I was once pastor of a church in Vineland, the largest city in New Jersey—not by the number of people living in it, but by its size.  For many years a major product of the land was grapes.  Lots of vine-yards make up a vine-land!

  Beautiful purple grapes bounce about on the branches of the vines, waiting for the day of the harvest.   Jesus uses the example of vines to help his disciples understand how they are connected to him.  Jesus is the vine, we are the branches.  When we are so linked to Jesus, beautiful fruits come from our lives. 

As you sit and pray, feel your whole self connected to Jesus.  Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus’s love and life are flowing into you, giving you life, just as the branches receive life from the vine.  When you get up from your time of prayer, spend the rest of the day remembering that you are a beautiful branch on the sacred vine which is Jesus.         

John 15:1-8

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example:
“You the vine, and I a branch”

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary
During the Easter Season, are read from the Gospel of John.

These Firestarters are from a new edition of The Bible Through the Seasons being developed for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, 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.

These words of Scripture echo from about three thousand years ago when our Jewish ancestors were in the desert.  There God spoke to the people through Moses.  As they were becoming a new people, they had to have laws to be sure that they were living in the right way—the way that God wanted.

These verses tell about what to do to be holy, just as God is holy.  The reading begins with how very important it is to respect and honor one’s mother and father.  You’ll also find a list of other laws basically taken from the Ten Commandments.  

Jesus quotes verse 18 (Matthew 19:19 and Luke 10:27).  Loving our neighbor is one of the ways we show our love for God.  Is there someone near you, not only your actual neighbor next door, but someone whom you see regularly that needs more love in their life?  God wants you to be the one to give that love.

 Leviticus 19:1-4; 9-19; 30-37

Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example from v. 2
“Being holy just as You”

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.

These Firestarters are for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, 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.

Every once in awhile we hear about someone who has dislocated a shoulder. The joint where the arm meets the shoulder is pulled apart; it’s very painful.

Something like this happened to the first disciples in a spiritual sort of way.  Jesus tells them that there will come a time when they will be “dislocated” from their roots as Jews.  John 9 tells about a person born blind and when healed was thrown out of the synagogue.  Jesus’s disciples couldn’t worship in the synagogues either.

  Sometimes when a person loves in a special, even courageous way, others are mean toward the person. Perhaps something similar has happened to you as you live love Jesus’s way. Jesus wants us to find joy in his promise of sending the Holy Spirit as a special comfort to those who are mistreated in any way.  God loves and cares for those who are on the “outs” with others.  God wants you to know that you are “in” with God!

John 16:1-15

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example from v. 7
“Holy Spirit–my Helper”

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels. This year, we generally read from the Gospel of Mark,
except during most of Lent and Easter when we read from the Gospel of John.

These Firestarters are for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, 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.