Daily Bible Reading - June 21st, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - June 21st, 2020 | American Bible Society: Ezekiel 1:1—2:1: Today we begin reading excerpts from the book of the prophet Ezekiel. A unique feature of this prophetic book is that it is written in the first person. All of Ezekiel’s visions, prophecies, and actions are described from his point of view. Ezekiel was a priest who lived in exile in Babylon during the period before and after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. In today’s reading, Ezekiel describes a vision of God’s glory.

Daily Bible Reading - June 16th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - June 16th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Romans 14:1-23: Some of the followers in Rome believed that it was wrong to eat meat, and others were saying that certain foods should only be eaten on certain days. Paul says that there will be differences among God’s people, but that all of the believers need to be accepting of one another and not judge each other.

Daily Bible Reading - June 14th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - June 14th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Romans 12:1-21: The apostle Paul says that God’s people no longer need to offer dead animals or make any other sacrifice in order to please God. Rather they are to offer their whole selves in living service to God. Such service involves using the gifts each has received in accordance with God’s grace.

Daily Bible Reading - June 10th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - June 10th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Acts 19:21-41: Demetrius, a silversmith in Ephesus who made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis, sees his business, along with the economy of the city, threatened and undermined by Paul’s teachings. He stirs up opposition to Paul’s evangelizing work, and a city clerk is finally able to subdue the crowd.

Daily Bible Reading - June 7th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - June 7th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Acts 18:1-17: From Athens, the apostle Paul travels to Corinth and meets Aquila and Priscilla with whom he stays. He has a vision in which the Lord encourages him to keep on speaking and leading people to faith. While many in Corinth believe Paul’s message and are baptized, he is brought to court by his opponents but released by the Roman governor.

Daily Bible Reading - May 31st, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 31st, 2020 | American Bible Society: Acts 2:1-21: Today marks the day when many Christians celebrate Pentecost. God sends the Holy Spirit to give power and courage to the apostles. They begin to tell the good news about Jesus, which people hear in many different languages. Some people are happy and excited, while others make fun of the Lord’s followers. Peter quotes the words of the prophet Joel regarding the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Daily Bible Reading - May 24th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 24th, 2020 | American Bible Society: 2 Corinthians 6:1—7:1: Paul reminds the Corinthians that he and his co-workers have gone out of their way to work hard and not cause problems and that they have spoken the truth. He concludes by warning the Corinthians against pagan influences and encourages them to live in awe of God.

Daily Bible Reading - May 24th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 24th, 2020 | American Bible Society: 2 Corinthians 6:1—7:1: Paul reminds the Corinthians that he and his co-workers have gone out of their way to work hard and not cause problems and that they have spoken the truth. He concludes by warning the Corinthians against pagan influences and encourages them to live in awe of God.

Daily Bible Reading - May 17th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 17th, 2020 | American Bible Society: 2 Corinthians 2:5-17: In today’s reading, Paul addresses a particular situation in which one person had been attacking Paul and his teaching. The followers in Corinth had publicly pointed out the wrong things this person had said. Paul encourages the Corinthians to forgive this person.

Daily Bible Reading - May 11th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 11th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Hebrews 13:1-25: Today’s reading is the final chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews. Christians are given instructions on how to live in ways that please God. The letter concludes with a prayer and words of encouragement.

Daily Bible Reading - May 10th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 10th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Hebrews 12:12-29: The imagery of Mount Sinai is contrasted with Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem, where people come to Jesus who has arranged the new covenant between God and God’s people. The chapter concludes with words of encouragement and a reminder that God’s kingdom cannot be shaken.

Daily Bible Reading - May 9th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 9th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Hebrews 12:1-11: Today’s reading teaches that we are surrounded by faithful witnesses from the past and present. This “large crowd” is like a hometown crowd cheering us on as we run the race of faith. The reading concludes by affirming God’s treatment of us as his children.

Daily Bible Reading - May 7th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 7th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Hebrews 11:1-22: Today’s reading provides us with a listing of people of great faith and the actions and risks they took in response to their faith. The account begins with Abel and continues to Joseph. We learn that faith is the way to please God.

Daily Bible Reading - May 6th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 6th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Hebrews 10:19-39: The Lord’s followers are encouraged to keep their hearts pure and their consciences free from evil as they help each other prepare for the day when the Lord will return.

Daily Bible Reading - May 4th, 2020 | American Bible Society Hope Church

Daily Bible Reading - May 4th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Hebrews 9:1-22: Rules Shalom. Salaam. Peace. Paz. In Hebrew, Arabic, English and Spanish, we wish you peace. Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace, but it means more than the absence of conflict. Shalom means: God, creation, and all creatures webbed together in right relationship and mutual delight.

We pray for and seek shalom for our neighbors, shalom for strangers, sojourners, and refugees, shalom for creation, shalom for those with broken spirits or mental illness, shalom for families, and shalom for those of other faith traditions. In our experience, Jesus Christ embodies, teaches, and accomplishes God’s will for shalom.

Our Values

We frame our life together around the themes of worship, community, education, and service. Those themes are rooted in Philippians 2:1-11, and serve as the basis for our values which guide us in all that we seek to do.

WORSHIP

We value worship that intentionally awakens us to the presence of God through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the sacraments.

We use the voices of the congregation in liturgy, music, prayer, and proclamation.

We expect preaching to be biblically-grounded, thoughtful, engaging, challenging, relevant, and responsive to the movement of the Spirit.

We try to develop well-crafted and participatory liturgies, including music that is thematically of one piece with the liturgy.

We seek a balance of music that represents the best of Christian hymnody while intentionally including new forms of worship music.

We want worship to be authentic to our experience while being hospitable, accessible, and inclusive to a broad sweep of worshippers.

We strive to worship in a manner that inspires, encourages, and sends us out to love and serve God and neighbor.

Daily Bible Reading - May 3rd, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - May 3rd, 2020 | American Bible Society: Hebrews 8:1-13: God gave Moses the plans for building the first Sacred Tent (Exodus 25:40—26:37). Israel’s priests offered sacrifices at this tent and later at the Temple. Both the Sacred Tent and the Temple are imperfect when compared to the real place of worship in heaven.

Reaching One Billion Souls for Jesus | Blog | News | American Bible Society

Reaching One Billion Souls for Jesus | Blog | News | American Bible Society: Charles Spurgeon said,

Daily Bible Reading - April 19th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - April 19th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Hebrews 1:1-14: The Letter to the Hebrews is a teaching sermon that is designed to help explain what the new Christian faith is all about. Today’s passage explains that the ancient prophets spoke God’s message to his people, but now God has sent Jesus to tell God’s message, achieve forgiveness for humanity’s sins, and rule over all creation forever.

Daily Bible Reading - April 18th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - April 18th, 2020 | American Bible Society: John 21:15-25: After sharing a breakfast of bread and fish with seven of the disciples, Jesus calls upon Peter to follow him and to care for Jesus’s lambs and sheep. John’s Gospel concludes by saying that there were many other things that Jesus did, and that not enough books could be written to contain them all.

Daily Bible Reading - April 12th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - April 12th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Matthew 28:1-20: An angel rolls the stone from the tomb, revealing that Jesus has been raised to life. The women rush to tell the disciples; and on the way, they meet the risen Christ. Later, Jesus appears to his disciples on a hill in Galilee and tells them to go forth and make disciples of all people.

Daily Bible Reading - April 11th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - April 11th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Matthew 27:57-66: Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus’s body, and Mary Magdalene and the other Mary keep watch at the tomb. Pilate sends soldiers to guard the tomb as well, in order to prevent Jesus’s disciples from stealing his body and claiming he had been raised from death.

Daily Bible Reading - April 8th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - April 8th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Matthew 26:36-75: Jesus grieves and prays in Gethsemane in preparation for his betrayal and arrest. His disciples fail to keep watch and fall asleep. Jesus is arrested and brought before the chief priests and the Council where he is accused of blasphemy. The chapter concludes with Peter denying that he knows Jesus.

Daily Bible Reading - April 5th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - April 5th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Matthew 21:1-22: Jesus enters Jerusalem, riding on a humble donkey, to the cheers of the crowd.
Then he enters the Temple, drives out the moneychangers, and heals people. In so doing, he angers the religious leaders. Today’s reading concludes with Jesus cursing a fig tree to symbolize God’s wrath against those who oppose Jesus’s teachings. (See Jeremiah 8:12-13 in which a withered fig tree symbolizes God’s judgment.)

Daily Bible Reading - March 29th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 29th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Ezra 8:15-36: The book of Ezra is considered a sequel to Chronicles and describes the return of some of the Jewish exiles from Babylon and the restoration of life and worship in Jerusalem. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple (586 B.C.), the people were deported to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:11-21). In 538 B.C., King Cyrus or Persia defeated the Babylonians and allowed the captives to return to their homes near Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple (2 Chronicles 36:22, 23). Ezra, an expert in the Law of God, helps the people reorganize their religious and social life in order to safeguard the spiritual heritage of Israel. Today’s reading is Ezra’s prayer in which he asks the people to fast and to pray for God’s protection as they journey back to Jerusalem.

Daily Bible Reading - March 27th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 27th, 2020 | American Bible Society: 2 Chronicles 7:1-10: After Solomon offered his prayer to the LORD (see 2 Chronicles 6:12-42), he dedicated the Temple and offered sacrifices to the LORD. Then Solomon and all the people celebrated the Festival of Shelters.

Daily Bible Reading - March 27th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 27th, 2020 | American Bible Society: 2 Chronicles 7:1-10: After Solomon offered his prayer to the LORD (see 2 Chronicles 6:12-42), he dedicated the Temple and offered sacrifices to the LORD. Then Solomon and all the people celebrated the Festival of Shelters.

Daily Bible Reading - March 22nd, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 22nd, 2020 | American Bible Society: 2 Chronicles 1:1-17: Second Chronicles begins with a description of the rule of King Solomon, David’s son. When God appears to Solomon in a dream, the young king asks God for the wisdom and knowledge to rule his people. God replies with a promise to give him wisdom, knowledge, wealth, and fame.

Daily Bible Reading - March 21st, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 21st, 2020 | American Bible Society: Psalm 84: Today’s reading is a psalm that celebrates the joy of being and living in God’s presence. True happiness comes from depending on God, and the writer expresses longing to be in the LORD’s Temple.

Daily Bible Reading - March 19th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 19th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Psalm 75: In today’s reading the psalm writer expresses trust in God’s judgment and acknowledges that God judges with fairness.

Daily Bible Reading - March 16th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 16th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Psalm 48: As cited in verses 1 and 2, Mount Zion is the sacred hill and refers to Jerusalem, the city of God; and this psalm may have been sung by pilgrims visiting Jerusalem. Jerusalem and its people did withstand many attacks by enemy armies and even destruction by the Babylonians (586 B.C.) Still, the people believed that God would “keep the city safe forever” (verse 8), and this psalm celebrates Jerusalem as the place where God rules.

Daily Bible Reading - March 15th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 15th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Psalm 46: This psalm is an expression of confidence and trust in God. In the midst of cosmic or natural upheaval, God’s protection and presence is assured.

Daily Bible Reading - March 8th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 8th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Psalm 25: Today’s psalm is a prayer for guidance, protection, and forgiveness. It includes a series of petitions along with affirmations of trust in God. The writer attests to the LORD God as our teacher; to learn, one must have reverence for the LORD.

Daily Bible Reading - March 6th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 6th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Psalm 11: In this short psalm, an individual who has found safety in the LORD is addressing another individual and affirming trust and confidence in the LORD.

Daily Bible Reading - March 1st, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - March 1st, 2020 | American Bible Society: Matthew 4:1-25: After Jesus is baptized by John at the Jordan River, the Spirit leads him into the desert where he is tempted by the devil. After the devil departs, angels come to help Jesus. Jesus then moves north to Capernaum and begins his public ministry in Galilee. He calls his first four disciples and travels throughout Galilee, teaching, preaching, and healing the sick.

Daily Bible Reading - February 23rd, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - February 23rd, 2020 | American Bible Society: Psalm 17: Today’s psalm is a prayer of one who is being falsely accused and who is seeking God’s justice. The writer pleads for help, protection, and deliverance from enemies, trusting in God’s wonderful love. The psalm concludes by affirming the joy that one experiences in God’s presence.

Daily Bible Reading - February 16th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - February 16th, 2020 | American Bible Society: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13: The apostle Paul describes how love is to be shown toward others. While there are things we don’t yet fully understand, when we act in love we grow in our knowledge of God.

Daily Bible Reading - February 15th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - February 15th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Psalm 136: Today’s reading is a hymn of thanksgiving for God’s eternal goodness and love. Written as a litany that was probably sung by the priests during worship, the words “his love is eternal” are a congregational response at the end of each verse. The psalm recounts the story of creation and recalls God’s saving acts in Israel’s history.

Daily Bible Reading - February 9th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - February 9th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Luke 10:25-37: Today’s reading is a parable that Jesus tells to explain what it means to love your neighbor as yourself (see Leviticus 19:18 from the reading for February 1). This story is known by many as “The Parable of the Good Samaritan.”

Daily Bible Reading - February 2nd, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - February 2nd, 2020 | American Bible Society: Deuteronomy 5:1-22: The book of Deuteronomy is organized as a series of addresses given by Moses to the people of Israel in the land of Moab, where they had stopped at the end of the long wilderness journey and were about to enter and occupy Canaan. Today’s reading is part of Moses’s second speech and includes the heart of Israel’s religion—the Law that God gave to Moses and the people. Moses recounts God’s covenant with the Israelites and the commandments they were given at Mount Sinai. (As noted in yesterday’s reading, a parallel account is in Exodus 20).

Daily Bible Reading - January 26th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - January 26th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Acts 5:17-42: The apostles are arrested but an angel of the Lord releases them from prison. They are then brought before the Council and Gamaliel, one of the Council’s leaders, argues that, if the work of the apostles is of human origin, it will fail; but if their work is of God, it cannot be defeated.

Daily Bible Reading - January 21st, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - January 21st, 2020 | American Bible Society: Matthew 20:20-34: The mother of James and John asks a special favor of Jesus on behalf of her sons, and Jesus uses the opportunity to teach the disciples about servanthood. The chapter concludes with Jesus healing two blind men.

Daily Bible Reading - January 19th, 2020 | American Bible Society

Daily Bible Reading - January 19th, 2020 | American Bible Society: Matthew 17:1-27: Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him up to a high mountain where he is transfigured or visibly glorified. The disciples witness Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah. When they descend from the mountain, Jesus heals a boy with a demon. Jesus speaks a second time about his impending death, and the reading concludes with Jesus’s teaching on payment of the Temple tax.