Who Is the Lord? (Exodus 7:14-18; 10:21-29)

“Perfect power does not absorb, exclude or overwhelm and dispossess other dependent powers and agents, but precisely the opposite: omnipotent power creates and perfects creaturely capacity and movement. … what God in his perfect wisdom, power and goodness causes is creatures who are themselves causes. The idea whose spell must be broken is that God is a supremely forceful agent in the same order of being as creatures, acting upon them and so depriving them of movement.”

—John Webster, “Love is Also a Lover of Life”

Who Is the Lord? (Exodus 7:14-18; 10:21-29)
Rev. Nathan Barczi

Living Within Bethlehem (Genesis 35:16-29)

“What kings and leaders of nations, philosophers and artists, founders of religions and teachers of morals have tried in vain to do—that now happens through a newborn child. Putting to shame the most powerful human efforts and accomplishments, a child is placed here at the midpoint of world history—a child born of human beings, a son given by God (Isa. 9:6). That is the mystery of the redemption of the world; everything past and everything future is encompassed here. The infinite mercy of the almighty God comes to us, descends to us in the form of a child, his Son. That this child is born for us, this son is given to us, that this human child and Son of God belongs to me, that I know him, have him, love him, that I am his and he is mine—on this alone my life now depends. A child has our life in his hands….”

—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Living Within Bethlehem (Genesis 35:16-29)
Rev. Bradley Barnes

Job's Hope (Job 14:7-17, 19:23-27)

“God’s pleasure—the beauty creation possesses in his regard—underlies the distinct being of creation, and so beauty is the first and truest word concerning all that appears within being; beauty is the showing of what is; God looked upon what he had wrought and saw that it was good.”

—David Bentley Hart

Job's Hope (Job 14:7-17, 19:23-27)
Rev. Nathan Barczi