… for the week of April 6, 2025

Instead, You Could Have …

Not another book of the Bible talks about love the way John talks about love. Even if a person doesn’t know another thing about this gospel, never went to vacation Bible school, sang a hymn, sat in a pew, or stared at a stained-glass window, chances are good they will perk up at familiar echoes of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world.”

Love is leaking out of this gospel book like water from a hose with no gasket, and who knows where it all goes? “I love you, you should love me,” Jesus says. And love one another too—colleagues and culprits, defamers and defenders, the near and the far, bullies, bandits, and bores. “Love.” It is Jesus’ nonnegotiable command. So you’d expect that the hangers-on, the stick-arounds, the learners and leaders and even the laggers-behind whose names and faces and brief bios show up in John’s chapters would be specialists in the art of loving.

Some of those gospel characters were together one night in Bethany, a little village just over the hills from Jerusalem. A dinner (it was holiday time) was being hosted in the home of Jesus’ friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. But the festive gathering was menaced. They were on edge in the intimacy of the room. Uneasiness stirred in the streets, rebels’ causes brewed in shadows and braved daylight. Rumors and plots swirled as they do in troubled times—times that ignore commands, are deaf to pleas, and mislay impulses to love.

When love does not know what to do or how to act; when it struggles with itself and feels imperfect or too thin, unfinished and inadequate; when the campaigns and monuments and funds and meals and letters seem not enough . . . look at Mary. She leads the way by kneeling at the feet of love itself. There we find the path toward love.

Devotional message based on the readings for April 6, 2025, reprinted from sundaysandseasons.com.
Copyright © 2023 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved.

… How God Loves Us – Devotion

In a world where love often feels conditional and fleeting, God’s love stands apart—unearned, unchanging, and undeserved. This short booklet explores what Scripture teaches about the depth, certainty, and reality of God’s love for sinners.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GtBkKm8DiATB71cEUqyK_ajxL_twqUVM/view?usp=sharing

… The Lord’s Prayer During Lent

The Lord’s Prayer During Lent explores the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer with reflections on faith, repentance, and God’s grace. Hopefully this booklet helps you meditate on the depth of God’s promises, strengthens your faith, and points you to the cross.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1slkXGPLXwmbXrasDRhaJW2pSl6rXqug_/view?usp=sharing