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

 It is the first day of the week, the first day of a new creation. In Genesis 2:7, God creates Adam by forming a clay nose out of the earth, blowing God’s very own breath into it. Jesus breathes into the moist, pliable clay of the Apostles and makes them a new creation through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The resurrection not only involves the risen body of Jesus of Nazareth, but our own bodies as well. The resurrection envelops us through the gift of the Holy Spirit. By the in-breathing of Jesus, we can cry out with St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

Thomas was absent when the risen Christ first appeared. Thomas receives a second chance a week later to witness the resurrection. However, do not be like him, presuming that you will have a second chance next week to worship, if you let this Sunday go by.

John 20:19–31

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Jesus: my Lord and my God v. 28

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year C, during the Easter Season, we read from John’s Gospel, with Luke in the Seventh Week.

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 Leviticus 11:41-47.

We discover what is clean and unclean from the Lord, not only from natural inclinations. Repugnance for vermin and other insects is part of God’s teaching!

The routine of bathing or cleaning the house can be transformed into an activity that evokes God’s presence. Think of this as you wash dishes, or clean windows. The transparent presence of God shines through.

To keep the house clean and in order means that everything in life has its proper place and assigned boundary. For example, when distractions come in prayer, think of these as intruders crossing the boundary of your sacred space of time with God. Something imposes itself to be dealt with at another time and place. Draw the distraction into your prayer, place it into your hands, and lift it to the Lord, saying, “Later about this, Lord!”

Leviticus 11:33–47

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Cleanliness and Godliness

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 Gospel.

 It is the first day of the new creation. As in Genesis, there is darkness in the beginning. Jesus was buried in a garden. Think Eden. The empty tomb shocks Mary Magdalene, figure of Eve, into believing that Jesus’s body was robbed, not risen. The disciple whom Jesus loved, understood to be John himself, outruns Peter; was Peter slowed down by the depression of denial?

As the setting of a nuptial bed, John describes the arrangements of the handkerchief and the linen cloths. John sees the empty tomb as the waiting nuptial chamber, and he believes. The only disciple at the cross is rewarded as the first of many to be blessed for not seeing, yet believing.

Take the empty places in your heart and believe that it is from there that Jesus will rise.

John 20:1–10

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…

Example: Looking in and believing v. 8

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In 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.