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Matthew 5:13-20

Matthew 5:13 is often disassociated from the Beatitudes, as nearly every Bible printed in the English language separates the contents of verses 1-12 from what follows. Yet, this consistent separation of the two passages impoverishes what Matthew’s gospel is communicating to us here. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by telling his disciples that in God’s upside down kingdom, the blessed ones are those that the world considers despised: the poor in spirit, the meek, those w

Jonathan Burkey

3 min read

Isaiah 58:1-9a, (9b-12)

Isaiah’s Prophetic Call for Justice Isaiah’s prophetic voice will not allow the people of God to seek repentance and providence absent their participation in justice. The first few verses indicate God’s people have been crying out for deliverance, answers and divine presence. These are the cries of those who have been displaced and felt the loss of spiritual influence in their world. While the experiences of the exile have not been fully experienced by contemporary Christ

Tim George

2 days ago3 min read

1 Corinthians 2:1-12, (13-16)

The 2nd chapter of the first letter to the Corinthian church makes Paul’s final point in his three-fold case for being committed to the foolishness of the cross instead of the whims of power, prestige, and wealth that Roman society had conditioned the Corinthians to value as ultimate (2:1-5). His last point here revolves around his own example of what a life lived for Christ looks like—though, he is excessively intentional to emphasize that Christ, not Paul, is the one who de

James Waters

5 min read

Psalm 112

Psalm 112 is a wisdom psalm. We know this because of its themes (righteousness and wickedness, the importance of moral conduct, the certainty of blessings for the righteous and pain for the wicked) and because of its form (it’s an acrostic–the first letter of each line forms a pattern; in this case, it’s the letters of the Hebrew alphabet). So, even without looking at the details of this psalm, we know roughly what it will tell us: We must be like the person of Psalm 1, who

Samuel Powell

4 min read

Rhythm

A weekly discipleship experience for students

The Fourth Week of December

Because of Jesus’s suffering on earth, we are not alone in our suffering.

Addison Gildner

Dec 22, 20257 min read

Vocatio

A weekly discipleship experience for adults.

Matthew 5:13-20

Lesson Focus At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus wants us to know who we are. We are salt and light because we are followers of the Law of God. Only we haven’t always understood the Law correctly. Jesus is helping us see what the Law means so that we can be salt and light. Lesson Outcomes Through this lesson, students should: Understand that we are the salt and the light of the world. Understand that the Beatitudes describe for us some of the ways we are to liv

Jason Buckwalter

2 days ago10 min read

Discipleship

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Sacred and Small

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Rev. Jason Hill

Rev. Jason Buckwalter

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Liturgics

APA LITURGICS

Liturgics seeks to resource clergy with ancient, modern, and creative worship elements that will help to connect our churches more to each other and to the church historic.

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Call to Worship: Charles Wesley One: Blessed be God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. + Many: And blessed be God's Kingdom, now and forever. Amen. One: O God, you called us by name to come, and we respond with delight and gladness Many: In joyful obedience, we come to worship our God. One: Rising out of the depths of despair, we gratefully gather for worship. Many: In joyful hope, we come to worship our loving God. One: Our God had given us a new song of praise to sing to our Aw

Brent Neely

4 min read

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Your Wesleyan

LECTIONARY RESOURCE

Weekly Commentaries

Matthew 5:13-20

Isaiah 58:1-9a, (9b-12)

1 Corinthians 2:1-12, (13-16)

Psalm 112

Rhythm

The Fourth Week of December

Vocatio

Matthew 5:13-20

DISCIPLESHIP RESOURCES

Sacred and Small

Rev. Jason Hill

Rev. Jason Buckwalter

APA LITURGICS

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

SUPPORT APA

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Matthew 5:13-20

Psalm 112

Isaiah 58:1-9a, (9b-12)

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