FIRST READING 1st Samuel 3:1-20 At a time when visions are rare and unexpected, the Lord comes to Samuel and calls him to speak the divine word. Though just a boy, Samuel responds to God obediently, as Eli the priest has taught him to respond. This marks the beginning of Samuel’s prophetic ministry. 1 Now the […]
FIRST READING Genesis 1:1-5 Out of chaos, God brings order. Out of the formless void, God brings light. This familiar story was good news for the Israelites, who experienced much chaos in their history. It remains good news for us. God created and continues to create new life. 1 In the beginning when God created the heavens […]
FIRST READING Jeremiah 31:7-14 God promises to bring Israel back to its land from the most remote parts of exile. In Zion Israel will rejoice over God’s gifts of food and livestock. Young women will express their joy in dancing; God will give gladness instead of sorrow. 7 For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness […]
Today’s sermon is by Bishop Ann Svennungsen: FIRST READING Isaiah 61:10-62:3 To the people who returned to Jerusalem after the exile, the prophet proclaims that God’s salvation will fully come to pass. Jerusalem will become a shining light to the nations and righteousness and praise will spring up as surely as the earth puts […]
FIRST READING 2nd Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Instead of David building a house (temple) for God, God promises to establish David’s house (dynasty) forever. Centuries later, after the Babylonian exile, no king sat on the throne. Even then, however, the people of Israel remembered this promise and continued to hope for a king, the […]
FIRST READING Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Though the people had returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, they continued to face hardship and oppression. In the language of the jubilee year described in Leviticus 25, the prophet, moved by the spirit of God, announces deliverance for those who are oppressed and comfort for those who mourn. […]
FIRST READING Isaiah 40:1-11 In grand, flowing, poetic lines, the prophet announces that the exile of God’s people in Babylon is over. God will deliver Israel and will care for her as a shepherd cares for the sheep. This word can be trusted, because the only enduring reality in life is the word of God. […]
FIRST READING Isaiah 64:1-9 This lament comes from a people who have had their hopes shattered. The visions of a rebuilt Jerusalem and a renewed people of God, spoken of in Isaiah 40 – 55, have not been realized. Instead, the people experience ruin, conflict, and famine. This lament calls God to account – to […]
FIRST READING Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 11 For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered […]
FIRST READING Judges 4:1-7 1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. 3 Then the Israelites cried […]