Scripture Reading — Leviticus 25:8-22; Luke 4:16-19“Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land.”— Leviticus 25:18Homelessness is a growing problem in my city, and the causes are many: poverty, addiction, mental illness, poor personal choices, and more. All
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 24:17-22; Matthew 5:38-42“I tell you, do not resist an evil person.”— Matthew 5:39Have you ever wanted revenge? Maybe a colleague stole credit for your hard work, or you were blamed for someone else’s wrongdoing. Or if someone hurt you with their words or actions, it’s
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 24:10-16“Anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death.”— Leviticus 24:16This is a difficult story. Two men get into a fight. Tempers flare, and shouting erupts. One of the men invokes God’s name as a curse, clearly defying God’s command not to blasph
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 24:5-9“Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread. . . . Arrange them . . . on the table of pure gold before the Lord.”— Leviticus 24:5-6In the tabernacle there is a table stacked with 12 loaves of bread, representing all of God’s people. The table and the ut
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 24:1-4; Matthew 5:14-16“Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord from evening to morning, continually.”— Leviticus 24:3The tabernacle was the place where God’s presence came to rest a
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 23:23-25“You are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.”— Leviticus 23:24Do you ever feel distant from God? Sometimes busyness can crowd out so much of our lives that we forget to spend time with God in prayer or worship. The
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 23:15-22; Acts 2:1-4When the day of Pentecost came . . . they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.— Acts 2:1-3Many of us view rules or laws negatively. Speed limits can seem to bog us down, and who wants to pay extra tax
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 23:9-14; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.— 1 Corinthians 15:20A member of my church was diagnosed recently with terminal cancer. Another family close to me is watching as dementia robs th
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 23:6-8; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8Let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.— 1 Corinthians 5:8For one week, some years ago, I owned all the bread in the Jewish community in Salem,
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 23:4-8“Tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’”— Exodus 13:8Many people would rather avoid talking or thinking much about death, but the Bible is straightforward about this problem—and about God’s promises and acts of del
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 23:1-3“You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.”— Leviticus 23:3Our culture tends to wear busyness like a badge of honor. We work long hours; we juggle family, church, and school responsibilities; and we take our work with us when we g
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 18:1-6; Hebrews 13:4-6“You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you.”— Leviticus 18:3Our culture today is immersed in sex. Many advertisements use suggestive messaging to promo
