“Learning to…” Weekly podcast for Lent, 2024 Episode 4
PS: Welcome to Pocketful of Grace, I’m Pastor Scott Schul of Grace Lutheran Church in State College Pennsylvania
PC: And I’m Pastor Carolyn Hetrick
PS: It’s week four of our Lenten series of podcasts that we call “Learning to…” Each week we take time to meditate upon a passage from Scripture which helps us to learn how to follow Jesus more closely. This week, we listen-in to a late-night conversation between Jesus and a spiritual seeker, and there we “Learn to Love.”
PC: But before we get to that, let’s take time to breathe deeply and pray. Today we use a few words from Psalm 107, which we will hear this Sunday. As we breathe in, we will say, ”Give thanks to the Lord,” and then say “for the Lord is good” as we breathe out. We’ll do that three times.
PS: Our calendars are full of appointments and obligations that are unrelenting in their demands. Shouldn’t we be just as intentional about carving out a little time each day to dwell in God’s Word? Let’s do that by beginning with some reflection. What’s causing you to feel overwhelmed today? Where do you need God’s help in bringing a little more peace to your life? Take a moment and talk about that with God.
(Music)
PC: Nicodemus was one of the religious leaders of his day. At this point in his story, he wasn’t a follower of Jesus – that would’ve been a very risky thing for him to do. And so under cover of night he came to visit Jesus and asked questions that probed at the scope and depth of God’s love. Listen to how Jesus responded as we read from the 3rd chapter of John’s Gospel (John 3:14-21)
PS: Sometimes we avoid reading the Bible because we think it’s too difficult to understand. But in this passage, Jesus speaks so clearly and directly about God’s love and mission. Jesus didn’t come to us to punish us, scare us, or control us like puppets. He came here to love us, save us, and give us the gift of eternal life. How does this square with the understanding you had of Jesus’s mission before you listened to today’s podcast? How does it feel to hear that when Jesus looks at you, he feels only love?
MUSIC for reflection
PC: Christians sometimes struggle to see the relevance of the Old Testament. But this reading from John’s Gospel provides a great example of how something in the Old Testament foreshadowed and helps make sense of something that happened to Jesus. It’s the part of our reading that compares Moses lifting a serpent to how Jesus would be lifted up.
PS: You can read the Moses story in Numbers, Chapter 21. In summary, Moses lifted up a staff with a bronze serpent on it, and promised that anyone who looked at it would be healed from the poisonous snakes that were biting the people. We have an image of that on our stained glass windows here at Grace. This story helps us understand how Jesus, being raised on a cross, brings spiritual healing and new life to all of us.
PC: So let’s listen to our Gospel lesson from John one more time. Listen for all of the images and words that convey a God of mercy, not wrath; a God of love, not anger; and a God of reconciliation and peace, not division and conflict. Read John 3:14-21 again.
Take a moment now to ask God about anything that’s on your heart with this reading.
MUSIC
PS: Before we go, let’s take a moment again to breathe and pray, using words from Psalm 107. As we breathe in, we’ll say, ”Give thanks to the Lord,” and then say “for the Lord is good” as we breathe out. Let’s do that 3 times. AMEN
PC: Join us each week for another episode of “Learning to…” through the week of Easter. Next week we will be “Learning to See.”
Save the date for March 20th at 6:15 pm. We’re hosting an Ecumenical Music event called “Songs of Our Times” with choral, handbell and instrumental music.
Weekly Wednesday Worship continues at 12:15 and 6:15. Why not join us for dinner at 5:15? Use the main entrance and head downstairs to our Harkins Fellowship Hall.
Sunday worship is at 8, 9 and 10:30 am in person. Our 10:30 service is on the radio at Bigfoot Country Legends or watch it 10:30 live or later buy visiting our website, glcpa.org and click “WATCH.”
And you can download our free glcpa app to have Grace on the Go wherever your journey takes you. Remember however we meet Jesus, we will be restored and given grace for the journey. Take care, beloveds.