January 11, 2013

Welcome to the FMC lectionary reading blog! The purpose of our blogspot is to encourage Bible reading and preparation for worship each Sunday.

Each week one or more of FMC's pastors will post something about the readings and you are welcome to add your comments.

For January 13, 2013.
Isaiah 43:1-7, Psalm 29, Acts 8:14-17, Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22

The words from Isaiah 43:1 ..."you are mine" jumped off the page at me and all week I've been thinking about the meaning and importance of identity. That's where I'll focus my sermon ideas. The passage tells us who God is and who God's people are. It assures us God will be with those people through the difficulties of life and that eventually they will all be gathered together. But who are God's people really? This passage is troubling if it is interpreted as putting one nation/race above others. Reading this today we often think of Israel as a country. But when this was written, Israel was a person and a people, not a place. The Acts passage shows the gospel as spreading to the non-Jewish world and many different people as being counted among God's people. I have to do some research into this.

The "you are mine" statement is about us being claimed by God. That's interesting, usually we think of ourselves as claiming or not claiming God.

Sometimes the lectionary passages all work together, sometimes they do not. The Luke 3 passage, about John's imprisonment and Jesus' baptism don't seem to fit with the rest this time.

Donita