Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD April 1, Sunday DESPISED FOR ALL OF THIS Tim Gustafson He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.  Isaiah 53:12 Isaiah 53:3–12 Bible in a year: Judges 13–15; Luke 6:27–49 Susannah Cibber gained fame in the eighteenth century for her talent as a singer. However, she was equally well known for her scandalous marital problems. That’s why when Handel’s  Messiah  was first performed in Dublin in April 1742, many in the audience did not approve of her role as a featured soloist. During that inaugural performance, Cibber sang of the Messiah: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3 kjv). Those words so moved Rev. Patrick Delany that he jumped to his feet and said, “Woman, for this be all thy sins forgiven thee!” The connection between Susannah Cibber and the theme of Handel’s  Messiah  is evident...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 31, Saturday THE KING’S CROWN Amy Boucher Pye They . . . twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head.  Matthew 27:28–29 Matthew 27:27–31 Bible in a year: Judges 11–12; Luke 6:1–26 We sat around the table, each person adding a toothpick to the foam disc before us. At our evening meal in the weeks leading up to Easter, we created a crown of thorns—with each toothpick signifying something we had done that day for which we were sorry and for which Christ had paid the penalty. The exercise brought home to us, night after night, how through our wrongdoing we were guilty and how we needed a Savior. And how Jesus freed us through His death on the cross. The crown of thorns that Jesus was made to wear was part of a cruel game the Roman soldiers played before He was crucified. They also dressed Him in a royal robe and gave Him a staff as a king’s scepter, which they then used to beat Him. They mocked Him, c...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 30, Friday THE VIA DOLOROSA Amy Peterson We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  Hebrews 10:10 Hebrews 10:1–10 Bible in a year: Judges 9–10; Luke 5:17–39 During Holy Week, we remember the final days before Jesus’s crucifixion. The road Jesus traveled to the cross through the streets of Jerusalem is known today as the Via Dolorosa, the way of sorrows. But the writer of Hebrews viewed the path Jesus took as more than just a path of sorrows. The way of suffering that Jesus willingly walked to Golgotha made a “new and living way” into the presence of God for us (Hebrews 10:20). For centuries the Jewish people had sought to come into God’s presence through animal sacrifices and by seeking to keep the law. But the law was “only a shadow of the good things that are coming,” for “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (vv. 1, 4). Jesus’s journey down the Via Dolorosa led to His dea...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 29, Thursday BASIN OF LOVE Amy Boucher Pye After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet.  John 13:5 John 13:1–17 Bible in a year: Judges 7–8; Luke 5:1–16 One day in physics class many years ago, our teacher asked us to tell him—without turning around—what color the back wall of the classroom was. None of us could answer, for we hadn’t noticed. Sometimes we miss or overlook the “stuff” of life simply because we can’t take it all in. And sometimes we don’t see what’s been there all along. It was like that for me as I recently read again the account of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. The story is a familiar one, for it is often read during Passion Week. That our Savior and King would stoop to cleanse the feet of His disciples awes us. In Jesus’s day, even Jewish servants were spared this task because it was seen as beneath them. But what I hadn’t noticed before was that Jesus, who was both man and God, washed the feet...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 28, Wednesday LOOK AND BE QUIET Keila Ochoa Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering . . . ?  Lamentations 1:12 Luke 23:44–49 Bible in a year: Judges 4–6; Luke 4:31–44 In the song “Look at Him,” Mexican composer Rubén Sotelo describes Jesus at the cross. He invites us to look at Jesus and be quiet, because there is really nothing to say before the type of love Jesus demonstrated at the cross. By faith we can imagine the scene described in the Gospels. We can imagine the cross and the blood, the nails, and the pain. When Jesus breathed His last, those who “had gathered to witness this sight . . . beat their breasts and went away” (Luke 23:48). Others “stood at a distance, watching these things” (v. 49). They looked and were quiet. Only one spoke, a centurion, who said, “Surely this was a righteous man” (v. 47). Songs and poems have been written to describe this g...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 27, Tuesday GLORY TO THE GROWER So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.  1 Corinthians 3:7 Mark 4:26–29 Bible in a year: Judges 1–3; Luke 4:1–30 One day, I noticed an unexpected splash of yellow to the right of our driveway. Six stalks of daffodils, sandwiched between two large stones, bloomed bright and tall. Because I hadn’t planted, fertilized, or intentionally watered the bulbs, I couldn’t figure out how or why the flowers had sprouted in our yard. Jesus illustrated a mystery of spiritual growth in the parable of the growing seed. He compares the kingdom of God to a farmer scattering seed on the ground (Mark 4:26). The one who scattered the seed may have done what he could to care for the soil. But Jesus said the seed sprouted whether or not that man slept in, woke up, or even understood the growth process (vv. 27–28). The land owner benefited from the harvest (v. 29), though i...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 26, Monday THE POINT OF BEING ALIVE Monica Brands Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.  Luke 12:15 Luke 12:22–34 Bible in a year: Joshua 22–24; Luke 3 Lately, as I’ve been skimming financial advice books, I’ve noticed an interesting trend. While almost all such books have good advice, many imply that the primary reason to cut costs is to live like millionaires later. But one book offered a refreshingly different perspective, arguing that living  simply  is essential for a rich life. If you need more or fancier stuff to feel joy, the book suggested, “You’re missing the point of being alive.” Those insightful words brought to mind Jesus’s response when a man asked Him to urge his brother to divide an inheritance with him. Instead of sympathizing, Jesus dismissed him abruptly before warning sternly about “all kinds of greed”—because “life does not consist in an abundance of...