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Here’s the good news: God stands ready to help us. The Good Shepherd is always nudging us back onto the path. “Happy Birthday Miss Jones” by Norman Rockwell for The Saturday Evening Post, 1956 Psalm 119:33-40 September 6, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the Bible. But that’s not why it’s worth studying. It reads like a love poem to God’s Torah. But that’s not what makes it special. It’s an acrostic with 176 verses divided into 22 stanzas. It’s a cele

... Paul is simply echoing Jesus’ commands, but that hasn’t made it any easier for people of faith to fulfill down through the centuries. Detail from “Sunday Morning in Virginia” by Winslow Homer, 1877 (Depicts a family in a slave cabin with children being taught how to read from the Bible) Romans 12:9-21 August 30, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright I have told you before about Robert Fulghum, author of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. At one point he sat in a coffe

Imagine how different the world would be if there was a constant elevator soundtrack of people singing quietly, resolutely, faithfully, “I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart …” “David and his harp” by Marc Chagall Psalm 138 August 23, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright The enthusiasm is evident from the first line – this is a song of exuberant praise! There are no punctuation marks in the original Hebrew, but the content begs for exclamation marks to be littered throughout it,

The jokesters are completely wrong – Matthew is not recounting a trick. But they are also a little bit right – the gospel writer does have something up his sleeve. Photo by George Dagerotip Isaiah 56:1-8 August 16, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright The wounds were still fresh. Wounds? What wounds? Whose wounds? Isaiah speaks to a collection of bruised and broken people – three groups in particular: Those returning from long years of exile in Babylon found their Holy City destr

The jokesters are completely wrong – Matthew is not recounting a trick. But they are also a little bit right – the gospel writer does have something up his sleeve. “Jesus Walks on Water” by Tracy Councill Matthew 14:22-33 August 9, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright This story of Jesus walking on water has stoked imaginations for generations … and that shows up in a series of jokes. Maybe you’ve heard them. Jokes like this one: “Two retired pastors had a habit of going fishing togethe

“All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” [1] Painting in the Grotto of St. Paul, Ephesus, late 5th century Romans 8:26-39 July 26, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” That was the favorite verse of Bob Ward, the last surviving “life elder” when I arrived at First Presbyterian Church, Mt. Holly, NC back in 1997. He was “Mr. Presby

And just like that their life was transformed! That is what has happened for the Christian. [1] Painting in the Grotto of St. Paul, Ephesus, late 5th century Romans 8:12-25 July 19, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright We are nearing the end of our series, but Paul still has much to say to the congregation gathered in Rome. Here, as elsewhere, he is particularly adept at mining local customs to make his theological points and to help people understand the will and ways of God. For instanc

Dying and rising is the shared experience that Paul wants to build on in this letter. [1] Painting in the Grotto of St. Paul, Ephesus, late 5th century Romans 6:1-11 July 5, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Consider with me for a moment not the audience or the author, but the purpose of this letter. This is Paul’s attempt to introduce himself to the believers living in far-away Rome, people who do not know his face or his voice… yet. Perhaps they have heard rumors, but they can be dis

Can you imagine? Faced with our willful, continuing sinfulness, God chose to justify us. [1] Painting in the Grotto of St. Paul, Ephesus, late 5th century Romans 5:1-8 June 28, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright We began this series, “Reading Romans”, last week by familiarizing ourselves with Rome in 57 AD, and the Christian community that developed there. Now we will turn our attention from the audience to the author – Paul. If you had grown up with him, and then lost touch, you would

How do you keep the faith when the pressure and temptation is to bow down to Caesars that proclaimed themselves as gods? [1] Painting in the Grotto of St. Paul, Ephesus, late 5th century Romans 4:13-25 June 21, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Paul could not be everywhere (though a map of his journeys makes it look like he tried). Since he could not be everywhere, he wrote letters, lots of letters! He wrote to churches across Asia minor, many that he had founded. Sometimes he sounded

I think God led Israel out into the wilderness so they would embrace their dependence on God, and on each other. The wilderness forced them to become a holy community! Exodus 19:2-8a June 14, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Take a moment to center yourself in this story. Like the Israelites, we have entered the wilderness. Our story is not nearly as dramatic – we haven’t been freed by God from 400 years of bondage in Egypt; or escaped through the midst of the Red Sea with Pharoah’s a

So which is harder – the healings Jesus will do, or welcoming a tax collector into the fold? “Jesus calls Matthew the tax collector" from season 1, episode 7 of The Chosen Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 June 7, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright The healings are the showstoppers! Matthew joins Mark and Luke in telling the story of how Jesus brings a little girl back from the dead and heals a hemorrhaging woman who dared touch his robe! Together, these twin stories display Jesus’ compassion and

...early disciples experienced encounters with the Spirit as encounters with God directly — and at the same time, Jesus spoke of the Spirit as a guiding, challenging presence distinct both from him and from the One to whom he prayed. “Let There Be” by Lauren Wright Pittman, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN Genesis 1:1-2:4a May 31, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright I haven’t been to the downtown mall in ages, but I knew I w

So for ten days they waited. They had been promised the Holy Spirit, more than once. [i] “Fire Lookout” by Carol Aust Acts 2:1-21 May 24, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright I recently hiked 110 miles south to Springer Mountain in Georgia on the Appalachian Trail. One of the nice things about hiking south when everyone else is hiking north was that I often got a preview of what I would be facing from people who had just been there. For example, I heard all about Albert Mountain and the

So what about the people to whom 1 Peter is written, then and now? Is suffering a source of meaning and purpose? Can it cause us to rely on each other? Can it spark kindness? “Complete Joy” by Lauren Wright Pittman, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. 1 Peter 3:13-22 May 10, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Suffering was a daily reality for the people to whom 1 Peter is written. Life in the first century was difficult: work

So who can be a living stone? Set in the cobbled path leading up to the castle on St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall, is this heart shaped rock. 1 Peter 2:2-10 May 3, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright I am just back from hiking 120 more miles on the Appalachian Trail. I spent a lot of time up close and personal with rocks: scrambling over stones, slipping on scree, skirting boulders, kneeling in gravel as I refilled my water bottle, and dumping pebbles out of my boots. Stones are just as c

There is something about the breaking of bread that is revelatory. “The Road to Emmaus” by Daniel Bonnell Luke 24:13-35 April 19, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Another appearance story – this time from Luke. Each of the gospel writers has their own quiver of stories about the risen Lord to pierce hearts. But this one is not what you’d expect. Jesus does not appear to Peter or James or John or any of the inner circle. Nor to Mary Magdalene or any of the other women who have followe

I think John is exploring something slightly different in his gospel: how people believe. “Doubting Thomas” by Michael Landy, Installation view, The National Gallery, London John 20:19-31 April 12, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Almost 20 years ago a book, This I Believe, based on the NPR series of the same name, collected short essays by eighty Americans. Some of the names you would recognize – like Bill Gates or Colin Powell or Anthony Fauci, but the rest are by people like us. Th

You could argue that the placard placed on the cross that mocked Jesus as the “King of the Jews” could have read King of Small Things. Matthew 28:1-10 April 5, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright It would be easy to be distracted by the summer blockbuster parts of Matthew’s resurrection account: the sudden earthquake (yes another one!); the angel rolling back the stone like a contestant in the world’s strongest man competition; his lightning-like appearance enough to scare experienced gu

And Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:45-56 March 29, 2026 Dr. Todd R Wright This is what Holy Week has been leading to; this is the moment Jesus has been predicting! When the moment comes, the sky goes dark, just as Amos predicted the Lord would do in judgment on the great and terrible Day of the Lord: “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and yo