Matthew 15:21-31 and Mark 7:24-37 Holy Week this year is Spring Break week for our Avanza kids. Normally we try to tie our Avanza Bible lessons to our church calendar, but we will be a week early in covering Jesus’ crucifixion since we won’t meet the kids during Holy Week. To set the stage for …
Author Archives: Fred
March 16 / Mark 7:1-23
Mark 7:1-23 Jesus speaking: You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. (v. 8) Yesterday the pope signed off on a Vatican decree stating that priests could not bless same-sex unions. One article that I read on this topic had this response from someone opposed to the pope’s position, that …
March 15 / Matt. 15:1-20
Matthew 15:1-20 The Isaiah quote (Mt. 15:8-9) caught my eye. Surprisingly, it was the Isaiah quote that I noticed two years ago. Those of you who were raised in the Catholic faith or some other denomination, see if you agree. Today, something different in that quote… This time I went back to the Isaiah text; …
March 14 / John 6:41-71
John 6:41-71 Today we have one of the “I am” verses from yesterday’s list: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. (v. 51) Jesus had earlier said in verse 48, “I am the bread of life.” To me there is something different between “bread of life” and “living bread”. I think of …
March 13 / Matt. 14:34-36; Mark 6:53-56; John 6:22-40
Matthew 14:34-36, Mark 6:53-56, and John 6:22-40 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life… (v. 35a) My Study Bible alerted me to other verses in John’s gospel where Jesus said “I am…”. I decided to look them up and print them out for all of us to see. Please read on: And …
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March 12 / Matt. 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:16-21
Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, and John 6:16-21 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” (John 6:20) The Gospel writers in all three readings today quote Jesus with the exact same words. Another “divine echo” for us, in that we’ve got FEAR as the topic for our St. Andrew’s Sunday sermon …
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March 11 / Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15
Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:1-15 I keep thinking about feeding the 5,000. What is Jesus’ message for us today? One U.S. farm today feeds 166 people annually (American Farm Bureau). So it would take 30 farmers to feed 5,000 for one year. Backing that off for one day – 30 farmers over 365 days means …
March 10 / Matt. 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44
Matthew 14:13-21 and Mark 6:30-44 …and taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing. (Matthew 19b) Looking forward to the Last Supper…?? Mark is even more explicit: …He looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves… (Mark 6:41b) And further in Mark: …
March 9 / Matt. 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29; Luke 3:19-20; 9:7-9
Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, and Luke 3:19-20, 9:7-9 A note in my Study Bible intrigued me, so I looked further online. Herodias is a main character in today’s readings. She is the wife of Herod Antipas and is the person who goads her husband into having John the Baptist beheaded. But there’s more to her …
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March 8 / Matt. 10:16-11:1
Matthew 10:16-11:1 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. (v. 35) Note what is not said here – a son-in-law against his father-in-law. It seemed strange to me not to have this fourth relationship listed until I thought about the …