Joy ⁽⁸⁰⁾

Isaiah 25:6–9; Psalm 118:1–2, 14–24; John 20:1–18 The stone. We always talk about the stone on Easter. There was no question it was a big stone so that it was moved without human intervention was a big deal. As much as the stone is represented…

Exodus 12:1–4, 5–10, 11–14; Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; John 13:1–17, 31b–35 The tie between Passover and the Last Supper is obvious just based on the fact that the Last Supper was in the context of Passover. Part of the first Passover was the…

Psalm 70; Isaiah 50:4–9a; Hebrews 12:1–3; John 13:21–32 Taking insults is hard. Taking insults in today’s culture is reality…especially on social media. It’s not just social media, though, not by far. It is pervasive. Isaiah faced plenty of insults. He was spat upon. People physically…

Isaiah 42:1–9; Psalm 36:5–11; Hebrews 9:11–15; John 12:1–11 Yesterday, we celebrated Palm Sunday. The Messiah, no, the King, no, God (!) entered Jerusalem! At churches around the world, children paraded waving palm branches. The triumphant entry is a big thing! I remember being part of…

Psalm 107:1–16; Isaiah 60:15–22; John 8:12–20 In the US, Christians as a whole (versus individually), are disliked (if not hated), forbidden (i.e., closed-minded, intolerant, bigoted, prejudiced, etc.), and culturally abandoned (granted, much of that is based upon Christians running for the “holy” hills and their…