Friday, January 31, 2014

Devotional 1-31-14

Blessed Am I !!

Blessed: (bles-ed or blest) adj., 1. Holy  2. Beatified  3. Delightful.

Lately, I have been telling Facebook Friends, 'have a blessed birthday' or commenting on a post, 'what a blessing'.  The comments are indicative of great joy or bliss.

In scripture, Matthew 5:3-11 and Luke 6:20-23, Jesus gives us the Beatitudes, words and thoughts for Christians to follow in faith and hope.

I feel blessed!  I am blessed!  I have faith, hope, and joy in my life.  I will follow what God has asked of me and live my life accordingly.  Read the Beatitudes and take care of yourself and others.

Have a blessed day!  Have a blessed life!
See you in church.

Kay Lewis

Friday, January 24, 2014

Devotional 1-24-14

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

WHAT NEW BLESSINGS DOES GOD HAVE FOR ME TODAY?

Truly God's blessings are new every morning although sometimes when we roll out of bed we feel more like "same old, same old" possibly because we have a certain routine we follow each day. Don't misunderstand me, I find "routine" to be good in many ways.

Morning routine for me is pick up the Herald-Dispatch from the doorstep (no, I don't want to read it online), pour a glass of orange juice, make a big cup of English breakfast tea (Twinings, absolutely the best, although Lipton's is good too) and toast an English muffin.  By the time I get to the editorial page of the H-D I'm feeling human).

Now it's time for the daily reading from The Upper Room. What a blessing those devotionals and scriptures are each day. Fit them into your morning prayer time and then the words of one of my favorite hymns have new meaning.

     Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness,
          Morning by morning new mercies I see.
     All I have needed They hand hath provided,
          Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Have a good day!

Jean Dean

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Devotional 1-19-14

I Corinthians 1:1-9

In the lectionary for this week is this introduction of Paul to what is called his first letter to the church at Corinth.  Paul, and those who mimicked his style, open their letters with gracious remembrances of people in the churches and express thanksgiving for them and the work they are doing to advance the causes of Christ where they are.  Later in First Corinthians comes the "love chapter" (I Cor. 13), known and loved by many.

I close my eyes and imagine the congregation, gathered, perhaps in someone's home, to hear someone read aloud Paul's letter.  In my mind's eye, I see those gathered sitting up straighter -- perhaps standing more erectly -- as the graceful compliments and good wishes from Paul are read.   "I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you  so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ," wrote Paul.

John Wesley commented on the last verse of this section that Paul is assuring the folk at Corinth that God is faithful to all his promises.  Wesley's commentary says that God's promise is that through Christ, they (and we) will be found guiltless before God, "a pledge," says Wesley, "of his willingness to save you unto the uttermost."

Is it arrogant of me to say that I love to stand with Paul in giving thanks for the people of my congregation and in thanking God for the grace which God has given us all in Jesus Christ?  Can you say that you give thanks to God for the folk that make up the congregation of which you are a part?  Are you a vital part of the body of Christ that has the task of bearing witness to him in a crazy world?  When was the last time you offered God thanks for the gift of Jesus Christ who erases our sin and presents us faultless before God? Pray for your congregation today.  Pray for your pastors and other leaders across the Church.  Pray -- and work -- for God's mercy and hospitality in a hostile world.  Pray that we all would be evidence to the world of the grace of God offered through our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Holy Lord, thank you for my church.  Thank you for those who labor with me in the fields of your kingdom. Thank you for your promises of eternal life with you.  In Christ I pray.  Amen.

Rev. Jack Lipphardt

Friday, January 10, 2014

Devotional 1-10-14

Matthew 3:13-17

It was a day like any other day,
When John stood at the River Jordon,
Baptizing those who would come.
He felt the gift of baptism,
The urgency to reach each person,
The rush of the water
Making each one clean and whole.

Amid the crowds came a man from Galilee:
From out of the crowds walked Jesus,
Lord of Lords, Emmanuel.
“Baptize me.”

Every bone in John’s body rejected the idea.
How could he be asked to do this?
Thoughts ran through is mind:
 “I am not worthy,
I am not ready,
I am not the one to do this.”
And he fought to speak,
“I’m the one who needs to be baptized,
Not you.”

Jesus insisted.
Sometimes when Jesus insists,
All we can do is obey,
So John did what he was told to do.

He baptized the Son of God.

Water ran over Jesus’ head,
Soaking his face,
Dripping in tiny droplets from his eyelashes,
Mixing with his tears.

John, who had been sent to prepare the way,
Saw God coming from heaven like a dove.
John, who had spoken to so many people
Urging them to repentance,
Now heard the voice of God,
 “This is my son,
Marked by my love.
With whom I am well pleased.”

John knew God spoke of Jesus,
But in his heart a flame lept,
He prayed God could say the same about him,
Even just a whisper,
That what he was doing was pleasing to God
That what he had done was God’s will.

John and Jesus looked at each other
John with eyes of uncertainty,
Jesus with a responding smile.
And they both laughed
In the wonderful pleasure of their Father.

Kim Matthews

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Devotional 1-2-14

An Epiphany

Scripture Reading – Please read Matthew 2: 1-12.

12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Magi had had an epiphany.

In 1927, a year after converting to Anglicanism, T.S. Eliot also had an epiphany about the Epiphany. In “Journey of the Magi” Eliot tells the story from the perspective of one of the Magi. The Magus describes his trip while he showers us with allusions meant to test our biblical knowledge.  See how many you can find.

 'A cold coming we had of it,                                                                                
 Just the worst time of the year                                                              
 For a journey, and such a long journey:
 The ways deep and the weather sharp,
 The very dead of winter.'
 And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,                                            
     (galled – irritated    refractory - stubborn)
 Lying down in the melting snow.
 There were times we regretted
 The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,                                  
 And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
 Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
 And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,          
 And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,              
 And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly                                            
 And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
 A hard time we had of it.
 At the end we preferred to travel all night,
 Sleeping in snatches,
 With the voices singing in our ears, saying
 That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
 Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
 With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
 And three trees on the low sky,
 And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
 Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
 Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
 And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
 But there was no information, and so we continued
 And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
 Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

 All this was a long time ago, I remember,
 And I would do it again, but set down
 This set down
 This: were we led all that way for
 Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
 We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
 But had thought they were different: this Birth was
 Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
 We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
 But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,                    
       (dispensation – system)
 With an alien people clutching their gods.
 I should be glad of another death.

What happened when the Magus went home? Was he able to recapture what he had felt when he was face to face with the Christ Child? Did he try to tell family members of his experience, only to be ridiculed for traveling so far to see a mere boy? Was he able to reconcile his belief in a poor Jewish boy with his feelings about the belief system that had thus far guided his life?  And in the last line, about whose death was he speaking? Zoroastrianism’s? His own? Jesus’? All of the above?

We have so many questions about the birth of Christ, the effect it had on the world, and what it means for our world in 2014. I hope and pray that Eliot’s description of this spiritual journey will enhance yours.

Prayer: Dear God, we have so many questions! As we start a new year, let us remember that the answer to all of them is You.  Amen

*For more information about this poem, see this website: http://www.shmoop.com/journey-of-the-magi/.

Becky Warren