Thursday, April 30

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Teaching in the Synagogue at CapernaumMatthew 4:13

13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— Mark 1:21-22

21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.

22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Luke 4:31-32

31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people.

32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.

John 2:12

12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

Matthew 7:28-29

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,

29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

John 7:46

46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared.

How do you enter fully into the turmoil and agony of the times and speak a word of hope?

Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart, 2.

 Rennovations 2002 to 2007 015

I love our worship room. I like the abstract forms in the windows. I look at them and dream. I wonder what the worship rooms that Jesus visited looked like. I wonder what He was thinking while he sat in the rooms. What must it have been like to have been in the room with him.

 

Wednesday, April 29

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The Call of the Disciples

Matthew 4:18-22

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,

22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Mark 1:16-20

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.

20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Luke 5:1-11

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God,

2 he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.

3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,

10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”

11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

John 1:35-51

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.

36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.

41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).

42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.”

51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

We settle, relatively early in life, into clear-cut patterns of thinking and behaving, which make us feel secure and protected We close ourselves off from the possibilities of new lifestyles which might challenge us to take risks and to change.

Henri Nouwen, Aging, 28.

The disciples were in a routine. They had a mapped out life plan, but then Jesus changed everything. They put down their fishing nests and changed their plans. Is there anything in your hands that God is asking you to let go of, so that you could be free to follow him?

Tuesday, April 28

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Jesus’ Preaching at Nazareth

Matthew 13:53-58

53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there.

54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked.

55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”

58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Mark 6:1-6

1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.

2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!

3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”

5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

Luke 4:16-30

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.

17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,

21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ”

24 “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.

26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.

27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.

29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.

30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

John 7:15

15 The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?”

As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I ma rejected, left alone or abandoned, I find myself thinking: ‘Well that proves once again that I am nobody,’ Instead of taking a critical look at the circumstances or trying to understand my own and other’s limitations, I tend to blame myself.

Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved, 27.

Jesus had to deal with rejection. It came from the people of his own town. It is a hint that significant parts of the spiritual life must be lived and chosen individually. Jesus did not back down or change his message because the people rejected him. He just kept teaching the truth. We have to be committed to living the truth no matter what anyone says.

Monday, April 27

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Ministry in Galilee

Matthew 4:13-17

13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—

14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Mark 1:14-15

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Luke 4:14-15

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

John 4:43-46

43 After the two days he left for Galilee.

44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)

45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.

Without the Spirit of Jesus we can do nothing. The Spirit of Christ can pray in us, fill us with a peace and joy which is not of this world, and unite all people in the all-embracing love of God. The Spirit of Christ burns away our many fears.

Henri Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy, 109.

Jesus went out of his way to tell people of all varieties of the kingdom of God, It was the invitation into the kingdom of love. Ask God to help you find someone to love toward the kingdom this week.

Sunday, April 26

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The Discourse with the Woman of Samaria

John 4:4-42

4 Now he had to go through Samaria.

5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?

12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,

14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.

18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.

20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,

29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.

36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.

37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.

38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”

40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.

41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

The prayer of the heart unifies our whole person and places us without any reservation, mind and heart, in the awesome and loving presence of our God.

Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out, 146.

Jesus looks into the woman’s life and sees the truth. When she realizes that she is loved despite her sin, she finds liberation. Spend time confessing sin to God. He will love you still and you will feel better.

Saturday, April 25

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The Journey into Galilee

Matthew 4:12

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.

Mark 1:14

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. Luke 4:14

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

John 4:1-3

1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John,

2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.

3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Celebration is so healing precisely because it lifts up the truth that we do not belong to the restricting, limiting, and destructive power of our world, but to God whose name is life and love.

Henri Nouwen, Duet of the Holy Spirit, 10.

God wants to give you a glimpse of eternity tomorrow, come ready to worship.

Saturday, April 25

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The Journey into Galilee

Matthew 4:12

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.

Mark 1:14

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. Luke 4:14

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

John 4:1-3

1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John,

2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.

3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Celebration is so healing precisely because it lifts up the truth that we do not belong to the restricting, limiting, and destructive power of our world, but to God whose name is life and love.

Henri Nouwen, Duet of the Holy Spirit, 10.

God wants to give you a glimpse of eternity tomorrow, come ready to worship.

Friday, April 24

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The Appendix to John: Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias. Peter and the Beloved Disciple. Final Authentication

John 21:15-23

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”)

21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

The spiritual life is a gift. But to say that being lifted up into the kingdom of love is a divine gift does not mean that we wait passively. A spiritual life requires human effort.

Henri Nouwen, Making All Things New, 65.

MEASURE. Look back at last week. Write at the bottom of each page how many minutes you spent working on your spiritual relationship with the Father. Figure it out as a percentage. Are you satisfied that your life shows that you really want to dwell in the kingdom of love? Is there anything you could have given up to create a little more time for God?

Thursday, April 23 – Administrative Professionals Day

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The Ending of John

John 21: 24-25

24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Jesus Christ is not just a historical person who died long ago outside the walls of Jerusalem and whose life we remember as a source of inspiration for us. Jesus Christ is the Lord of history whose death, resurrection and coming judgment is the deepest and most revealing event of our own daily history.

Henri Nouwen, Christ of the Americas, 293.

 Where is Waldo?

Its all about the people. I love the phrase, “We know that his testimony is true.” Is your relationship with Christ so authentic that when you talk about Jesus people know that you are telling the truth?

 

Wednesday, April 22 – Earth Day

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The Ending of Luke: Jesus’ Last Words and Ascension

Luke 24:44-53

44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

48 You are witnesses of these things.

49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

Man is redeemed, once and for all. The call of the Christian leader is to help man to affirm this great news, and to make visible in the daily events, the fact that behind the dirty curtain of his painful symptoms there is something great to be seen: The face of Him in whose image he is shaped.

Henri Nouwen, Generation Without Fathers, 293.

The resurrection story does not end, but is handed to us as “The story” for all the generations that are to come. We are to be witness of this great news. We have to push it to the front page of our lives. It needs to be daily headlines, but we often bury it in sections of our lives that nobody ever reads. Broadcast the news today.

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