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An Embrace from the Church Family
In the late 1990s, the youth of First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, were burdened Read More
Alina Kanaski | Read Matthew 4:12-23
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Sign Up TodayLight has come into the darkness. Hope has come into hopelessness.
Healing has come to sickness—all through Jesus
Christ. Jesus calls Simon and Andrew, James and John in this
moment, but he calls all people to repent—those in first-century
Galilee and those across time. He calls you to repent; he...
Jesus, the light of the nearness of the kingdom shines on my path. May I choose to follow and obey. Amen.
The image of light figures in three of the texts. Light not only illumines but brings a changed situation. The psalmist’s confession links light with salvation. The Gospel lesson expresses deliverance in terms of the nearness of God’s reign, which overcomes diseases and distortions. Light permits well-being. Light is the mode of God’s presence.
• Read Isaiah 9:1-4. When has God called you out of the darkness of an old habit, a familiar circumstance, into the light of new opportunity for ministry?
• Read Psalm 27:1, 4-9. Do you feel more comfortable talking with God about your joys or your pains? Is there need for more openness in either?
• Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-18. In your faith community, when have members found themselves at odds over priorities of no eternal value?
• Read Matthew 4:12-23. Put yourself into the story. What do you hear, see, feel, or smell? How have you answered the call of Jesus?
Respond by posting a prayer.
“Discovery Weekend was an incredible opportunity and a great learning experience. I got to see the kingdom of God work within all the kids, which showed me how present Christ is throughout our lives and the amount of love and forgiveness that can be found in others.”
