sermon 7.11

So, how many of you have heard this story? What do we usually call it? Who do you want to be in this story? Who do we tell the children to be?


Tell me what you know of the characters, the Levite, the priest, the Samaritan.

That all seems entirely too simple to me. I’m going to propose to you that who you really are is the man on the ground. But first let’s go to the rest of the story.

Here we have a man – we don’t know anything about this man. We don’t know if he is young or old, righteous or not, good or bad, businessman or farmer, Jewish, Gentile, Samaritan, Ethiopian, …

We only know he went down to Jericho from Jerusalem. Now, I would imagine a road. Maybe you do too. Here are some paintings:

They happen to show someone who has passed by the man, and they insinuate a road, narrow, but real.

Jesus knows that the listeners actually know the setting he has put this story in. They know what going down from Jerusalem to Jericho means. Here is the map I showed you last week

where you can see Jerusalem to Jericho and what the map makes it look like – not very hospitable. It's about 30 miles as the crow flies - you just can't get there as the crow flies.

In reality, the Romans had built a road – a real road, paved and wide from Jerusalem to Jericho complete with soldiers to keep away bandits and toll booths so you could pay for that privilege.

Most continued to go down to Jericho the old way, this is where they went. This trail is known as the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Why – there is the very real possibility of losing your way, not finding water, being attacked by bandits or animals. There are no trees - though you will and did find Bedouins with herds of goats or sheep that eat anything that sprouts green. This is the Judean desert.

The Valley of the Shadow of Death. That is where this man, this no name, no tribe man went down and was attacked and left for dead. He was stripped of his valuables, stripped of his clothes, stripped of his identity and left as a sinner on the side of the path. All who passed him could see that he was a sinner and they could see nothing redeeming about him.

This man did not know that today was the day he was to trust in the Lord, that he needed to be ready and call on him, that he should have been walking in the paths of righteousness or this would not have happened! The Levite and the priest – well they knew. It was obvious that the man was a sinner – and he got his just desserts! How could this man expect any mercy, any compassion, any grace from them!

This man must not have listened on Sunday to the Word as it was preached. He must have skipped Bible class and surely had lapsed in his devotional time each day. Why, he probably had even quit praying, quit talking to God. And maybe his intention in going to Jericho was to go partying or to gamble or to do some shady dealings. He just didn’t pay attention and had slipped into the easy life of sin, metaphorically into the valley of the shadow of death.

Our God is not like the gods that others hold dear. Our god doesn’t look down on us as we wallow in our sin and then walk on by. When we are in our deepest and darkest place, when we are in the valley of the shadow of death and are attacked on all sides, whether we deserve the attack or not – our God does not walk by. Our God bends down to earth, comes down to earth as a person, a person others don’t pay attention to, a person no one wants on their team, a person others either ignore, rant against, or hate and pours the wine of forgiveness on our wounds washing us clean. Then he pours the oil of anointment over us claiming us as his own.

Then, amazingly our God picks us up and takes us to a house where the community of God can care for us. Of his own wealth God gives what is needed for our life. His wealth including his own son who came here and gave his blood that with the wine you receive today you might receive the forgiveness of God once more.

The grace that comes from God is as unearned, as unexpected, as abundant as the grace you see coming from the Samaritan. And it is all done without our seeing and maybe without our even being able to thank.

We are you see the man on the road, naked, nothing of value, no identity until God comes to us. If we don’t realize that, in truth, we are that man in the valley of the shadow of death needing the grace of God, then we are truly lost.

But if we do realize it, if we do give thanks to God that we have been redeemed by the body and blood of our Lord Jesus the Christ, if we do – then we have the opportunity to be the hands, the feet, the body of that Samaritan, of our Lord.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.



Imagine, just for a moment, imagine what that could look like in this church. Imagine, if our hands reached, our feet went, our tongues talked, our backs bent. Imagine. Shalom!

Last week's sermon

I picked up this little ceramic plate in Jericho. (Sorry, those of you reading this can't see it) It says ‘shalom y’all’. I don’t know how our sayings got into the Israeli language for such objects, but I thought it was cute. And apropos for my office.


Shalom is the greeting as you meet and as you leave – in actuality it is asking the peace of God to be in that place. This is what the sent ones are to say to the townspeople. Shalom, peace of God, be with you.

What a great way to greet people – oh, yeah – we do that when we say ‘peace be with you.’ Do we ever take it back? hmmm

We spent a few hours on the Sea of Galilee in a fishing boat - and in just the short time we were in the boat the winds from the Mediterranean came blowing across the land and whipped up waves, the sea was teaming with life, fish of many kinds, the water came pouring into the sea from the Jordan River in the north and flowed out the bottom as the Jordan River – watering the land, flowing by Jerusalem, and flowing into the Dead Sea.

Both seas were remarkable and yet one was so alive and the other dead – not growing, just making dark black mud and salt.

These 70 that Jesus appointed were like the Sea of Galilee. They had followed Jesus and listened to his teachings. They had followed Jesus and watched him heal the sick and even do exorcisms. They had listened as he refused to call down fire for vengeance over Samaria.

These 70 watched as Jesus stretched out his hand and touched a leper, immediately curing him. They watched as Jesus said to the man with the withered hand – “come and stand here,” by me. Then Jesus without ever touching him said, “Stretch out your hand.” And it was restored.

The 70 heard Jesus’ sermon on the plain where he said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” And as he admonished all to love their enemies and do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who abuse you.

The 70 saw him raise the widow’s son outside the gates of Nain, just down the road. They saw the sinful woman anoint him with an alabaster jar full of ointment on his feet – and he forgave her all her sins. They saw him heal the Gerasene, the other, the gentile, of a legion of demons by sending them into the pigs.

The 70 were filled with who Jesus was and could be as disciples should be, then were sent out and they went.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 says

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; 7a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.



For everything there is a time. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;



This lesson is seen with the Sea of Galilee and with the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee receives water from the Jordan and is teaming with life and fresh water because it goes out. The Jordan River continues its trek south. A disciple receives all the training and at one time or another it is the time. For everything there is a season, a time for every matter under heaven, A time to keep silence, and a time to speak. The time for a disciple is when he or she is sent out – and thus becomes an apostle. Apostles are disciples who are sent out. Note, by the way, none of these 70 had anything special to speak of, none were priests or scribes or nobles. They were regular people.

On the other hand, the Dead Sea receives all the water from the Jordan and keeps it. There is no ‘out of the Dead Sea.’ It is like a disciple who learns and learns and sees and sees, but never gives it away, never says anything to anyone about what he has heard or seen or experienced. It becomes a dead faith.

Discipleship without apostleship leads to stagnation – however to take this analogy even further – if the Sea of Galilee just flowed into the Jordan River without taking in more of the Jordan from the north – well, it would die as a sea. Apostleship without discipleship leads to burnout.

That is - how can we express our faith to those who meet us if we are not taking in the life giving waters of God’s word? How can we express our faith to those who meet us if we are not in constant contact with God through our prayer life? If we aren’t, it is like a dam was put at the northern point of the Galilee and all the life giving water sucked out of the sea.

A life-giving faith requires both – the inflow of discipleship learning and the outflow of being sent into the world with a message.

Jesus tells us clearly, “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

How is your disciple life? Do you hear the call to be sent out? Jesus calls all walks of life, all manner of intelligence, all sizes of people, all ages of people -  to tell the story of his life, death, and resurrection, a story we love to tell, a story that is life-giving to so many. Do you hear the call? If so, shalom.

Sermon Sunday I return

I found a like soul on my trip to the Holy Land and Egypt. This like soul was just like me – nose in a map all the time to keep up with where we were and where we were going. Everyone else just road along happy as a lark to know nothing of orientation – not us.


And when we went into Egypt and didn’t have a map for the first 3 hours – well, I thought we were both going to have a coronary!

I like this map. So, let’s see just where we thought Jesus was. Understand that when you look at this map, Israel is not the size of the USA – it’s not even the size of Texas. It is more the size of New Jersey. Distances are very small.

For instance, the distance from Samaria to Jerusalem was somewhere around 30 miles. Now Jesus wasn’t going to walk it in a day, but it was not going to take long for him to get where he was going.

If you look at this scripture along with the Elisha scripture, you will see that Jesus demands much more. He isn’t about returning evil for evil, but to move on when rejected, a much harder thing to do. He isn’t about time involved in saying goodbye to family – come now! There is no time and no reason to look back.

The first person says, “I’ll follow you wherever you go.” Really? Really? Do you think he was going to follow Jesus to the cross? Was going to follow him to be beaten and hauled away in humiliation.

I have a friend who owns a restaurant and I have seen him do everything, every job. He seats people at their tables. He cooks in the kitchen. He busses tables and washes dishes. He cashiers. He does everything that needs to be done and his employees know that he will. They know that he has done and will do everything that he asks of them.

This is what following Jesus is.

It is the practice in Israel to first bury the dead in a tomb like Jesus was buried in. For the next year there is mourning, then the son is to take the bones of the dead and put them in the family crypt on the Mount of Olives. That way they are ready for the resurrection at the end of days.

So the second one is not saying – OH, my father just died and I need to bury him. No, he is saying he needs to wait, the time isn’t right for him to follow. Jesus tells him that the tradition is just that, a tradition. And then says that the young man should instead go and proclaim the kingdom of God, something of paramount and everlasting importance.

The last person says that he needs to say farewell to those at his home. Now, let me tell you goodbye means parties, everyone coming from all over the countryside, days and days of relatives asking what you are doing, where are you going, when will you be back, who is this you’re going with, do we know his family, what do you need to take with you, ….

Jesus has no time for that – and neither should you.

So what do we do now?

• We pray, pray frequently and long

• We study the scriptures diligently, we discuss them with one another

• We worship regularly with God’s people

• We invite others often to worship, to get to know God

• We pass on the faith to our children

• We serve for the sake of others

• We give freely of time, talents and resources.

Jesus was indeed radical. He asked that his followers do what no one was willing to do – in their right mind – but he asked that they pledge their all. He asked that they give their best, that they put the best over the worst. He asked that they chose him over not only the devil, but their own families. What a blessing for them! When choosing Jesus, you are freed from the possession of and worshiping of families to instead love them, because God first loved you.

Jesus calls us to radical discipleship. He says to look forward – not backward. Don’t rest on what you have done individually or as a church. Don’t compare now to the past, this church now to another or to this church in the past. Make a decision for Christ.

If you are thinking about joining this church or another – do it.

If you are thinking about starting a new service ministry here – do it.

If you are thinking about joining or starting a Bible study – do it.

If you are thinking about helping in the A/V – do it.

If you are thinking about being an assisting minister – do it.

If you are thinking about helping the altar guild – do it.

If you are thinking about helping to pass on the faith to the children – do it.

If you are thinking about becoming a leader here – do it.

If you are thinking about starting a prayer time in your life – for the sake of your soul and all those who will be blessed by your prayers – do it.

My father used to say, “Put your money where your mouth is.” I tell my children, “Don’t tell me you are going to do something, show me.”

Jesus put everything he had out there for us. Jesus came into this world intending to give his life for you, just for you. So that you could have hope and love, so that you would know that God loves, really loves, you. Jesus didn’t turn around and leave at the sight of trouble because he knew you would need his love, his compassion, and his faith. He knew that only through his death would you receive the gift of grace so that your sins would be forgiven.

Our mission statement says Boldly Sharing God’s Word. It’s time for bold.

Lord, may we find the strength deep inside to follow you and proclaim the kingdom of God. Amen

Alexandria

First day that we didn't travel around in a big bus. Only 3 of us went to Alexandria today and no we didn't travel in one of the 3 wheeler taxis. We had a van to take the 3 1/2 hour trip up north to the Mediterranean Sea. Saw the countryside along the way (and snatched some zzz's). The coast was beautiful. Alexandria is a more liberal city were the scarves on the heads of the women were in wonderful colors, some even shot with silver threads or sequins.
We visited the new library - the old one, the most famous LIbrary in the world was burned down when the Muslims invaded in 646. This is a resurrection of the library, but very modern. Go to www.bibalex.org to see the library. For free you can read many books, view and download pictures and maps from antiquity and from now, and watch videos. It is fascinating.
Alexandria is where the disciple Mark spread the word of Jesus. He preached in the old library until the Romans killed him in an awful way. He was the one to start the Coptic Christian Church.
The  Israelites lived in the region, in Goshen. It has the most fertile land in the world. As I contemplate this area, I can't help but see why they had such a difficult time leaving that to go to the Sinai and then on to Israel. They left so much behind - and yet gained so much, including a close relationship with God.

Home tomorrow. One more pic.
Prayer: Lord watch over travelers all over the world and help us to see with your eyes. AMen

Floating!!!

Here we are as we are sailing down the Nile River. What a great morning. That's Nassir our captain, first mate, and .... He's it! We even saw the bullrushes that Miriam hid in as Moses floated to the princess. Look at these great date palms. The dates are in big bundles hanging under each      spray of leaves.

Then we entered an unbelievable Coptic church called the Hanging Church because it is actually built without a regular foundation. It is balanced on top of a Roman tower that had been broken down. You can even see through a part of the floor to the bottom - several feet down. The next church we went to you couldn't take pictures in. It was the Coptic Church of the Holy Crypt. This was built over the crypt, or room, that the Holy Family fled to when they left Bethlehem. Jeremiah had started a synagogue in the 6th century BC in the area and there were many Jews in the area of the church. It used to be a synagogue, but the church bought the area from them. No pictures, just postcards.

The history here blends with and spurs stories from the Old Testament and the New. I certainly will be looking with new eyes at the scriptures. And Jesus said, "Come and See." I pray that you are getting a tiny bit each day that helps you to expand your vision with Jesus and deepen your faith.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

We drove 70 miles south to Fayoum. I know it doesn't sound important, but this is where Joseph was probably keeping the grain. As a matter of fact, in the middle of the desert - well, not quite in the middle - there is an irrigation canal off the NIle that is named Joseph's Canal. The belief is that he had it dug so that this area, which was the capital during his time, could grow soooo much, and it still does. Organically. The animals graze on the stubs of the harvested crops and leave their waste that is then fertilizer.

Then we went to the first stone structure in the world, a step pyramid that was built with mud bricks covered with stone. Incredibly, next to it was a tomb of Princess Idot that the paint was still on the wall. Both were from 2600 BC, 4600 years ago! And the temperature, there in the Sahara by the way, was 120 degrees.


We discussed the different scholar's opinions of what the exodus actually looked like, where they crossed the Reed Sea and why.... More later. It's HOT here. We seem to be having a heat wave. Floating down the Nile tomorrow.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for leaders like Abraham and Joseph and Moses who helped us come to you. Amen

WOW

We started off the day in Giza. That meant a trip to the pyramids. What a strange feeling to look over the buildings of town and see the pyramids right there. How must that have been for Abraham to come to Egypt - they were 600 years old at that time. How amazing that he was able to keep his faith in the unseen God when so obviously the god of Egypt must be massive because the pyramid was built to be the home of the god who had died in his human form, but was very alive in his god form. And yet Abraham stayed faithful. Not only that, he told of his faith and changed some of the thought in Egypt. King Akenaton in 1351 actually changed Egypt by saying that he was a man, not a god and there was only one god and shut down the various temples except the sun god. He was killed for all that and his son became king, King Tut.

Here we are on camels again! Let me tell you, we are in the Sahara here and in the middle of a heat wave! 112 today. We really felt like the next pic at the end. Things here are soooo ancient. Indeed Joseph came during the middle kingdom - will go see Joseph's place another day - and all theories point to the exodus as during Ramses' reign about 1250. His son even wrote about wanting to follow the Isrealites and wipe them out. Ramses died with an emense amount of salt in his limbs and with his arms looking like they still had the reins of a horse in them. Believed drown!

Exodus revisited

We entered Egypt finally, but the first hotel had no Internet so....
We are now in Cairo and the computer here is soooooo slow I can't down load a picture. sorry.
Our trip through the Sinai was unbelievable. I always pictured the Sinai, and there for the exodus led by Moses to be over a flat desert. That's not at all what it is like. It has extremely high mountains in the interior. The coast of the Gulf of Aquba and the Suez Gulf are flat sand to the sea on one side of the road, but the other is high mountains right up to the edge of the road. That exodus was undoubtedly winding through the mountains from water hole to water hole. It would take forever to walk the peninsula or maybe just 40 years.

St. Catherine's monastery was awesome. We were not able to visit inside the chapels, but walked through the monastery where visitors could go and saw the burning bush. Is it real? Only God knows, but the bush dates back centuries and people have tried to grow parts of it elsewhere and it has not been successful.

Our hotel was right there. Last night we (Jan, Mary and I) went outside the hotel to visit a Bedouin tent. We had chai (hot spiced tea) sitting on carpets on the ground. Jan and I were dressed up as dancers by the Bedouins - much to everyone's amusement!

I looked out my window in the morning to see the sun come up over Mt. Sinai. Right there where Moses met his wife, where Moses talked with God at the burning bush, where Moses went up the ;mountain to bring back the 10 commandments, where he came down to find the golden calf. WOW!

On to Cairo today. We arrived in time for dinner and will go to the pyramids tomorrow.

Pray with me: Lord give us the strength to see the other as your child. Amen

Last Day in Israel

We started the day at the Garden Tomb. Though this is not where Jesus was buried, it gives a good representation of the tomb. We celebrated communion with the Presbyterian group from South Carolina that we have been traveling with. Rev. Sloan and I shared in the consecration of the elements and then served the group. Wonderful sharing.

We then traveled to the believed site of the birth of St. John the Baptist. Beautiful church built by the Spanish Franciscans. The interior is covered with blue and white tiles. Is this the site of his birth? If not here then somewhere close. This church was built in the 1200's on top of the church built in the 500's.

Later this evening Jan, Mary Lou, and I went into old town Jerusalem by ourselves and found our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by ourselves  and then found that the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer was right across the street! What a find. It was really exciting meandering through the narrow streets to Golgotha on our own. The bazaar that we found was undoubtedly the same in the time of Jesus. People from all over selling their wares. The smells - coriander, cinnamon, rosemary, and ginger - along with the sounds of music and bartering, everyone coming to shop for their daily needs. Can you imagine Jesus walking along these narrow streets talking and eating leading a crowd down the streets. What a commotion it must have caused as his many followers filled the streets, talked with the merchants and their customers, as people were healed on the streets and watched as this man whose reputation had preceded him walked among them. And then he came in on a donkey through the Eastern Gate, Solomon's Portico and rode onto the Temple |Mount.

Now we are off to Egypt in the morning. 5:30 wake up call.

Pray with me: Lord help us to see with your eyes that we might never see an us and them, that we might always be a blessing to those we meet. AMEN

By the Sea

We drove through the Judean Wilderness (desert) til we got to Masada.

To get to Masada we had to ride the cable car up! It is at the top of a mountain. Herod built a huge palace and fortress up there that would hold 1000 people. The sad part is the story of the Jewish Zealots - call them terrorists of long ago. They wanted the Romans out of Israel so these men would attack soldiers... and kill them. This started the Jewish War of 66 AD culminating with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The leaders ran off to Masada with their families hoping no one would find them, but the Romans did.

They stayed up there quite a while, until the storehouse was empty and the Romans had breached the wall. Faced with sure slavery the next day when the Romans would advance in, the leaders decided that death was better than slavery and killed first their children, then their wives then each other with the last falling on his sword. The Romans came in to find all dead.

View from Masada

Then we were off to the Dead Sea, which you see above from Masada. Here we floated on our backs in the water and then put the black mud on ourselves. What soft skin we got!

Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for my name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou annointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

On the way home we stopped to see some Bedouins - but also to see the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Unbelievable. This is the valley people walked between Jericho and Jerusalem.

via de la rosa

We started today on Temple Mount. Temple Mount is the size of 12 soccer fields. That is where the temple was before the Romans destroyed it in 70 a.d. but now there is the Dome of the Rock over the threshing floor that David speaks of. That was the foundation of the Temble. The mosque is beautiful from the outside and closed to visitors since 9/11.

We then went to St. Anne's. I do believe I loved this church. It survived all the destruction over the centuries because the accoustics in it are superb. We sang and sang. From there we began our treck along the via de la rosa or stations of the cross which meanders through the narrow streets of Jerusalem. When I say narrow - I mean 3 or 4 people across! Shops and vendors all along the way. We finished at the Church of the Holy Sepelchur which is on Golgatha. There in one church is the rock Jesus was crucified on, the rock he was laid on to wrap, and the tomb he was buried in. On a 1-10 bet of whether this was true, the bet is 10. Amazing to be there, though the church was very different. It is a Greek Orthodox |Church, dark, icons, incense....

We went from there to Jericho - the oldest city in the world for some GREAT fruit and breads. Well, we also saw bedouins along the road, the Judean wilderness where Jesus went after his baptism. Hard to get a picture to really display that. The bedouins had sheep, goats, and camels. We went from there to Qumran. What a desolate place! The Essenes must have really needed to get away from everyone. We were exhausted and HOT!

Prayer: Holy One, we give you thanks for sending your only Son that we might be saved and in your presence. Help us to spread your word. Amen

Wailing Wall

There I am! On a camel!! That's my friend Jan behind me. What fun! We are on the top of the Mount of Olives. From here we can look across the Valley of Judgement to see the house of the Last Supper, Caiphus' house, and the rest of Jerusalem. It was a big WOW!

Right next door is the Garden of Gethsemane (Gethsemane means olive press). In the church located there called the Church of All Nations or Church of Agony is the rock that Jesus prayed on. The tree you see here is at least 2000 years old. All the trees in the garden are ancient except the one planted in the 1990's by the pope.

This is the Wailing Wall or the West Wall. After all the destruction from various wars, this is the only one still standing. It is unbelievable. The bottom blocks are 300 tons! It is built with one block on top of another - no mortar. The small blocks are 2.5 tons!

It is a sacred wall because directly on the other side of the wall is where the Holy of Holies was. Praying at the wall is as close as you can get to being with God.

I cannot tell you how this day has affected me. To put my hand on the rock Jesus prayed and sweated and bled on as he waited for Judas and the soldiers to come and arrest him, then to put my hand on the West Wall and hold all of you in prayer, my family, my friends, my church and myself. I was drained and at the same time encouraged.

Let us pray - God, creator and almighty, merciful, compassionate Lord, I give you thanks for sending your Son, for walking with me, for always being there. Amen

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Today was the day for nativity. We went to The House of the Outrageous Caiaphas first, though. The archaeologists are certain that the villa uncovered was his house, found the room he was beaten in while the trial was going on, and found the pit 3 stories down that he was lowered into for the night a pit dug out of the stone that was probably 6 foot across. From there the next morning he was taken to Pilot.

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in |Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David....While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2: 4-7

From there we went to the Church of the Nativity, yes to the very cave where Mary birthed Jesus. Yes the star is the birthing place. Three churches, the Armenian, the Greek Orthodox, and the Catholic church all take turns 'owning' the birthplace by procession into the cave and literally homesteading for a day. Incredible. So all three have churches on site and little doors leading to the birthplace that they do their procession from. The church of the Nativity is in Bethlehem - across the Wall into the Palestinian occupied territory. That is a discussion we must have sometime.

And low and behold the coffee shop across the street!!!

A prayer: Lord help our hearts to see with eyes only you truly have. Amen

Away from Galilee

We left the beautiful Sea of Galilee and headed east for Cana to see the church which is on top of the original house where Jesus's first miracle of changing water into wine occurred. We have many couples in our group and they renewed their wedding vows today - complete with a certificate from the church!

Next we were off to Megiddo. This is an ancient city. There are 25 cities one built right on top of the other. The last was vacated in the 4th century BCE. You will have heard of Armageddon - that is the final war, a war between good and evil, between all the kings, all the nations found in Rev. 16:16 "Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon." An interesting city on a hill that is at the crossroads of all travel in the middle east.

From there we went to Nazareth, the city where Jesus grew up. There we found the most beautiful Greek Orthodox church with the spring that was the purpose for the town. Nazareth's root word in Hebrew is grandfather - as in the grand fathers of Jesus, those of the past. Wow!

Then we visited the Basilica of St. Mary where countries from around the world have sent their depiction of Mary. Took a picture of the one from the US.Sorry the picture is on its side. Can't fix it on this computer.

Finally, we were on our way to Jerusalem. Staying until the 17th here. Beautiful hotel. OH!! Saw muskrats in the Jordan River yesterday as people affirmed their baptism. Soooo cute.

Blessings. On to Bethlehem tomorrow.