In our text today we read about how Jesus cared for Peter. He cared for the little issues in Peter’s life including his mother in law’s health and how his fishing was doing. Jesus loved Peter not for the benefits but just because Jesus wanted the best for Peter. We should reflect that kind of love for others.

In Galatians Chapter 5, Paul tells us we can’t use our freedom in Christ to either extreme. We are called to focus on Christ and Christ’s mission is to love.

In Luke chapter 8 we are given this story of two daughters each of them are sick and each of them have a Father that wants them to have healing. The good news is that no matter what is wrong, no matter what is happening we have a Father that wants us to have healing and wants us to have peace.

The fruit of the Spirit which Paul talks about in Galatians 5 could also be called tools of the trade for Christians. If we are allowing our lives to be lead by the Spirit then these fruits should flow through us.

Jesus makes it clear he isn’t there for the insiders but the outsiders in Matthew 9. The church is the same. We as a church are called to help others come to know Christ, so pray with us on how God is going to use us in that way.

In Matthew we see this beautiful picture of stepping out in faith. Peter walks on water towards Jesus, but then he sees the waves and his faith wavers. Paul warns us of keeping our eyes on Jesus in Galatians 6:9. Don’t waiver if our faith because harvest is coming. Jesus is bidding us come, step out and keep our focus on Him.

God calls us all into the ministry in one way or another. In the different seasons of our life our service might look different but that doesn’t make our service any less. The important part of the scripture about Mary and Martha was that they needed to listen to God’s direction. Neither service was degraded, they both needed to listen to God and do what God asked.

“God loves a cheerful giver” is a passage that we see on precious moments figurines. It is a passage we all know, but I think we can all agree we are not always cheerful in our giving. When we come into relationship with God we give our lives, our everything to God. But in many ways we tend to want to tell God how to use us. We are fraudulent givers. God calls us to give for His glory and if we give according to how He asks when He asks, how He asks, He will get the glory. Let’s give out of a love for God not fraudulently.

In Joshua chapter 1 God is bringing the Israelites towards the promised land. God tells Joshua that they need to be strong and courageous, keep God’s law and God will be with them. They were excited to get where they were supposed to be going, but longed for comfort. We do the same, we tend to want to go on the adventure of where God is taking us but only if it is comfortable.

Pastor Dorothy fills in for Pastor Marci today and speaks on the Apostle Paul.

Today we look at a passage in Acts 4 where the believers pray for boldness. They know they are called to spread the gospel, both men and women and when they pray together they pray God will give them boldness to proclaim the word. I pray we pray the same and lean into whatever calling God has on our lives.

The author of Hebrews tells us that hope is an anchor that enters in behind the curtain. The world needs hope, which is secure and reliable. God’s mission for us is to give grace and share hope with the world. How are we doing with that as the body of Christ? If we as the church are not doing that then we need to confess the difference and ask God to help us be all that He asked us to be.

This Easter Sunday we are reminded in the text that God is with us. Emmanuel isn’t just a Christmas message it is a message of hope for Easter as well. Even in the hopeless moments in our lives God is with us. Jesus gave His life to prove His love. We are now grafted in and are resurrection people. May we live that way.

Palm Sunday is a day we celebrate the triumphal entry. We wave our palm branches in praise of what God is doing. In his last moments Jesus focused on making sure the religious had their heart in the right place. Working for God instead of waging war. I pray Jesus starts flipping tables in our lives as well, any heart attitude or action that isn’t right.

Psalm 145 in the grander story of the people of God is a reminder to us that, even in the times of uncertainty, God is worthy of our praise. In this season of Lent, it might be odd for the lectionary to give us this text for today, knowing that this is the season of repentance. But even in seasons of repentance, God is still worthy of our praise.

The kingdom of God is for all that accept their place in it. We don’t get to pick and choose who enters in. In our text today the Pharisees were picking and choosing and Jesus told them that they were blind to the kingdom culture. Those on the margins are included and we as a body of Christ should make sure they are.

The beauty of the story of the woman at the well is that Jesus reaches out to someone who felt rejected and helped them feel seen, heard and loved. In this season of lent may we learn to reflect that from Christ onto the world.

In Roman’s 4 Paul speaks about Abraham, how his faith was credited to him as righteousness. We seem to think this is an old train of thought, we understand that righteousness is not credited through works. But in the same thought we might think we aren’t going to make it to heaven because we didn’t memorize the books of the Bible. God loves us and has a place for us in His narrative, we just have to be willing to receive His love and lean into what He has for us.

Today our passage from the lectionary brings us back to the beginning. We read of how Adam and Eve ate of the fruit and how they tried to hide from the truth. God still came to found them knowing. They reacted like most of us do when we are confronted with sin in our lives. But what if instead of running away from we run towards God in the moments where we know we have done wrong.

In 1 Thessalonians Paul prays that the God of peace sanctify you through and through. Entire sanctification is a moment after we give our lives over to God wherein the Spirit testifies with our spirit that God has taken the heart of stone from us and given us a heart of flesh. How can we tell? Does the love of God flow through us to others?