Daily Readings - Sun Apr 06 2025

¹⁶This is what the LORD says- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,¹⁷who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:¹⁸"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.¹⁹See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.²⁰The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,²¹the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

Philippians

Chapter 3

⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

John

Chapter 8

¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.²At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.³The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group⁴and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.⁵In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"⁶They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.⁷But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."⁸Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.⁹At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.¹⁰Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"¹¹"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Sermon

In today's readings, we encounter powerful themes of God's mercy, faith, and the invitation to move beyond our past mistakes. The first reading from Isaiah speaks of a God who creates new pathways in the desert, offering hope and renewal to His people. This passage, written during a time of exile, reminds us that even in our darkest moments, God is always doing something new, bringing life to barren places. The second reading from Philippians finds Paul emphasizing the superiority of knowing Christ over any earthly achievement or legalistic observance. He strips away all else to focus on the pursuit of a deeper relationship with Jesus, acknowledging that true righteousness comes through faith. Finally, the Gospel presents Jesus' encounter with the woman caught in adultery, where He challenges the hypocrisy of her accusers and offers her mercy and a new beginning. These readings are woven together by the thread of God's grace and the call to live in the present, unencumbered by past failures or rigid legalism. Isaiah's promise of new life, Paul's single-minded pursuit of Christ, and Jesus' act of mercy all point to the transformative power of God's love. Each reading invites us to let go of what holds us back and to trust in God's plan, which is always oriented toward life and freedom. As we reflect on these readings, we are challenged to examine our own lives. Where are we holding onto past sins or failures? Where are we prioritizing rules over relationships or settling for superficial righteousness? The good news is that God's mercy is always available, inviting us to start anew. Let us, like Paul, press on toward the goal of knowing Christ more deeply, and like the woman in the Gospel, walk away from our sins with gratitude and resolve to live differently. May we embrace the new thing God is doing in our lives, trusting in His promise to bring light and life even in the most unexpected places.