Lent Series: Sin as Pride

Following is the second of weekly devotionals that will be posted throughout the Lenten season. May these reflections encourage and help you as you repent, reflect, and prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Thank you to Jimmie Massie for today’s post.   Pride goes before destruction; a haughty spirit before stumbling. —Proverbs 16:18 “Pride produced the…

Lent Series: Sin as Slavery

Following is the first of weekly devotionals that will be posted throughout the Lenten season. May these reflections encourage and help you as you repent, reflect, and prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Thank you to Stephen Waldron for today’s post.   Read: Romans 8:12-17 Most of the Bible tells the story of a…

Pitiful People

Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:19 Working on a very secular university campus brought many challenges to my Christian faith. Speaking Biblical truths without flinching shocked acquaintances over lunch. Believing in the Resurrection was one of those Truths. In academia, believing in Jesus rising from the dead is really not considered to be very “smart.” Fortunately, the…

Crucifixion

Reading: Luke 23:26-49 Jesus is exhausted. He has been beaten, abandoned, and is carrying the instrument of his torture and death along the Via Dolorosa. What was normally a great spectacle is striking horror into the hearts of some women, who are weeping as they watch. But rather than fixing his eyes on the task…

Soldiers Mock

Reading: Mark 15:16-20 The Roman soldiers’ mocking of Jesus epitomizes what the Apostle Paul calls, in 1 Corinthians 2:14, the “folly” of the “natural person.” The natural person, Paul observes, cannot understand the things of God because s/he lacks the discernment that only the Holy Spirit can give. The soldiers understand quite clearly Christ’s claim…

Denial

Reading: Matthew 26:30-75 In Matthew 26 we read an account of Jesus’s arrest and trial along with the disciples’ response. Peter is particularly singled out. Unlike the other disciples, he chooses to go to the courtyard of the high priest so he can learn the outcome of the trial. But when his identity as a…

Trials

Reading: John 18:19-24; 28-40 Most days in the news we hear about one or more high profile trials taking place in our region or somewhere in the country. Sometimes we have an opinion about the trial based on information we’ve read or heard in the media. If we are pushed to give our own personal…

The Arrest

Reading: Matthew 26:47-56 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. Under any other circumstance this scene looks like the perfect picture: a peaceful…

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