Daily Bible Readings
Daily Bible Readings for Week of October 19, 2020
Monday, October 19th - Genesis 28:10-17
Tuesday, October 20th - 1 Peter 1:3-9
Wednesday, October 21st - John 15:17-25
Thursday, October 22nd - Isaiah 44:21-23
Friday, October 23rd - 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Saturday, October 24th - John 1:35-50
Prayer of the Week
Our Lord Jesus, You have endured the doubts of men and foolish questions in every generation. Forgive us for trying to be judge over You, and grant us the confident faith to acknowledge you as Lord, one with the Father and the Spirit forever. Amen.
Memory Verses for October 2020
October 4th - Matthew 9:37-38
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
October 11th - John 4:36
36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
October 18th - 1 Corinthians 3:6
6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
October 25th - 2 Corinthians 9:10
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
Book of the Month
The Gospel of John
Journey to Hope
A Declaration of Blessing
“Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4) It seems a strange thing to say that those who suffer are blessed. Every instinct within our human selves rises in disbelief and confusion. It seems illogical and contradictory. How can anyone who has lost something or someone much loved be blessed? Is that not a misfortune or a curse? Yet, God declares that people who believe God are privileged in the midst of every sad and painful circumstance. How can that be?
Navigating Change
Change Is not something most of us eagerly anticipate, especially if it is not our plan. Grief brings about abrupt change. What was comfortable and familiar yesterday becomes horrifying and different today. Life can be re-categorized—there is BC (before change) and AD (after death or loss).
What the Parable of the Sower Tells Us About Grief
When we grieve the loss of something dear to us our faith is often tested. We are told in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) of four areas where seeds fell and subsequently grew. Three areas could not sustain the plants that sprung up—only one could. Going through grief can reveal our spiritual soil type. God made soil to be a natural medium for the growth of plants and we are the God-designed medium through which faith is cultivated.
Letting Go
We might not think that grieving would be an appropriate word to use for the Israelites after they left Egypt. They had been in the land for many years and it had been welcoming and a prosperous time. But under a new Pharaoh life changed drastically. The bible tells us that the Egyptian masters worked the Israelites “ruthlessly” (Exod. 1:13, 14) and made their lives “bitter” (Exod. 1:14) with “hard/cruel” (Exod. 1:14; 6:9) service. As a result, Israel languished in “misery” and “suffering” (Exod. 3:7).