Wednesday - January 31, 2024

The Reverend Dr. Neil G. Thomas

SCRIPTURE


Mark 5. 1-20


Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man


They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.


When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”


Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”


“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.


A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.


Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.


As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.


WORDS OF HOPE


At first glance, this scripture seems a little weird. Jesus arrives on the other side of the sea and is confronted by a man who has made his home among the tombs, among the dead. This is his environment and his expectation based of his circumstances and Jesus meets him. Mark says that the man fell to his knees at the sight of Jesus and is confronted by his own question, “What do you want from me?” In the ensuing conversation Jesus offers him freedom from the impure spirits that had tormented him and sends them into surrounding pigs who run off, rushing down a steep bank and into a lake where they are drowned.


Those who witnessed these events, those who saw the impact of Jesus’ encounter with the man were both confused and perhaps frightened, asking Jesus to leave their region. The man is left to witness to his own people just what Jesus had done for him and, with his testimony, the people were amazed.


Of course, as with all Scripture you must be able to contextualize them within the times that they are written. Pigs are not kosher and the book of Deuteronomy states that the Israelites shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcass. In their tradition they are unclean, and it is understandable why pigs are used in this miracle.


The bigger story, for me, in this miracle is in the question that the man asks of Jesus, ““What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” While this is a question from within him, from the “legion”, this is a question that is vital for us all.


We are so often taught a theology of asking God for things. This is not a bad thing. In my daily prayers I often find myself asking God for things, for answers, for other people to be blessed. However, it is less regular that I sit in my own life and ask God to tell me what God wants from me. Is this your story as well?


The more I thought about this today, the more I realized that perhaps, if I spent more time asking God this question, perhaps I would have more clarity for my life and my vocational work.


Believe me, I am grateful to a God who has often rescued me from numerous situations that could lead me on a destructive path or a path that is not beneficial. I am grateful to God who has offered me ways to follow the call that I believe that God has placed in front of me. I am grateful to God who reminds me every day that my everyday actions can make a difference. Today, I am convicted by the question what more can I do for God and what does God want from me.


The conclusion of this story is a testimony to what happens when you are listening to God’s response to our question. For the man in the story, he found wholeness and healing. He found a new life that bore testimony to others, leading them to belief in Jesus.


Friends, our story is a testimony for others and Jesus calls us to live our story – a story that is still evolving and not yet finished. However, this story has an impact and will help others to see your changed life. This is the miracle.


In the words of one of my favorite hymns, Amazing Grace, “I once was lost but now I’m found.”


May we take a moment, amid our asking God for blessings, to also ask God, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”


PRAYER


God, thank you for your faithfulness toward me, hearing my prayers and responding to my needs. Hear me today, O God, as I ask You – What do you want from me? Amen.


DEVOTION AUTHOR


The Reverend Dr. Neil G. Thomas

Senior Pastor

Pronouns: he/his/him

Need More Inspiration? Read our Daily Devotions

Friday - January 23, 2026

By Reed Kirkman • January 23, 2026
SCRIPTURE Matthew 7.12 So, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. WORDS OF HOPE Religious Freedom Day On this Religious Freedom Day, I pause to reflect on what it truly means to live faithfully in the 21st century—a world where belief can sometimes be a matter of life and death. Across the globe, countless people cannot worship freely. Some gather in secret, whispering prayers under the cover of night, meeting quietly in hidden homes, or seeking sacred spaces far from the eyes of authority. Their courage reminds me that the freedom to worship is both precious and fragile. Religious freedom is not just a right; it is a responsibility. A responsibility to defend those whose voices are silenced, to protect the vulnerable, and to act boldly in the pursuit of justice. I think of those who flee violence: refugees forced from their homes, immigrants seeking sanctuary. These are God’s children, carrying fear, hope, and faith with them, often leaving behind everything familiar. They remind us that freedom of worship is meaningless if it is not paired with the freedom to live, to exist safely, and to pursue life with dignity. When did the stranger become dangerous? When did hospitality become suspicion, welcome become threat, and faith become a tool of domination or exclusion? Too often, governments, institutions, and even churches have weaponized faith to control or marginalize. But God calls us to a different path: to see the stranger as sacred, to honor their journey, and to recognize the Divine in every life. Individuals are criminalized for who they are, for whom they love, and laws increasingly protect narrow definitions of faith while endangering those who do not conform. This is not the Kin-dom of God. This is not how God embraces. True faith is not about fear or domination. True faith is about radical love, justice, and standing courageously with the oppressed, even when it is inconvenient or uncomfortable. True faith calls us to act, to speak, and to resist systems that oppress others under the guise of holiness. Faith is relational. Love for God is not a checklist, a duty, or a law to obey. It is a living, breathing connection—a dynamic relationship between our hearts and the Divine. God is still speaking, still moving, still calling us into deeper love, deeper justice, and deeper solidarity with all creation. God’s voice is present in the cries of the oppressed, the silent prayers of those worshiping in secret, the resilience of those fleeing danger, and the courage of communities who rise despite injustice. God is calling us to lean into discomfort, to act when action feels risky, and to love when love feels costly. To follow God is to listen, to respond, and to act in ways that bring love, mercy, and healing into the world. PRAYER God of all peoples, on this Religious Freedom Day, we pause to honor the courage of those who worship in secret and the suffering of those who flee violence. Thank You for speaking to us still—in ways both quiet and thunderous—reminding us that You are relational and that You love us as we love You. Teach us to honor You by honoring all Your children. Help us resist coercion, defend the persecuted, and live boldly in love. Open our hearts to strangers, seeing in every face Your presence. Strengthen us to stand with those fleeing violence, to embrace those marginalized, and to embody the justice, mercy, and radical hospitality You call us to share. May our lives be living testimonies to Your ongoing voice, Your ever-present love, and Your call to build a world of freedom, justice, and radical inclusion. May we never grow complacent, never turn away, and always remember that every act of love, no matter how small, ripples into Your Kin-dom. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Reed Kirkman

Thursday - January 22, 2026

By Weber Baker • January 22, 2026
SCRIPTURE  Matthew 19:13 Then children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” WORDS OF HOPE Today is Celebration of Life Day. This holiday of unspecified origin is a day set aside to celebrate children and grandchildren. The Bible, and Jesus in particular, mention children a lot. If you go to one of the online Bibles and do a search on the word children, you will be very surprised how often children are mentioned. As the passage above indicates how important children were to Jesus. And this is not the only place in the book of Matthew where Jesus references his children. In another verse, he says that unless you become like small children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He refers to peacemakers as the children of heaven in what has become called the Beatitudes. Too often in our world today, children suffer because of the callous disregard for the self-centered actions of adults. Famine, war, abuse and disease often affect children most since they are the least capable of doing anything about these things. Often children are disowned by their families because of their sexual orientation or their beliefs. And to be fair, many children are adopted in the loving families. Many people work with children as teachers, mentors, and spiritual guides. And these people, whether they realize it or not, are doing God‘s work. For your devotion time today, celebrate the children in your life. If possible, share the day with a child, grandchild, niece or nephew. Here are some suggestions from the National Day Calendar. • Read a book with a child. • Get on the floor and put a puzzle together. • Build something with your child. • Invite all the cousins to play board games. • Bake cookies and decorate them. Even the smallest child will learn something. • Make popcorn and watch a movie. • Tell the story of how the grandparents met. • Get out the art supplies and create. PRAYER Magnificent Creator who we look to as our parent, give us the mind and heart of children so that we may come to you through Jesus as little children, open to learning, open to loving, open to being loved. DEVOTION AUTHOR Weber Baker. Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clair

Wednesday - January 21, 2026

By Hardy Haberman • January 21, 2026
SCRIPTURE Matthew 9.14-17 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” WORDS OF HOPE Having achieved the status of being “vintage” at age 75, I sometimes feel like one of those “old wineskins”. I think sometimes it’s good to hear the words of scripture anew and look at them as though I have never seen them before. Then let them speak to me fresh. For me that means I have to put away my “little Golden Book of Bible Stories” and read the words as an adult, with all my life experience included and yet I try to read them, listening for a new message. I find I can be old and yet still have the ability to preserve the “new wine” of the Scriptures. These words speak to me and give me the hope I need to face the day. Reading them I feel like Jesus is with me, his voice a soft whisper in my ear. He lets me know I am part of that wedding party, and I am filled with gratitude that I can still find truth that resonates with me in words written millennia ago. Not the simple words of a story, but underlying truths that are eternal. PRAYER May I always find myself as a new wineskin ready to receive the new wine of God’s word. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman

Tuesday - January 20, 2026

By Donna Jackson • January 20, 2026
SCRIPTURE Philippians 4:7 CEV God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel. WORDS OF HOPE Paul was writing to the Philippians who were under control of the Roman Empire in what was known as the ‘Pax Romana’ (the ‘Roman Peace’) where no-one was allowed to disturb the peace. So, one sure way to safeguard compliance, was to install a professional army ensuring everyone complied, and anyone rebelling, was crucified or murdered. While times are a bit unsettling today, we are reassured through numerous versus in the Bible, hundreds of books, and pod casts which explain the many ways one can become more peaceful. There are even herbs, potions, symbols and air fresheners designed to create a more peaceful presence. However, none of these external factors can bring the kind of inner peace that is promised when we release our thoughts and give our fears to God. I read a story about an artist who painted a roaring waterfall, under a dark sky with lightning all around. At closer inspection he had included a bush at the edge of the falls and painted a tiny bird nesting peacefully on her eggs. The art was titled “peace”. The artist illustrated the bird in this small bush who was waiting patiently to birth new life even in the midst of chaos. PRAYER Creator God, in the midst of our chaos give us the courage to change our heart and mind with your supernatural, calming, assurance of peace. In Jesus name, Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Donna Jackson

Monday - January 19, 2026

By Thomas Riggs • January 19, 2026
SCRIPTURE  Acts 8:36-39 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. WORDS OF HOPE The Spirit meets people on desert roads. Waters of grace and acceptance are always close at hand. In Acts 8, Philip encounters the Ethiopian eunuch on a lonely stretch of desert road. The eunuch is powerful in the court of the queen of the Ethiopians and faithful enough to journey all the way to Jerusalem to worship. And yet their body marks them as different. According to religious tradition, they do not fully belong. Their devotion is real, but their access is restricted. Still, there they are—on the margins, reading scripture aloud, hungry for understanding, thirsty for grace. Author and theologian Christina Cleveland, in her book God is a Black Woman invites us to imagine God as a trans Black woman: a God who knows what it is to be surveilled, dismissed, excluded, and yet to remain fierce in love. A God whose body has been declared “out of place,” whose wisdom has been ignored, whose presence has been policed—and who nonetheless shows up precisely where life is hardest and hope feels most fragile. On that desert road, it is this God who draws near: not enthroned in the temple but walking alongside a seeker whose body has been deemed a problem. When the Spirit sends Philip to the eunuch, Philip does not interrogate their worthiness. He does not demand conformity or correction. He does not ask them to leave parts of themselves behind. He listens. He shares the good news of Jesus. And then, without hesitation or condition, Philip baptizes them. The chariot stops. Water appears in the wilderness. Joy erupts. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke often of the “beloved community”—a vision of God’s future breaking into the present, where dignity is not rationed and justice is not delayed. Acts 8 is a beloved-community moment. On that road, the arc of the moral universe bends—not because institutions finally caught up, but because the Spirit refused to wait. The eunuch asks the question that echoes through every liberation struggle: “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” God’s answer is immediate and holy: Nothing. For trans and gender-diverse people, Acts 8 proclaims a tender and revolutionary truth. Your body does not disqualify you. Your identity is not a barrier to grace; it is an invitation to it. Baptism was never about fixing bodies or erasing difference. It was never meant to restrain joy or delay belonging. Baptism names what has always been true: you are already claimed. Already beloved. Already held by a God who knows marginalization from the inside. Roadblocks were never the Spirit’s idea. Neither were borders around joy. The Spirit who hovered over creation, who led people out of bondage, who met a eunuch on a desert road, still moves today—calling us toward freedom, dignity, and love that refuses to be fenced in. The Spirit meets people on desert roads. Waters of grace and acceptance are always close at hand. DEVOTION AUTHOR Thomas Riggs

Friday - January 16, 2026

By Rev. Dr. Gary Kindley • January 16, 2026
READINGS “This is the air I breathe, This is the air I breathe, Your Holy presence living in me.” ( From the song, Breathe, by Michael W. Smith. Lyrics by Marie Barnett - 2012) “The whole problem is to establish communication with one’s self.” E.B. White WORDS OF HOPE Breathe. Love. Hope. Act. Pause where you are for a moment, and as best you can take a deep breath in. If you are congested or otherwise compromised, breathing may not be as easy for you. Still, you are breathing or you’d be dead! Take a deep breath in now—and briefly hold it. Then slowly release the air back into the world. You are connected to the world through your breath. Feel the connection. We are connected now, whether you are listening to a narrator giving voice to my words aloud or are reading these words with your own vision. A connection has been made. Human beings are designed for connection. It is in our DNA. It is the reason that solitary confinement is a far worse form of punishment than any other for those imprisoned. It is why orphaned babies fail to thrive if they are not given touch, attention and affection. If you are feeling overwhelmed by life, pause and focus on your breath. If you are troubled by social injustice, political discord, or government that seems unresponsive to genuine human need, take a breath. You are not alone and you are not powerless, though it may seem that way. The Spirit of God is at work for good, despite human suffering, conflict and turmoil. That truth doesn’t imply that everything gets resolved exactly as we would like or as timely as we would hope. Creation has been set in motion by the God of Grace who values Free Will and Liberty greater than control. Therefore evil, too, must exist. Dr Martin Luther King calls our attention to Theodore Parker’s now famous observation, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Breathe. Do lovingkindness. Work for justice. Stay connected with yourself, your Higher Power, and the Spirit that moves, empowers and births Hope from despair. Breathe. Love. Hope. Act. PRAYER Come Holy Spirit and stir up a fresh wind to blow over our nation and all the world. Refresh us, empower us, redeem us, that we might rise, empowered by Love, to seek Justice in the name of the Prince of Peace. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Rev. Dr. Gary Kindley Pastoral Psychotherapist DrGK.org
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