My Family Prayer Book

2026-06-14 Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time  Exodus 19:2-6a Exodus 19:2 marks an important return for Moses. God first spoke to Moses from the burning bush on this very mountain (Sinai also known as Horeb) - now it comes full circle. In Exodus 3:12, God promises Moses, “I will be with you. And this is the sign for you that I Myself have sent you. When you bring the people out from Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” Upon returning to this mountain, Moses seeks God’s guidance, and God gives him a message for the Israelites. God did not free the Israelites from bondage so they can do whatever they want; instead God reminds the Israelites that they are to be God’s people and participate in the covenant made with Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Living according to God’s teaching will make the Israelites God’s covenant people when they will become “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God then instructs in great detail the Israelites to build the Tabernacle and sacrifices to ...

  2022-May-8: Fourth Sunday of Easter   Acts 13:14, 43-52 God commissioned Paul to be the apostle to the "Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15). When Paul and Barnabas come to Pisidian Antioch almost 900 miles away from Jerusalem - the Jews scattered in that part of the Roman Empire and the Gentiles come to hear his message of Salvation. When Paul explains God's salvation has come through Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, the listeners realize formal worship at the Temple in Jerusalem is no longer needed. God will meet them where they are and be with them without sacrifices or ritual. The Jews don't have to travel almost 900 miles thrice each year to sacrifice, and the Gentiles too are fully welcomed. Some of the Jews break away from their tradition and accept Jesus. Many more Gentiles enthusiastically accept the invitation to be welcomed into God's family forming the foundation of the church. But the local Jewish synagogue leaders, elders, a...