Month: February 2021
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Second Sunday in Lent
Readings: Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16 | Romans 5:1-11 | Mark 8:27-38 Text: Mark 8:27-33 During this season of Lent, the faithful follow Jesus year after year to the cross. It’s a devotional practice which spans centuries and connects us with that great cloud of witnesses who “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,…
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Lent I Midweek
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Readings: Psalm 81:1-16 | Exodus 32:1-35 | John 8:31-59 Text: Exodus 32:1-35 At Mount Sinai, as recorded in Exodus 20, God Himself spoke to the people of Israel, saying, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves.…
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First Sunday in Lent
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR Readings: Genesis 22:1-18 | James 1:12-18 | Mark 1:9-15 Text: Genesis 22:1-18 One of the sad realities of life is that people only get woken up to a problem when it affects them personally. In war, they’re willing to send other sons into war, but hate to send their own. …
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Ash Wednesday
Readings: Joel 2:12-19 | 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 | Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Text: Joel 2:12-19; Job 13:23 Our forefather Job asked the Lord in the midst of his suffering, “How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin” (Job 13:23). This seems like a dangerous question and request. Don’t…
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The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Readings: 2 Kings 2:1-12 | 2 Corinthians 3:23-18; 4:1-6 | Mark 2:2-9 Text: Mark 9:2-9 Have you ever stared at the sun? I hope not, because it would burn your corneas and you’d be blind. Have you ever handled molten rock? If you did, it would burn your skin irreparably. Have you ever eaten highly…