that all the “Red Seas” in their lives would split apart so that they can walk on to freedom.

Exodus 33:12—34:26

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: May Your presence go with me. 33:14

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 Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and the reading.

Jesus leads out the New Community from the place of the Last Supper to a future fraught with suffering, yet glory. Think of Exodus. Enemies are all about. Jesus prepares his disciples for the world’s hatred of them, just as it hates Jesus, a hatred which is about to move to fever pitch.

Why the hatred? Jesus refuses to let his power be used against those from Rome who were occupying the sacred lands. Instead, Jesus unleashes his spiritual power against the religious system from within, announcing a new and deeper spiritual freedom from it. The hatred against Jesus was not from Rome, but from Jerusalem.

Fear not. The Holy Spirit is promised to be with us during any persecution, for strength, for comfort, for wisdom. “When the going gets rough, the rough gets smooth”—by the Holy Spirit!

John 15:18–27

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Loving a world that’s hating v. 18

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the Seasons of Lent and Easter we read the Gospel of John.

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.