Pentecost Sunday (Year A)

Here is the audio of today's sermon and the slides I used in the 9:45 worship service.

Listen to the sermon...

Or download the MP3 file.

Read more...

A Look at Romans 5:1-5

In today’s blog entry I want to assemble a number of different thoughts from a variety of writers on the text I have chosen to focus on this week: Romans 5:1-5. The text this week looks at the results of our justification from past, present, and future perspectives. As John R. W. Stott puts it...

The fruits of justification relate to the past, present and future. ‘We have peace with God’ (as a result of our past forgiveness). ‘We are standing in grace’ (our present privilege). ‘We rejoice in the hope of glory’ (our future inheritance).
(Stott, p. 141)

Randy L. Maddox, writing about Wesley...

Wesley’s most explicit delineation of these three dimensions was pardon—salvation begun, holiness—salvation continued, and heaven—salvation finished. Some other common threefold formulations were justification, sanctification, and consummation; or pardon, grace, and glory. To suggest an alliteration, Welsey understood human salvation in its fullest sense to include diverance (1) immediately from the penalty of sin, (2) progressively from the plague of sin, and (3) eschatologically from the very presence of sin and its effects.
(Maddox, p. 143)

When I talk to my confirmation classes about justification and regeneration, I always refer to them as two sides of the same coin. They are two different things, yet they go hand in hand. In our Wesleyan tradition we see Justification as the work of Christ done for us on the cross. It produces a relative change in us from enemies to children of God. Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit done in us. It produces a real change. (See Williams’ discussion) In Wesley’s words...

But though it be allowed, that justification and the new birth are, in point of time, inseparable from each other, yet are they easily distinguished, as being not the same, but things of a widely different nature. Justification implies only a relative, the new birth a real, change. God in justifying us does something for us; in begetting us again, he does the work in us. The former changes our outward relation to God, so that of enemies we become children; by the latter our inmost souls are changed, so that of sinners we become saints. The one restores us to the favour, the other to the image, of God. The one is the taking away the guilt, the other the taking away the power, of sin: So that, although they are joined together in point of time, yet are they of wholly distinct natures.
(Wesley, Sermon 19, Para. 2)

Let us look at the text again...

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

John Stott outlines this section of scripture as follows...

The Results of Justification
a. We have peace with God
b. We are standing in grace
c. We rejoice in our hope of the glory of God
d. We rejoice in our sufferings
(Stott, p. 138f)

This will become the basic outline that I will use to present the material I have assembled during my study this week. It is in this text that Paul tells us we are “saved from the wrath of God by God’s love” according to Anders Nygren (p. 192). But more than being free from the wrath of God we are also free from the results of our sin. We are free from the powers that have held us in bondage.

Without Christ we would always remain in bondage to the powers of this world. But when Christ has become our Lord, He brings to an end, once for all, the dominion of the powers of destruction. We are no longer in their grip. When Christ is our [Lord], there can no longer be any other [lords]. All the old tyrants—Wrath, Sin, the Law and Death—are cast down...
(Nygren, p. 194)

Before Christ, we live not only with the consequences of sin, but with the present power of sin. A true liberation from sin must free us from penalty, power, and even presence of sin (see Wesley’s sermon later). In an article in Theology Today, Richard Foster expresses it this way...

The salvation that is in Jesus Christ is not limited to the forgiveness of sins; it is also able to overcome sin’s dominion in our daily lives. Charles Wesley stated this truth quite well in a line of his famous hymn “O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”: “He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free; His blood can make the foulest clean; His blood availed for me.” You see, it is quite possible to have sin canceled (forgiven), yet still be subject to its power over our lives. But Jesus’ salvation life, which pervades our hearts, is intended to go beyond simply forgiving sins to breaking sin’s power in our daily lives.
(Foster, p. 302)

The first result of our justification is peace with God. This is more than a cessation of strife, it includes a way of being. This peace, this “reconciled relationship with him...is the first blessing of justification.” (Stott, p. 139)

[B]eing at peace with God, we no longer feel that things are against us in a world which He rules. On the contrary, untoward circumstance is so accepted that it furthers our moral progress: trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character. Here, in fact, we are first introduced to the theme which is to play a large part in the further argument: the theme of the working-out of justification in moral progress...
(Dodd, p. 73)

For Wesley, this meant that salvation is more than a passive activity on our part. We cannot just passively wait for the completion of God’s work in us, but must also actively take part in it. We are given grace to accept responsibility for our own growth and progress—or what Wesley would call sanctification or holiness. (Maddox, p. 149).

In addition to having peace with God, we also have a standing in grace. While most of our translations may speak of an access to grace. “A better translation than ‘access’ (which might suggest that we take the initiative to enter) would be ‘introduction’ (which acknowledges our unfitness to enter, and our need for someone to bring us in).” (Stott, p. 140) Rather than contradict what was said in the previous paragraph about Wesley’s understanding of our responsibility, it must be understood that this responsibility can only exist in the context of being thoroughly covered by God’s grace. This responsibility exists, by grace, at every step we take in our growth as disciples. As Oden puts it: “God antecedently wills that all should be saved, but not without their free acceptance of salvation.” (Oden, p. 77)

Romans 5:2b says that “we rejoice in our hope of the glory of God.”

Christian hope is not uncertain, like our ordinary everyday hopes about the weather or our health; it is a joyful and confident expectation which rests on the promises of God...
(Stott, p. 140)

We have the certainty of knowing how the story will end. When Stott spoke at the Pastor’s Convocation at Duke he compared to looking at the last page of a novel. The novel presents us with a hero and heroine we begin to feel for and as their lives are placed in danger we can look ahead to the last page and see that everything will turn out right. We do not yet know the details of how they will get there from now—but, everything ends well.

It seems that we have been spending a lot of time looking at suffering in the lectionary this year. We have had several Sundays during the Easter season which included texts linking our sharing in Christ’s glory with sharing in his sufferings. In this week’s text we are called upon to “rejoice in our sufferings.”

First, suffering is the one and only path to glory. It is so for Christ; it is so for Christians. ... Secondly, if suffering leads to glory in the end, it leads to maturity meanwhile. ... Thirdly, suffering is the best context in which to become assured of God’s love.
(Stott, p. 141)

To see suffering in a positive light can seem odd at first, and outside the context of our faith it would produce hopelessness.

To him who lives his life only in the present age and in this world, the sufferings which come to him can only be something negative. But for the Christian, suffering is precisely the point where the power of hope most clearly proves itself. ... Suffering receives a new meaning. ... If there were no suffering, hope would never have an opportunity to attain to its full strength.
(Nygren, pp. 195-6)

And, of course, the full strength of that love finds expression in love. There is the love that God has shown us and the life of love to which we are called to live—even sacrificially. In verse 5, Paul writes that “the Holy Spirit has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who he has given us.”

...the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to all believers ... so that it is not possible to be justified by faith without at the same time being regenerated and indwellt by the Spirit.”
(Stott, p. 142)

See also Nygren...

The function of the Holy Spirit...is to be a “guarantee” in our hearts that we belong to Christ and are “in Him.” ... When God’s love is present with us as an unfailing reality, that is the work of the Holy Spirit.
(Nygren, p. 200)

It is not an “outpouring of the Spirit but...the outpouring of God’s love by the ministry of the Spirit in our hearts.” (Stott, p. 143) We remember from the Easter season lections that Christ calls us to love one another as he has loved us. We remember how he showed Paul and Peter how they would suffer for their faithfulness to the Gospel. In last week’s text (Ascension) we saw the link between sharing in Christ’s glory if we share in his suffering. This is because of our willingness to love as Christ loves. This is because we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be able to love in this manner. We are willing to face the ridicule, the misunderstanding, and even persecution that comes from this love and compassion that we share for those God loves.

Since the nature of God Himself is love, in giving us love He imparts to us something of His own nature, or, in Pauline language, His Spirit. Thus love is...the primary ‘spiritual gift.’
(Dodd, p. 74)

As always we come back to love. It is the motivation for creation. It is the motivation for the offering of redemption. It is the impulse of God’s love moving through us by the Holy Spirit that engages us to ministry and mission. It is was calls us to be set apart for God—for God’s work.

----------

Dodd, C. H. The Epistle of Paul to the Romans. The Moffatt New Testament Commentary. New York, Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1932.

Foster, Richard J. “Salvation Is For Life,” Theology Today, Volume 61: pp. 297-308. 2004.

Maddox, Randy L. Responsible Grace: John Wesley's Practical Theology. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1994.

Nygren, Anders. Commentary on Romans, Translated by Carl C. Rasmussen. Philadelphia, Muhlenberg Press, 1949.

Oden, Thomas C. The Transforming Power of Grace. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1993.

Stott, John R. W. The Message of Romans: God's good news for the world. Downers Grove, Illinois, 1994.

Wesley, John. The Great Privilege of Those that Are Born of God, Sermon 19. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/19/.

Williams, Colin W. John Wesley's Theology Today: A Study of the Wesleyan Tradition in Light of Current Theological Dialogue. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1960.

Technorati Tags: lectionary, Holy Trinity, preaching Letter to Romans Romans 5

Read more...

The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer

Back in my seminary days, Dr. Robert Cushman pointed out one day that while Christian understandings of the first two persons of the Trinity were developed early (within the first five centuries of the Church) it took John Wesley to give adequate treatment to the Holy Spirit. Wesley especially outlined the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual believer. The role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is perhaps best seen from Wesley's understanding of the order of salvation.

We are theoretically born in a state which may be termed as “Natural Man.” This is the result of Original Sin. But Wesley feels that there is in fact no such thing as “Natural Man” because of that work of the holy Spirit known as Prevenient Grace. Prevenient Grace is the operation of the Holy Spirit in the life of the unbeliever. It may be evident through Christian witnessing, preaching, music, or almost any other thing or activity.

The next step in Wesley's order of salvation would be repentance which is the result of Convicting Grace. The Holy Spirit works in the life of the unbeliever, convincing him/her of his/her need of divine grace and guidance.

Next would be Justification and Regeneration. Wesley attributes Justification primarily to the work of Jesus Christ but he attributes Regeneration primarily to the work of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Spirit that God transforms the new believer and remakes him/her in his own image. Regeneration is also the beginning of Sanctification or being made holy. In this the believer is assisted continually by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Wesley continues his “ordo” with the doctrine of Assurance in which the Spirit of God witnesses to your spirit that you are a child of God. This is the full awareness of a present pardon of sins and a present state of grace (as opposed to the Calvinistic notion of assurance as a knowledge of eternal salvation).

Finally, there is the role of the Holy Spirit in the ordinary means of grace such as praying (the Holy Spirit prays through you), reading the Bible (the Holy Spirit illumines and interprets), and the sacraments (the Holy Spirit is the empowering force in the sacraments).

Technorati Tags: lectionary, pentecost, preaching

Read more...

The Working of the Holy Spirit and the Church

The two primary questions regarding the Holy Spirit are the Spirit's role in the Church, and the Spirit's role in the order of salvation of the individual believer. The first thing to be noted about the Church is that it is the body of Christ. Gustaf Aúlen (The Faith Of The Christian Church) says that “there is nothing more essential to be said about the church than that Christ is one with his church, and the church is one with him.“ (p. 296) The church receives its identity in Christ. The Church is also a fellowship created by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, these two ideas are interwoven. As Barth (Dogmatics in Outline) says, “there is nothing more essential to be said about the church than that Christ is one with his church, and the church is one with him.“ (p. 296) The Church receives its identity in Christ. The Church is also a fellowship created by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, these two ideas are interwoven. As Barth says, “The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ.“ (p. 138) And again, “The Spirit cannot be separated from Jesus Christ.“ (p. 139) The work of the Holy Spirit is central to the Church. Bishop Mack Stokes in a book titled The Holy Spirit and Christian Experience outlines five purposes of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

To be specific, The Holy Spirit has worked in and through the historic community of faith to fulfill five purposes of utmost importance: the preservation of the identity and integrity of the gospel; the calling of ministers to proclaim the gospel, to teach the Word, and to administer the sacraments; the summons of all Christians to responsible living in community; the baptism of persons, and the formation of Jesus' followers into supportive communities of faith; and the evangelization of the world. (p. 50)

The Holy Spirit forms the Church. The Holy Spirit works through the Word and Sacrament. As Aúlen puts it, “the church originates and grows in the measure that the Holy Spirit through the Word and the sacraments accomplishes the work of the sanctification in the souls of men; or in other words, as the forgiving and condemning love of God realizes itself.“ (p. 297) The Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, Art. V, also says the same about the Church and speaks of the role of the Holy Spirit. “Under the discipline of the holy Spirit the Church exists for the maintenance of worship, the edification of believers and the redemption of the world.“

Perhaps the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church can best be seen from the events of Acts 2. Jesus Christ had gathered together a new people of God. When they were with him they could feel a sense of communion. With the arrest and death of Jesus these people were scattered. They no longer had their cohesive force, their Lord. “When the shepherd is slain, the sheep will be scattered.“ But the Holy Spirit brought them together again on Pentecost Day and usually this day is recognized as the birthday of the Church.
After seeing how the Holy Spirit works in the Church let us turn now to the Spirit's work in the individual believer.

Bishop Stokes outlines Wesley's theology in regard to the Holy Spirit. Stoke says that Wesley had four distinctive features of the Holy Spirit. The first feature is the revelatory role of the Spirit. “The activity of the Holy Spirit as expressing the revealed purpose of God in Christ to remake the lives of all people and to sustain them for righteous living.“ (p. 63)

The Holy Spirit has a role in prevenient grace. St. Augustine in his Confessions mentioned that he was being led into and prepared for a relationship with Christ. No one can confess Jesus as Lord and Savior without the Holy Spirit.

No man can truly say
That Jesus is the Lord,
unless thou take the veil away,
And breath the living Word.
Then, only then, we feel
Our interest in his blood,
And cry, with job unspeakable,
“Thou art my Lord, My God!“
C. Wesley - “Spirit of Faith, Come Down“

Secondly, the Holy Spirit is active at every major stage of Christian experience.“ (p. 63) It was noted above that the Spirit is active in prevenient grace, so it is also throughout the entire Christian experience. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that leads us to repentance. The Spirit convinces us of our sin. Again, in referring to the EUB Confession, Art. IX shows regeneration as a work of the Spirit. “We believe regeneration is the renewal of man in righteousness through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.“ The work of the Spirit in sanctification can be seen in the Articles of Religion, in an article from the Methodist Protestant Discipline on sanctification. “Sanctification is that renewal of our fallen nature by the Holy Ghost.”

Finish, then, thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be,
Let us see thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in thee.
C. Wesley - “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling“

St. Paul recognized the relationship between sanctification and the Holy Spirit. “...God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through the sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth.“ (2 Thess. 2.13) The Holy Spirit then is active and very much a part of the whole order of salvation. To quote Bishop Stokes again, “The Holy Spirit is present in the total process of Christian growth, for, as we have seen, God's primary concern is to assist persons in the inward righteousness that expresses itself in deeds of love and mercy. The divine summons to Christian growth has no end. The Holy Spirit is constantly active in the redeemed to perfect them in love and wisdom.“ (p. 65).

Thirdly, there is the test of authenticity of the work of the Holy Spirit. Are the fruits of the Spirit evident? Does the experience both help the individual grow as a Christian, and help that person to more effectively serve others? An affirmative answer, of course, is expected for a genuine experience.

Finally, there is the area of moral conduct. Along with personal religion, there is the need for social religion. How does one live in the community? To be born of the Spirit means to live to the highest ideals of the Christian faith. The ideals set forth in the Sermon on the Mount for example cannot be attained without the Holy Spirit.

After discussing the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church and the role of the Spirit in the life of the individual believer, we can see how the two really belong together. First it was seen how the Church is the body of Christ and the role that the Spirit played in the Church. Then we say how the Spirit worked in individual lives. To see the inter-relation we must begin with the Church. The Church is the vessel of God's grace. The Church is Holy. “The holiness of the church depends entirely on that Holy Spirit who is active in the church.“ (Aúlen p. 303) The various means of grace are basically the reading and hearing of the Word, the Sacraments, and prayer. Agreeing with Aúlen, these should not be mechanized in any way. Agreeing with Wesley, these means should not he made into ends. An area of the Church that is necessarily related to these is that of the ordained ministry. The ministry is set apart especially for the work of the Word and Sacraments. Indeed there is an apostolic succession, but it is not necessarily an unbroken chain, rather one that is validated by the Holy Spirit. The ordained ministry continues the work of Christ through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is at work in the Church to protect the validity of not only the Church but also of the gospel. This is done through the Spirit's inspiration and illumination. Through the Spirit safeguarding measures have been take such as the formation of creeds and confessions as well as the writing of hymns. The Holy Spirit protects the integrity of the sacraments. The Holy Spirit is an enabler of witness. Jesus told his disciples that when they were arrested, the Holy Spirit would speak for them. The Spirit gives an awareness of the divine that normally could not be seen. This is part of the Spirit's revelatory nature.

Technorati Tags: lectionary, pentecost, preaching

Read more...

Some Notes on Inspiration and Illumination

I had mentioned three lines that really jumped out at me from the readings for this Sunday. (See this Sunday’s readings in the New English Translation). Those lines were...

Acts 1:2 "...giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen." (NRSV)

Ephesians 1:17-18 "I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened..." (NRSV)

Luke 24:45 "Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures..." (NRSV)

I said that these lines point to the doctrine of inspiration (and they do), but they deal more precisely with the matter of illumination. Not so much as to where the scriptures come from, but how they are understood. Now, I understand all of this to come under the broader understanding of Inspiration.

We begin with the understanding that the Holy Scriptures are uniquely inspired. We may speak of other work as inspired, but Scripture is uniquely inspired. We accept it to be authoritative Word of God. Now, we see Godly authority not as coercive or controlling, but as definitive. For example, we have all probably heard the expression: “God loves me the way I am—but loves me enough not to leave me that way.” This is why it is so important to always study the scriptures. We cannot dare neglect this in our lives.... Always our understanding of scripture grows and improves as our familiarity with the scriptures increases. You might ask if you wouldn't be better off to go on your own, yet the scriptures show us repeatedly that God sends us people to aid us in our understanding. Samuel needed Eli; Cornelius needed Peter; even the Apostle Paul who received his message from the Risen Lord, still met to confer with the other apostles in Jerusalem. Generally speaking, the Holy Spirit is at work to confirm the same message of grace in all of God's people. What is significant is NOT where Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, and Presbyterians DISAGREE, rather the significance is in where they agree! When it comes to what is essential to salvation these churches fall in the tradition of agreement. Where we disagree are on other matters. So we are able to consider these other churches as orthodox even though we may disagree on matters that are important to us. Important doesn't neccessarily mean essential. 

Again, we speak of the Bible as being the inspired Word of God. That means different things to different people. Generally, we might say that the inspiration of scripture can be viewed from at least three different points in the development of scripture to this present day. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. First, there is the inspiration of the author(s). Second, the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church to recognize and safeguard the translation and transmission of scripture, and, third, the illumination of the individual reader or hearer.

The Holy Scriptures are God-breathed documents. The scriptures witness to the Word of the Lord coming upon the prophets. They proclaimed the Word of God, because the Word rested on them. Samuel was credited with not allowing the Word of God to fall to the ground. Moses received the Ten Commandments from God on Mt. Sinai. John received the Revelation of Jesus Christ in a vision much like Isaiah and Ezekiel. We believe this is the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit inspired the writers and redactors of old. “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments” (Ezra 7:10, AKJV).

The Church (Community of the Faithful) also acts with the leadership of the Holy Spirit. There is the work done by people in editing the text. The person referred to as the Deuteronomist (perhaps Jeremiah or Baruch?) compiled the grand sweep of history from Deuteronomy to the Books of Kings. There is the work of the Chronicler’s compilation of history, often covering the same material as the Deuteronomist (but, from a different perspective.) There is the work of Ezra, and the work of the council of Jewish leaders at Jamnia (ca. AD 90) who formed the canon of Hebrew scriptures as we use it in our Protestant Bibles. Luke tells us that he, too, relied on various sources for his “orderly account.” There is the work of individuals and groups entrusted with the task of translating the scriptures into a language we can understand. We trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in all of these processes safeguarding the transmission of scripture through the ages.

Have you ever seen a fax of a fax of a fax? or a copy of a copy of a copy? It is true that a number of errors, omissions, and additions were made to texts by copyists and scribes over the centuries. But they are remarkably small in number and the sheer number of manuscripts help us track these types of errors.

Finally, we too, must ask for illumination from God’s Spirit in reading and understanding the biblical text. Without the work of the Holy Spirit we are in danger of misunderstanding God’s Word. God’s Word is dynamic, not static. Jesus is the living Word of God made flesh. The Bible is not a museum exhibit—it is a living document whose breath is the breath of God. It breaths afresh every moment. In our worship services we pray for inspiration as we prepare to read and hear God’s Word. May His Holy Spirit breathe within us. The Holy Spirit must be at work in our lives to hear the Word of God. Why is this important?

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through patience and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4, WEB

“...the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David...” Acts 1:16, WEB

“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17, NRSV

But, while God’s Word is dynamic, it is also consistent. The general guideline to follow could be, 'When it comes to doctrine, new isn't better.' New doctrines are not to be trusted. The Apostle Paul admonishes us to pass on what has been passed to us. He says that even if an angel tells you a message contrary to the Gospel as he preached it, let the angel be accursed (Galatians).

Now all of this is good and useful information – as background material goes – but we need to take away something a little more practical from this Sunday’s texts. So we need to also consider these texts in the context of doing the work of ministry God has entrusted to us.

Read more...

Fifth Sunday of Easter

It is time to take a first look at the texts for this week.

Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

Read the texts here.

In the Acts text Peter gives an account of the work his work among the Gentiles. He defends this by simply pointing out that this is the doing of the Holy Spirit and He is only being faithful to the Spirit’s call. He describes the vision God gave him while he was staying in Joppa in the home of Simon the tanner. He tells how three men from Caesarea were led by the Holy Spirit to find him in Joppa. He then describes how the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles who heard and received the Gospel message.

The text from Revelation describes the vision of the new heaven and new earth. A place and time is described when God will wipe away every tear and “[d]eath will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

Our Gospel lesson this week speaks of the glorification of Jesus and presents the New Commandment: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Jesus says that will be a way that disciples can be identified—for the way they love each other.

Share with me any thoughts, ideas, illustrations, stories, suggested hymns that come to mind as you reflect on these texts.

Read more...