Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Acts 15:1-11.

The first council of the Church takes place in Jerusalem. With joy, Paul and Barnabas announce the miracles and wonders that took place while on their recent missionary journey. It is time now for the church to establish guidelines for the expansion to come. They decide that Gentiles are to be welcomed into the life of God in Christ without having to be circumcised. However, the new Christians must adhere to some basic habits of Jews, such as not eating the blood of animals.

The Holy Spirit inspires these decisions. In every verse of Acts, the Holy Spirit is present and active. At every turn of life, the early Christians seek and find this divine presence and power. May it ever be the same for you.

Acts 15

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Those who turn to God bring joy. v. 3

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In the Winter Season of Advent to Epiphany this year we read the Letters of John and Jude.

For all the Firestarters 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.

For a video meditation on today’s Psalm created three years ago, Tap here.

As you pray this psalm, list the number of God’s actions of which David is aware. On land and sea, the Lord is at work. David describes the actions of God’s bounty in the abundant fields and herds.

Your God is a God at work in your own life. If you were to make a list of the favors that the Lord has granted to you, the list would be very long. Even the things that at first glance hardly seem as blessings can become so. Nothing negative can happen to you, but that the Lord is seeking to bring about an even greater blessing for you. Will you let God do this?

Prayer is powerful. It unleashes the loving blessings of God into our lives. You need not complain. You are not a victim, but a victor in Jesus’s resurrection. The resurrection has carpeted your life! Praise the Lord for who God is and for what God does.

Psalm 65

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: Joy to live within Your courts v. 4

We continue to 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

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Ezra 1:1-6.

For the next four Tuesdays, we will consider a book of the Bible about another “Good Shepherd” who led God’s people from exile in Babylon, back to the Promised Land. His name is Ezra.

Well before he led them back, he was responsible for creating a longing in the exiled people for God’s Word. With the destruction of The First Temple in 587 B.C., the synagogue in local communities becomes more and more vital in bonding the exiled people of God to their God. In place of sacrifice, study of the Word becomes essential, with the example and wisdom of Ezra, upon whom was “The hand of the Lord.”

In these chapters is the text of the decree of King Cyrus of Persia. He had defeated the treacherous Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Think of the list of names as though you are looking in awe at the names of the immigrants who came to the United States, arriving at Ellis Island off New York City.

Ezra 1—2

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More…
Example: My spirit stirred for service v. 1

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”
In the Easter Season this year we read Proverbs 17 – 19 and Ezra.

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