Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter”
from the version for young people and the reading.

[From the version for young people]

Imagine being the child that Jesus picks up for a special blessing, and then you linger along with those following Jesus, because you just love being with him.  Get up right next to Jesus as you listen to a conversation Jesus has with a rich man.  Here he comes, anxiously asking Jesus questions about salvation.  Follow the conversation slowly and see how it moves along.  The man wanted to do something really special with his life.  Hear Jesus’s wonderful suggestion to him…and how sad the man was because he clung so much to his riches that he didn’t want to let go of them to follow Jesus.
Picture this scene and get in touch with the man’s sadness as he walked away from Jesus.  What sort of feelings stir within you?  Maybe Jesus is turning to you and wondering of you’ll walk away too.  But really, there is no greater richness than having God’s love for you in Jesus…and you have it! 

Openness of a Child (From the original version with Mark 10:1–22)

 The sacredness of marriage is uplifted, its rupture denounced as sin. If this applies to you, repent of wherever there was sinfulness in your divorce. In the Lord’s forgiveness, you will find the grace to follow God’s will, most likely living with the blessing with the one to whom you are now married.

Become as a child. Do not be afraid of intimacy with the Lord, however great is the sinfulness in your life. God receives you and loves you. The Lord wants you to be wonderfully happy. Feel the sadness of the rich young man who walks away from joy, due to his attachment to wealth, instead of to the Lord. Be very alert as the Word of the Lord comes to bring you life.

 Mark 10:13-22

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Kingdom entered as a child v. 15

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels. This year, we generally read
from the Gospel of Mark, this season, chapters 7 to 13.

For all the Firestarters in the original version 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”
from the version for young people and the reading.

[From the version for young people]

We turn to a letter of St. Paul to a church in ancient Greece, way up in the north on the Aegean Sea.  Like Corinth, it was a busy seaport city with bustling trade going on all the time. 

As often happens in St. Paul’s letters, he begins by praising the church to which he is writing.  Think about it: once there was a community that received this letter for the first time from their dear pastor, Paul.  In place of e-mail and letters to individuals, this letter was read aloud to a community, perhaps gathering in someone’s house to worship and pray to the Lord Jesus. 

Pray about the three great spiritual gifts from God that we call the virtues of Faith, Hope and Love.  Hope is a wonderful extension of faith, being confident that something is really going to happen along the lines of what we believe in.  Love is the very essence of God that is radiating out from God through us. 
So let’s sit down with all those hearing this letter of St. Paul that will be our focus for six autumn Thursdays.

Faith, Hope and Love – from the original version.

Faith, hope and love—familiar virtues that receive a fresh touch from St. Paul as he celebrates and praises a local church in Thessalonica. This was the second major church established in Europe. As Corinth, it was a busy commercial seaport on the Aegean Sea, in the northeast corner of the Grecian peninsula.

Place yourself among those gathered, perhaps in someone’s house by the sea as you listen to this letter for the first time. Are you grounded in faith, hope, and love? Hope is faith’s extension, confident that something of God is going to be accomplished from the faith planted in your heart. Love is the power of God at work radiating from the center of your soul.

1 Thessalonians 1

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Steadfast in faith, hope and love v. 3

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In season of Kingdomtide this year,
we read 1 and 2 Thessalonians; Revelation 4—11.

For all the Firestarters in the original version, 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 Psalm.

TAP HERE for video Meditation on Psalm 82 on YouTube.

[From the original version]

The priorities of the Lord are urged to become our own. True worship increases our love for those who do not worship. These are ones “turned off,” who do not experience justice, perhaps because they have not received hesed, the love, and mercy of the Lord through you.

Keep open. You cannot do it all, but the Lord through you can do all things. Pray this psalm in a personal way, asking the Lord to show you how you are to complete the works of mercy in your own life. Wait. Listen. Believe that the Lord will speak to your heart about the poor ones who are closest to God’s own heart. Jot down notes in your journal; the Lord may become very explicit with you and you will want to remember.

Psalm 82

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: The nations belong to You. v. 8

We follow a reading of 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