Summer of Scripture 2011 - What's their Story?

Hi - we're blogging again this summer. Our theme: What's their story? 55 Biblical characters whose stories will amaze you. Check out the new blog at www.summerofscripture2011.blogspot.com.

#50 - The new heaven and earth: Revelation 21 & 22; Reflection by Pastor Steve Buechler

Editor's note: I forgot to put Kurt Nelson's reflection on the blog yesterday, so please go back one day and read his reflection too. Thanks - Pr Sarah Now onto the last one of the summer, Revelation, by Pastor Steve:

The book of Revelation is one of the strangest and most difficult writings to understand in the whole Bible. Partly, that’s because the book uses images and symbols that ancient people more readily understood. Because of this, many Christians get hung up on the symbols, and use the book to predict WHEN the world will end (in spite of Jesus’ explicit instructions not to do this!)

What the book of Revelation was really intended to do, though, was to give hope to people who were facing hardship and persecution in the early church. And the message that they were supposed to get from this book was that, when the end arrived, God’s will would finally triumph, even if for a while there would continue to be great suffering. As a Pastor friend of mine has said, the basic message of Revelation is, “God wins!”

Finally, in the end, God is with his people and God’s will and God’s justice triumph. Death and night are no more, and the city doesn’t even need light or a temple, because God is fully present for his people. It’s because of that promise that John of Patmos encouraged his fellow Christians to remain faithful and not to lose hope.

And if we can get past some of the strange imagery, the same message is there for us. Life may indeed be painful. Life may be unfair and cruel. And it may seem like this is the way it will always be. But Revelation raises for us the promise that, in the end, God’s will actually will be done. God’s promise of life will be given to us, even though we die. And God’s justice will finally triumph over all the evil in the world. And this isn’t because somehow, we can bring it about. It’s all because of God’s promise – the promise that, in the end, God wins!

Revelation 21

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ²And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
⁴he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away."
⁵And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." ⁶Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. ⁷Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. ⁸But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
⁹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." ¹⁰And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. ¹²It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; ¹³on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. ¹⁴And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
¹⁵The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. ¹⁶The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. ¹⁷He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using. ¹⁸The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. ¹⁹The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.
²²I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵Its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there. ²⁶People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁷But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Revelation 22

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; ⁴they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
⁶And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place."
⁷See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.
⁸I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me; ⁹but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
¹⁰And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. ¹¹Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy."
¹²See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone's work. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. ¹⁵Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
¹⁶It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, "Come."
And let everyone who hears say, "Come."
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift."
¹⁸I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book;" ¹⁹if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."
²⁰The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! ²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

#49 - Heroes of the faith: Hebrews 11; Reflection by Kurt Nelson

We are finally coming down to the wire in our summer Bible reading. I was so happy to find a passage from Hebrews in our readings. Hebrews has many times been referred to as the Epistle of Faith. Certainly, the theme of Hebrews is the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ as the revealer and as the mediator of God's grace. In this way, Chapter 11 does not fail us.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (NIV Translation) This is one of the most perfect and succinct definitions of faith, I believe, we can find in all scripture. It introduces us to Chapter 11. But does the author stop with this statement? No! He continues by bringing forth great heroes of the Old Testament and provides us with a spectacular panorama of trust, as he surveys these great believers of the Old Testament! (Many of these individuals we have already met in our readings.) We are given countless examples of faith which both aid in the explanation of his original definition and also give us examples we can follow.

But the author goes a step further in Verse 39 by saying that their faith and belief was all fine and good, but they however didn't receive anything promised to them by God. Does this then destroy the very basis of our faith? No-of course not! God saved the best for last! He gave us another promise, a New Covenant. He gave us "his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17, NIV Translation)

We, as Christians, have been given the best "promise" of all and through the examples shown in Chapter 11 have been given a template to follow in order to structure our faith. And, after all, really, isn't faith just being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see?

Hebrews 11

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ²Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. ³By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
⁴By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks. ⁵By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and "he was not found, because God had taken him." For it was attested before he was taken away that "he had pleased God." ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.
⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old — and Sarah herself was barren — because he considered him faithful who had promised. ¹²Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."
¹³All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, ¹⁴for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
¹⁷By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, ¹⁸of whom he had been told, "It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you." ¹⁹He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead — and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. ²⁰By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. ²¹By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, "bowing in worship over the top of his staff." ²²By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.
²³By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king's edict. ²⁴By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward. ²⁷By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king's anger; for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
²⁹By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. ³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
³²And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets — ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented — ³⁸of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
³⁹Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

#48 - Imitating Christ - Philippians 2:1-11 and Faith in action: James 2:14-26; Reflection by Tom Kettler

After reading James 2:14-26, the message is clear and unmistakable from the opening verse which poses the question “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?” to the final verse which concludes with ---”faith without works is also dead.”

Phrases bop into my mind like “You have to walk the talk”. My personal experience has always been that putting one’s faith into action ends up geometrically expanding one’s own faith from what comes back to you as a result of works- no matter how seemingly small or large.


As a member of Church Council, at our monthly meetings, we make a point of going through POP’s 5 core mission goals and one of those is “Direct Service to Others”. We review the past month and do a reality check as to how we as a church community are “Walking the Talk”.


The powerful thing about service is that each person can individually decide what their personal “works” can be at any given time. Works can be baking cookies for newcomers, singing in the choir, praying for those on our prayer list, sorting clothes for the annual POP Yard Sale, social ministry- the list is endless and so are the possibilities.


If you are familiar with 12 step programs that are the core of groups like AA, one of the final steps has to do with “Service” aka works. Participants are encouraged to “do what we can when we can and a life of sane and happy usefulness is what we are promised...”. So go do what you can when you can and your faith will be richer for it. - Tom Kettler

Philippians 2:1–11

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, ²make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. ⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
⁶who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
⁷but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
⁸he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death —
even death on a cross.
⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

James 2:14–26

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. ¹⁹You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder. ²⁰Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. ²³Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? ²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

#47 - The fruit of the Holy Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23 and the Armor of God: Ephesians 6:10-18;

Note from Pastor Sarah - It's summer and that means some of our scheduled reflectors went to the beach and are no doubt reflecting on the shapes of clouds in the skies...

There's nothing written up for today, but this first passage was the subject of a study by the youth group a few weeks ago. We discussed which one of these was the hardest for us and pledged to try to work hard at it for a week.

I encourage you to pick one of these fruits of the Spirit and pray that you will grow in this area. Think about what gets in the way of you having this fruit of the spirit and ask God to help you be nurtured at your roots so your fruit grows.

And a quote: "Imagine what the world would be like if we were all our best selves all of the time." - anon.

Galatians 5:22–23

²²By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

Ephesians 6:10–18

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. ¹⁵As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. ¹⁶With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

#46 - The Present compared to the future: Romans 8:18-39; Reflection by Pastor Sarah Scherschligt

If you were only going to read one chapter of the Bible, I'd make it Romans 8. It is so full - life after death, the mystery of faith, the reality of suffering and the pains it takes to birth a new creation, hope, patience, love - it's so full that every line speaks to me, especially right now.



In the past week and a half, I've been to the funeral of one friend and the baptism of my godson Adam. My little sister had a baby. My great uncle died. Another friend had cancer surgery. Another friend saw her lima bean-sized child on the ultrasound for the first time. It's been a week packed with endings and beginnings.



This chapter of Romans speaks to these significant life events. It acknowledges the tenderness that accompanies such times. It calls out our longing for answers in the middle of changes we don't understand and it responds to our longings with a sense of beloved mystery. It puts all the shifts of our everyday lives into a grander perspective.



Through all the changes, large and small, God is laboring. My sister worked 15 hrs to bring her little son into this world. God is working like that to bring us into the world too, but we're not being ushered into the world as it is.


We're on our way to the future. That future will be good.


A Gilda Radner quote that I absolutely love says something like "it'll all be alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end."



The difficulty for this life is that we too often think we're at an end. Endings are devastating and we can't see over the horizon. This passage from Romans emphasizes that in beginnings and endings there will always be mystery. We need the spirit to intercede with sighs too deep for words because we often don't know the words.


Bottom line: these changes of our lives - the big and the small - are all part of the larger narrative of God's love. We are to take courage because through it all, God is working. If it's not alright, it's not the end. At the end, we will be inseparable from God's perfect love.


Romans 8:18–39

¹⁸I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
²⁸We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
³¹What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³²He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. ³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered."
³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

#45 - What real love is: 1 Corinthians 13; Reflection by Pastor Steve Buechler

One of the problems with theology is that we sometimes use big, strange words which almost nobody understands. Another problem is when we use simple, ordinary words like “love”! And that’s because sometimes when we think we know what a word means, we may miss what the author intends. “Love” is a particularly difficult word, because we use it so often and in so many different ways. “I love chocolate” and “I love my kids” have really different meanings of “love.”

And so it’s really important to understand what the Bible means when it talks about God;s love. In fact, there are three words for “love” in ancient Greek: “philios” (meaning “brotherly love” from which we get the modern name “Philadelphia”); “eros” (meaning “sensual love” from which we get the English word “erotic”); and “agape” (meaning total, self giving love and compassion.) Agape is the kind of love which causes you to lay down your life for someone – it’s the kind of love which would make you run out into the street to push your child out of the way of a car even if you knew it would mean your own death. It’s this “agape” kind of love that the New Testament always says God has for us.

And it’s this “agape” that Paul is talking about when he writes to the early Christians in Corinth. So while we often read this text at weddings to reflect on how beautiful “love” is, Paul is first and foremost not talking about human love. Instead, he’s talking about God’s love, and how God employs that love to save and care for us. It’s only in that context that we can begin to understand what our love for one another should look like. So, as you read 1 Corinthians 13, try reading it first as the answer to: “what is God’s love for us like?” That will help you to understand what Paul is really trying to get across.

1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
⁴Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
⁸Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. ⁹For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; ¹⁰but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. ¹³And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.