Scripture: Psalm 72:1-71 Peter 3:8-18Isaiah 9:2-7Luke 10:1-12

Text: "Peace be to this house." (Luke 10:5)

Our bus pulled off the highway onto an overpass, where it stopped. The road up from Lod airport, near Tel Aviv, had displayed to us the remnants of the wars of Israel. Shelled-out tanks and armored personnel carriers were preserved where they had fallen, as memorials to the men who had fought and died there.

Now our eyes were turned eastward, where we could see our first view of Jerusalem. The tour guide invited me to offer prayer. It is only from the vantage point of a year later, that I can now place a little round-headed pin on the map of my life-journey, to mark that spot as a particularly significant point in life.

There, with a group of Phoenix civic and religious leaders, I was gran…