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March 13, 2020

Journeying by Stages

Kara Lassen Oliver   |   Read Psalm 95:1-11

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Lectionary Week
March 9–15, 2020
Scripture Overview

Three of the passages this week connect water and faith. In Exodus and the psalm, we read about the Israelites grumbling in the desert. Although they have seen God’s mighty deeds in Egypt, they have begun to question God’s provision for them. God provides water through Moses, but the place is remembered (and named) as a site where the faith of the people fails. In John, however, a place to draw water becomes a site of salvation for the Samaritan woman and eventually for the people in her village through her faith. The reading in Romans goes a different direction. Paul emphasizes the importance of faith in the face of trials and the fact that God brings salvation through Christ when fallen humanity has no other hope.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Exodus 17:1-7. How do your memories of God’s provision sustain you through tough stages of your spiritual journey?
Read Psalm 95. What object, image, or memory serves for you as a symbol of God’s faithfulness?
Read Romans 5:1-11. How have you found hope in stages of life when God is forming your character through suffering and endurance?
Read John 4:5-42. When has letting go of your expectations or rules allowed God to work freely in your life or in the lives of others around you?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Psalm 95:1-11

1 Come, let’s sing out loud to the LORD! Let’s raise a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let’s come before him with thanks! Let’s shout songs of joy to him! 3 The LORD is a great God, the great king over all other gods. 4 The earth’s depths are in his hands; the mountain heights belong to him; 5 the sea, which he made, is his along with the dry ground, which his own hands formed. 6 Come, let’s worship and bow down! Let’s kneel before the LORD, our maker! 7 He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep in his hands. If only you would listen to his voice right now! 8 “Don’t harden your hearts like you did at Meribah, like you did when you were at Massah, in the wilderness, 9 when your ancestors tested me and scrutinized me, even though they had already seen my acts. 10 For forty years I despised that generation; I said, ‘These people have twisted hearts. They don’t know my ways.’ 11 So in anger I swore: ‘They will never enter my place of rest!’”

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

Let the psalmist’s words of praise and joy wash over you. Give thanks to God, to the rock of our salvation, for God’s presence, faithfulness, and beautiful creation! Recall a moment when you were startled by life’s goodness, when you witnessed a sunrise, rainbow, or moonrise with full attention and...

God of creation, open our eyes to see beauty and wonder that keep our hearts soft and open, whether the journey is easy or difficult. Amen.


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