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Author: Isaac Hopper

THE MESSAGE OF THE KINGDOM

Opening Prayer: O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who

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THE KINGDOM CALLING

The proclamation has been made:  “The Kingdom of God is near.”  Now the community of the Kingdom begins to form; the restored people of God are called forth from gutting fish and mending nets to

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A HIGHWAY IN THE DESERT

An Opening Prayer: Please, Lord, let fall in my soul a drop of your surpassing sweetness, to sweeten her bitter palate.  Experiencing this swallow, may she have a foretaste of that which is desired, that

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PROPHECIES FULFILLED

Hear the Messianic hope; hear the words of Isaiah, prophetically directed against Ephraim but echoing down the corridors of history into a new restoration.  YHWH would not abandon his people; YHWH would come, in ways

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THE TEMPTATION

Opening Prayer Eternal God, we have been led by the Spirit to places unfamiliar, to wildernesses barren, to areas uncomfortable and frightening.  We are surrounded by temptations; we are hungry; we thirst.  We have wondered

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THE BAPTISM

THE TEXT Matthew 3:1-17 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  For this is the one referred to

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The Prophet’s Call to Kingdom Fasting

Isaiah 58:1-14 “Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout! Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives, face my family Jacob with their sins! They’re busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying

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Invitation to the Fall 2012 Reader

“Through many hardships we enter the kingdom of God,” Paul and Barnabas told the new disciples.  Not much has changed.  Long ago Jesus declared, “The kingdom of God has come near,” indeed, in our very

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Creedal Christology in the Age of Osteen

Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, recently created a stir when he publiclly identified presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and other practicing Mormons, as ‘brothers in Christ.’ This comes as a shock to some, because Mormon teaching, falls well outside the orthodox Christian faith. While we should strive to extend grace in all theological dialog, there comes a time when one must make truth claims concerning those things which are, and those which are not, essential to the Christian faith. What then are the essential, and distinctly Christian, beliefs about Jesus Christ? In this article we offer some suggestions.

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Welcome to our next Reading Excursion

Thanks for joining us. Our Fall 2011 Reader, “Perfect” launches on September 6. We are very pleased to welcome the Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Wesley Foundation at the University of

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