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Scriptures used for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, July 26, 2015

The Old Testament: 2 Samuel 11:1-15 from the Voice Bible (VOICE)

The Psalm 14

The Epistle: Ephesians 3:14-21 from God’s Word Bible (GW)

The Gospel: John 6:1-21 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

On June twenty-ninth we celebrate Mary and Martha of Bethany.

Click here for a PDF copy of the text for this weeks readings.

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha WorldBy Joanna Weaver / Random HouseThe life of a woman today isn’t really all that different from that of Mary and Martha in the New Testament. Like Mary, you long to sit at the Lord’s feet…but the daily demands of a busy world just won’t leave you alone. Like Martha, you love Jesus and really want to serve him…yet you struggle with weariness, resentment, and feelings of inadequacy.Then comes Jesus, right into the midst of your busy Mary/Martha life—and he extends the same invitation he issued long ago to the two sisters of Bethany. Tenderly he invites you to choose “the better part”—a joyful life of “living-room” intimacy with him that flows naturally into “kitchen service” for him.How can you make that choice? Now updated with a new 12 week companion Bible study, Weaver shows how all of us—Marys and Marthas alike—can draw closer to our Lord, deepening our devotion, strengthening our service, and doing both with less stress and greater joy.

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Scriptures used for the Lectionary Podcast on the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost July 19, 2015

The Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a from the New Living Translation Bible (NLV)

Psalm 89:20-37

The Epistle: Ephesians 2:11-22 from the New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Bible (NRSVA)

The Gospel: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 from the Revised Standard Version Bible (RSV)

On July 22 we celebrate the life of Saint May Magdalene first witness of the resurrection.

Click here for a PDF copy of the text for this weeks readings.

Mary MagdaleneBy Bruce Chilton / Random House After two thousand years of flawed history, here at last is a magnificent new biography of Mary Magdalene that draws her out of the shadows of history and restores her to her rightful place of importance in Christianity. Throughout history, Mary Magdalene has been both revered and reviled, a woman who has taken on many forms—witch, whore, the incarnation of the eternal feminine, the devoted companion (and perhaps even the wife) of Jesus. In this brilliant new biography, Bruce Chilton, a renowned biblical scholar, offers the first complete and authoritative portrait of this fascinating woman. Through groundbreaking interpretations of ancient texts, Chilton shows that Mary played a central role in Jesus’ ministry and was a seminal figure in the creation of Christianity.Chilton’s descriptions of who Mary Magdalene was and what she did challenge the male-dominated history of Christianity familiar to most readers. Placing Mary within the traditions of Jewish female savants, Chilton presents a visionary figure who was fully immersed in the mystical practices that shaped Jesus’ own teachings and a woman who was a religious master in her own right.

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Scriptures used for the Lectionary Podcast on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 12, 2015

The Old Testament: 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 from the New Century Version Bible (NCV)

Psalm 24

The Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-14 from the New International Version Bible (NIV)

The Gospel: Mark 6:14-29 from the New Life Version Bible (NLV)

On July seventeenth we celebrate the life of William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania, 1836 and Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA.

Click here for a PDF copy of the text for this weeks readings.