Hello, good people. And welcome to daily bible

refresh with doctor Brad Miller brought to you by voice

of god daily.com. This

is the podcast where we look to give you a fresh expression on

a daily reading of the bible. We

use the revised common lectionary

to read the bible for the particular verse for this particular day.

We're in yeast year c of the of the revised

common lectionary in the epiphany season, and we offer you a

re reading for this day, which is understandable,

relatable, and applicable. We do

that by giving you the just a new testament reading only for this

day from the message translation of the bible. So

that's what makes it understandable. We make it relatable by offering you a couple of

points to ponder, some points to think about, teaching points

if you will. We make it applicable by offering you an action step

to take to apply the gospel or to to apply the reading

to your life. We have a prayer. We do it all

in under 10 minutes or so. Today's reading

is indeed from the gospel of Luke chapter

2 verses 39 through 52, reading from The

Message. When they finished everything required by God in

the law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth.

There, the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit, and the

grace of God was on him. They found him in the temple. Every

year, Jesus' parents traveled to Jerusalem for the

feast of Passover. When he was 12 years old, they went up as

they had always did for the feast. When it was over and they left for

a home, the child, Jesus, stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his

parents didn't know it, thinking he was somewhere in the company of

pilgrims. They journeyed for a whole day and they began

and then began looking for him among relatives and neighbors. When

they didn't find him, they went back to Jerusalem looking

for him. The next day, they found him in the temple, seated among the

teachers, listening to them and asking questions.

The teachers were all quite taken with him, impressed

with the sharpness of his answers, but his parents were not

impressed. They were upset and hurt. His mother said,

young man, why have you done this to us? Your father and I had

been half out of our minds looking for you. And he said,

why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I had to

be here dealing with the things of my father? But

they had no idea what he was talking about. So he

went back to Nazareth with them and lived obediently

with them. His mother held these things

deeply and dearly within herself.

And Jesus matured, growing up both in body

and spirit, blessed by both God and

people. Wow, a wonderful story about

Jesus's family life and about how he

dealt with authority and some family structure type

of situations.

And it's really about his courage

to in be engaging with religious teachers of the temple

and even with his own family. Here are some points

to ponder. One of them is the celebration of

youth leadership and and liberation.

In this story, Jesus, at 12, is

asking great questions of the religious authorities,

and I think it just reminds us that wisdom is not limited

by age. In our time of youth led movements for

climate justice and racial equality and social change, I think the

story affirms that young people have not only the

right and the capacity, but the capability

to challenge established systems and

ask the difficult questions. The second

point to ponder is about a disruption to family systems.

Jesus, at age 12, is has an assortation

of some autonomy, growing up, if you will, in the family.

He says, didn't you know I had to be here? I mean, meaning in the

temple, and he's really challenging the family dynamic, the family

power dynamics, and and this speaks to the tension that many

people face in their biological families with

expectations and having to do

with chosen family and community commitments.

Sometimes these are particularly evident with LGBTQ

plus individuals and other people who are marginalized by

traditional family structures. Something to think about.

3rd point to ponder has to do with sacred questioning.

The image of Jesus listening and asking questions

presents an alternative model for spiritual growth,

one based on inquiry rather than passive

acceptance. Progressive Christianity values

questioning, doubt and critical engagement

with tradition as essential parts

of developing your faith. Here's your action

step. It has to do with reimagining

an intergenerational wisdom circle.

That has to do with gathering people of different ages or situations

in life, especially young people, and engage with

them to discuss issues of spirituality, issues of

peace and justice, things that impact your very community.

And I invite you to practice deep listening

across generations. If you're an older

person like me, listen to the young and

embrace and accept younger

voices and and we're ensuring that they have

equal space to question and challenge.

You may want to even document this, write it down or record it, and so

that these action plans can be incorporated

for future actions Intergenerationally

is an important part of this action step. We're gonna

pray in just a moment, but did want to share with you, we do have

a resource for you. It's free.

It's free to help you read your Bible on a regular basis

and study the scriptures in a simple manner that will help you go deeper.

We call it the ABC 123 Bible

study guide. You can find it at voice of

god daily.com. That's where we have all of

our show notes and our transcripts and all our back catalog

of episodes of daily bible refresh over 700.

And, it's also where you can find the ABC 123 Bible study

guide that can help you make Bible study

have really relevant and applicable to your

life. Let's pray. Oh god, you

are a divine source of wisdom. Give us courage to ask difficult questions

even when they make others uncomfortable. Help us to listen to

voices often dismissed as too young,

too inexperienced, or too challenging.

And when family systems and traditions constrain

us, grant us strength to choose an

authentic path. May we find sacred community

in spaces of honest questioning, where doubt is welcome

as faith's companion, and wisdom flows freely

across generations. Guide us in creating

space where all seekers, regardless of age,

can wrestle with truth and find new

beginnings. Amen.

Well, thank you for being with me here on Daily Bible Refresh to to

today. Be back with you tomorrow with Daily Bible

Refresh with another reading of the scriptures that

is relatable and applicable and pertinent to your

life. We drop our episodes before 6 AM EST

every single day. We hope that you will join us and ask others to

join us as well. You can always find us at voice of god

daily.com. Until next time, this is doctor

Brad Miller inviting you to know that god's loyal love

doesn't run out. His merciful love hasn't dried

up. It's created new every

morning.