St. Stephen's Episcopal Church - Schenectady, NY

04/16/2026

Bringing it Home Sunday April 12
By Allison de Kanel

In our first Bible reading today, Peter, who was one of Jesus's closest friends, preached to a crowd in Jerusalem.

In the middle of a wonderful sermon about Jesus being raised from the dead, Peter blamed his fellow Israelites for Jesus's crucifixion.

This wasn't fair.

Some -- but not all -- of the Judean leaders thought Jesus was dangerous. After all, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and then crowds cheered Jesus on Palm Sunday. They wanted him to be king.

So those leaders were afraid of an uprising by the people, and then the Romans would destroy the city. They arranged with Judas -- another one of Jesus's friends -- to arrest Jesus and turn him over to the Romans, who crucified him.
Yes, some of the local people wanted Jesus to be crucified. But I'd bet they weren't all in the crowd Peter was preaching to.

Have you ever been in a group where one person does something wrong and everyone gets blamed? How does that make you feel?
It can be easy to judge people based on the groups they belong to. Red Sox fans? Yankee fan? Black? White? Muslim? Hindu?

When we judge people before we know them, we aren't being fair. We don't like it when other people treat us that way. Let's try to do better.

Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us, and for showing us how to love each other. Teach us to be fair and kind when we meet new people. Help us to be good neighbors. Amen.

The Gospel Reading: Acts 2:14a,22-32
Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd, “You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David says concerning him,

‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
moreover my flesh will live in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One experience corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

“Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,

‘He was not abandoned to Hades,
nor did his flesh experience corruption.’

This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.”

Artwork: “The risen Christ,” model and cast by Antonio Susini (Italian, 1558–1624 Florence) , probably after a design by Giambologna (Netherlandish, Douai 1529–1608 Florence). From the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.

04/02/2026

03/20/2026

Bringing it Home
for Sunday March 15
by Allison de Kanel

Today's Bible stories have dry bones coming together like a jigsaw puzzle and then coming back to life. They have a dead person crawling out of a tomb still wrapped in his grave clothes. They seem more like ghost stories or creepy Halloween movies than stories about God's powerful and life-giving love.

But guess what? They are about God's love! They tell us that God can turn despair into hope, and grief into joy.

In the first story, God's people are in exile. They are far from home and feel as if they are far from God, too. They might as well be dead. But Ezekiel has a vision. God's breath, the Holy Spirit, turns a field of dry bones into living people! This vision tells Ezekiel and God's people that they are far from home, but they are not far from God.

In the second story, one of Jesus's best friends, named Lazarus, was very sick and died. Lazarus's sisters know that Jesus could have cured him. But now Lazarus is dead, and all they can do is cry. I think maybe they feel hurt that Jesus didn't come quickly enough to save their brother.

But when Jesus arrives, he goes to the tomb and orders Lazarus to come out. And Lazarus does! He comes back to life! He can hug his sisters!

Now, what happened to Lazarus is not the same as what happened at Easter. At Easter, Jesus rose from the dead. He will never die again. We call this resurrection. But Lazarus came back to ordinary life. Someday he would get sick or old and die again.

But you and I know that, because of Jesus's resurrection, you and I don't have to be afraid of death. Jesus will give us new resurrected life with him.

Let's pray. Dear God, thank you for giving us hope and joy and life because you love us so much. Help us to share your love with everyone we meet. Amen.

The Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

The Gospel Reading: John 11:1-45
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Artwork: The Raising of Lazarus (1304-1308), by Giotto (1266-1337), part of a fresco title “cycle of the Life of Christ, contained in the collection of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy.

03/12/2026

Bringing it Home Sunday March 15
by Allison de Kanel

We hear a lot about sight in today's Bible stories.

In the Old Testament story, we learn that we see the outside of people, but God sees our hearts.

In our story about Jesus, Jesus gives sight to a man who was born blind.

Then Jesus talks to some people who knew a lot about the Bible. They don't realize they are blind to the truth and light that Jesus brings.

What does God see when he looks at our hearts? Does God see the light of Jesus shining in us? Do we share Jesus's light and truth and love in the world?

Maybe we can't heal people's eyes, the way Jesus did. But when we share Jesus's love and light with the people around us, maybe we can help to heal their hearts.

Let's pray. Dear Jesus, help me share your light and love with the people around me. Keep my heart shining with your light. Amen.

Today’s Old Testament Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Today’s Gospel Reading: John 9:1-41

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Artwork: Christ Healing the Blind ca. 1570, by El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) Greek (1541–1614 Toledo). From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.

02/23/2026

Bringing it Home Sunday February 22nd
By Allison de Kanel

In today's Bible story, the devil tempted Jesus.

Usually being tempted is about doing something bad. Stealing, or telling a lie, or cheating on a test. But the devil didn't want Jesus to do any of those things.

Eating when you're hungry is not a bad thing. Jesus could have made bread for himself, and no one would have been hurt.

Jumping off the Temple sounds scary, but the devil was right. God would have protected Jesus, and people would have known Jesus was special. He wouldn't have had to spend all that time walking all over Galilee and Judea healing people. He could have taught about God's Kingdom in Jerusalem, where all the important people lived.

As for worshipping the devil, that would definitely be a bad thing. But the devil was cheating! Jesus didn't need any permission from the devil to rule the world. He was the Son of God!

So why did Jesus reject everything the devil said?

He knew God had a plan for his life and his ministry. There were no shortcuts. To each temptation, Jesus replied by quoting from the Bible. And eventually the devil gave up. Jesus won!

We can win too, if we follow his example.

Let's pray. Dear Jesus, thank you for showing us we can resist temptations. Help us to remember your teachings and make good choices when we are tempted. Amen

Today’s Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Artwork: “The Temptation of Christ” (1854), by Dutch artist Ary Scheffer (1795-1858). From the collection of the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK.

02/13/2026

Bringing it Home Sunday February 15th
By Allison de Kanel

Two of our Bible stories today made me think of fireworks.

Do you enjoy watching fireworks? I do. They go so high in the sky, and the colors and patterns they make are beautiful!

Do you enjoy hearing fireworks? They can be very loud and startling. A lot of people hate fireworks because of the noise.

Fireworks are noisy because they are very powerful. They can be dangerous to people who aren't trained to use them.

In our first Bible story, God told Moses to go up the holy mountain to meet God. This was scary! God had already told the people to stay away from the mountain. It was dangerous. Not because God was mean, but because he is so holy and powerful. Being near God is like being in the center of a fireworks blast.

When Moses came down the mountain, his face was glowing from being near God. And seeing his face was like the reflection of a whole fireworks show, all at once. It was too much for the people to bear, so Moses had to cover his face so the people could approach him.

In our second Bible story, Jesus and three of his friends went up a mountain. Not the same one as Moses, but a mountain anyway.
And Jesus shone like the Sun, and God spoke, and Moses was there, and the prophet Elijah was there. It was too much for his friends to bear. They were terrified.

When it was all over, Jesus touched them and said, "Do not be afraid."

Imagine you are at a fireworks display, and the lights and the noise are too much for you. And your folks hug you and say, "Don't be afraid."

These two stories remind me of fireworks. And they remind me that God is holy, and powerful. And that God loves us and doesn't want us to be afraid.

Let's pray. Dear Jesus, thank you for your kindness to your friends. I want to be close to you forever. Help me to worship you without fear. Amen.

Today’s Bible Readings:

From the Old Testament: Exodus 24:12-18
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”

Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

From the Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Artwork: The Transfiguration, 1603, Stained glass painted by Franz Fallenter (Freiburg im Breisgau ca. 1550–ca. 1616 Lucerne). From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.

02/10/2026

Bringing it Home for Sunday, February 8

Allison de Kanel

Let's think about good deeds.
A good deed is something kind or helpful you do without expecting a reward.
If you shovel someone's sidewalk, is that a good deed? How about making sandwiches to help feed hungry people? What do you think?
They are both good things to do. But if you expect to get paid for shoveling that sidewalk, it's not a good deed. If you do it without expecting to be paid, just to help someone, that's a good deed.
Sometimes people do good deeds in secret. But in today's Bible story, Jesus told his friends that they should let the world see their good deeds.
Jesus didn't want his friends to be honored or praised for their good deeds. He wanted God to be praised for the good deeds that they did.
Jesus said his friends-- and that includes you and me --- are the light of the world. He didn't want his friends to hide the light.
Maybe we are supposed to be like stained glass windows that show holy people. The light that shines through doesn't come from the stained glass. The light comes from the Sun.
So our good deeds don't come from us. They come from God.
Here's a question for all of us to think about. If someone asks, "Why did you do this good deed?", what do we say?
Let's pray. Dear Jesus, help me to live every day with your light shining through everything I do. Amen.

The Gospel for today: Matthew 5:13-20
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Artwork: Tracery lights, ca. 1340-50, made in Carenthia, Austria. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Met Cloisters collection, New York, NY.

01/19/2026

Bringing it Home
For Sunday, January 18, 2026

By Allison de Kanel

Our Bible stories are full of wonderful ways to talk about Jesus, and about God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes we say that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd is someone who watches out for his sheep, and makes sure they have good food and water, and even risks his own life to keep them safe. This is a way for us to describe how much Jesus loves and cares for us.

In today's Bible story, John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. The sin of the world is all the things we do that separate us from God. When Jesus died, he took them away, so that we can be with God. So this is another way to describe how much Jesus loves us.

But how can Jesus be a Shepherd and a Lamb? They aren't the same.

Jesus described himself as Light and as Bread and in many other different ways. He described himself as a mother hen, sheltering her chicks under her wings.

All of these ways to talk about Jesus help us understand him and how much he loves us. If you look around our church, or any church, you may see stained glass windows or other decorations that show a shepherd, or a lamb.

Maybe one of these ways of talking about Jesus speaks to your heart today. That's great. Something different may speak to your heart tomorrow. That's great, too, and that's why the Bible has all these different ways of describing Jesus. They are all true, because they are all about how Jesus loves us.

Let's pray. Dear Jesus, help me remember every day how much you love me. Amen.

Today’s bible verse: John 1:29-42

John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Artwork: The Good Shepherd, Andrew Plockhurst, (1825-1907) English, public domain, originally published before 1923 in UK and USA.