Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Matthew 4:1-11.

Jesus, the sinless one, is nonetheless tempted. Three major temptations come against Jesus in the desert, occurring between the baptism and the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. He takes upon himself the history of God’s people in the desert. Jesus is faithful where the Israelites were not. Last Sunday’s reference in John’s Gospel to Jesus as “The Lamb of God” is John’s way of seeing Jesus taking the place of the Paschal Lamb sacrificed in remembrance of the Exodus.

After the temptation, Capernaum becomes Jesus’s home-base. Miracles abound; immense crowds follow him. Immerse yourself in Jesus’s ministry. Give Jesus your history and let him transform its meaning, just as he did for our ancestors in the desert.

Matthew 4

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Not by bread, but by Your Word v. 4

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Luke 1 2; Matthew 1 7.

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 Galatians 4:1-7.

As though we are in the middle of a lovely garden, we find ourselves in the center of Paul’s teaching about our salvation through Jesus. Simply put, God has brought us into God’s house and family. You and I can do nothing to qualify us for such adoption. Only Jesus is Son, but in Jesus, we have all the rights and privileges of the first-born son.

Catch the intensity of Paul’s words of love for the churches in Galatia that he urgently wants to be convinced of the truths he expresses. Meditate carefully upon the analogy he makes between Ishmael and Isaac—the former, the child of a slave, the latter, of a free woman. Receive the full impact of being a free child of God in God’s own house.

Galatians 4

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Spirit cries: “Abba! Father!” v. 6

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Titus, Philemon, Galatians and Philippians.

For all the Firestarters in the original version, I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these Firestarters 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 Psalm.

Tap here for a video meditation on Psalm 8.

The wider and deeper is David’s contemplation, the greater the sense of comfort and security he finds in God. David’s eyes sweep over the wonders of creation. He takes countless “snapshots” that bear the name of the Creator.

Then suddenly David becomes self-conscious. How tiny is the being whose eye is embracing all this! The insignificance he feels is not negative; rather he is lifted to awareness that the human being is the greatest expression of God’s creative love.

Lift your eyes to an expanse wider than the scope of your limited world and all its problems. May faith in God’s creative, preferential love for you have you believe how very much at home you are in the universe, no matter how tempted you might be to feel how far away and lost you are.

Psalm 8

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: Great Your name through all the earth! v. 2

We read 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