Where Are You From

Readings

1. Old Testament: Exodus 18:13-27

2. Psalm 15

3. Gospel: Matt. 1:1-17

4. Epistle: 1 Pet. 5:1-14

Devotional
What's the first question you ask somebody when you meet them? The question right after "What's your name?" A peculiar pattern holds in cultures throughout the world. In a large, cosmopolitan city, the first question is "What do you do?" In a smaller city or town, the question is "Who are your parents?" In either case, these questions come first because they give us what we believe is the most information about somebody that can be gained from one question: we learn something about their social status, something about history and background, something about their character, and maybe even something about their intentions.

When Matthew gives us a list of Jesus' parentage, he is not attempting to give us an exhaustive one. Instead, he is attempting to give a bunch of information to his first readers about who Jesus is in one fell swoop. Consider:

1. the word for the "genealogy" of Jesus is "Genesis," which would have been familiar to first-century Jewish readers as "beginnings." It is in many ways the beginning of the title of Matthew's whole book: the new beginning.

2. "Jesus" was the every day name of the person, but "Christ" meant annointed, and points back to David, the highest and holiest example in Israel of a righteous king. 

3. Abraham sits at the headwaters of the Jewish people, and mediated the presence of God to the world.

4. The names in the list are not uniform: there are men, women, Jews, Gentiles, heroes and prostitutes, and hero-prostitutes. The story of Jesus and God's New Beginning involves everyone. 

Do you see what Matthew is saying? Here, in the person of Jesus, is the New Beginning. God's Kingdom is coming, all things are being made new, as Jesus mediates God's presence to the world! And there is no one who is excluded from this new beginning. Not even us. 

Hymn
Nothing But the Blood

Prayer
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people;
Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who
calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with
you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.

You Are Not Helpless, Because You Are Not Alone

Readings

1. Old Testament: Exodus 16:23-36

2. Psalm 16

3. Gospel: John 16:1-15

4. Epistle: 1 Pet. 3:13-4:6

Devotional
There’s a reason the “buddy movie” is such a popular genre in Hollywood.  Countless permutations of it have been made, and each has a common theme.  You know what the “buddy movie” is.  It’s the misfit duo off on a collective journey to secure some task or goal for one or both of them.  You also know that the formula doesn’t quite work if both characters are the same.  Because at some point throughout their journey, one of them will encounter some hurdle that they are insufficiently equipped to solve on their own, which creates the perfect circumstance for the buddy to lend his particular contribution to solve the dilemma and send the duo continuing on their way.  The formula is so familiar that you know it’s coming, yet in spite of its unsurprising emergence, we still flock to them.  Why?

It must reveal something about our nature and our desires.  Instead of denying our weakness, we long to acknowledge it and seek the help of a companion to aid us where we are helpless on our own.  Is it any wonder, then, that in Jesus’s final hours, He makes a promise to His people that they would never be without a helper?  Jesus is preparing to go to the cross and leave the world, but He isn’t leaving His people alone.  The promise of His Holy Spirit’s presence was true for the disciples, and it is true for us.  I wonder how much we would be transformed if we considered that reality:  for every believer, God dwells within you wherever you go.  And this Helper doesn’t just pick up the slack of an otherwise pretty good attempt at life.  This Spirit equips for every good endeavor.  All that is good in us is good because of the Holy Spirit, and it is the same Spirit upon which Jesus relied when He was tempted in the wilderness by Satan (Matt. 4). 

The purpose of this Spirit dwelling with us, Jesus explains, is simple.  He is to convict us of sin, and lead us to righteousness.  That isn’t how we often think about the Holy Spirit.  Frequently, our requests of the Spirit revolve around decisions of vocation, relationships, or calling.  But the liberating news of Jesus’s description is that it takes the guess work out of following God’s will for our lives.  Not only that, but He also empowers us to do it!  The same Spirit upon which Jesus relied for obedience is the Spirit that dwells in us.  Sin doesn’t have the final say in your life no matter how helpless you feel.  In the best buddy movies, you realize that the opposition was no match for the buddy all along.  So it is with our Helper. 


Hymn
O Christ Our King Creator Lord

Prayer
Pray Psalm 16 aloud.

To Be Set Free

Readings

1. Old Testament: Exodus 16:10-22

2. Psalm 18:1-20

3. Gospel: John 15:12-27

4. Epistle: 1 Pet. 2:11-25

Devotional
I (Soren) long for freedom right now. Everything in me desires to be out, to resume normal live, to be unconstrained by rules and laws and the silent (or noisy) judgement of the social media mobs. I am the sort of person that sees laws and rules as suggestions, even when they aren't; it is tough to be my boss, because the thing I want more than anything else is freedom. Freedom is a good thing... isn't it?

Unequivocally yes. Peter makes it clear that God has set us free, having paid our ransom (1 Peter 1:18). But the biblical idea of freedom, the idea of freedom that Peter talks about in our reading today, is very different from the American idea of freedom. When we think of being free, we often think of being able to do what we want. It's this kind of freedom that I find myself thirsting after right now. I want to be able to go where I want when I want to; I want to be able to wear what I want when I want to; and on and on. But when the Bible speaks of us being free, it doesn't mean being allowed to do what I want; instead, it means being able to do what I ought. Before we became Christians, we were unable to conceive of serving anything except ourselves. This isn't as evil or malevolent as it sounds; after all, why wouldn't we do what was basically best for us? Sometimes that even includes doing what is best for the community or the world, to help us live our best lives now. 

Jesus has set us free from doing what we want, by giving us a different master (God) and a different goal (the glory of God). We have a new factor to take into account now- not just what we are allowed to do, but what we have been enabled to do when God opened our eyes to his purposes (1 Peter 2:16). This means that sometimes, being free to serve God will mean forsaking our desires, and serving others (1 Peter 2:11-15). Put simply, the goal of Christian freedom is not to be able to do what we want; its the ability to do what we ought to, even when we don't want to. 

In the coming days, there will be many discussions about freedom, and there should be. As citizens of a democracy, it is right to discuss the role of government in our lives. My hope is that, as Christians and as citizens, we use our freedom to serve others, even to the point of suffering unjustly. May we take our obligations more seriously than our rights.

Hymn
O Christ Our King Creator Lord

Prayer
O God, who for the salvation of the world brought about the paschal sacrifice, be favorable to the supplications of your people, so that Christ our High Priest, interceding on our behalf, may by his likeness to ourselves bring us reconciliation, and by his equality with you free us from our sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Divided By Space, Connected By Mercy

Divided By Space, Connected By Mercy

Readings

1. Old Testament: Exodus 15:22-16:10

2. Psalm 13

3. Gospel: John 15:1-11

4. Epistle: 1 Pet. 2:1-10

Devotional
You probably know what it’s like to move to a new city.  Along with the excitement of new places and experiences, there’s the impending dread and fear of not having “your people” anymore.  Perhaps it was your childhood friends, or maybe it was friends at work or at church that you had to leave for a new setting of loneliness.  It can be really difficult to move to a place where you hardly know anyone.  Hopefully, you’ve also experienced the inverse of this.  In your new environment, someone reaches out to you to do the thing that you wouldn’t have been able to do yourself:  they include you in something.  And by this inclusion, you begin to meet others.  You form new shared experiences.  It’s not just the fact that you are around people that makes it feel special.  It’s being part of something bigger than just you. 

Peter is writing to a group of people who are dispersed.  Though the nature of ours is different than the first century church, the idea of dispersion is familiar to us in 2020.  We’ve been dispersed of our routines, our comforts, and so much of what we love.  Yet the promise he iterates to them is that being reconciled to God also means being reconciled and inseparably connected to others.  “You were not a people, but now you are God’s people.”  There’s a collective nature to the church.  It isn’t just a group of individuals.  It’s a body.  You’ve been welcomed into “your people.”

The interesting thing about the context into which Peter is writing is that in this encouragement of unity, their experience has been anything but.  Yet amidst displacement, they find solace in the comfort of one another.  And the central theme of this unity, says Peter, is mercy.  “You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  In other words, the primary link for all Christians is not geographic.  Rather, it is the transformative reality that in the sin that was killing us, God showed us mercy by uniting us to His Son in salvation.  This is good news in a quarantine, isn’t it?  Even though we are separated by location, we are still united in the Savior and mercy that gives us structure.  We can mourn the distance of the physical church that we all miss at the moment, but we can still rest in the unwavering hope of being united by mercy.  And mercy can’t be stopped by a virus. 


Hymn
O Christ Our King Creator Lord

Prayer
Pray Psalm 12 aloud.

Waiting

Degas, Waiting. 1882.

Readings

1. Old Testament: 15:1-21

2. Psalm 6

3. Gospel: John 14:18-31

4. Epistle: 1 Pet. 1:13-25

Devotional
"Its time to go." Her words flowed through the couch and zapped me like lightning. The baby is coming. The panic hit next, like thunder. We aren't at the hospital. How long does it take to come? I WILL NOT DELIVER A BABY IN THE CAR. She gets up and goes to the kitchen. And starts washing dishes. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I'm in the car already, honking the horn. We break all land speed records getting to the hospital... only to wait for twelve more hours for my first son to be born.

Waiting is hard. You feel powerless and out of control, at the mercy of time, circumstance, and other people. And the temptation is to treat God like the fast forward button on the remote control, to escape the tension of waiting by having him fast forward to the moment when the tension is eased. But the readings today invite us to think about waiting in a different way. What if God is more concerned with *how* we wait than he is with the fact that we are waiting?

Two contrasting visions of faithful Christian waiting are presented in the readings today. In Psalm 6, the person who is waiting is in anguish. They want to be relieved, they want the waiting to end. But the Psalm is included in the hymnbook of the people of God that we might recognize something- that our waiting is from God, and whether in anguish or in hope, we must receive the delay of our gratification as the next step in the dance of relationship with Him. And we are are empowered to keep dancing, even in anguish, by the knowledge of his good intentions toward us.

1 Peter invites us to consider the question of our holiness in the midst of waiting. We are to see ourselves as exiles in a strange land, still beholden to the country of our Father from whence we came. We are to strive to live our lives according to our old Constitution. This waiting for Jesus is an active waiting- it actively resists the temptation to clutch at impermanent things for salvation. This waiting, more triumphant in tone than that of Psalm 6, nevertheless finds its strength in the same place: the promise of God's goodness to his people. 

How does the delay of your gratification shape your dance with God? Can you conform yourself to the kingdom of God in our present waiting?

Hymn
O Christ Our King Creator Lord

Prayer
Pray Psalm 6 aloud.

What Lasts Forever

Readings

1. Old Testament: Ex. 14:21-31

2. Psalm 1

3. Gospel: John 14:8-17

4. Epistle: 1 Pet. 1:1-12

Devotional on Psalm 1
One of the most obvious landmarks in Savannah are the massive oak trees which are everywhere. They are scattered around the city, sometimes clearly by design, as in Forsyth or Daffin Park, but sometimes as if by the hand of a profligate Johnny Appleseed god. There is a massive oak in the house next door to mine which looks as if it has stood for a thousand years. It dwarfs my house, and my span of life.

The last three or four weeks we have remembered what was always true, but which we in our arrogance are prone to forget- that the things which we take as permanent are no more permanent than the wind. Our health isn't permanent, our jobs aren't permanent, our wealth isn't permanent. And (even more disorienting), when we cry to God about our loss of permanence, we realize that the wind which blew all these things away is operating in some cases at his instigation, but always at least at his allowance. 

There is, however, something that lasts. Something that God doesn't blow away. Something like the oak trees of Savannah. Something that is still possible, even in the winds of change. Psalm 1 paints a picture of a follower of Jesus who sole purpose is delight in God's law (v. 1-2). This is no self-righteous, self-exalting holiness either; it yields fruit and blesses the community (v. 3). The self-obsessed schemes of the world, which sought to make us healthy, wealthy and wise, and which promised permanence pre-pandemic, have been blown away, and revealed that which lasts, and which God will not blow away. You want to do something that lasts forever? Learn to delight in God's law. Learn to delight in holiness. Learn to bless your neighbor by being faithful to God.

Hymn
O Christ Our King Creator Lord

Prayer
O MOST dear and tender father, our defender and nourisher, endue us with your grace, that we may cast off the great blindness of our minds, and care of worldly things, and may put our whole study and care in keeping of your holy law ; and that we may work for our necessities in this life, like the birds of the air, and the lilies of the field, without care. For you have promised to care for us, and have commanded that we should cast our cares upon you, who lives and reigns, world without end. Amen

Sunday Worship (4/19/20)

Join us for worship at 5 pm this Sunday by clicking this link. Download and print out our order of worship here.

He is Risen!

Trust

1. Morning

   1. Psalm 97

   2. 1 Cor. 15:30-41

2. Evening

   1. Psalm 15

   2. Exodus 12:40-51

3. Hymn

   1. The Lamb Has Overcome

4. Prayer

   1. O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his
      disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith,
      that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives
      and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
      now and for ever. Amen.

Devotional: Psalm 97
From Rev. Martin Antoon:
I have three memories that stand out as my earliest of my life.  The first was an incredibly unremarkable day one morning in three-year-old preschool.  I don’t know why I remember it.  The second was cutting a chunk out of my hair when I was four.  Maybe slightly more significant, but still not that noteworthy in the grand scheme of things.  But I also have another memory from my four-year-old days.  For whatever reason, I decided to stick a paper clip in an electrical socket.  You could blame me for my lack of knowledge of simple electrical currents, or you could blame the apparent lack of oversight from whatever teacher was supposed to be watching.  But I remember a loud buzzing noise, which was followed by a teacher walking over to me, not saying a single word, picking me up, and promptly setting me down somewhere else.  And the question I remember thinking to myself was this:  “Why did she do that?”

As the virus continues its global course, something is becoming clear.  The reason we are collectively so unsettled is not just because we worry for our safety.  After all, we do things all the time that, in theory, jeopardize our well-being.  The fear of the virus lies in the fact that we truly have no idea what the next months, or maybe even year, could hold.  It’s scary.  We want to know that somebody is in control. 

What does the Psalmist mean when He says “The Lord reigns?”  We use that language a lot.  Simply put, it means two things are true.  Nothing happens outside of God’s control, and God works all things together for good for those who love Him.  It might, at times, leave us asking the question “Why did He do that?”  We might truly suffer in the midst of everything going on, but we can take comfort in one thing:  though we may not have the answers, God does.  He invites us to ask the question knowing that it will ultimately strengthen our dependence on Him.  The answer to my four-year-old-self’s question is painfully obvious now.  I just didn’t have the understanding required to see it at the time.  Thankfully, the person in charge did.  We don’t have the wisdom to understand God’s master plan, but thankfully we can trust that He does.

Finding Joy in the News

Texts:

1. Morning

   1. Psalm 103

   2. 1 Cor. 15:12-28

2. Evening

   1. Psalm 111

   2. Exodus 12:28-39

3. Hymn

   1. The Lamb Has Overcome

4. Prayer

   1. O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus
      Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to
      light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may
      abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory;
      through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the
      Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

Devotional: Psalm 103
There is a lot of bad news on the news. Obviously. Stories are full of sickness, incompetence, governments fighting with one another, and with themselves. There are lies, counter-lies, narratives and counter-narratives, statistics floating everywhere. Reading it all is seriously disheartening. And if you are as addicted to the news as most of us are (news which flows into us through our phones, which we need so desperately to maintain a connection to the outside world in an age of social distancing), the news shapes our emotional experience of our day-to-day lives. What if that fight we had with our spouses or roommates was really about the stress we are carrying from the news?

The Psalmist offers us a better way. He offers us an emotional experience full of joy and praises to God. God has forgiven him, healed him, redeemd him, loves him, gives him good things, and is righteous (v. 1-6). Does the Psalmist just live in a perfect, privileged world? Is that why the writer expresses joy? Some of us feel too guilty to express joy right now, because the news has told us that we have what others don't... 

The Psalmist's life and his joy isn't based on his circumstances. The opposite in fact- he knows he is going to die, and his days are limited (v. 15-16). But the joy remains, because it's based on the news he is reading. It's based on his knowledge of God, which he has gained as a result of reviewing the things that God has done in the world- saving his people, redeeming them, and making Himself known to them.  You are going to die, you will be forgotten by mankind- a hard truth. But nothing in comparison to the joy which comes from knowing that you have not been forgotten by God!

Reflections
1. Which news shapes your emotional experience in the day-to-day: CNN, or the good news of the gospel? 
2. Is it time to unplug for awhile?
3. When reading todays news, it feels like you only have two options: to be a sheep who goes along with authority, or a jerk who thumbs his/her nose at authority. How might taking the gospel as our formative news subvert both of those options? Are you a sheep or a jerk? How does the gospel of God's acts in history free you?

The Question of the Resurrection

The Question of the Resurrection

Texts:

1. Morning

   1. Psalm 93

   2. Mark 16:1-8

2. Evening

   1. Psalm 66

   2. 1 Cor. 15:1-11

3. Hymn

   1. The Lamb Has Overcome

4. Prayer

   1. Grant, Almighty God, that we who we celebrate with awe the Resurrection of your Son may be found worthy to attain to everlasting joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.

Devotional: Mark 16:1-8
Easter Sunday is over, and as I look out my office window it is raining. The confidence and assurance that we felt at the pronouncement of the Good News ("the battle's done and the victory is won, the Lamb has overcome," from the hymn above) wavers. Was it ever there at all?

We have so many questions about the resurrection. They are good questions. They need to be asked. That sort of thing doesn't happen, does it? Wasn't it just propaganda, drawn up by the early church to legitimate its claim to power? Maybe everybody was just confused? Hallucinating? Weren't ancient people more superstitious? Ask the questions. Look for answers. Start here, and don't stop until you get some.

The Gospel of Mark is interested in a different question though. Mark is interested in the questions, not that we ask of the Resurrection, but that the Resurrection asks of us. In fact, most scholars agree that Mark ends at chapter 16 verse 8. Not with a bodily appearance of Jesus, but with an empty tomb, and the women who loved him there, shocked and afraid. It is as if the author is asking US, "just what do you think happened here?" Answer the question. Ask for help. Start here, and don't stop until you know. 

If the resurrection didn't happen, then you are left with a rainy Monday in quarantine, 2020. If the resurrection did happen, then Jesus is Lord. Easter is still on, for the next three weeks of the Christian calendar, but really all year round. Anything can happen. Joy is possible. Redemption is possible. Hope is possible, in this life and the next. What do you say?

Reflection
1. Did it happen?

2. How does the truth of the Resurrection shape my joy and hope today?

3. What does it look like to live, not by optimism or by pessimism, but by faith?