Tag: Sabbath

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Lent Day 19: Jesus Heals

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Each Sunday in Lent will focus on one of Jesus’ miraculous signs in the Gospel of John. 

PREPARE

Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your devotional time. Before you read, meditate on John’s words about his Gospel:

But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name – John 20:31.

READ

John 5:1-29

REFLECT AND PRAY

1) The religious leaders’ response to Jesus healing on the Sabbath is an example of getting so caught up in doing things “right” or having things exactly as we envision them that we miss what is good. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you an example of this in your own life. If needed, ask for forgiveness and the ability to see God’s gifts for what they are. Give Jesus thanks for the goodness he has brought you.

2) Jesus asks the lame man, “Would you like to get well?” Imagine Jesus asking this of you. To what area of your life would you like Jesus to bring healing? Ask Jesus to break through any resistance you might feel to his healing touch.

OBEY

God gave the Sabbath as a gift, to allow us to rest and to remember our dependence on him to provide us with the things that we need. How can you honor the Sabbath today  – or if not today, then sometime this week? Set aside time to be with God, to enjoy the beauty of his presence, and find rest for your body, mind, and spirit.

 

You are also invited to hear a sermon on this passage. It will be streamed on the Vineyard One NYC Facebook page beginning at 10:30 am Eastern Standard Time. (Previous sermon audio files are available at vineyardone.nyc.)

“Leap of Faith” is a devotional series on the Gospel of John for the Lent season. All readings are available on the Vineyard One NYC app, along with additional resources for Bible reading, worship, and prayer (IPhone app here; Google Play app here).

 

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God. Goodness. Generosity: Psalm 8 and Genesis 1 and 2.

For Summer 2017, my church is following the Revised Common Lectionary schedule. Every Sunday, someone will be teaching on the Psalm for a week. Every Monday and Friday, one of four writers from our church will be exploring one of the additional passages from that same week. I’ll be cross-posting my reflections here (and, with permission, also posting reflections from the other writers). For Sunday, June 11, the featured Psalm is Psalm 8, and the first linked reading is from Genesis 1:1-2:4a.

Reflect

Psalm 8 shows God’s incredible vastness and power. At the same time, it shows his care for the smallest and most vulnerable of his creatures. This paradox includes humans, who are both insignificant specks in the cosmos, and beings only a “little lower than the angels,” made for an eternal life in God’s presence.

The beginning of Genesis tells the story of this paradox. God creates order out of chaos. He works day by day, with great detail and love. He builds a beautiful world and fills it with life of every kind.

God displays his generosity at every turn. He doesn’t hoard his life-giving creativity for himself. He gives each living being the ability to create more life. Plants produce more plants; animals have baby animals. And he makes human beings in his own image and gives them authority over everything in this new planet.

God is generous to himself as well. He takes a day to enjoy the goodness of what he has made. Then he again extends his generosity to us. He makes the Sabbath holy, so that we also can have a day of rest and enjoyment.

Respond

Part of being made in God’s image is living this cycle of work and rest, creation and enjoyment. How has God been generous to you? Where are you finding new life and goodness? Where are you creating it?

Throughout this week, consider setting aside time a holy time each day. Take at least twenty minutes out of your busy schedule to enjoy God, the goodness of his creation, and his new life in you.