Scripture Reading — Psalm 139:23-24Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. — Psalm 139:23Repentance can seem like something we should outgrow. It’s great for spiritual beginners, but it’s hard to imagine Christ
Scripture Reading — Romans 7:14-25I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. — Romans 7:15Sometimes church can get in the way of repentance.Repentance plays a huge part in our becoming followers of
Scripture Reading — Romans 7:21-25I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. — Romans 7:23Repentance isn’t complicated. It can be as simple as saying “I’
Scripture Reading — 1 John 1:8-10If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. — 1 John 1:9Shame creates distance from God, just as it did for the woman at the well. Since
Scripture Reading — John 4:4-18[Jesus] told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” — John 4:16In this story we find hints that the Samaritan woman was accustomed to hiding. Her personal life had fallen into ruin, and her sense of shame af
Scripture Reading — John 4:7-10“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” — John 4:9Most of us like to have a place to call home. We prefer to be in familiar territory and with people who are like us.Jesus was
Scripture Reading — John 4:4-10When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” — John 4:7To read this story well, we need to understand who this Samaritan woman was. As we saw yesterday, the Samaritans
Scripture Reading — John 4:4-9Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. — John 4:4The story at Sychar is all about outsiders. Samaritans were racially mixed former Israelites who had intermarried when Israel was conquered and exiled (2 Kings 17).
Scripture Reading — John 4:1-9A Samaritan woman came to draw water. . . — John 4:7This month, we’ll get to know a surprising woman whom Jesus befriended. John 4:7 begins to describe a situation that was not what this woman would have wanted.To
Scripture Reading — Luke 5:27-32“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” — Luke 5:30Followers of Jesus are expected to be nice, well-behaved, and untainted by the world, right? Most believers seem to think that.But Jesus nev
Scripture Reading — Hosea 11:1-4“The more they were called, the more they went away from me.” — Hosea 11:2This month we’re reflecting on hide and seek—the game about wanting and not wanting to be found.We’ve been playing that game with God for
Scripture Reading — John 4:1-26“Will you give me a drink?” — John 4:7Have you ever played hide and seek? Each person in the game tries to hide, and they all hope they won’t be found. The first person who is found gets to be “it” on the next ro
