Daily Worship Devotional

DAILY READING Psalm 22 REFLECTION   Never Forsaken By Carmel Elmer “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” I can’t think of anything sadder in all of history than those 9 words spoken by Christ in his greatest moment of agony and here, in the opening verse of Psalm 22 written 1000 years before Jesus cried them out in desperation.    Throughout Psalm 22 we see a profound foreshadowing of Christ’s agonizing death on the cross and the events leading up to his final desperate

DAILY READING 1 Samuel 17:41-54 REFLECTION   Victory is Yours through the Name of the Lord By David Thompson Today's passage is a very familiar one. Every Sunday School child learns the story of David and Goliath. It is a story of a small weak boy standing up to a strong, 9 foot warrior. It is a story of the Lord sticking up for David and giving him the victory through his belief in God. So how do we look at this story in reference to our theme - "In the Shadow of the Cross?"

DAILY READING Numbers 21:4-9 REFLECTION   We All Need a Little Jesus By Judy Webb They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea…, But the people grew impatient on the way;  they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died . (Numbe

DAILY READING Exodus 12:1-13 REFLECTION   The Blood of the Lamb By Beth Voltmann The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. (v.13)   Passover isn’t just a story from long before Jesus was born, nor is it simply a Jewish celebration, but it is the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed in the Old Testament. The Israelites were still in captivity in Egypt. God had sent plague after plague, but Pharaoh’s heart was har

DAILY READING Genesis 22:1-19 REFLECTION   The LORD Will Provide By Pam Mann Imagine yourself as young Isaac trekking up the steep slope with Father Abraham. You’ve got the firewood bundled on your back while Dad’s got the fire in its pot and his knife handy. Dad isn’t young. He’s not the kind of dad to run with you on a hunt, but your dad walks with God. In fact, no one you know loves the LORD God like he does. So, three days ago, when Abraham said that God wanted a sacrific

DAILY READING Genesis 3:15 REFLECTION   The One and Only Plan By Dave Mann There is a curiously inaccurate theology floating around that goes something like this.  God tried to create a successful project with Adam and Eve, but oops, no, it didn’t work.  He tried with Noah, but oops, no, that didn’t work.  He tried with Moses and the Law, but oops, no, that didn’t work either.  So, he tried Jesus on the cross, and finally, he found something that worked.  Actually, God’s plan

DAILY READING R evelation 5 REFLECTION   Worthy is the Lamb By Elaine Pierce I don't know about you, but when I open the book of Revelation, I find myself a little nervous. This book is full of visions and images, and I can't begin to understand them! Churches have split over interpreting this book: are you a premillenialist? An amillenialist? A post millenialist? (My favorite is the pan-millenialist: I don't know exactly how it will happen, but it will all pan out in the end

DAILY READING Romans 12:3-13   REFLECTION Contributing By Todd Marti This week’s readings  have shown us what God wants from His church: that it reconciles all people to Him and each of us to each other. Today’s reading focuses on the part each of us play in bringing that about.  Let’s dig into it. First, it tells us that each of us—every one of us—is expected to contribute in some way . We are all joined into “one body,” we “belong[] to each other,” and should “be devoted to

DAILY READING Galatians 5:1-15 REFLECTION   True Freedom By Terry Gustafson What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word “freedom”? Perhaps you think of fireworks and the 4th of July. Perhaps you think of those who have fought to preserve the rights we have in our constitution. Maybe a symbol like the Statue of Liberty or a bald eagle comes to mind. My own first thoughts are a bit more mundane. I cannot think of freedom without visualizing Mel G

DAILY READING Hebrews 3:1-6 REFLECTION   The Greatest of All! By Judy Webb "So all of you who are holy partners in a heavenly calling, let's turn our attention to Jesus, the Emissary of God and High Priest, who brought us the faith we profess; and compare Him to Moses, who also brought words from God. Both of them were faithful to their missions, to the One who called them. But we value Jesus more than Moses, in the same way that we value a builder more than the house he buil

DAILY READING Colossians 3:12-17 REFLECTION   CHRIST-SHAPED VISION By Katie Borden The passage we hear today from Colossians is filled with a lot of incredibly helpful instructions on how to live a Christ-shaped life. In fact, many of the kids (and adults) who join us each summer for Vacation Bible School have several verses of this passage memorized because of the incredible gift of Bible memory verse songs! But taken as a whole, this passage speaks to more than just how ind

DAILY READING Colossians 1:21-23 REFLECTION   Before and After By Pam Mann I love before and after pics. Imagine the overgrown yard that gets a total makeover, making both landscaper and homeowner proud. What about the hoarder home where loving friends haul out the trash and free the overwhelmed occupant from years of poor decisions? Or, what about the abandoned, battered dresser on the roadside that a refinisher rescues to repair, refinish, and renew as a quality piece of fu

DAILY READING Colossians 1:18-20 REFLECTION By Dave Mann Preeminence Today’s passage contains beautiful descriptions of the divinity of Jesus Christ.  Here are various aspects of Christ’s divine nature found in these verses.   the head of the body, the church the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead in everything he has supremacy all God’s fullness dwells in Christ through Christ all things are reconciled to God peace-maker through his blood, shed on the cross   Th

DAILY READING Ephesians 2:11-22 REFLECTION   God's Citizenship By Elaine Pierce Our daughter in law was born in England. She and our son met while they were both teaching in Hong Kong. About 7 years ago they moved back to the States. Samantha recently became a U.S. citizen, but she kept her British citizenship. She told me that she loves America, but she will always be from England. That makes her a dual citizen. We gentiles were once 'separate from Christ, excluded from citi

DAILY READING Galatians 6:14 & 17   Reflection: Countercultural By Todd Marti “ May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world .”   ***   “. . .   I bear on my body the marks of Jesus .” Galatians 6:14 , 17  (NIV)   These statements from Saint Paul call us to an intensely countercultural world view. That becomes evident when we consider the Greek underlying them and the context in which th

DAILY READING Mark 10:42-45 REFLECTION   Mark the Evangelist ( Blessed are the Peacemakers) By Diane Ward Reflection Completing a year-long contract in a contentious angry workplace I declined the offer. Years forward I see a battle ground raging in major cities where civil law is responsible for bringing about peace. It is not always possible to be among peace-loving people and not easy to be a peacemaker in an antagonistic environment. True leadership is not about power or

DAILY READING Galatians 2:20 REFLECTION   Changed in the Shadow of the Cross By Judy Webb I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 It was a Sunday afternoon, perhaps 45 years ago, when her life changed. It was during this low point she felt God reaching out to her. She did not have a relationship with Him but felt com

DAILY READING 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 REFLECTION   All-Surpassing Power By Beth Voltmann But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this  all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)   What treasure is Paul speaking of? If we look back to verse 6, we read that God “made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” God bestows on his followers the treasure of Christ’s lig

DAILY READING Philippians 3:7-11 REFLECTION   Seeing Things Differently By Pam Mann When Paul says he considers his gains as a loss (even as garbage), is he referring to your box of awards and trophies forgotten in the basement? Probably not, unless the box includes an Olympic gold medal. That’s an award that affects your social standing. Paul, in Phil 3:5-7, lists the gains which gave him status in his Jewish community. You might heft your high school trophies into a dumpste

DAILY READING Luke 9:23-25 REFLECTION   Challenges from Jesus By Dave Mann The is a narrative about the Old Testament and Jesus floating around our society.  It goes something like this: “The God of the Old Testament is hard, mean, and demanding.  However, Jesus is nice, gentle, and kind.”  But if we take the time to read the New Testament, we will find that Jesus can be quite challenging as well.  Take today’s reading for example.   Jesus offers some stern words to his disci