Archive for April 2011
Don't Let Sin Reign
Lenten Devotional Series Day 38. Today’s meditation is on Romans 6:11-14. In today’s reading, the Apostle Paul says, “Don’t let sin reign.” Does this strike you as unreasonable and absurd? In reading this, I feel as if I have been ordered on a solo mission across the Sahara Desert, with two stipulations: 1) I must…
Read MoreGuard Against Greed
Lenten Devotional Series Day 37. Today’s meditation is on Luke 12:13-21. It seemed like a fair request. Jesus had been teaching the crowds that, as much as God cares for the sparrows in the world, he cares infinitely more for His people. He even knows the number of hairs on our heads! Surely Jesus would…
Read MorePalm Sunday (4/18): The Passion According to St Luke
You are warmly invited to our Palm Sunday Service: The Passion of Christ According to St Luke, at 5pm at Christ Our Shepherd Church, 801 North Carolina Ave. SE. In place of our usual Communion service, we are holding a meditative service of readings and songs following Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem,…
Read MoreEaster Vigil, 8pm Saturday April 23
Advent, Ascension and Resurrection will come together for an Easter Vigil on on Holy Saturday, April 23rd, from 8pm to 11pm. This time together is one of the most anticipated celebrations in the liturgical calendar. We will celebrate through various art forms and the Eucharist. The service will take place at Church of the Holy…
Read MoreBeing Content in All Things
Lenten Devotional Series Day 36. Today’s meditation is on Philippians 4:10-13. The Apostle Paul echoes the 10th Commandment in his letter from prison to the church in Philippi: I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no…
Read MoreContentment in God's Kingdom
Lenten Devotional Series Day 35. Today’s meditation is on the Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet,” Exodus 20:17. In the 10th Commandment, God prohibits “inordinate” desires. Why? Because, as we saw yesterday, God loves us so much that he wants for us to be at peace, not only with one another, but also in our hearts. Consequently,…
Read MoreDesire vs. Peace
Lenten Devotional Series Day 34. Today’s meditation is on the Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet.” Exodus 20:17. I once read an article in which an atheist ridiculed the 10th Commandment, because, unlike the other nine, it commanded inner thoughts and desires rather than actions. What he didn’t understand was that the first nine commandments share the…
Read MoreBe a Builder
Lenten Devotional Series Day 33. Today’s meditation is on Ephesians 4:11-16. Some years ago I had a job with a number of other young people who were at best habitually sarcastic and at worst both cutting and cruel. I’m sorry to say that I was no exception. This wasn’t a matter of intentionality. We didn’t…
Read MoreCosmic Vandalism
Lenten Devotional Series Day 32. Today’s meditation is on the Ninth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16. I love DC’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival. People flood into Washington from far and wide to celebrate the city’s emergence from its long winter nap. Every year at this time I remember what a…
Read MoreCharitable Speech as a Way of Life
Lenten Devotional Series Day 31. Today’s meditation is on the Ninth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16. The ten commandments are the basic ethical framework for God’s redeemed community. They provide foundational principles for community life, which are then further expanded in the rest of the Mosaic law and the…
Read More