March 6–12, 2017 – Walking by Faith, Not by Sight by Dan R. Dick

Scripture Overview: Faith in God and deliverance by God are themes that dominate these scriptures. Abraham casts aside all baser loyalties and in daring fashion entrusts life and well-being to God’s care. Abraham follows God’s initiatives into new realms of loyalty and purpose. Paul reminds us that while Abraham models good works, his righteousness results from his faith. Nicodemus models an Abraham who has yet to leave Ur of the Chaldees. Nicodemus’s comprehension of God’s initiatives is shallow and sterile. The psalm for this day greets with joy God’s invitation to renewal.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

· Read Genesis 12:1–4a. How is God calling you to leave behind the familiar for some new opportunity?

· Read Psalm 121. What aspect of this psalm draws your attention? What offers you comfort and hope? To whom do you turn for help?

· Read Romans 4:1–5, 13–17. What distinction do you draw between your doing great things for God and God’s doing great things through you?

· Read John 3:1–17. What experience does the phrase born again bring to your mind? Does it foster positive notions? In what ways do you evidence your baptism in the Spirit?

Week of March 13–19, 2017 – Not Again! by Sharon G. Austin

Scripture Overview: All the readings affirm God’s benevolent care of those who place their well-being in God’s hands. While imperishable, God’s love can be frustrated by human pride and faithlessness. Water is an important symbol of God’s sustaining grace. In Exodus 17 the Israelites’ dependence on water becomes a statement about their dependence on God. The manner in which they obtain their water stands as commentary on human pride and arrogance. The psalm recounts this episode as a means of warning the people against the kind of obstinacy that impedes grace. John 4 focuses on the full actualization of God’s love in Jesus Christ through the “living water.” Paul speaks of God’s love being “poured into our hearts,” a grace that comes in the death and life of Jesus Christ.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

· Read Exodus 17:1–7. When have you complained to God about a situation, only to discover God had already begun to forge a way through?

· Read Psalm 95. How does weekly worship allow you to hear God’s voice? How do you testify to God’s goodness?

· Read Romans 5:1–11. Reflect on a time when your suffering produced endurance and ultimately character.

· Read John 4:5–42. How do the words of Paul to Timothy about a worker “who correctly handles the word of truth” serve as a bridge between the “truth hurts” and the “truth will set you free”?

Week of March 20–26, 2017 – Seeing, Feeling, Acting by Larry J. Peacock

Scripture Overview: First Samuel 16 reminds us of the bold risk that Yahweh took in the anointing of this young and unheralded shepherd. If 1 Samuel 16 causes us to wonder about the adequacy of all human shepherds, Psalm 23 reassures us that one Shepherd never fails. The New Testament passages consider the tension between light and darkness as a metaphor for the conflict between good and evil. In Ephesians 5, the struggle has already been resolved but takes seriously the continuing problem of sin. By means of the love and presence of Jesus Christ, even the power of evil cannot withstand the light. Then John 9 emphasizes the power of Christ as a bringer of light in the story of the man born blind.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection:

· Read 1 Samuel 16:1–13. How often do you allow external appearances to affect your decisions? In what ways are you learning to look on the heart?

· Read Psalm 23. When do you take time for yourself by slowing your pace, breathing deeply, and allowing God to restore your soul? How might this become a daily habit?

· Read Ephesians 5:8–14. How do you discover what pleases God? How does your living reflect your discovery?

· Read John 9:1–41. When have you experienced a “healing” that brought you back into community—either at home, work, or faith setting?

Week of March 27–April 2, 2017– Seeing with the Eyes of God by Deirdre Good

Scripture Overview: Ezekiel 37 presents a vision of the dry bones that represent the people of Israel after the Babylonian invasion—the people have no life. God calls Ezekiel to see the devastation and to prophesy to the dry bones with the message that they shall live. The psalmist cries out from the very depths expressing both a need and hunger for God and a trust in God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. The story of Lazarus’s death and Jesus’ raising him to life calls forth our own stories and experiences of life and death. It draws us in to a conversation that goes deeper than our intellect. It evokes our questions, our fears, our doubts, and our faith. The Romans text offers the good news that the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us. Each of these texts affirms life after death. Death is not the end; death does not have the final word.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection:

· Read Ezekiel 37:1–14. How has life come to you through death?

· Read Psalm 130. For what do you cry out to God? Pray the psalm, line by line, knowing that God hears and extends mercy and care.

· Read Romans 8:6–11. How has God changed your mind-set, your attitude, to bring you richer life?

· Read John 11:1–45. What in your world needs to die in order for life to come forth?