Revised Common Lectionary – Year B: First Sunday of Advent – Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37

On May 24, 2021May 8, 2021 By charlieIn 1 Corinthians, advent, First Sunday of Advent, Mark, Psalms, Revised Common Lectionary - Year B1 Comment

Revised Common Lectionary Year B - First Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 Jesus Christ is God’s Answer to our prayer. We confess our sins to God - ‘We sinned... All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy …

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Revised Common Lectionary: Year B

On April 22, 2021April 4, 2021 By charlieIn Revised Common Lectionary - Year B1 Comment

YEAR B First Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 Jesus Christ is God’s Answer to our prayer. We confess our sins to God - ‘We sinned... All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags’. We look to …

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Season of Christmas: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day) III – Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12); John 1:1-14

On December 25, 2020December 2, 2020 By charlieIn Christmas, Hebrews, John, Psalms, Revised Common Lectionary - Year B5 Comments

Season of Christmas: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day) III – Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12); John 1:1-14 Good News ‘Good News’- Let us ‘shout for joy’. ‘Good News’- Let us sing ‘songs of joy’. There is the Good News of God’s reign - ‘Your God reigns’. There is the Good News of …

Continue reading Season of Christmas: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day) III – Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12); John 1:1-14

Third Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126 (or Luke 1:47-55); 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

On December 13, 2020December 13, 2020 By charlieIn 1 Thessalonians, advent, John, Luke, Psalms, Revised Common Lectionary - Year B1 Comment

Third Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126 (or Luke 1:47-55); 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28 God has given us the Good News of salvation: Jesus Christ. ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me... to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ (Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus has fulfilled these words (Luke 4:18-21). …

Continue reading Third Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126 (or Luke 1:47-55); 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

We need the Holy Spirit – and we need the Holy Scriptures …

On August 17, 2020August 18, 2020 By charlieIn Acts, Easter, Jeremiah, John, Psalms, Revised Common Lectionary - Year B1 Comment

Seventh Sunday of Easter: Acts 1:15- 17, 21-26; Psalm 1 (or Jeremiah 10:1-10a); Psalm 108; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19 We need the Holy Spirit. We read, in John 7:39, that ‘the Spirit’ would not be ‘given’ until Jesus was ‘glorified’. Now, as Jesus was about to be ‘taken up... into heaven’, He tells His …

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Praying Through God’s Word: Zechariah

ZECHARIAH 1:1-2:13 We thank You, Lord, that You promise to bless Your faithful people: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My House will be rebuilt’ (Zechariah 1:16). You look upon Your House, and You see Your glory – ‘I will be the glory within it’ (Zechariah 2:5). You see the glory of […]

It shall be done!

Exodus 5:1-6:13 – In 4:29-31, we see Moses, the elders and the people worshipping God. Pharaoh opposes them – ‘Who is the Lord, that I should heed His voice…?’ (2) – , and ‘the foremen of the people of Israel’ start complaining (19-21). What does Moses do ? – He prays. Notice the honesty of […]

Praying Through God’s Word: Lamentations

Lamentations 1:1-22 Jerusalem had fallen into hard times – ‘she who once was great among the nations… has now become a slave’ (Lamentations 1:1). Lord, we wonder why this happened. The explanation for this sad situation was not hard to find – ‘Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean…’ (Lamentations 8-9). We wonder, […]

Jesus – crucified by men, raised by God.

Luke 23:1-25 – In Jesus’ trial, we see unity in evil (12). Politically, Pilate and Herod were at odds with each other. Spiritually, they were united in their opposition to Christ. Jesus was found guilty by neither Pilate nor Herod (13-16). They were Very Important People. Jesus was a threat to them. They held positions […]

Let us give ourselves to the Lord.

Luke 21:1-38 – The ‘poor widow’ gave her ‘all’ to the Lord (1-4). True giving is a response to ‘the grace of God’. Learning to appreciate ‘the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ’, we will learn to give with ‘abundance of joy’ and ‘wealth of liberality’ (2 Corinthians 8:1-2, 9). Let us give ourselves to […]

What about you? Does Jesus weep over you? He wants to rejoice over you.

Luke 19:1-48 – Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem (9:51; 13:22; 17:11), the place where He would be crucified for the world’s salvation. ‘Passing through’ Jericho, He brought ‘salvation’ to Zacchaeus (1, 9). ‘Near to Jerusalem’, He spoke about service (11-27). Jesus is our Saviour – He came ‘to save us’ (10). He is also our Lord […]

Temptation, forgiveness, faith and service

Luke 17:1-37 – In verses 1-10, Jesus speaks about temptation, forgiveness, faith and service. (a) Temptation – ‘watch yourselves’, always remembering that we can only win victory through the strength of the Lord (3; 1 Corinthians 10:13). (b) Forgiveness – This is practical teaching. We not only receive forgiveness for ourselves. We are to forgive […]

Let God’s love flow freely in your own heart, and let it flow, from there, into the lives of others.

Luke 14:1-35 – Let God’s love flow freely in your own heart. Let it flow, from there, into the lives of others. Receive Christ and share Him with others. When the Gospel says, ‘Come; for all is ready’, there must be no excuses (17-20). When you share Christ, let there be no barriers (1-6, 12-14, […]

“Do not be afraid”: “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Luke 12:1-34 – ‘Do not fear…’ (4): ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ (Romans 8:31). Acknowledge Christ or deny Him (8-9): Let your choice be clear – ‘Christ means everything to me’ (Philippians 1:21). Do you want to confess Christ? – Here’s a great promise for you: ‘the Holy Spirit will […]

The Lord is not looking for lip-service. He is looking for real faith.

Luke 8:22-56 – ‘Where is your faith?’ (25). The Lord is not looking for lip-service. He is looking for real faith. Some beg Jesus ‘to depart from them’ (37). They don’t want to know! Others long to ‘be with Him’ (38). They don’t want to go! Some have no interest in worship. They don’t really […]

God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 7:1-25 God’s purpose is not easily fulfilled in us. Our battle with sin is extremely intense. There is a great conflict going on within us. ‘The Spirit’ and ‘the flesh’ are at war with each other (Galatians 5:17). God has given us His Spirit – ‘we serve…in the new life of the Spirit’ (6). […]

Keep your eyes fixed on the Saviour and your obedience will be Gospel obedience, not legal obedience.

Romans 6:1-23 (a) ‘We know that our old self was crucified’ (6) – What a great thing God has done! He has made you ‘a new creation in Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). (b) ‘Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus’ (11) – Believe it . This is what the Lord has done: ‘you are not in the […]

Having caught sight of the heavenly and eternal glory, we see our suffering in a new light. It’s the light of God’s love.

Romans 5:1-21 God has great things in store for His people! (a) ‘Much more‘ (9-10): ‘Justified by Christ’s blood’, ‘reconciled to God’, ‘We shall be saved by Christ from the wrath of God’, ‘saved by His life’. (b) ‘Much more‘ (15,17): ‘The grace of God’ has ‘abounded for many’. In Christ, we have ‘received the abundance of […]

We are sinners, but we have a Saviour. Let us rejoice in Him!

Romans 3:1-31 We are sinners – every single one of us. There are no exceptions – ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’. When we see ourselves as we really are – sinners – , we come to see that there is no way for us to earn God’s love. We will […]

Genesis 47:13-48:22; Matthew 16:21-17:13; Proverbs 3:1-10

In Genesis and Matthew, we see Jacob and Joseph looking to the future. It is to be a future of blessing. For both, death was near. the future, however, was life. In Jacob’s time, the expectation concerned an earthly land – “God will be with you and take you back to the land of your […]

More than ‘the golden rule’?

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). When […]

Jesus was a Jew. Jesus is for all nations.

Jesus was a Jew – “a descendant of David” (Romans 1:3). Jesus is for “all nations” (Romans 1:5). Jesus was a Jew. If we are to understand Jesus, we need to go back to the Old Testament Scriptures, We need to read about what God did for his people, Israel. This is not to say […]

Let us be set apart for the gospel of God.

Romans 1:1-32 ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith’ (16). Do you think it was easy for Paul to maintain such commitment to Christ, such confidence in Christ? What kind of world did he live in? – A world of ‘ungodliness […]

Holiness is to be seen. Happiness is to be shared.

Matthew 5:13-16 Holiness is to be seen. Happiness is to be shared. We are not to be secret disciples. It will not be easy to live the life of Christ’s disciples. In a world of much corruption, we are to be ‘the salt of the earth’ (13). In a world of much darkness we are […]

Say ‘Yes’ to Jesus.

Matthew 8.1-22 In verses 1-17, we read of three people who received the Lord’s blessing – the leper was cleansed (1-4), the centurion’s servant was healed (5-13), Peter’s mother-in-law was healed (14-17). Reading verses 18-22 together with Luke 9:57-62, we learn of three people who did not receive the Lord’s blessing (Matthew mentions two, while […]

Learning From God's Word

Category: Revised Common Lectionary – Year B

Revised Common Lectionary – Year B: First Sunday of Advent – Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37

Revised Common Lectionary: Year B

Season of Christmas: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day) III – Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12); John 1:1-14

Third Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126 (or Luke 1:47-55); 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

We need the Holy Spirit – and we need the Holy Scriptures …