Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Haggai 2:1-9.

Exiles newly returned to the Promised Land continue in a mood of discouragement. “Gone are the days of the glory of Solomon and the Temple.” They settle for only building houses for themselves. Though found at home once again, they are lost in the consuming pressure of their own need, bringing them to the brink of despair.

God calls Haggai to prophesy and to minister to these lost ones. His name means “Festivity.” The Spirit also moves within the governor, Zerubbabel, to ignite the people into a common energy to rebuild the Temple so that the glory of God will be present with them once again as in days of old.

The prophet seeks to free you from preoccupations with your concerns alone, to a desire to “Seek first the Kingdom of God” (Matt 6:33). Worship the Lord present in the temple of your own body and the glory of the Lord will shine from you, filling you with Kingdom energy.

Haggai

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the season of Kingdomtide we read Habakkuk to Malachi.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: I am the temple of God. v. 3

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.

As an irresistible magnet, the lost of society are drawn to Jesus. The more they converge about his acceptance and love of them, the more joy and festivity burst forth.

There is a special kind of being lost when one thinks that one is found, but is not. The Scribes and Pharisees pride themselves in thinking that they are at the center, yet are lost at the margin. They take the essence of the Gospel, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them,” as the source of their greatest complaint.

As the alphabyte “Pencil” suggests, the center is where the power is. Stop. Rest. Be drawn toward the inward center where Christ is ready to embrace you. If you are any place other than this, you are lost.

Luke 15:1–10

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Lord, You searched me and found me. v. 7

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year C, we generally read from the Gospel of St. Luke.

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 Deuteronomy 28:7—14.

Were you sunburned badly this past summer, saying to yourself: “I should have used sun block!” “Son block”—that is what Jesus is to the kinds of curses described in this reading. Rather than be frightened at the long list of woes that seem to outweigh the blessings, remember that when you are in Jesus, the Son blocks the effects of evil upon your life. If you walk outside of the ways of Jesus, outside of the protection that his Spirit gives, then rays of evil will fall on you mercilessly.

On the cross, Jesus completely exposed himself to the evil and hatred of the world. He “took the heat,” so that you would not have to. In Galatians 3:13 we read: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’”

After each of the curses in the reading, add this comforting refrain: “If it weren’t for Jesus …”

Deuteronomy 28:7—29:8

This is the third of three parts of the Torah Portion Ki Tavo (When You Will Come)
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. 
Deuteronomy. 26:1—29:8

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…

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