The Hebrew Bible affirms Josiah as one of very few good kings of ancient Israel. Alongside his desire to have a strong relationship with God which includes restoring the Temple to the worship of the God of Israel. Beyond this, Josiah is humble and actively concerned about the welfare of
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Psalm 36 • God’s steadfast love extends to the heavens We currently have all that we need to live lives of faith in the world. To serve one another is the greatest gift we can offer. We are called to act out of abundance, to trust in God and all
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We often associate prophets with people who are enraged and who call out the people on what they are doing wrong. In the passage from the prophet Hosea we do not hear anger. Instead we hear compassion and the unending love of God. In this passage God is portrayed as
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Having challenged King Ahab and Queen Jezebel for worshipping foreign gods, the prophet Elijah legitimately feared for his life and has been on the run for quite some time. God has spoken to Elijah in deep silence, so Elijah is now ready to try to convince the people to come
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1 Kings 12:1-17, 25-29 • Kingdom Divided In a time when there is much violence, and unrest, negativity, and division, as people of faith we are called to serve, and to live our lives in love. What happens when we do not listen to the wise ones in our midst?
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John 6:1-14 • Loaves and Fishes As the people gathered to listen to the teachings of Jesus, Jesus felt compassion. Jesus asked Philip, “Where are we to buy enough bread for these people to eat?” This question, we are told, was to test the disciples. This question comes from a
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The tribes of Israel have settled in the promised land and are becoming established there. Sons of these tribes have often married local women who have not grown up worshipping the God of Israel. Some family bonds are closer than others and choices, like Ruth’s, come to have far-reaching consequences.
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The history of the descendants of Abraham and Sarah is one that is marked by many highs and lows, but especially lows. Today’s rendition of the story of the giving of the ten commandments is set with one occupying empire gradually loosening its grip on the Israelites with another poised
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Exodus 1:8-14; 3:1-15 • God calls Moses to bring release. Over and over I hear people ask the question, “Am I worthy of God?” The answer is YES! There are times of each person’s life when we have transitions to a new stage of life or we are struggling with
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Struggles in life are prevalent, and different for everyone. The story of Jacob is wrought with deceit and self interest at first, but as Jacob goes through life, and he learns and grows and his responsibilities increase, he soon realizes the ramifications of his choices and actions. Jacob has a
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