Quoted below are portions of this week’s lectionary readings:
*Psalm 8
**John 16:12-15
***Romans 5:1-5
When I look a your heavens,
The work of your fingers
The moon and the stars
That you have established
What are human beings
That you are mindful of them?
Mortals that you care for them?*
So many times in life
We feel small.
Inconsequential.
We carry the burden of our sins
Of our problems
And feel like an ant
Heavy laden
Sometimes lost
Other times alone
Why would God care about children --
Children such as we are?
Yet you have made us
A little lower than God
And crowned us with glory and honor.*
Sometimes, dear Father
Our problems are like lead
Tied around our necks
Weighing us down.
Our grief and our sorrow
Seem unrelieved
Our worries insurmountable
Our questions unanswerable.
And the son said
Words which still comfort us,
“When the Spirit of truth comes,
He will guide you into all truth;
For he will not speak on his own,
But will speak whatever he hears,
And he will declare to you the things
That are to come."**
We find grace, for you offer us hope
You offer us wisdom
You have given us your presence,
Your spirit has been breathed upon us,
Into us,
And we are borne on wings
Until we can see only your love
Feel only your support
And our flesh tingles
As the air from your sigh
Rushes by us.
Therefore, since we are justified by faith,
We have peace with God
Through our Lord Jesus Christ
Through whom we have obtained access
To this grace in which we stand
And we boast in our hope of sharing
The glory of God.***
Our prayers, our dreams,
Our groaning and our pains
Are relieved
Because we know that you hear them.
You lift them on the wind
As you carry us into your arms,
And we find peace.
Peace beyond understanding
But never beyond reach.
And hope does not disappoint us,
Because God’s love have been poured
Into our hearts
Through the Holy Spirit
That has been given to us.***
O Lord,
Our Lord,
How majestic in your name
In all the earth!*
Kim Matthews
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Under construction
A note about this blog:
It is currently under construction, so walk carefully. I may have left some loose nails or broken boards lying around. I'll be back soon, and will clean up my mess.
Leave comments if you like -- give me suggestions.
It is currently under construction, so walk carefully. I may have left some loose nails or broken boards lying around. I'll be back soon, and will clean up my mess.
Leave comments if you like -- give me suggestions.
May 25 Devotion
Please read Acts 2: 1-21 and Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b
There is power in words. You need only to look at the first book in the Bible to see the power of words. God created the universe with words. He spoke, and there was light. He spoke, and there was a sky to separate the heavens from the water, and so on. John begins his gospel by saying “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Pentecost was the day that the Jews celebrated the gift of the Word—the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. That is why they were together that day. The day was in commemoration of the day of the gift of God’s Word given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. So it was a time of celebration of this incredible gift of God’s Word and being set apart as God’s people. And yet on this festival day some were huddled together in a room, frightened and discouraged, staying under the radar.
Then, suddenly, God sent His Holy Spirit to give words and power—Good News and the power to live up to what Jesus said and did.
Pentecost reminds us that God is still creating. In the words of the psalmist, God “sends forth His spirit and we are created, and He renews the face of the earth.” At Pentecost, the Apostles were gifted to share God’s message in ways that all could understand. At Pentecost, God’s word became accessible by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Alleluia! Come, Spirit Come.
Where is the power of your church? What happened on Pentecost was a miracle, and it still is a miracle when people actually see and hear and understand the works of God by people who are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Listen to the words of the first verse of “Spirit of God,” number 2117 in The Faith We Sing.
Dear God, by the Power of Your Holy Spirit, create us anew. Give us the breath to sing your praises and the faith to soar with you. Give us power to discern what you call us to be and to do. Come Holy Spirit, come! Amen.
Jeff Taylor
There is power in words. You need only to look at the first book in the Bible to see the power of words. God created the universe with words. He spoke, and there was light. He spoke, and there was a sky to separate the heavens from the water, and so on. John begins his gospel by saying “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Pentecost was the day that the Jews celebrated the gift of the Word—the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. That is why they were together that day. The day was in commemoration of the day of the gift of God’s Word given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. So it was a time of celebration of this incredible gift of God’s Word and being set apart as God’s people. And yet on this festival day some were huddled together in a room, frightened and discouraged, staying under the radar.
Then, suddenly, God sent His Holy Spirit to give words and power—Good News and the power to live up to what Jesus said and did.
Pentecost reminds us that God is still creating. In the words of the psalmist, God “sends forth His spirit and we are created, and He renews the face of the earth.” At Pentecost, the Apostles were gifted to share God’s message in ways that all could understand. At Pentecost, God’s word became accessible by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Alleluia! Come, Spirit Come.
Where is the power of your church? What happened on Pentecost was a miracle, and it still is a miracle when people actually see and hear and understand the works of God by people who are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Listen to the words of the first verse of “Spirit of God,” number 2117 in The Faith We Sing.
Spirit of God, bright Wind
Breath that bids life begin
Blow as you always do
Create us anew.
Give us the breath to sing
Lifted on soaring wing
Held in your hands,
Borne on your wings
Alleluia, Come Spirit come.
Alleluia, Come Spirit come.
Dear God, by the Power of Your Holy Spirit, create us anew. Give us the breath to sing your praises and the faith to soar with you. Give us power to discern what you call us to be and to do. Come Holy Spirit, come! Amen.
Jeff Taylor
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