Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and today’s Psalm.

Tap here for a video meditation on Psalm 97.

[From the version for young people]

Here we are in the very middle of Advent, in the center of this week of joy. A pink candle on the Advent Wreath was added last Sunday to symbolize joy in the Lord.  

Catch the faith in God that flows from this psalm. The power of God in the world is sung in many ways.   There is one image that we can picture—mountains melting in the presence of the Lord.  It’s similar to what happens when we are in the presence of a very famous person; sometimes we become weak in the knees and feel a kind of melting within. 

The sacred writer makes the whole world be like a person fully aware of the awesome presence of God.  The final verses are like cheers of victory, knowing that goodness will win out over evil.  May the whole spirit of this psalm fill you completely, until you too just melt into the arms of God.

Psalm 97

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: Joy for those whose heart is right v. 11

A Sample Bible Breath from today’s Psalm.
Light as a seed within me v. 11

On Wednesdays 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

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Ruth 3:1-13.

A mother-in-law’s advice is followed: Ruth places herself at the feet of Boaz. Picture her there—vulnerable, chaste, respectful, trusting. A woman on the margin of Jewish life, because she is a foreigner, waits quietly before Boaz, hoping to see what will happen when love quickens in his heart. Consider how misunderstood she might be as Boaz awakes in the middle of the night to find her there.

“At the feet of love …” Play with this phrase in your heart as you pray, recalling Mary of Bethany in John’s Gospel and the unnamed woman in Luke, both of whom cast themselves before another’s feet—Jesus, Boaz’s descendant. You do the same before Jesus. Just as Boaz was Ruth’s only hope in life, so is Jesus before whom you are right now, the only one who can take you from whatever outcast state where you might find yourself, into the spousal love of Jesus who takes you to himself.

Ruth 3

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More…
Example: Trusting in Your faithful love

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”
In the season of Advent this year, we read the Book of Ruth.

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 Isaiah 58:6-9.

Prophecies that release new energies for worship and for lively contact with the Lord—this is the passion of Isaiah. Take a piece of paper, put a line down the middle, noting on the left those actions that delight the Lord, on the right side, those in which you alone take delight. Do you notice a difference? Pray against a spirit of religiosity; this would have acts of worship be apart from making justice and peace.

Be moved by the passionate concerns of the Lord, becoming one with the priorities of God. Catch the inner sense of the meaning of the word “delight,” used four times. Each of these verses has the power to make the rough places in your life smooth for the coming of the Lord.

Isaiah 58

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the seasons of Advent through Epiphany this year we read Isaiah 56 to 66..

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Your glory surrounding me v. 8

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.