On Wednesday we began our forty-day journey known as the season of Lent in preparation for the celebration of Easter. Throughout the centuries, Christians have used these days as a time of spiritual reflection, letting go of some of the things that distract them from following Christ, and intentionally adding some new “holy habits” to their lives. Traditionally, these have included prayer, fasting, study, and service to others.
Continue readingJourney Together Through the Season of Lent
On Wednesday we began our forty-day journey known as the season of Lent in preparation for the celebration of Easter. Throughout the centuries, Christians have used these days as a time of spiritual reflection, letting go of some of the things that distract them from following Christ, and intentionally adding some new “holy habits” to their lives. Traditionally, these have included prayer, fasting, study, and service to others.
Continue readingScripture and Reflections for February 16, 2024
February 16, 2024
Today’s scripture and reflection
Gracious and Loving God,
We lift up our hearts in praise to You. Remember us this day and every day in Your constant love and mercy. Show us Your paths and guide our steps so that we may follow You in faith and obedience. Strengthen our resolve even as You soften our spirit so that we may learn and accept Your teaching with humility and trust. Keep us from imposing our own presumptions on Your will. In the words of the psalmist, remind us, and those who lead us, that all Your ways are marked by steadfast love and faithfulness.
As we begin our Lenten journey to the Cross, we give thanks for Your Son who was sent to offer forgiveness for our sins against You and Your kingdom. During this season of introspection and reflection, draw us into the tender yet firm awareness that in naming our transgressions, in acknowledging our failings, we need not conceal ourselves in fear or shame. For You pardon our guilt as uttered in our sincere confession. You invite us to lay down the burden of our sins so that we may walk with You in confident assurance that You are our God and we are Your children.
Through the Holy Spirit, may we continue to grow in the likeness of Christ. As we have been forgiven, let us, too, forgive one another. Let our thoughts and actions testify to Your never-ending goodness—the source of our hope, whatever we may face.
In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, Amen.
Rev. Darren Hensley
Scripture and Reflections for February 15, 2024
February 15, 2024
Today’s scripture and reflection
Most Gracious and Loving God,
In this moment of reading and prayer, we lift and bear our souls to you. Please help us to place our trust in you. Lead us into your truth. Wash away our sins and make us as pure as the new-fallen snow. Allow us to embrace your mercy and forgiveness for when we have strayed. May we join our voices with all the saints and praise your name with open and loving hearts, for you are worthy of all our praise.
As we enter the Lenten season, we ask that you empower us to introspect into our lives and actions. Give us the strength to approach you in prayer and fasting to seek your guidance. Allow us to see ourselves clearly. Remove any shame we may feel. Lord, allow our faith in your son, our savior Jesus Christ, to wash us clean and break the power of sin in our lives. Please help us to experience the joy we find in following you more closely. Enable us to remain faithful to your calling as disciples of Jesus Christ.
In your holy name, we pray, Amen.
Rev. Geoff Beakley
Scripture and Reflections for February 14, 2024
February 14, 2024
Today’s scripture and reflection
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! We come before You today with praise in our hearts.
O Lord, we acknowledge that our actions and attitudes do not always reflect Your love and grace. Even when we do good, our attitudes are not what they should be. Sometimes, we have ulterior motives that are self-serving. While outwardly, we are engaged in worthwhile activities, we are simply going through the motions. Putting up a good front. Or worse, we expect accolades and recognition.
Guide us today, Lord, to live as You would have us to live. With outstretched hands to supply the needs of others. With hearts full of love. Fill our mouths with words of peace. Direct our steps in the paths of righteousness.
Help us not to play religious games engaging in “good deeds” just because it is the right thing to do. Remove from us any inclination to seek rewards for our efforts. Help us to mean it when we say, “I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord. I’ll say what You want me to say. I’ll be what You want me to be.”
With the psalmist, we pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”
Hear our prayer, O Lord, for we offer it in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Jamie Jenkins
Testing Scripture and Reflections for February 14 Test
February 14, 2024
Today’s scripture and reflection
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! We come before You today with praise in our hearts.
O Lord, we acknowledge that our actions and attitudes do not always reflect Your love and grace. Even when we do good, our attitudes are not what they should be. Sometimes, we have ulterior motives that are self-serving. While outwardly, we are engaged in worthwhile activities, we are simply going through the motions. Putting up a good front. Or worse, we expect accolades and recognition.
Guide us today, Lord, to live as You would have us to live. With outstretched hands to supply the needs of others. With hearts full of love. Fill our mouths with words of peace. Direct our steps in the paths of righteousness.
Help us not to play religious games engaging in “good deeds” just because it is the right thing to do. Remove from us any inclination to seek rewards for our efforts. Help us to mean it when we say, “I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord. I’ll say what You want me to say. I’ll be what You want me to be.”
With the psalmist, we pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”
Hear our prayer, O Lord, for we offer it in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Jamie Jenkins
Bible Readings for February 13, 2024
February 13, 2024
Psalm 110:1-4
1 The Lord says to my lord:[a]
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.[b]
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
Job 19:23-27
23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll,
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on[a] lead,
or engraved in rock forever!
25 I know that my redeemer[b] lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.[c]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet[d] in[e] my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
1 Timothy 3:14-16
14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, 15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16 Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,[a]
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
Bible Readings for February 12, 2024
These readings complement the Christian year as they draw us to the themes of each season. They expand the range of biblical reading in worship and personal devotion by providing daily citations from the Revised Common Lectionary. The lectionary is a guide offered by Vanderbilt Divinity and utilized by the United Methodist Church. We are currently in the season of Epiphany, which ends on Ash Wednesday. These readings reflect and provide context to the incarnation and divinity of Christ revealed to us as the redeeming hope and light of the world.
February 12, 2024
Psalm 110:1-4
1 The Lord says to my lord:[a]
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.[b]
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
Exodus 19:7-25
7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.
10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. 13 They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”
14 After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.”
16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain[a] trembled violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.[b]
20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”
23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”
24 The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them.”
25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
Hebrews 2:1-4
1We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Bible Readings for February 11, 2024
These readings complement the Christian year as they draw us to the themes of each season. They expand the range of biblical reading in worship and personal devotion by providing daily citations from the Revised Common Lectionary. The lectionary is a guide offered by Vanderbilt Divinity and utilized by the United Methodist Church. We are currently in the season of Epiphany, which ends on Ash Wednesday. These readings reflect and provide context to the incarnation and divinity of Christ revealed to us as the redeeming hope and light of the world.
February 11, 2024
2 Kings 2:1-12
1When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”
4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”
And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”
6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”
And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.
7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
Psalm 50:1-6
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes
and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.
4 He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me this consecrated people,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for he is a God of justice.[a][b]
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to sprea3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Mark 9:2-9
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Bible Readings for February 10, 2024
These readings complement the Christian year as they draw us to the themes of each season. They expand the range of biblical reading in worship and personal devotion by providing daily citations from the Revised Common Lectionary. The lectionary is a guide offered by Vanderbilt Divinity and utilized by the United Methodist Church. We are currently in the season of Epiphany, which ends on Ash Wednesday. These readings reflect and provide context to the incarnation and divinity of Christ revealed to us as the redeeming hope and light of the world.
February 10, 2024
Psalm 50:1-6
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes
and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.
4 He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me this consecrated people,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for he is a God of justice.[a][b]
1 Kings 16:1-7
1Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu son of Hanani concerning Baasha: 2 “I lifted you up from the dust and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, but you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to arouse my anger by their sins. 3 So I am about to wipe out Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 Dogs will eat those belonging to Baasha who die in the city, and birds will feed on those who die in the country.”
5 As for the other events of Baasha’s reign, what he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 6 Baasha rested with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah. And Elah his son succeeded him as king.
7 Moreover, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger by the things he did, becoming like the house of Jeroboam—and also because he destroyed it.
Luke 19:41-44
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”