Podcasts about epistle reading

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, May 14, is based on Revelation 21:1-7, our Epistle Reading for the Fifth Sunday of Easter.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Epistle Reading; Revelation 7:9-17 Gospel Reading: John 10:22-30

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, May 7, is based on Revelation 7:9-17, our Epistle Reading for the Fourth Sunday of Easter.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, April 30, is based on Revelation 5:8-14, our Epistle Reading for the Third Sunday of Easter.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, April 24, is based on Revelation 1:4-18, our Epistle Reading for the Second Sunday of Easter.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 Noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:54 Gospel Readings: John 11:25-26 John 14:19

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, April 16, is based on Romans 5:6-11, our Epistle Reading for the Wednesday of Holy Week.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 Noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Tuesday, April 15, is based on 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, our Epistle Reading for the Tuesday of Holy Week.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 Noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, March 20, is based on 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, our Epistle Reading for the Third Sunday in Lent.Our Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon.

Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, March 13, is based on Philippians 3:17-4:1, our Epistle Reading for the Second Sunday in Lent.Our Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon.

Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, March 6, is based on Romans 10:8-13, our Epistle Reading for the First Sunday in Lent.Our Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon.

Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, February 26, is based on Hebrews 3:1-6, our Epistle Reading for the Transfiguration of Our Lord.Our Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon.

Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, February 19, is based on 1 Corinthians 15:21-26, 30-42, our Epistle Reading for the Seventh Sunday After the Epiphany.Our Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, February 13, is based on 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, our Epistle Reading for the Sixth Sunday After the Epiphany.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, February 5, is based on 1 Corinthians 14:12-20, our Epistle Reading for the Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, January 29, is based on 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13, our Epistle Reading for the Third Sunday After the Epiphany.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, January 22, is based on 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, our Epistle Reading for the Third Sunday After the Epiphany.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, January 16, is based on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, our Epistle Reading for the Second Sunday After the Epiphany.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Wednesday, January 8, is based on Romans 6:1-11, our Epistle Reading for the Baptism of Our Lord.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, January 2, is based on Ephesians 1:3-14, our Epistle Reading for the Second Sunday After Christmas.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, December 12, is based on Hebrews 10:5-10, our Epistle Reading for the Fourth Sunday in Advent.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, December 12, is based on Philippians 4:4-7, our Epistle Reading for the Third Sunday in Advent.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Thursday, December 5, is based on Philippians 1:2-11, our Epistle Reading for the Second Sunday in Advent.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Tuesday, December 3, is based on Malachi 3:1-7, our Epistle Reading for the Second Sunday in Advent.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

View the Bulletin for Wednesday, November 27, 2024Worship Service: 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.For the remainder of Advent, there will be no Wednesday Bible Study. We will resume in the New Year.All are welcome, bring a friend, neighbor or relativeVisit our YouTube channel — Click the red “subscribe” box, and then click on the “bell” next to that box to receive Live Streaming notifications. You must be logged into YouTube to activate these features.Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BULLETINSOld Testament Reading – Deuteronomy 8:1-10 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Epistle Reading – 1 Tim. 2:1-4 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the fourth chapter Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” . . . Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Pastor Paul Pett's Daily Devotional for Tuesday, November 26, is based on 1 Timothy 2:1-4, our Epistle Reading for Thanksgiving Day.Pastor Pett's Daily Devotional is live streamed Monday through Thursday at 12 noon. Subscribe to our Daily Devotional podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Today we hear in the Epistle Reading , "you are the temple of the living God" and todays sermon focuses on the topic of Cremation and the view/practice of the Orthodox Church when a member of her falls asleep.Please listen and share with others...

In the Epistle Reading today we hear how the church of Corinth was beginning to doubt St. Paul, because they feel he let them down.  We also hear in the Gospel Passage about loving our enemies.How do these Scripture Passages connect?Listen...

Epistle Reading 1 John 5:1-6 Scripture Reading John 15:9-17

Epistle Reading: 1 John 3:16-24 Scripture Reading: John 10:11-18

Epistle Reading: 1 John 3:1-7 Scripture Reading: Luke 24:36b-48

View the bulletin for Sunday, March 3, 2024Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BulletinsOld Testament Reading -- Exodus 20:1-17 And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.” Epistle Reading -- 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the second chapter. The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Today and tomorrow we are meditating on the passages selected for the Lectionary Series. Today we will read through 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. Connect with us: Website: NikkiRach.com X: @MeditationBible Facebook Group: Spiritual Disciplines for Today Email: Nikki.Rach@NikkiRach.com

In the Epistle Reading today we hear "... separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean;..."  What does this have to do with holiness?A lot!  Listen...

View the Bulletin for Ash Wednesday, February 14, 20242:00 p.m. - Worship Service with Imposition of Ashes and Communion7:00 p.m. - Worship Service with Imposition of Ashes and CommunionAll are welcome, bring a friend, neighbor or relativeVisit our YouTube channel — Click the red “subscribe” box, and then click on the “bell” next to that box to receive Live Streaming notifications. You must be logged into YouTube to activate these features.Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BULLETINSOld Testament Reading -- Joel 2:12–19 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘ Where is their God?'” Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations Epistle Reading -- 2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10 We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with Him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the sixth chapter“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

View the bulletin for Sunday, February 11, 2024Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BulletinsOld Testament Reading — Exodus 34:29–35 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him. Epistle Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:12–13; 4:1–6 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the ninth chapterAfter six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

A few years ago, one of our boys (who was a toddler at the time) woke up in middle of the night and said "okay daddy, I'm all done, turn the dark off." I told him it is still sleep time and to go back to bed.  But then I couldn't go back to sleep because of what and how he said, "ok daddy, turn the dark off".  This meant that he always thought the light was there.What does this mean to us from the Epistle Reading and Gospel Reading today?Listen...

View the bulletin for Sunday, February 4, 2024Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BulletinsOld Testament Reading —Isaiah 40:21–31 Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Epistle Reading — 1 Corinthians 9:16–27 If I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the first chapter. Immediately [Jesus] left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

View the bulletin for Sunday, January 28, 2024Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BulletinsSunday January 288:00 a.m. — Worship Service with Communion9:15 a.m. — Adult/Teen Bible Study & Sunday School10:30 a.m. — Worship Service with CommunionVoter's Meeting after the Second Service (Lunch Served)(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)Old Testament Reading -- Deuteronomy 18:15–20 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers — it is to him you shall listen — just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.' And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.'” Epistle Reading -- 1 Corinthians 8:1–13 Concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the first chapter. They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath [Jesus] entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

View the bulletin for Sunday, January 21, 20248:00 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion9:15 a.m. - Adult/Teen Bible Study10:30 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BulletinsOld Testament Reading -- Jonah 3:1–5, 10 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. . . . When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. Epistle Reading -- 1 Corinthians 7:29–31 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the first chapter. After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

View the bulletin for Sunday, January 7, 20248:00 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion9:15 a.m. - Adult/Teen Bible Study10:30 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BulletinsOld Testament Reading -- Genesis 1:1–5In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.Epistle Reading l-- Romans 6:1–11What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the first chapter.John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

We hear in the Epistle Reading today as St Paul writes to Timothy, "...be an example to the believers in word; in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."How can we do this?  Well, we get a form of guidance from Zacchaeus in the Gospel passage.What is that guidance and how are the Epistle and Gospel Passages today intertwined?Listen...

View the bulletin for Sunday, January 14, 20248:00 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion9:15 a.m. - Adult/Teen Bible Study10:30 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion6:00 p.m. - Youth Group Meeting/Movie Night(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BulletinsOld Testament Reading -- 1 Samuel 3:1–10 The young man Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the young man. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.'” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” Epistle Reading -- 1 Corinthians 6:12–20 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the first chapter. The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Today we will read through the full Epistle Reading selected for today, Philippians 4:4-13. Background music from "Soul Breaker" by Alex Mason and the Minor Emotions. Connect with us: Website: NikkiRach.com Twitter: @MeditationBible Facebook Group: Spiritual Disciplines for Today Email: Nikki.Rach@NikkiRach.com

Join us this week as we meditate on the Epistle Lesson selected for today as part of the Lectionary Series. We will read Philippians 3:4b-14 one time. Background music from "Soul Breaker" by Alex Mason and the Minor Emotions. Connect with us: Website: NikkiRach.com Twitter: @MeditationBible Facebook Group: Spiritual Disciplines for Today Email: Nikki.Rach@NikkiRach.com

Join us today for one final as we meditate on the Epistle Lesson selected for this past Sunday as part of the Lectionary Series. We will read through Philippians 2:1-18. Background music from "Soul Breaker" by Alex Mason and the Minor Emotions. Connect with us: Website: NikkiRach.com Twitter: @MeditationBible Facebook Group: Spiritual Disciplines for Today Email: Nikki.Rach@NikkiRach.com

Join us as we meditate on the Epistle Lesson selected for tomorrow as part of the Lectionary Series. We will read through Romans 14:1-12. Background music from "Soul Breaker" by Alex Mason and the Minor Emotions. Connect with us: Website: NikkiRach.com Twitter: @MeditationBible Facebook Group: Spiritual Disciplines for Today Email: Nikki.Rach@NikkiRach.com

Join us as we meditate on the Epistle Lesson for today,  Romans 12:9-21. Background music from "Soul Breaker" by Alex Mason and the Minor Emotions. Connect with us: Website: NikkiRach.com Twitter: @MeditationBible Facebook Group: Spiritual Disciplines for Today Email: Nikki.Rach@NikkiRach.com