11 Pentecost 28th August 2011

11 Pentecost: First Lesson – Exodus 3:1-15 Moses, the adoptive grandson of Pharaoh, has grown up. Forced to flee Egypt, he has settled into the nomadic life of a sheep herder in the Land of Midian. There, in the shadow of Mount Horeb … Mount Sinai … the Mountain of God … he encounters a [...]

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10 Pentecost 21st August 2011

10 Pentecost: First Lesson – Exodus 1:8-2:10 The Israelites are still in Egypt, but Joseph is dead and forgotten. There is a new Pharaoh who fears the Jews, for they are multiplying at an alarming rate! Draconian measures ensue, culminating in the rescue of a little Hebrew boychild, bobbing in a basket in the bulrushes [...]

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9 Pentecost – 14th August 2011

9 Pentecost: First Lesson – Genesis 45:1-15 Today, many years and many chapters after they sold him into slavery, Joseph and his brothers are reunited. It is a time of drought throughout the Middle East and Joseph is now the  senior official in charge of all of Pharaoh’s granaries. As his brother petition him for [...]

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8 Pentecost – 7th August 2011

8 Pentecost: First Lesson – Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28    Joseph was the youngest and he certainly was his Daddy’s favorite. But he was a little tattle tale and that was his ultimate undoing. However, this is not merely a history of a dysfunctional family: The story of Joseph and his many colored dream coat will lead [...]

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7 Pentecost – 31st July 2011

  7 Pentecost: First Lesson – Genesis 32:22-31  In this dark and mysterious passage, Jacob – the trickster, the deceitful one – wrestles with God … and prevails! Indeed, he emerges with a new name – Israel – a new identity and a new destiny. … A reading from the Book of Genesis … The [...]

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6 Pentecost – 24th July 2011

6 Pentecost: First Lesson – Genesis 29:15-28 Jacob has been a trickster all his life. Through shrewdness and deceit, he has taken both his older brother’s birthright and then his father’s paternal blessing. But in today’s Old Testament reading, the trickster is the one who is tricked! … A reading from the Book of Genesis [...]

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5 Pentecost – 17th July 2011

5 Pentecost: First Lesson – Genesis 28:10-19a Jacob (“he who supplants”), enroute to Haran to find a wife, is visited by the Lord in a dream. Heavenly messengers are ascending and descending a ladder – more likely a stairway or ramp – to do God’s bidding on earth. Jacob has seen Heaven’s Gate! He knows [...]

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4 Pentecost – 10th July 2011

4 Pentecost: First Lesson – Isaiah 55:10-13 The middle third of Isaiah was written by an anonymous prophet toward the end of the Babylonian exile. His message was one of deliverance, not judgment. Here he tells how even nature itself will be transformed by Israel’s return to its native land. … A reading from the [...]

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3 Pentecost – 3rd July 2010

3 Pentecost: First Lesson – Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67 Sarah is dead and Abraham has grown really old. Their boy child, Isaac, is now 40 and still unmarried. How can God’s promises of land and offspring be fulfilled if Isaac has no wife? Abraham has sent his most trusted servant to find him one! … [...]

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2 Pentecost – 26th June 2011

2 Pentecost: First Lesson – Genesis 22:1-14 God commanded Abraham to bind his beloved son and offer him up as a sacrifice. In a profound example of obedience and trust in the Lord, Abraham complied! … A reading from the book of Genesis … God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, [...]

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