Thursday, Feb. 18

Matthew 13:45-46

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

BLOG DISCUSSION QUESTION: DOES THIS PARABLE FEEL LIKE A COMMAND TO YOU?

Ash Wednesday

Luke 15:11-32

Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” ’

Blog Question: What title would you give to this parable? Why?

A Parable A Day

Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, and also the beginning of our mutual commitment to READ A PARABLE A DAY.

Here's the parables for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday:

Feb. 17 Lk 15:11-32
Feb. 18 Mt. 13:45-46
Feb. 19 Lk 18:9-14
Feb. 20 Mk 4:26-29
Feb. 21 Mk 4:30-32

After you read Luke 15:11-32 think about this question, What would you name this parable?
Post your ideas on the blog!

Looking forward to sharing this Lenten journey with you.

Pastor Jerry

Blogging Again!

Time to restart! This Lent, I am inviting every member of Willow Creek and Benton Lutheran Churches to read A PARABLE A DAY. As we follow the footsteps of Jesus to the Cross and the empty tomb, we will listen to his faith generating words. The voices of the world are constantly ringing in our ears giving us half truths and empty hopes. Lent has been a time that Christians have turned down the volume of the world, and turned up the volume of Jesus' voice. That is what we'll be doing this Lent as we read a PARABLE A DAY.

In my next post, I'll list the parables that we will read each day. Some are only a verse or two long, but some are a dozen verses, or so. It will not take much time to read a parable a day, but it will take discipline and commitment. I am certain that filling our ears with Jesus' words for the days of Lent will bring a change in us, a change filled with the hope, courage, peace, and joy that only God can give.

When you attend worship on Sunday, you will be given a pamphlet each week with the parable for each day of the week printed out. Place the pamphlet somewhere you will see it and have a moment to read the parable for that day. You can even take home several pamphlets so you can place it at several locations....on a kitchen countertop, on your pillow, on your easy chair, at your job's work station, in your pocket....

Each day, I'll post a blog with a discussion question for the parable for that day. I hope that you will come to the blog and post your comments. I'll follow up on the next day with some comments of my own. My hope is that this journey and blog will be a place for us to gather our insights and impressions of these story-pictures that Jesus told.

As I said, it will not take much time to READ A PARABLE A DAY, but it will take your commitment. Join me this Lent in a commitment to READ A PARABLE A DAY, and let's see what change will take place in our hearts when Lent is over.

Pastor Jerry

Some Info On the Bible

The Bible is not really a book. It is actually a collection of "book"s. Among these "books" are letters, songs, poems, and stories of God's people. The Bible is divided into two sections. Christians call them the Old Testament and the New Testament. They are called "Testaments" because they witness to God's action in this world. Some call the Old Testament another name, the Hebrew Bible. It is called the Hebrew Bible because it is the scriptures of the Jewish people, and it is written in Hebrew. The Old Testament has 39 books and the New Testament has 27 books. Just as when you are reading anything, it is always important to figure out just what kind of "book" you are reading when you are reading the Bible. Are you reading a song? Are you reading a letter? Are you reading a theological interpretation of the happenings in the world? Are you reading an abstract picture of things that are beyond human comprehension? Are you reading a scientific or historical document? Because we were not there when these books were written, discerning exactly what we are reading is sometimes difficult or confusing. As we read the Old Testament together, keep this in mind, "What are we reading?"

How to post....continued

Thanks to Kristi for responding to my previous post, and so, here's her great instructions on how to join in on the blog....

If you click on "comments" under your post, it takes you to this page, to write your own comment. If you have a google account you can sign into that and post, otherwise it encourages you to sign up for a google account. When I signed up for a google name, then I could come here and post this. It asks for an email, a user name (what will show as your name when you post) and a password 8 characters long.

There you go.....so, just follow Kristi's directions and we'll all look forward to our posting community growing!

What Version of the Bible Should I Read?

Since the time of Martin Luther (1500's) the Bible has been translated into the language of the readers. Basically, there are two different types of translations: word for word, and phrase for phrase. The word for word translations try to take each Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) word and provide the English equivelant. This type of Bible is great for in depth study, but sometimes the ideas can get a bit fogged up in the peculiarity of the words and the sentence structure. Two good word for word translations are the NRSV and the NIV. The NRSV is the version from which we read at worship.

Phrase by phrase translations are meant to be a smoother read, but the thing one needs to be aware of is that the translation will take on the theological perspective of the translators. The TEV (Today's English Version) is a good paraphrase. Since this adventure of daily reading is meant to be more of a journey through the Bible and not a in depth study, I have decided to read a paraphrase called The Message.

Whatever version of the Bible you choose, the most important step is to choose one and read it!