Good morning!
We're so glad that you've joined us today!

When we were able to meet in person, we shared our joys and concerns together. Take some time to think about your last week. What brought you joy? What caused worry? If you would like to share, you can leave a comment on this post. When you are ready, use King David's Prayer of Praise below.

Good morning!
We're so glad that you've decided to join us for Sunday School!

When we meet together in person, we share our joys and concerns with each other before we focus on our Sunday school lesson. Think about your needs and concerns right now, and if you like, you can share them in the comments.

Today’s lesson is about Jeremiah, who spoke the word of God faithfully, even though others did not want to hear it and despite the physical suffering and danger it caused him. Think of situations where perhaps God is showing you a need for change or repentance. Then ask God to give you the strength and courage to obey and to make those changes.

The prayer below may serve to guide us in our opening prayer. It is from the Vanderbilt University lectionary website.

Good morning!
We're so glad that you decided to join us for Sunday School today!

When we met in person, we shared our joys and concerns together. Consider the past week. What joys or concerns do you have? This might be for our world, our friends and loved ones, or ourselves. If you would like to share, you can comment on the Sunday School lesson. When you are ready, use the prayer below:

Ah, Lord God,
Holy Lover of my soul,
when you come into my soul, all that is within me will rejoice. You are my glory and the exultation of my heart. You are my hope and refuge in the day of my trouble. Set me free from all evil passions, and heal my heart of all inordinate affections, cure and cleanse me within, that I may be made fit to love, courageous to suffer, steady to persevere. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing more courageous, nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth; because love is born of God, and cannot rest but in God, above all created things. Let me love you more than myself, and love myself except for you, and in you all that truly love you, as the law of love commands, shining out from yourself. 
​Amen.

Today's lesson is on Isaiah 29:13-24.

Good morning!
We're so glad that you chose to join us today!

When we met in person, we shared our joys and concerns with each other. Take some time to think about the past week, and the joys and concerns you have. If you would like to share, you can leave a comment on today's lesson, and we can all pray. When you are ready, you can use the prayer below:

God,

Thank You for showing me the paths that lead to life. I am so grateful that I can experience joy in Your presence forever! Help me to live in a manner that is worthy of the calling to which You have called me by spending time in Your Word. I never want to forget that having access to Scripture is a gift. So please make me eager to read Your words. Reveal Your will to me as I spend time in Your presence. Teach me Your word, which is truth.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

This week's lesson is on 1 Kings 22:15-23, 26-28.
fyi   Ahab Was Killed at Ramoth Gilead

This text can be difficult to follow.  Israel is divided,  Ahab is king of the Northern Kingdom that worships Baal. Jehoshaphat is king of the Southern Kingdom that worships the God of Israel.  These opposites have made a military alliance and each is relying on their prophets for advice.
Ahab has 400 prophets.  Jehoshaphat has Micaiah.

The center of the prophetic message is a call to repentance and change. Micaiah courageously spoke truth to powerful individuals who were unwilling, to acknowledge and act on that truth.

Henry Blackaby says: It is sometimes tempting to avoid God’s guidance because we know He would not condone our decisions of plans. However, choosing our own course without praying or studying God’s work will ultimately lead to a state of sorrow and confusion.

King Ahab is known for his miscarriages of justice and apathy toward God’s prophets.  King Jehoshaphat, desired to please God but lacked consistent, faithful follow-through. All believers, from senior ministers to occasional pew-fillers, can find themselves walking in this king’s shoes.  That happens when we are hesitant, for whatever reason, to execute a God-given plan.  Any of us can find ourselves tempted as Jehoshaphat was. 

Micaiah was bound to speak the words of God.  He did so in the face of a hostile crowd of 400 false prophets, 2 powerful leaders and in a climate of wickedness.

Doubt and confusion are legitimate BUT we must always be aware of the possibility that our own confusion doesn’t interfere with God’s plans.

Prayer:  God, we thank you for revealing your truth.  Now we ask that your     truth be revealed in our words and actions.  Help us not only to be people knowledgeable of your Word, but also be people who make decisions that are consistent with your Word.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

Thought to Remember
Our commitment to truth
is measured in our actions.

Benediction
The benediction this week is from the King James Version.

Next week's lesson will be on Isaiah 29:13-24.

Good morning!
We're so glad that you're joining us today!

When we met together in person, we shared our joys and concerns together. Take some time to think about both your joys and concerns from the past week. If you have any you would like to share, you can put them in the comments. The prayer below is a prayer of lament, which will lead us into our lesson. Use this to get started, and include thankfulness for your joys as well.

Listening God, with each new day comes fresh news of terror. We lament each new way we find to be inhumane to each other. We lament the numbness many of us feel as we are increasingly desensitized to horror. We sorrow as those harmed by the sin of exclusion and hatred but also as those who are complicit in its execution. We lament the structural sin that can sometimes leave us feeling helpless. But Lord, we aren’t helpless. We tear our clothing; we cry aloud, our tears flow, and our hearts break. Hear the deep pain in our hearts. Help us to hear the deep pain in others. But we will ever trust in you, God, our helper and our defender. We will raise our voices, shout out, and not hold back. You call us to justice. Give us courage to pursue it until the day when all the tears will be wiped from our eyes and we look forward in hope. In the name of the One who has heard our cries and delivers us even from ourselves. Amen.

This week's lesson is on Lamentations 5:1-22.

​You do not often hear of sermons on Lamentations. We did have our Lenten devotions on Lament. Most of the time we want to hear about joyful worship. We don’t to dwell on pain   Remembering tragedy isn’t the only purpose of Lamentations. The book can teach us much about our relationship with God. 

The book of Lamentations reflects the period of about 586-538 BC, the period of Babylonian captivity. Remember in our past Sunday School lesson we studied about the prophets warning Judah to turn from sin and turn back to God or suffer God’s judgement. One of those prophets was Jeremiah who is thought to have written Lamentations. 

As instruments of God’s wrath, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC   Many who were left alive were carried into exile; the weak and the poor were left behind to contend with foreign settlers. What was once theirs would belong to some one else. They had to pay for food, water and wood. If they didn’t have money they would have to sell themselves to servitude. They would be servants of servants..Women were violated and Princes were hung up by their hands and elders shown no respect. Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. 

Their ancestors sinned and are no more but we bear their punishment. Those who lifted their voices in this lament certainly felt the shockwaves of the sins of previous generations. But throughout those generations, God had promised to relent from punishment when the people repented. 

The Babylonian exile, shocking in it’s scope, marked the end of God’s patience. The book of Lamentations is witness to how horrifying that judgement was. 

Joy has gone from their hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. 

On verse 16 they take responsibility for their own sins and that God reigns forever.  They want God to turn them to him and to renew their days as of old.   For them to be transformed by the repentance of the people. They were afraid that God would be so angry with them that he would utterly reject them forever.  

Conclusion 
In the midst of our suffering, we know that God is still trustworthy and faithful. However, there are times when we do not feel that he is still trustworthy or faithful. We do not know where God is when we confess and repent of our sins but do not experience mercy in the consequences. We find that worship and praise lag behind the mourning and lament. Like those left in a destroyed Jerusalem, all we can see is devastation; the only thing we want is to make sure God sees and knows what we are experiencing. 

Lamentations help us find language to tell God the very deep, very real pain that we remember or still experience. The book serves as an invitation to  take those things to God. As Paul wrote, “Neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height or depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Through the inclusion of Lamentations in the Bible may seem odd, it gives evidence of the truth of Paul’s assertion. No siege, no famine, no forced labor, no exile could separate God’s people from his love. 

God demonstrated this love in Jesus Christ, making a way for all people to turn to the Lord and experience his blessings. Through Jesus’ great suffering, we have been added to those people who will be freed from all suffering. 

Prayer
Father, strengthen us to be willing to turn our hearts to you.  Help us to be honest with you as Jeremiah and Jesus were honest in their suffering. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 

Thought to Remember 
Let sorrow draw you closer to God. 

Benediction
This week's benediction is from The Message.

Next week's lesson will be on 1 Kings 22:15-23, 26-28. 

Good morning!
​We're so happy that you've joined us today!

When we meet together in person, we share our joys and concerns with each other before we focus on our Sunday school lesson. Think about your needs and concerns right now, and if you like, you can share them in the comments.

Today’s lesson is about Nehemiah, a man who loved his people and his homeland, a man of prayer, a man who was willing to take risks and to work. Because of those qualities, Nehemiah made a difference in his time and his place, just as we can make a difference in ours. Think of situations where you see a need, perhaps in your family, your work or your church. Then ask yourself how God might use you to make a difference there.

The prayer below may serve to guide us in our opening prayer. It is from a service of the Order of the Daughters of the King, an Episcopal organization founded in 1885 that still exists today. Its motto is “I am but one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. What I ought to do, by the grace of God I will do. Lord, what will you have me do?"

Good morning!
We're so glad that you've joined us today!

When we meet in person, we usually share our joys and concerns together. Think over the past week, and what has brought you joy, or made you worry. If you have anything to share, you can add it as a comment to today's lesson. When you are ready, you can use the prayer below (from the Presbyterian Mission Agency).

Good Morning!
Happy Easter!

When we met in person, we shared our joys and concerns together. Take some time to think over your last week. What joys and concerns do you have? If you would like, you can share those as a comment so that the rest of us can pray as well. When you're ready, use the prayer below (from Woman's Day) to get started.

Lord, we lift our hearts to you. As the dawn breaks, may we carry the unity we share into every moment knowing that we are one with the risen Christ.
Lord, we lift our eyes to you. As the sun rises, may this moment stay with us, reminding us to look for the beautiful colors of promise in your word.
Lord, we lift our prayers to you. As the dew air falls, may we breathe this morning in and know that like the earth, you sustain us, keep us and work within us always.
And so, we lift our voices to you. We celebrate the greatest day in history, when Jesus rose from death, defeated darkness and bathed the world in stunning resurrection light. May we ever live to praise you!

​Amen.

Today's lesson is on Isaiah 53:4-11. The devotional reading is Philippians 2:1-11. 

If you have any thoughts or observations on the scripture passages from today, you can share them in the comments.

Our benediction this week is from the Complete Jewish Bible.

Next week's lesson will be on Ezra 10:1-12.

Good morning!
We're so glad you've joined us today on Palm Sunday!

Today is Palm Sunday. If we were meeting in person, we would be making palm crosses to wear while we discussed the lesson. Take some time to think about your past week, and any joys or concerns you may have. You can share those in the comments as you feel comfortable. When you are ready, use the prayer below to get started.

Good morning!
We're so happy you've joined us today!

When we meet together in person, we share our joys and concerns with each other before we focus on our Sunday school lesson. Think about your needs and concerns right now, and if you like, you can share them in the comments.
The lesson for today is about King Josiah, who ruled Judah when a lost book of the Bible was rediscovered. Reading it, he was horrified to learn of God’s displeasure and anger because of his people's idolatry. Josiah repented on behalf of himself and his people. Reading and studying the Bible is important because, among other benefits, it enables us to understand the seriousness of sin and God’s willingness to forgive those who sincerely repent.
The prayer below may serve to guide us in our opening prayer. It is from the blog Katy and the Word by Katy Stenga.