This week we’re in the third Sunday of Advent in the Christian tradition, reading the story of the people’s return from exile as told in Ezra 1:1-4 and 3:1-13. We reflect on the varying roles of the exiles in this text, some of whom return to Judea to do the hard work of rebuilding the temple while others remain in Babylon to support the rebuilding financially. We think about the resonances of this rebuilding with the story of Solomon’s original construction of the first temple, recalling the former temple in all its glory but also remembering a time when Israel worshiped God in the wilderness without a permanent building at all. And we ponder the generational experience in this text, some in the older generations weeping at the sight of the new temple foundation being laid while others in the younger generation shout in jubilant praise. And through it all we hear the refrain, “God is good; God’s graciousness for Israel lasts forever.”
Episode 328 Living Water (John7:35-52)
Episode 327 The Bread of Life (John 6:35-69)
Episode 326 Two Healing Stories (John 4:46-5:18)
Episode 325 SPECIAL EPISODE Exodus and Interest Free Loans (Laura Kahn, JIFLA)
Episode 324 The Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42)
Episode 323 For God So Loved the World (John 3:1-21)
Episode 322 Disruption at the Temple (John2:13-25)
Episode 321 Water Into Wine (John 2:1-11)
Episode 320 Come and See! (John 1:35-51)
Episode 319 The Testimony of John the Baptist (John 1:19-34)
Episode 318 (REPLAY) Christmas Eve SPECIAL EPISODE (Luke 2:1-20)
Episode 317 In the Beginning Was the Word (John 1:1-18)
Episode 316 Come to the Waters (Isaiah 55:1-13)
Episode 315 The Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
Episode 314 Seek the Peace of the City (Jeremiah 29:1-14)
Episode 313 SPECIAL EPISODE The Old Testament for a Complex World (Dr. Cameron Howard)
Episode 312 Unto You A Child Is Born (Isaiah 9:1-7)
Episode 311 Let Justice Roll Down (Amos 1:1-2 and 5:14-24)
Episode 310 Elijah and the Still Small Voice of God (1 Kings 19:1-18)
Episode 309 Solomon‘s Temple (1 Kings 5:1-5 and 8:1-13)
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