Author Archives: smcalhoon
Lent Devotions
March 6, 2016: Pray Without Ceasing (Part Two)
Lord, teach us to pray (v. 1).
When you pray, open your Bible and pray God’s words back to him. It may sound strange, but those who know most about prayer pray just this way!
The form of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, what we know as the Lord’s Prayer, came from the part of the synagogue liturgy of Jesus’ day known as theAmidah. The heart of the Amidah was called the Shemoneh Esreh, 18 blessings of God prayed three times daily. Three times a day, every day, devout Jews would lift their hands to heaven and pray, “Blessed be you, O God, ruler of the universe for…”—and then name 18 different gifts that God gave them every day. What is important for us to know here is that each blessing was taken from the Bible.
Jesus was urging his disciples to pray with the words of the Bible, just as he did on the cross when he cried out in the words of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He was thereby teaching us to use the Bible when we pray. Let me say this candidly: the human heart, as important to us as it is for falling in love or writing a poem or admiring a sunset, is too narrow and shallow a thing on which to build a life of prayer. We need to pray not only from the heart but also from the Bible! The Bible is designed to give us the words to pray.
Prayer: Lord, help us use your words in our prayers.
Lent Devotions
March 5, 2016: Pray Without Ceasing (Part One)
Lord, teach us to pray (v. 1).
In the treasured verses before us, Luke provides us with a picture of how to pray (10:38-42), a pattern for our praying (11:2-4), and an encouragement to persist in our praying (11:5-12). The picture of praying is Mary quietly sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to everything he said.
I encourage you to live into the picture of Mary hanging on Jesus’ every word. The reason the story of Mary and Martha immediately precedes Jesus’ teaching on prayer is to give us an incentive to enter into our prayers with the counter-cultural practice of quieting down. Praying, at least in part, is listening for the voice of God. Mary shows us what that looks like; she “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying” (v. 39).
Maybe this is why the psalmist echoes the voice of God, saying, “Be still, and know that I am God!” (Ps. 46:10). Maybe this is what is behind Isaiah’s vision, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isa. 30:15). Or maybe it’s why James, the brother of Jesus, wrote, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19).
In a wired world of endless texting, tweeting, and skyping, a world never free of noise and commotion, it is a great relief to be encouraged to be quiet in the presence of the Lord. This is the first step toward praying without ceasing.
Prayer: Quiet us, Lord, that we may learn to pray.
Today’s devotional was written by Tim Brown, president and Henry Bast professor of preaching at Western Theological Seminary. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.
Lent Devotions
March 4, 2016: A Good Samaritan
“Who is my neighbor?” (v. 29)
Luke’s “universal-gospel” theme colors several of the parables of Jesus, not least of which is the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. It has not one but three stings in its tail.
First, a shock. Jewish people with a dislike of the religious establishment probably smiled sourly at the self-serving priest and Levite, and assumed that Jesus would go on to contrast these two with a Jewish layperson like themselves. But a Samaritan! I may dislike hypocritical religious leaders, but everybody dislikes Samaritans.
Then, a challenge. Note what the Samaritan did, for those who are to “inherit eternal life” will do the same sort of thing. But this kind of good deed is not particularly difficult, is it? Thousands of people send checks to charities and reckon they are being Good Samaritans.
The greater challenge of the parable is often missed. The question that led directly into it was not about “love” but about “neighbor”: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus turned it back on the questioner: “Who was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” And the answer came, “The one who showed him mercy.” The man couldn’t even bring himself to utter the name. For that neighbor was the hated Samaritan, and you are to love your neighbor. Even if—especially if—you regard him as a rank outsider.
Prayer: Show us today’s opportunities both to imitate the Samaritan and to love him.
Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.
Lent Devotions
March 3, 2016: Come Down from the Mountaintop
“Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings.” (v. 33)
A few years ago I climbed a mountain in the Grand Tetons, in Wyoming. I sat on the summit, savored the view, devoured a cheese sandwich, drank some coffee from a thermos. Then I began my descent. You don’t stay long on a mountaintop. Mountaintops are inhospitable places. It’s cold up there. Your body aches. Breathing is difficult. Nobody would ever want to stay on a mountaintop.
Except Peter. “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings,” he says. Christ’s countenance is shining like the sun. His clothes are “dazzling white.” It’s a moment of holiness and majesty, and Peter doesn’t want it to end. “Let us make three dwellings.” Peter wants to stay on the mountaintop. He wants to prolong the experience.
That’s a bad idea. Peter made this comment, says Luke, “not knowing what he said.” Jesus, Moses, and Elijah don’t need dwellings. You can’t take something radiant and stuff it into a box.
The danger in our mountaintop experiences is that we try to freeze them and make them permanent. And so a life which might have been a voyage of discovery and growth instead is chained to the past. A mountaintop is a nice place to visit, but you don’t want to live there.
Prayer: Lead me onward, Lord.
Today’s devotional was written by Lou Lotz, the pastoral leader of Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visitwww.woh.org.
Lent Devotions
March 2, 2016: The Five Thousand Fed
Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd (v. 16).
The five thousand, miraculously fed by our Lord, had been tired and hungry; they had not intended to wander so far away from home and had brought no provisions with them. This is a picture of the world today. Wandering about in a world of sin, people need the life-giving nourishment that only Christ can supply.
Notice how helpless the disciples were when faced with the situation. People today do not have satisfactory answers to the problems of the world. Assemblies and councils may be able to make some contribution, but the final solution cannot come from them.
Only Christ could feed the five thousand. Christ has the answer for the needs of men today as well. His promise is not only for life everlasting, but also for life abundant. He can take away the frustrations, fears, and anguish and replace them with a peace that the world knows nothing about.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for the Bible. Please give me a clearer understanding of it.
Today’s devotional was written by the late Pierce Maassen, a pastor in the RCA. It was originally published in 1967. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit http://www.woh.org.
Lent Devotions
March 1, 2016: Someone Feared
A man of the city who had demons… (v. 27)
“This thing is bigger than the both of us,” as they used to say in the old movies.
The thing that Jesus confronted in “the country of the Gerasenes”—demon possession—was not a deliberately chosen, evil way of life, like that of the tax collector, nor was it an evil disease that sensible people would try not to catch, like leprosy. It was something bigger and deeper, something that came more directly from the pit, from the source of all evil. The village council was at its wits’ end. “He’s so strong! We clapped him in irons, and he simply broke them. It’s frightening. Let’s just hope he stays out of town.”
Of course the Gerasenes feared this demon-possessed man. Yet, curiously, it was not while he was raving, but after he had been cured, that Luke says “they were afraid.” From Jesus’ point of view, another outsider had been transformed by the gospel and brought back in to start a new life. But from the Gerasenes’ point of view (the local hog trade having just been destroyed!), the Lord’s transforming power was a bigger threat than the demon’s destructive power. Jesus might want to transform them! He might disrupt business or challenge their way of life, and that would never do…would it?
Prayer: Lord, make us willing for whatever change in us will bring glory to you.
Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.
Lent Devotions
February 29, 2016: Someone Despised
A woman…who was a sinner (v. 37).
Here’s another lesson about the universal reach of the good news, featuring another Simon (Luke mentions at least seven different Simons or Simeons!). This one is another Pharisee with whom Jesus crosses swords.
In this case, strangely, you might almost say the Pharisee and the Savior are in agreement. The woman “who was a sinner” was probably a prostitute, and was certainly notorious in the area. But what mattered was simply “her sins, which were many,” rather than what kind of sins they were. You may be a gentile, a leper, a tax collector; none of those facts will exclude you from the company of God’s people. But sin will. On that, Jesus and Simon were agreed.
How wrong Simon was, though, to assume that Jesus didn’t know about the woman’s sins! He did know, and also knew her desire to be rid of them, her awareness that Jesus could forgive them, and the gratitude she expressed in bathing and anointing his feet.
“Follow the logic, Simon,” Jesus seems to say. “What keeps people outside is sin—your kind of sin as much as hers. I am the only person who can deal with it. She knows that, and loves me for it. How about you?”
Prayer: Remind us, Lord, of how much you have forgiven us, and how much we should love you.
Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.
Jazz Vespers
Join us for Jazz Vespers:
Sunday, March 6th at 5:30pm
Elegant Jazz
Patrick Baron: Piano
Elise Catera: Flute
Lent Devotions
February 28, 2016: Honest Doubts
John…sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (vv. 18-19)
John the Baptist earlier introduced Christ to the world as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But in today’s Scripture, we discover that doubts have entered his mind. He sends his friends to Jesus with the question, “Are you the one who is to come; or shall we look for another?” John’s question almost disillusions us.
But notice Christ’s reaction. He does not heap judgment upon John’s head. Rather, in the presence of John’s friends, he performed many miracles and then said, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard” (v. 22). These miracles prove that he is the one who was to come.
John’s experience teaches us that there is nothing sinful about having honest doubts. John had good reason to question Jesus. He was languishing in prison and the expected revolutionary transformation had not yet taken place. John wondered whether he had been premature in his announcement of the coming of the kingdom.
In his bewilderment, he did the right thing. He went right to the source and asked Jesus, and he received the answer he was hoping for. His faith was bolstered. We need never be ashamed of the doubts and fears that creep into our hearts. If we bring them to Jesus, he will banish them with words of assurance and encouragement.
Prayer: Lord, help me to have a greater faith.
Today’s devotional was written by the late Pierce Maassen, a pastor in the RCA. It was originally published in 1967. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.
Lent Devotions
February 27, 2016: A Believing Roman
Not even in Israel have I found such faith (v. 9).
“When strangers discover that I’m a pastor,” observed a friend of mine, “they regularly set about telling me how good they are!”
In Luke 7 we are told how good this Roman army officer is. But the circumstances are rather different. First, this golden opinion of him is not his own, but that of others, and therefore much more trustworthy. Also, amazingly, it is the opinion of the citizens of an occupied country where he is a member of the occupying forces.
Then again, it is not merely about his virtues, the kind of “moral excellences” that can be seen in many an unbeliever and do not necessarily say anything about their spiritual state. No, in this case the leaders of the local Jewish community are speaking quite specifically of the Roman soldier’s practical friendship with them, God’s ancient people, and of his deep and generous interest in their life and religion. These things are much more significant, because they point to his own relationship with God. He turns out to have a grasp of spiritual principles that Jesus himself calls “faith”—indeed, faith such as is rare “even in Israel.”
It is commitment to this God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that brings an outsider into the kingdom.
Prayer: Lord, give us the faith that grasps spiritual truth and acts accordingly.
Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.
St Croix Reformed Church 
You must be logged in to post a comment.