Preachers are always concerned about how their sermons will be received. We agonize over the Biblical text, wanting so much to be true to what God says. We want our hearers to receive the Word as good soil. (Matthew 13:23) In today’s Bible reading, Stephen (one of the Seven who were chosen to serve tables)…
In today’s Bible reading, the Apostles come to a point where they realize they can’t do it all. And that’s a good thing! People began accusing the Apostles of overlooking the Hellenistic (Gentile) widows and giving preference to Jewish widows. That may or may not have been the case, but the accusation was made. Rather…
In today’s Bible reading, we see how people respond to the miraculous signs and wonders they witness at the hands of the Apostles. “They even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.” (Acts…
As you read today’s Bible reading, note how Peter and John connect the dots between the Gospel they preach and Jesus’ Resurrection. You may have heard me say before that “the Sadducees were sad, you see because they didn’t believe in the Resurrection”. Oftentimes that sect clashed with Jesus because of this central doctrine and…
In today’s Bible reading, we see Peter and John approach the Temple to worship. They are approached by a lame beggar — we aren’t given his name — who asks for a donation. The only other thing we know about this man is that he has never walked; he was lame from birth. And because…
“Which is the most important commandment?” a young man asks Jesus in today’s Bible reading. (Mark 12:28) At the time, the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day had taken the original six hundred, thirteen Laws of Moses — which included the Ten Commandments — and added thousands of additional laws in the Midrash, a commentary on…
