The BreadCast

(1Kgs.17:1-6;   Ps.121:1-8;   Mt.5:1-12) “My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” It is He whom we seek when we “lift up [our] eyes toward the mountains.”  And what do we find but that “the Lord is [our] guardian; the Lord is [our] shade; He is beside [us] at [our] right hand.” Does the Lord not watch over those who trust in Him?  Take Elijah for your example.  He is led into exile u...

(2Tm.4:1-8;   Ps.71:8-9,14-17,22;   Mk.12:38-44) “Put up with hardship, perform your work as an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” In final words to his blessed disciple, Paul exhorts Timothy with all the strength he is able to muster “to preach the word, to stay with this task whether convenient or inconvenient – correcting, reproving, appealing – constantly teaching and never losing patience.” ...

(2Tm.3:10-17;   Ps.119:157,160-161,165-166,168;   Mk.12:35-37) “Princes persecute me without cause but my heart stands in awe of your word.” The Word of God and persecution are our topics for today.  On the one hand, Paul tells Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired of God and is useful for teaching,” and Jesus uses a passage of Scripture (Psalm 110) to refute His persecutors and verify that the Son...

(2Tm.2:8-15;   Ps.25:4-5,8-10,14;   Mk.12:28-34) “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior.” Brothers and sisters, “Remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, was raised from the dead.”  He is our Lord.  He is our God.  He is our Savior who speaks only truth.  Listen to Him and walk in His way, “following a straight course in preaching the truth.” After Jesus proclaim...

(2Tm.1:1-3,6-12;   Ps.123:1-2;   Mk.12:18-27) “He has robbed death of its power and has brought life and immortality into clear light through the Gospel.” It is this Gospel which Paul exhorts his “dear child” Timothy to serve, to preach and to teach “with the strength which comes from God, bear[ing] [his] share of the hardship which the Gospel entails.”  Paul has suffered for the sake of the Gospe...

(2Pt.3:12-15,17-18;   Ps.90:2-4,10,14,16;   Mk.12:13-17) “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s but give to God what is God’s.” “Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent after Jesus to catch Him in His speech.”  These “two groups” seem to come one from God and the other from Caesar.  But their devious plotting shows the only party present of God is Jesus Himself. And to whom do we belong?  Peter makes it...

(2Pt.1:2-7;   Ps.91:1-2,14-16;   Mk.12:1-12)  “I will deliver him and glorify him; with length of life I will gratify him and will show him my salvation.” So the Lord speaks of us through prophecy of His only Son.  So the Lord seeks to accomplish in everyone who “acknowledges [His] name.”  So indeed He has sent “the Son whom He loved” for our salvation.  So He prays with Peter, the Rock of His Chu...

(Jd.17,20-25;   Ps.63:2-6;   Mk.11:27-33)  “Welcome the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ which leads to eternal life.” “As [Jesus] was walking in the temple precincts the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached Him.”  They come to Him who is the true Temple here in the place where He teaches, but they do not come “praying in the Holy Spirit” or “persever[ing] in God’s love.”  Their que...

(1Pt.4:7-13;   Ps.96:10-13;   Mk.11:11-26) “The consummation of all is close at hand. Therefore, do not be perturbed; remain calm so that you will be able to pray.” As at the time Jesus walks the earth the end of the Israelite nation is at hand – a consummation signified in “the fig tree withered to its roots” at His command, a consummation that will be fulfilled in the crucifixion of the Messiah...

(1Pt.2:2-5,9-12;   Ps.100:2-5;   Mk.10:46-52)  “Be as eager for milk as newborn babies – pure milk of the Spirit to make you grow unto salvation.” Does not the “blind beggar Bartimaeus” show his eagerness for the milk of the Spirit, for the blood of Christ upon his soul, when he persistently calls out “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” despite those who “were scolding him to make him keep qui...

(1Pt.1:18-25;   Ps.147:12-15,19-20;   Mk.10:32-45)  “The Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve – to give His life in ransom for the many.” As Jesus and His apostles make their “way up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes,” He tells them that these elders of the people “will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles, who wi...

(1Pt.1:10-16;   Ps.98:1-4;   Mk.10:28-31)  “Set all your hope on the gift to be conferred on you when Jesus Christ appears.” “The Lord has made His salvation known: in the sight of the nations He has revealed His justice.”  That “which the prophets carefully searched out and examined” but was hidden from their eyes, that into which “angels long to search” is now indeed made known “by those who pre...

(1Pt.1:3-9;   Ps.111:1-2,5-6,9-10;   Mk.10:17-27) “Go and sell what you have and give to the poor; you will then have treasure in heaven.” “You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials,” for even if you are not a rich man with “many possessions” to give up, all that you have that is of the world must die before you will find “birth to an imperishable inheritance incapable of fadin...

(Acts 28:16-20,30-31;   Ps.11:4-5,7;   Jn.21:20-25)   “I wear these chains solely because I share the hope of Israel.”   The hope of Israel indeed wears chains.  The Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the nation, is fixed to a cross.  This is the call of all who follow Jesus – to die. But, Peter is prompted to ask as he walks with Jesus and the Lord explicates his dual call to serve as leader...

(Acts 25:13-21;   Ps.103:1-2,11-12,19-20;   Jn.21:15-19)   “When you are older you will stretch out your hands, and another will tie you fast and carry you off against your will.”   And so the Lord “indicate[s] the sort of death by which Peter was to glorify God.”  And by his laying down of his life, this leader of the apostles shall indeed feed the Lord’s sheep. After “they had eaten their meal,”...

(Acts 22:30,23:6-11;   Ps.16:1-2,5,7-11;   Jn.17:20-26)   “I set the Lord ever before me; with Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.”   Yes, “the Lord appeared at Paul’s side” at night, in prison, after his testimony and the near riot it caused in Jerusalem.  He comes to encourage him, to strengthen him for further trials; and through all Paul shall remain strong. “Keep me, O God, for in...

(Acts 20:28-38;   Ps.68:29-30,33-36;   Jn.17:11-19)   “O Father most holy, protect them with the name you have given me.”   In our gospel today Jesus prays to the Father, “who rides on the heights of the ancient heavens,” to “guard [His disciples] from the evil one.”  And the parallels continue between His and Paul’s parting words, as the Apostle warns his own disciples, “When I am gone, savage wo...

(Acts 20:17-27;   Ps.68:10-11,20-21,33;   Jn.17:1-11)   “Father, the hour has come! Give glory to your Son that your Son may give glory to you.”   A day of departures.  A day of final words and commendations.  Paul bids farewell to the leaders of Ephesus, declaring his faithfulness to them; and Jesus prays to the Father in the hearing of the disciples, calling the Lord’s blessing upon them. “The H...

(Acts 19:1-8;   Ps.68:2-7,33;   Jn.16:29-33)   “You will suffer in the world. But take courage!  I have overcome the world.”   “An hour is coming – has indeed already come – when you will be scattered and each will go his way, leaving me quite alone.”  Yet the Father is always with Jesus, even as He faces His imminent execution, and Jesus is with us by the power of the Spirit through all the trial...

(Acts 18:23-28;   Ps.47:2-3,8-10;   Jn.16:23-28)   “He went about establishing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.”   In our gospel today, Jesus again assures the disciples, “Whatever you ask the Father, He will give you in my name,” He tells them of the time when He will no longer speak to them “in veiled language,” but “shall tell [them] about the Father in plain speech.”  A most fasc...

(Acts 18:9-18;   Ps.47:2-8;   Jn.16:20-23)   “Go on speaking and do not be silenced, for I am with you.”   As Paul continues his missionary journey, his fears are calmed by the Lord, who assures him: “No one will attack you or harm you,” though he be in Corinth, whose infamous immorality is illustrated in the riotous behavior of the Jews in its court, and to which the court “paid no attention at a...

(Acts 17:15,22-18:1;   Ps.148:1-2,11-14,Is.6:3;   Jn.16:12-15)   “It is He ‘who gives’ to all life and ‘breath’ and everything else.”   “His majesty is above earth and heaven,” brothers and sisters.  And so our psalmist today encourages all in the heavens and all on earth to “praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted.”  “From one stock He made every nation of mankind to dwell on t...

(Acts 16:22-34;   Ps.138:1-3,7-8;   Jn.16:5-11)  “Immediately all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains were pulled loose.” “Your right hand saves me,” David sings unto the Lord this day in our psalm.  Mighty indeed is His power, and so we should “worship at [His] holy temple, and give thanks to [His] name,” for He has “built up strength within [us]”; by the power of the Holy Spirit He has set...

(Acts 16:11-15;   Ps.149:1-6,9;   Jn.15:26-16:4)   “You must bear witness.”   The Spirit will come and call to your hearts to speak of the name of Jesus and His salvation.  As He prompts you, you must speak the truth in love, you must go as He calls – you must bear witness.  And sometimes the word you speak, and you yourself, will be accepted with the faith and great hospitality as known in Lydia...

(Acts 16:1-10;   Ps.100:1-3,5;   Jn.15:18-21)   “I chose you out of the world.”   What is the world but heartache and sin; from this the Lord would release us. Jesus tells His disciples: “You do not belong to the world,” and yet, as is most evident in the journeys of Paul, to all the world do the apostles go.  The Master tells them, “You [will] find that the world hates you”; even so, they preach...