Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and the reading.

Lingering on the heights of Pentecost, Trinity Sunday prompts us to look once again at this deepest mystery of God, and adore. A searching Pharisee in the middle of the night is lead to the heart of Jesus.

The Trinity, not bound by our brains, is adored in our spirits. What the mind cannot grasp, the heart receives. God is community—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God wants nothing less than the intimacy of community with the human family.

We have come to the middle of the church year. In Advent and Epiphany, we looked to the Father in preparing for the coming and manifestation of the Son. In Lent and Ea ster, we contemplated Jesus and his passage from death to life, which became our passage as well. Now the time of the Holy Spirit is here—Pentecost. Be ready for what the Spirit is going to do in your life!

John 3:1–17

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Birthing the Kingdom within

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
This is Trinity Sunday.

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 Leviticus 25:35-38.

Principles are outlined about the transfer of land as a possession. In 25:23 God declares: “The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is mine: for you are stranger and sojourners with me.” Reflect upon this principle and its connection to private property.

Everything we have comes from the Lord and belongs to God. The Gospel parables about stewardship further develop this understanding. Keep this in mind as you read about slavery from verse 39. While our understanding of slavery has grown over the centuries to be completely excluded, still, masters in Biblical times were enjoined “not to rule over them [slaves] with rigor, but you shall fear your God.” The master for right living is the Holy Spirit who will teach us all things, always prompting us to the law of universal love and equality which Jesus held up for us the night before he was crucified.

Leviticus 25:29—26:2

This is the second and third of three parts of the Torah Portion Behar (On the Mount) 
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.

Leviticus 25:1—26:2

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Love your neighbor as yourself.

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

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Mark 3:1-12.

Control: this is the obsession of the scribes and Pharisees. The blessing of the Sabbath to both God and the human family becomes a means of manipulating others by those in authority.

However, this authority has lost its power. When Jesus comes, the people find that he alone has true authority, a power that comes from Jesus’s inner conviction that results in great wonders.

Jesus returns full power to the Sabbath by teaching that the Sabbath is made for humans and not vice versa. What greater Sabbath gift is there than to be loosed from the strongholds in life that prevent real resting on the Sabbath from taking place!

May the Lord heal you of all fears, anxieties, and pressures that keep you restless and disturbed. The Lord knows that you need Sabbath rest. Let God give it to you and see about giving this to others.

Mark 3:1–19

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Gathering with all the crowds v. 8

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
Since Easter was two weeks earlier than its mean week, the two weeks at the end of the Epiphany season are added to the beginning of the season of Pentecost.

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.