ST. JAMES PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Bible Study Companion Guide
First Sunday in Lent – Year A
Genesis 2:15–17; 3:1–7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12–19
Matthew 4:1–11
 
Theme: Trust in the Wilderness
Lent begins not with self-improvement, but with a deeper spiritual question: Whose voice do we trust? The readings for this first Sunday trace the movement of trust—how it is formed, how it is fractured, and how it is restored. Taken together, they invite us to examine not simply our behavior, but the voices shaping our understanding of God, ourselves, and the world around us.
 
Genesis 2.15–17; 3.1–7: The Fracture of Trust
In Genesis, humanity is placed in the garden with dignity and responsibility. The human being is entrusted to serve and guard creation. The relationship between God and humanity begins in freedom and purpose. The turning point comes not with an act of rebellion, but with a question that introduces doubt: “Did God really say…?” The serpent reframes God as restrictive and withholding. The deeper temptation is not the fruit itself, but suspicion about God’s goodness. Once mistrust enters, the human posture shifts, fear replaces openness, hiding replaces honesty, and blame replaces communion. The story reminds us that spiritual fracture often begins with distorted perception of who God is.
 
Psalm 32: The Restoration of Honesty
Psalm 32 moves from concealment to relief. The psalmist describes the physical and emotional weight of silence: hiding one’s wrongdoing creates inner strain. Yet when truth is spoken before God, release follows. Forgiveness is not achieved through perfection, but received through honesty. This psalm teaches that trust is restored not by denial, but by confession. Lent invites us into this kind of truthfulness—not shame, but clarity; not humiliation, but healing.
 
Romans 5.12–19: The Spread of Harm and the Spread of Grace
Paul contrasts Adam and Christ as representatives of two patterns of humanity. Through Adam, mistrust and its consequences enter the human story. Through Christ, grace and restored relationship enter with even greater force. Paul’s argument is communal rather than merely individual. Just as harm can ripple outward through communities and generations, so can grace. The passage reassures us that God’s redemptive work is not fragile. Where sin expands, grace expands more abundantly. Lent is therefore not a season of despair about human failure, but a season of recognizing the wideness of divine mercy.
 
Matthew 4.1–11: Identity in the Wilderness
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is named “Beloved” at his baptism before he performs any public ministry. Immediately afterward, he is led into the wilderness. The temptations that follow all challenge his identity: “If you are the Son of God…” He is tempted to secure comfort quickly, to prove himself dramatically, and to gain power easily. Each temptation invites him to grasp rather than trust. Unlike the story in Genesis, Jesus does not allow distortion to define reality. He responds by grounding himself in God’s word and in his already-spoken identity. The wilderness does not strip him of belovedness; it tests whether he will live from it.
 
A Question to Revisit Throughout the Week
 
What voice is shaping my trust right now?
 
Return to this question daily. Notice whether fear, urgency, shame, or comparison is influencing your decisions. Then consider how God’s steady voice—naming you beloved—might reshape your posture. Lent is less about dramatic change and more about careful listening.
 
A Practice for the Week
 
Once each day, pause for one quiet minute and speak this sentence slowly:
 
“I am beloved, and I will trust.”
 
Say it before checking the news. Say it before responding to something stressful. Say it before going to sleep. Do not rush it. Simply let the words settle. Over time, trust is not forced—it is formed through steady return.
 
Prayer
 
Faithful God,
You have called us into relationship and named us beloved before we prove anything. When doubt distorts Your goodness and fear urges us to grasp for control, steady our hearts. When silence grows heavy, give us courage to speak truth before You. Let Your grace move through us more powerfully than our failures, and teach us to live from the trust that Christ embodied in the wilderness. In this Lenten season, deepen our confidence in Your faithful love. Amen.

Bible Study & Sermon Companion Guide
The Transfiguration of the Lord — February 15, 2026 (Year A)
St. James Presbyterian Church | Community Bible Study
 
Opening Focus for the Week
The Transfiguration brings us to a moment of brightness that is brief and unresolved. Jesus is revealed, yet nothing is settled—no plan is announced, no future is secured. For those gathering around these texts—whether in faith, curiosity, longing, or uncertainty—this week invites attention rather than explanation. Begin with stillness. Notice your breath. Notice who is present with you. Hold this posture as you read: I do not need to arrive anywhere today. I am willing to stay with what is given.
 
Lectionary Texts for the Week

First Reading — Exodus 24:12–18
Moses is invited upward, but the gift is not immediate clarity—it is presence thick enough to require waiting. The cloud does not explain itself; it holds Moses in a holiness that can feel like delay, awe, and uncertainty all at once. Rather than asking, “What does this mean?” try asking, “What does this kind of presence ask of a person?”
Reflection Question: Where in your life are you being invited to stay with God without rushing to name what you are experiencing?
Practice for the Week: Choose one moment each day to pause before acting or speaking. In that pause, simply say: “I can wait with what is here.”
 
Psalm — Psalm 2
This psalm refuses to pretend the world is calm: conflict rises, powers posture, fear escalates. Yet the psalm does not give the last word to rage. It invites us to consider what happens when we stop treating anxiety as a prophet. What if the loudest voices are not the truest voices?
Reflection Question: What feels like it is “raging” right now—in the world, in your community, or in your inner life—and what changes if you don’t let it set the terms of your hope?
Practice for the Week: When you notice agitation or fear, take one slow breath and repeat: “Not everything loud is true.” Notice what loosens, even slightly.
 
Alternate Psalm — Psalm 99
Psalm 99 holds a tension many of us struggle to trust: God is holy and God is near. Holiness here is not distance; it is moral steadiness—a presence that does not wobble with every headline or mood. The psalm invites reverence not as intimidation, but as a way of becoming grounded.
Reflection Question: Where do you most long for steadiness right now—and what might it look like to seek that steadiness as a form of prayer?
Practice for the Week: Create a small daily ritual (a candle, a glass of water, a hand on your heart, a moment of silence) and let it become your reminder: “Holy and near.”
 
Second Reading — 2 Peter 1:16–21
This passage speaks from the far side of an encounter: “We were eyewitnesses.” It suggests that some experiences cannot be fully understood in real time—they become clearer as memory ripens. Faith here is not forced certainty; it is a willingness to remember truthfully and to keep returning to what was seen.
Reflection Question: What is a moment of light, courage, or clarity in your past that you understand differently now than you did then?
Practice for the Week: Write down one memory that still warms you or steadies you. Keep it somewhere accessible, and reread it when the week feels heavy.
 
Gospel — Matthew 17.1-9 The Transfiguration of Jesus
On the mountain, Jesus is revealed—then the moment passes. The disciples want to build something permanent, but the text offers a different invitation: listen. Not everything holy can be held; some revelations are meant to be carried as memory, question, and courage. The scene asks us to consider: What if listening is the truest form of devotion?
Reflection Question: Where are you tempted to “build a tent”—to lock something down, finalize, or control—when what is needed is deeper listening?
Practice for the Week: Practice listening in one conversation this week without fixing, correcting, or rehearsing your reply. Let your attention be your offering.
 
Allowing the Texts to Speak
As you move through the days ahead, resist the urge to resolve what you have read. Let the cloud remain. Let the memory surface when it will. Let the questions do their quiet work. Return to these texts as companions—especially when you feel rushed, reactive, or certain you already know. Notice what lingers in your body, your imagination, your conscience. Trust that God is present not only in moments of clarity, but also in the listening, the waiting, and the becoming—among us.

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Bible Study Companion Guide
St. James Presbyterian Church
Worship & Study Preparation — February 8, 2026
Black History Month
 

A Shared Scriptural Arc: From Identity to Embodied Righteousness

This week’s scriptures invite us to move beyond seeing faith as comfort alone and toward understanding faith as participation in God’s justice-shaping work in the world. Read through both Black Liberation Theology and Womanist Theology, these texts insist that blessedness is not passive, holiness is not performative, and righteousness is not restricted to religious elites.

We begin worship grounded in testimony, move through prophetic clarity, are formed by spiritual wisdom, and are finally commissioned to live righteousness that is visible, relational, and within reach.

Psalm 112:1–9 (10)
Theme: Righteousness as a Way of Life
Key Movement: From Trust in God → Courageous Generosity → Enduring Hope

Black Liberation Theology Lens: Righteousness as resistance to fear and domination.
Womanist Theology Lens: Righteousness as sustainable, life-preserving faith practiced in community.

Isaiah 58:1–9a (9b–12)
Theme: True Worship as Justice in Action
Key Movement: From Religious Performance → Moral Clarity → Communal Repair

Black Liberation Theology Lens: Worship that dismantles unjust systems.
Womanist Theology Lens: Justice that resists sanctified suffering and centers embodied repair.

1 Corinthians 2:1–12 (13–16)
Theme: Wisdom That Comes from the Spirit
Key Movement: From Human Wisdom → Vulnerability → Spirit-Given Insight

Black Liberation Theology Lens: God’s wisdom disrupts imperial logic.
Womanist Theology Lens: Spirit-formed wisdom rooted in lived experience and care.

Matthew 5:13–20
Theme: Righteousness Made Visible
Key Movement: From Identity → Purpose → Public Faithfulness

Black Liberation Theology Lens: Righteousness democratized beyond religious elites.
Womanist Theology Lens: Righteousness that preserves life and sustains community.

Reflection Prompts
1. Where have you seen faithful living quietly sustain people or communities?
2. What forms of devotion might God be calling us to deepen or release?
3. How might righteousness look if measured by love and repair rather than appearance?

Practices for the Week
1. Practice of Liberating Alignment: Choose one action that resists harm or restores dignity.
2. Practice of Spirit-Formed Wisdom: Spend time listening for God’s wisdom daily.
3. Practice of Life-Giving Witness: Engage in one act that strengthens community.

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​Blessed Is the Life That Refuses the Lie
Bible Study Companion Guide

Lectionary Texts Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
*Psalm 15* Micah 6:1–8*1 Corinthians 1:18–31*Matthew 5:1–12
Opening Orientation
These scriptures share a single, searching concern: What does a life rightly aligned with God actually look like—when stripped of performance, power, and pretense? Rather than offering comfort alone, these texts offer clarity. Rather than promising delayed reward, they name present truth. Read slowly. Let the scriptures question us before we try to answer them.
 
Psalm 15 — Who May Dwell with God?
The psalm asks who may abide with God. The answer is ethical, not ritual: truthfulness, integrity, and refusal to profit from harm. God’s presence is not accessed through closeness to sacred things, but through consistency of life. Holiness is integrity lived out in the world.
 
First Reading: Micah 6:1–8 — When God Is Not Impressed
Micah opens as a courtroom conversation. God is not distant. God is weary—not with people, but with distortion. The people respond with religious escalation—more offerings, greater sacrifice, excessive devotion. God refuses the performance. What God requires is not excess but alignment: to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. Justice is concrete. Kindness is relational faithfulness. Humility is truth-sized living.
 
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 — When the World’s Wisdom Fails
Paul names the scandal of the cross. This is not glorification of suffering but exposure of false power. The world praises dominance, status, and exclusion. God’s wisdom dismantles these measures, revealing that systems of power lie about what strength truly is.
 
Gospel: Matthew 5:1–12 — What “Blessed” Really Means
The word translated “blessed” is makarioi. It does not mean endure quietly or wait for a later reward. It is present-tense and declarative. Jesus is not blessing suffering. Jesus is naming those whose lives already align with God’s reign. Blessedness is not reward. It is moral clarity.
The Arc Across the Texts
Micah calls us out of religious performance and into justice. The Psalm names integrity as the dwelling place of God. Paul dismantles false measures of strength and wisdom. Jesus names those living this way as blessed. The Gospel reveals what has been true all along.
Three Movements: Living Into Blessedness
Movement One — Truth Over Silence
Question: Where in my life have I learned that faith means staying quiet—even when something feels wrong?
Practice: Notice one moment this week when you feel the pull to stay silent. You do not have to fix anything. Simply name the truth to yourself or in prayer: “Something here is not right.”
Movement Two — Right Action, Small and Real
Question: Which part of Micah’s call feels hardest right now—doing justice, loving kindness, or walking humbly?
Practice: Choose one small, concrete action this week that leans toward what is right: a fair decision, a gentle kindness, or an honest restraint.
Movement Three — Blessedness as Alignment
Question: When Jesus says, “Blessed are…,” do I hear a future promise or a present truth?
Practice: Read the Beatitudes slowly. Replace “Blessed are…” with “God recognizes…” and notice what shifts within you.
Closing Word
We are not blessed because we suffer. We are blessed when we refuse lies about what is right. Blessedness is not postponed. It is practiced—in truth, courage, and alignment.


By Rev. Derrick McQueen, Ph. D. ©2026