SEARCHLIGHT

  APRIL 1, 2024 Job 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter LET MY PEOPLE LAUGH I love to laugh. Maybe you know that about me. I love a good joke, ask my kids, I have a repertoire of Dad jokes, you know the good ones, that make my wife roll her eyes each time. Why don’t eggs tell April Fools jokes? Because they would crack each other up! What did the farmer get when he crossed a skunk and an owl? A creature that smells but doesn’t give a hoot. I love a funny story from real life experience, like this one A little boy, was in church on Easter Sunday with his mother, when he started feeling sick. “Mom,” he inquired, “can we leave now?” “No,” his mother replied, “the service isn’t over yet.” “Well, I think I’m about to throw up.” the boy announced. “Then go out of the front door and around to the back of the church and throw up behind a bush,” said his mother. After about 60 seconds, the boy returned to his pew, alongside his mother. “Did you throw up?” she asked quietly. “Y

  March 30, 2024 *** Today's Devotion is update of one I wrote in 2022 *** Today is called by many in the Christian Tradition HOLY SATURDAY. I call it the “DAY IN BETWEEN”. Yesterday was Good Friday, we attended services perhaps, listened or read a devotional, or thought about what occurred on a Friday a long time ago and what Jesus went through and how he lovingly suffered a cruel death that we might live a “life full of hope.” Holy Saturday really hasn’t been significant in my Holy Week reflections to be honest. After Good Friday my thoughts head toward tomorrow, Sunday, EASTER Sunday and its Celebrative features. It is Saturday that speaks to me just now, the day in between, the day of dull numbness after the events of the previous twenty-four hours, the day when there is no hint that the pain and fear of the moment will ever subside. What did the disciples do? How did they comfort each other? Did they even try? Or might they have stumbled through that Sabbath completely unaware

  March 29, 2024 Mark 15 15 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. 2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied. 3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” 5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. 6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. 9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to h

  March 28, 2024 John 13:1-15 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Th

  March 27, 2024 WHO IS IN CHARGE AROUND HERE? Matthew 26:1-5, 14-25 26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” 14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. 17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He replied, “Go into the c

  March 26, 2024 Mark 11:15-19 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city. WHAT IS BOTHERING JESUS? This is one of those passages that portrays Jesus differently than we are used to seeing him. The Jesus that seems in such control throughout the Gospels in the face of opposition and rejection, “loses it” at the Temple of all places, and seems to resort to violence. What

  March 25, 2024   Today, we begin the move from “Palms to Passion”. We, with Jesus, walk the path to the cross over these days. May we once again recognize the Amazing Love and Amazing Grace  of our generous God.   Mark 14:3-9    And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, where

  March 22, 2024 Zechariah 9:9-10 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. HERE COMES THE KING Historically, in the Ancient Near East, when a king entered cities riding a warhorse it was to convey his military power, predominantly when the king was entering into recently conquered cities where his rule may have been regarded as illegitimate, suspicious, or simply rejected by the residents. When a beloved king entered his own capital city, on the other hand, he would ride in on a donkey as the generous, compassionate, and caring king. In today’s reading the prophet Zechariah speaks o

  March 21, 2024 John 12:20-33 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there

  March 20, 2024 Haggai 2:6-9 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord of hosts. “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,” declares the Lord of hosts. “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former,” says the Lord of hosts. “And in this place I will give peace,” declares the Lord of hosts. COMFORT in a SHAKEN WORLD The Old Testament book of Haggai was written to people who had returned from Babylon to rebuild the destroyed temple of God. The writings were to be an encouragement and a call to rebuild amidst rubble, hope despite desolation, and belief even during times of hardship and disappointment. In verses 6 to 9, Haggai spoke of a time to come when the world would be shaken up as it had never been shaken before. Think of that messa

  March 19, 2024 Ezekiel 34:23-31 “And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken. “I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afra

  March 18, 2024   Jeremiah 33:14-18   “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” For thus says the Lord: “David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”   THE BRANCH   It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that God’s love and concern for us rise and fall according to how well we are doing in living the Christian life. It has been my experience that we humans frequently give and withdraw our love from oth

  March 15, 2024 Isaiah 55:1-7 Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

  March 14, 2024 Isaiah 53:1-6  Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. THE SUFFERING SERVANT If we were to judge Jesus life by the standards of our culture and world, he would general

 MARCH 13 , 2024 Isaiah 50:4-9   4  The Sovereign  Lord  has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. 5  The Sovereign  Lord  has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. 6  I offered my back to those who beat  me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. 7  Because the Sovereign  Lord  helps  me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. 8  He who vindicates  me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! 9  It is the Sovereign  Lord  who helps  me. Who will condemn  me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.  JOY SET BEFORE US In these verses from the Prophet Isaiah