Member Church News: Reflections and Meditations

“Understanding the Bible: How to Study Scripture” is a three-part, online course with professor J. Todd Billings from Western Theological Seminary (Reformed Church in America). Direct your own pace (or adapt for a study group) from the videos and written posts; this course will teach you something whether you’re new to the Bible or have been studying it your whole life.

“Those who prophesy build bridges and bonds inside and outside the churches. For Paul, everyone can be prophetesses and prophets if they know how to listen to the voice of the Spirit. There is no need then to be exceptional, it is enough to be able to listen to the Word that grounds us,” writes Daniela Di Carlo in a meditation for the Waldensian Evangelical Church.

Ruth Tompsett, an elder at Newport Pagnell United Reformed Church, explores Psalm 72:1-16 with a focus on “We Three Kings.”

“Let prayer be both guide and solace:” Life and Work‘s (the magazine of the Church of Scotland) first looking back of the year is a new year meditation from 1943, focusing on Durer’s drawing Praying Hands.

For Epiphany, Pascale Renaud-Grosbras, of Eglise protestante unie de France offers a reflection on the human response to God’s rebellion manifested at Christmas, based on the story of Matthew 2:1-12.

Pablo Kim Sun, a Korean-Paraguayan living in Canada and member of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, asks, “What does reconciliation mean?”

A topical text for the New Year, written by the long-dead Martin Luther? A team from the University of Bern has trained a text generator for reformiert, which is available to the public for the next week.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held 18-25 January, will draw together churches across the globe to “Do good; seek justice (Isaiah 1:17).”

The Ecumenical Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI: In an address the day after he was elected pope, Benedict XVI pledged to work for the full and visible unity of all Christ’s followers and to do everything in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism.