Jesus’ eyes are lifted upward to talk to his Father in this wonderful prayer. Is has been called another Lord’s Prayer: that’s how very special is this prayer of union with Jesus’s Father. We go right from the heart of Jesus to the heart of the Father.

The prayer has three parts to it. Verses 1-5 are about the glory of God that is going to shine out through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Imagine: such a death on the cross is part of the glory of God! The glory is in God’s love for us, even in the face of the ultimate meanness in crucifying Jesus.

In verses 6-19 Jesus prays for his friends, his close disciples, that they be protected from all evil and that they be holy. Finally in verses 20 to 26 we are included, as Jesus stretches his prayer down through the years to include all of us in his church—that we all may be one.

Take this prayer in its different parts and let the Spirit of Jesus who lives in you, pray this prayer through you.

John 17

We’re using The Message translation of the Scriptures.
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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.

The land of Greece has two parts. There are northern and southern halves connected by a tiny piece of land called an isthmus. If it weren’t for that little area of land, the southern half would be an island.

You can imagine how important that piece of land was, for it meant the ships could sail west and after a brief trip on land, products from the east could then continue to sail westward. An important city was found right there called Corinth. Because it was on a trade route, people from many different countries lived there. It was the center of trade in the ancient world.

You might think that Corinth would be just like Athens which we saw last week was a city of “Know-it-alls” who could care less about all the wonderful good news that Paul was telling them. But Corinth was different. All the various kinds of people with their different ways of thinking had them open to the surprises that Paul had in store for them when they accepted Jesus. Paul wrote two great letters to the Church in Corinth. Let’s be open to God’s surprises!

Acts 18:1-11

We’re using The Message translation of the Scriptures.
Learn about this. unique translation

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Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.

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.

Tap on the image for a video in YouTube for a meditation on Psalm 68.

Once again we have a psalm that makes us think of the Ascension of Jesus. This is especially true in verse 18. The sacred writer gathers up all of God’s saving actions for God’s people, as though these are victories in a war. We begin with a typical battle song of God’s people that we can also find way back in the book of Numbers, chapter 10, verse 35.

When God is around, evil enemies run away, for they just can’t stand the presence of God and God’s goodness and love. Notice how God is the one who defends those who don’t have defenses of their own such as widows and orphans.

If you find that you are feeling a bit helpless before some meanness that might be coming against you, then this is the psalm for you. God is especially interested in protecting those who don’t have anyone else to defend them. Will you let yourself be the hands of God when it comes to being kind to those who are mistreated by others?

Bible Breaths Learn More…

Psalm 68

Today we offer the BibleGateway link to “The Message” version.

We follow a reading of the Psalms in numerical order.

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.