The Themes
What this is: the same readings gathered into collections, so a household can stay with one thread as long as it holds them. Pick a theme and read its weeks in the order listed; when you finish, pick another.
How to use it: choose a collection that fits where your household is, the meals of Jesus, the hard teachings, the parables, and read through it. When you finish, pick another. Every unit appears in at least one theme; several appear in two, because a passage rarely says only one thing.
Who he was
Where to start if you want to meet the person before the teaching.
The Word made flesh · The voice at the water · Born in a feeding trough · The strangers from the east · Water into wine · The light on the mountain · The man born blind · Let the children come · I will come again
The meals of Jesus
He kept turning up at tables. This is the thread nearest our own practice.
Water into wine · Zacchaeus · Enough for everyone · The woman at the Pharisee's table · He washed their feet · The road to Emmaus · Breakfast on the shore
The hard teachings
The sayings that cost something. Read them slowly.
Blessed are · The log in your own eye · Love your enemies · Where your treasure is
Enemies and forgiveness
The hardest and most freeing thread: how to forgive, and how to be forgiven.
The son who came home · Seventy times seven · Love your enemies · The log in your own eye · The woman at the Pharisee's table · Neither do I condemn you · Father, forgive them
The least of these
Where Jesus said he is to be found. Care for the overlooked.
Blessed are · The one who stopped · Enough for everyone · Neither do I condemn you · The sheep and the goats · Born in a feeding trough · He washed their feet
Money and worry
What we cling to for safety, and the God who feeds the birds.
Do not worry · Where your treasure is · The rich young man
Prayer and stillness
How to talk to God, and how to be quiet before him.
Teach us to pray · Ask, seek, knock · Two men praying · The kingdom among you · In the garden
Staying ready
Waiting and making room: the lamp kept lit, the work kept at, readiness as a settled life rather than a state of nerves.
Keep awake · The ten who waited · Lamps lit, ready for the door · As in the days of Noah · The kingdom among you · You will know them by what they do
The resurrection
He is risen. The appearances, and what they mean for our hope.
The empty tomb · Mary in the garden · The road to Emmaus · Thomas, who needed to see · Breakfast on the shore · Peace be with you
Healings and mercy
What his compassion looked like, up close, one person at a time.
Down through the roof · The hem of his cloak · Help my unbelief · The man born blind
The kingdom parables
The stories he told about what God's reign is like.
The sower · The weeds among the wheat · The workers hired last
Born knowing right from wrong
The conscience we come into the world with, and how Jesus wakes it back up.
The greatest commandment · Two men praying · Zacchaeus · Help my unbelief · Let the children come · You will know them by what they do · Thomas, who needed to see
The cost
What following actually asks of us.
Forty days in the wilderness · The rich young man · Let me first · Take up your cross · What you did with what you were given · In the garden · Father, forgive them
Love your neighbor
The second command that cannot be pulled apart from the first.
The greatest commandment · Ask, seek, knock · The one who stopped