God's Gift of Scripture with Belton Joyner

Last Sunday, after the worship service, a woman, who had been sitting two rows in front of me, came up and said she enjoyed my singing. Good grief! I must have been bellowing! I guess that is the kind of joy and celebration the psalmist was recalling in these focal texts. 

After eight weeks of looking at the themes of work and Sabbath, we come to the good news (Good News?) that we are not alone in this venture. Jesus offers to be linked up with us (“Take my yoke upon you”—Matthew 11:29). And now because Jesus is carrying the load of the yoke, “the burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Thank God for such a gift! Last week, I stopped for lunch at one of my favorite restau...

On the day I am writing this, the local newspaper has an article about how much of the land and atmosphere is suffering. Hmmm. You don’t suppose St. Paul saw that article, do you? In his letter to the Romans, the apostle writes of how all of creation is groaning and how it is in the bondager of decay (Romans 8:21-22). That sounds a lot like the twenty-first century! Moses heard God addressing the...

Is Sabbath about taking off a day and doing nothing? There may be times when that is the case, but Jesus offers a larger view. In today’s focal text (John 5:1-18), Jesus shows that sometimes Sabbath is about reaching out to help others. Jesus does not do this healing in order to get attention or gratitude. In fact, He disappeared back into the crowd and the man who was healed did not even know who...

After all these lessons on work, we come to this: God rested (Genesis 2:2) and so should we (Exodus 16:30). In today’s focal text (Exodus 16:22-30), the house of Israel made sure they could rest on the seventh day by getting food for day seven prepared on day six. Some Orthodox Jewish communities still practice that discipline. In Mark 2:23-28, we have a situation in which Jesus put this whole sab...

Our work honors God. And God uses work within the Church to build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). Paul acknowledges that it is easy to get tricked by those who would mislead us within the faith community (Ephesians 4:14). However, God in Jesus Christ provides those who can help us mature in the faith (v. 15) in order for us to grow into love (v. 16). That is the standard that Paul offers a...

Some times in the Book of Exodus, the same word (aw-bad) is used both for worship and for work. (For example, look at Exodus 5:18). Although that is not always the case, it does suggest that the Hebrew mind saw a close connection between the two—worship and work. In this week’s focal text, the work to build the tabernacle was paid for by the freewill offerings brought by the worshippers. Note that...

Every Wednesday, Sharon Stone comes to Bethany Church to gather the plastic that members have saved for re-cycling. James Apisai changed his college major from Communications to Environmental Science. Nick Jeffries teaches care for creation by having an active farm on the grounds of Camp Chestnut Ridge. At my county dump, there are separate containers for things that can be re-cycled. When Gary an...

I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to the Book of Ecclesiastes very often. I get confused when I try to figure out what the Teacher says. (“Teacher” is the self-given name of the writer of this book— Ecclesiastes 1:1.) For example, Ecclesiastes 2:18 tells of hating one’s work In Ecclesiastes 2:24, the writer says there is nothing better than work. For example, Ecclesiastes 3:9 asks what one ca...

According to the Conference Journal, I am retired. However—what I remember is what a friend once said: “’Re-tired’ just means that ‘I am tired again’.” The Book of Proverbs is filled with verses about work. Sometimes, it is talking about what you do to make a living; sometimes, it is talking about how you spend your time and energy. Proverbs 16:3 puts it all into perspective. The New English Bible...

Was Paul’s visit and witness in Athens a failure? He tried to meet the locals where they were in their spiritual journey. And when all was said and done, “Some scoffed, but others said ‘We will hear you again about this.’” Finally, this week’s focal text says “Some of them joined him and became believers” (v. 34). Even if there had been no new believers, I think Paul’s witness in Athens has to be...

This is a different text than the one we usually encounter on Pentecost Sunday. It is an account of a dream that Peter had and the implications of that dream for the inclusivity of God’s people. Those early believers had a disagreement about something (Gentile believers), so they got together to talk about it. It turned out that the gift of the Holy Spirit was not limited to the circumcised Jewish...

When I saw what the text was for this week’s study, I thought, “Oh, good! This is one of the most familiar and appreciated texts in the New Testament. Full speed ahead!” Ten minutes later, I had not typed a single word. Then, I took time to play a couple of rounds of Word Trip, a fun game on my phone. Next, I moved to the TV and watched “Chain Reaction,” one of the popular programs on Game Show Ne...

There are so many gifts to pick up in these familiar verses. Let’s pick up a few! In John 14:6, Jesus says no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. Jesus is God’s embodied love. That means: no one gets to God except through God’s love. In theological language, we sometimes call this “prevenient grace,” an acknowledgment that our relationship with God begins with God’s movement toward us. I...