Authors /
Wes D. Avram
Wes Avram is senior pastor of Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, and author of Where the Light Shines Through: Discerning God in Everyday Life (Brazos).
The power of a long Gospel narrative (Good Friday) (John 18:1-19:42)
Read the Passion in John‘s Gospel. All of it.
Proclaiming the Lord's humanity (Maundy Thursday) (1 Corinthians 11:23-36)
Paul offers a meantime ethic, a witness of the death Jesus still endures until death disappears in his return.
April 2, Good Friday (Isaiah 52:13-53:12; John 18:1-19:42)
How does Isaiah's Suffering Servant compare to John’s Jesus?
April 1, Maundy Thursday (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)
As he washes Peter’s feet, Jesus is thinking about Judas.
Promises and promising
This week's 2 Samuel and Luke passages get me thinking about promising.
Not coerced promises. A promise to obey traffic laws in order to get a license is benignly coerced. A promise to be quiet under threat of harm is violently coerced. They're not what I'm thinking about.
Sunday, December 21, 2014: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:26-38
God’s word to Nathan and Gabriel’s word to Mary hold a tension that’s at the heart of biblical faith.
Sing our souls
Would it be that we all could sing our souls. I think Mary helps us. I think we should read her song, and preach it, and sing it over and over again.
Sampling Isaiah, Mary's song sings of mercy, strength, humility, and the truest meaning of charity. Her song hears in each of these virtues a gift of God, and a sign of God's desire for all.
Sunday, December 14, 2014: Luke 1:46b-55
Mary’s song marks a transformation from seeing her condition’s weight to receiving a new power within the situation. And then, finally, she is a participant in the work of God’s spirit.
Preacher talk
The Company of Preachers: Wisdom on Preaching, Augustine to the Present. Edited by Richard Lischer. Eerdmans, 496 pp., $29.00. ...
Empty technique
Transforming Our Days: Spirituality, Community and Liturgy in a Technological Culture. By Richard Gaillardetz. Crossroad, 158 pp., $15.95....
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