Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and the Gospel.

Bread of the earth brings hunger again—but not Jesus, the Bread of Heaven. Receive in faith. For St. John, “to believe,” means, “to adhere to Jesus.” If you cling to Jesus on the cross, he will draw you up in resurrection.

For the Fourth Evangelist, “the last day” is Good Friday, the sixth day of the old creation. Then there is the Sabbath, followed by the first day of the week of the new creation, Resurrection Sunday.

Dwell on this immense fact: Christ calls you to live in a New Creation. All the “old stuff” that tends to stick like glue to your spirit, has really died and lost its power. Do not give any more power to what is already dead!

John 6:24–35

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Your bread that lasts forever v. 27

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year B, we read from the Gospel of Mark except for the last five weeks of the season of Pentecost
when we follow the 6th chapter in the Gospel of John.

The Firestarters are from the original version of this program. 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 Numbers 32:28-32.

Two and a half tribes request Moses that they stay on the east side of the Jordan. Moses has to be sure that this is not due out of fear to enter into the Promised Land. He wants to be sure that they are not in rebellion about going into the Promised Land, as happened earlier in chapters 13 and 14. The cooperation of all of God’s people is needed in order for the conquest to take place. We are “our brother’s keeper,” as implied in Genesis 4:9, after Cain murdered his brother Abel.

You are important for the whole body of Christ. If you do God’s will in your life, then the rest of the body benefits; if you do not, then the whole is threatened. The unity in the Body of Christ is powerfully developed in 1 Corinthians 12:12 and following. May you find comfort and much joy in knowing in whom you live and move and have your being.

Numbers 32

This is the second of three parts of the Torah Portion Matoth (The Chiefs) 
.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.

Numbers 30:2—32:42

Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Blooming where I am planted v. 33ff

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.

Miracles happen to strengthen faith, not substitute for it. The Pharisees do not want to have faith in Jesus. Without a yearning for faith, nothing will convince.

The deep sighing from Jesus at their lack of faith translates anastatoo, a Greek word used only twice in the New Testament, here and in Acts 17:6. The latter is in the context of unbelievers’ charges that Christians are “turning the world upside down.”

Jesus’s stomach was “turned upside down” by the faithlessness of the Pharisees. How much it must have upset Jesus to see the lack of understanding of those closest to him!

How is your faith? Do you bargain with the Lord instead of believe and trust God’s providence over you?

Mark 8:1–21

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Sighing deeply from within v. 12

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels. This year, we generally read
from the Gospel of Mark, this season, chapters 4 to 9.

For the next several weeks, the Firestarters will be from the original version of this program. For these 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.