Tuesday, June 06, 2023

Photo of the Week

Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.

- from a hymn by Eleanor Farjeon

Monday, June 05, 2023

Quote of the Week


"We need to repent of the haughty way in which we sometimes stand in judgment upon Scripture and must learn to sit humbly under its judgments instead. If we come to Scripture with our minds made up, expecting to hear from it only an echo of our own thoughts and never the thunderclap of God's, then indeed he will not speak to us and we shall only be confirmed in our own prejudices. We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior."

- John Stott

Friday, June 02, 2023

A Prayer from Thomas Cranmer

Blessed Lord,
who hast caused all holy Scriptures
to be written for our learning: 
Grant that we may in such wise hear them,
read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word,
we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Thursday, June 01, 2023

Church History: From Persecution to Christian Empire (3rd-4th centuries)





Lecture Notes Outline

The Age of Persecution (mid-3rd – early 4th century)
     - Decian persecution
     - Rapid growth of Christianity in all social classes
     - Developments in Christian worship & practice
     - The Great Persecution

The Constantinian Revolution
     - Constantine’s conversion & rise to power
     - Christianity’s initial growth as a legal religion
     - The roots of monasticism

The First Trinitarian Debate: On the Son
     - The challenge of Arianism
     - Athanasius’ defense of orthodoxy
     - The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) – the first ecumenical council

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

The Evangeliad (28:1-4)


Section 28:1-4 (corresponding to John 7:2-5)

The time of year turned to the Feast of Booths,
When Israelites, from elders to youths,
Made pilgrimage upward to Zion's slopes
And around the city made tents their homes.

Now Jesus' brothers, who had their doubts
On the way that Jesus was going about
Presenting his claims to be the Christ-king
Amid small-town, backwater happenings,

Urged him to travel on up to the feast,
Saying, "Go to Judea; there, at least,
Your disciples can see your deeds among crowds;
You can't whisper soft and be heard aloud.

If you're going to do this, do it right,
Out there in public, yes, out in the light!
If Messiah is here, God's plan unfurled,
Then surely he'd show himself to the world!"

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Photo of the Week

 

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love,
Too vast and astounding to tell,
Forever existing in worlds above,
Now offered and given to all.
Oh, fountain of beauty eternal:
The Father, the Spirit, the Son,
Sufficient and endlessly generous--
Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love!
Creation is brimming with thankfulness,
The mountains, exultant they stand;
The seasons rejoice in Your faithfulness,
All life is sustained by Your hand.
You crown every meadow with color;
You paint every shade in the sky;
Each day the dawn wakes as an encore of
Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

- from a hymn by Matt Papa

Monday, May 29, 2023

Quote of the Week


"Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind."

- Cicero