On Sunday I shared about the way giving enables us to continue the blessings that God has given us. I encourage you to listen to this story as I did, about a man whose wish for his family after he died was to practice giving in his memory with one meaningful tip…Random Acts of Tipping
LUMC Family Bible Time Week of Sept 30-Oct 5
Daily Scripture Reading & Reflection
Monday: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Reflect on how you have experienced this kind of love – who has demonstrated this kind of love to you?
Pray for those you love and for love to grow
Tuesday: Read Deuteronomy 29:10-18
Reflect on how easy it sometimes is to turn away from our promises, even holy ones
Pray for the strength to remain committed to those covenants that you have made, or that have been proclaimed on your behalf (baptism, marriage, etc.)
Wednesday: Read 1 Peter 4:1-11
Reflect on v. 8 – what does it mean that love ‘covers’ sin?
Pray for the lonely, and those yearning to know love
Thursday: Read Judges 6:1-36 (Gideon’s story – read on if you like)
Reflect on God’s decision to call the weakest
Pray for clarity of God’s call within your life
Friday: Read Ephesians 6:10-17
Reflect on the relationship between the instructions to Christian households and the invitation to be strong in the Lord (armor of God)
Pray for the strength of your household and particular weaknesses your family struggles with
Saturday: Read James 3:5-12
Reflect on your speech this past week – have you tried to
THINK (Is it true? Is it helpful? Will it inspire? Is it necessary? Can it be said with kindness?) before you speak
Pray that God will help us all to grow in this area – to speak our ideas and emotions with respect and love
LUMC Family Bible Time Week of September 16-21
Daily Scripture Reading & Reflection
Monday: Read Galatians 5:13-14
Reflect on the counter-cultural message here: to use our freedom to become servants
Pray for your family
Tuesday: Read Philippians 2:3-7
Reflect on how putting others’ first can enable you to relate to the loving actions of Jesus Christ
Pray for those that put others’ first in our community: public servants like firefighters, policemen, rescue squad, many of whom do so voluntarily
Wednesday: Read Acts 6:1-7
Reflect on how the actions of the early Christians reflected the need that they saw in their community
Pray that God would help our church and leadership to connect mission with the needs of our community
Thursday: Read Matthew 20:25-28
Reflect on the connection Jesus makes between greatness and servanthood
Pray for those that are giving care to loved ones – serving in simple and humble ways
Friday: Read Mark 9:38-41
Reflect upon those moments that you have given or received a cup of water in Jesus’ name.
Pray for the efforts of those who are gleaning tomorrow morning and that the hungry will receive food (consider joining them at 7.45am)
Saturday: Read Matthew 25:31-46
Reflect upon who those hungry, naked, sick, imprisoned, and stranger might be in our community
Pray that God would show you opportunities and ways you might respond
Daily Scripture Reading & Reflection
Monday: Read Matthew 22:35-40
Reflect on the role of these ‘greatest’ commandments in your life
Pray for God’s help to be obedient to these ‘commandments’ and for those closest to you – family, friends, etc.
Tuesday: Read Proverbs 30:5
Reflect on how you have felt God’s protection and provision in the present or past
Pray for those who live in fear
Wednesday: Read Acts 16:11-15
Reflect on Lydia’s connection between making a faith decision, and offering her home in hospitality – How might you connect your faith and home life?
Pray for those who have not heard or responded to the Gospel – that they may know Jesus’ saving grace
Thursday: Read Psalm 31
Reflect on your devotion to God. Is God leading your life?
Pray for our community, state, country, and world
Friday: Read Proverbs 22:6
Reflect on the good lessons that your parents, or other influential grown-ups taught to you. How are you teaching the next generation about God’s love?
Pray for children
Saturday: Read John 14:23-27
Reflect on how Jesus connects love and obedience. What does this mean for you?
Pray for our church family. Pray for those that need healing and hope. Pray that we might grow in our efforts to make
disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world
This is a picture of a lunch container that Berkley took to school on Tuesday. (Overlook the day on the note, Berkley did not have school on Monday) On the container is a note to help Berkley remember a happy moment in the past. Her mom has the hope that this note will help her remember and smile in the middle of her day as she is enjoying her lunch at school.
But this little note didn’t just connect Berkley and her mom at lunchtime, somehow it connected the whole family. Candice showed me the note in the morning, and I smiled as I remembered the way Berkley would happily wave and give a hearty ‘Hi’ to anyone she encountered. Later in the day, after the container had been taken from her lunch bag after school, Jeremiah was told about the note, and we shared with him how happy he was as a toddler, and how Eli is similar in the way that he welcomes and greets everyone, unless he’s being chased…..
So the few moments that Candice took to place that small note upon Berkley’s lunch container connected our whole family with a happy memory. If a few moments and a note can do that, I wonder what other simple ways there might be to connect as a family!
Prayer: Lord, help me to take the time to grow closer to my loved ones. May we not only share a home, but may we share our hearts as well. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
You can find these printable notes (one for each day of the week..Monday Memories, Tuesday Trivia, Wacky Wednesday, and so on) as well as family devotions and other useful family-friendly ways to connect at Thriving Family (Look for lunchbox notes under the Quicklinks section)
I mentioned this morning that one way of growing closer to God in prayer is the practice of the daily office. (Office in this context refers to the ‘offering’ of prayer to God rather than what we think of when we use the word ‘office’.) For those who would like to try this, below is a sample morning prayer office from Robert Benson’s “In Constant Prayer”:
Morning Prayer
THE VERSICLE FOR MORNING PRAYER
God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good.
This very day the Lord has acted.
May God’s name be praised.
THE VENITE
Come, let us raise a joyful song,
a shout of triumph to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into Your presence with thanksgiving,
singing songs of triumph.
For You are a great God, a great king over all gods.
The depths of the earth and the mountains belong to You
The seas is Yours, for You made it;
and the dry land Your hands fashioned.
Let us bow down in worship, let us knell before the One who made us.
For You are our God, and we are the flock that You shepherd.
We will know Your power and presence this day,
if we will but listen for Your voice.
THE COLLECT(S) FOR THE MORNING
Deliver us, Almighty God, from the service of self alone:
That we may do the work You have given us to do,
in truth and beauty, and for the common good;
for the sake of the One who comes among us as one who serves,
the One who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
THE CANTICLE FOR THE MORNING
Blessed be the One who made us. You have turned to Your people and saved us and set us free.
You have raised up for us a strong deliverer, and so You promised.
Age after age, You proclaimed by the lips of Your holy prophets,
that You would deliver us and deal mercifully with us,
calling to mind Your solemn covenant.
This was the promise that You made: To rescue us and set us free from fear,
so that we might worship You with a holy worship,
in Your holy presence our whole life long.
In Your tender compassion, the morning sun has risen upon us,
to shine on us, we who live in darkness,
and to guide our feet into the paths of peace. Amen
THE PSALTER
Select a psalm
THE SCRIPTURE
Select a passage
THE PRAYER OF THE PEOPLE
We Your servants give You humble thanks, Almighty God,
for all Your gifts so freely bestowed upon us,
and to all whom You have made:
We bless You for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of life;
above all, for the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ,
for the hope of glory and for the means of grace.
We thank you, O Lord.
Grant us such an awareness of Your mercies, we pray,
that with truly thankful hearts, we may give You praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving ourselves for Your service,
and by walking before You in holiness and righteousness all our days.
Hear us, O Lord.
THE INTERCESSIONS
We offer prayers for all those with whom we share the Journey:
those who have been given to us, and to whom we have been given,
those to whom we promised our faithfulness and prayer, especially ……(name those persons particular to you)
Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy.
We entrust all who are dear to us
to Your never-failing love and care,
for this life and for the life to come;
knowing that You will do for them
far more than we can desire or pray for. Amen
THE OUR FATHER
With all Your people on earth,
and as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray:
Our Father,
who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory, forever (and ever).
Amen
THE BLESSING
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God – Creator, Redeemer, and Giver of Life.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
and to live our lives so that those to whom love is a stranger
will find in us generous friends. Amen
Another source for the daily office from the Anglican tradition is online, and includes the appointed Psalms and Scriptures for the day. Visit http://www.bookofcommonprayer.net/daily_office.php
I would be happy to hear of your experience exploring the daily office.
Blessing,
Erich
Acts 2:42 reminds us that prayer has always been an important practice of the Church: The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers.
I’ve always been captivated by this idea of prayer as a conversation, as a dialogue. Then, not too long ago someone lecturing (I confess I can’t remember who?) shared the idea that prayer was this two-way conversation. Since then, I’ve been trying this idea of ‘listening for God’. This isn’t always a fruitful exercise. I confess that sometimes my ‘listening’ becomes ‘napping’. And truthfully, listening without hearing my own internal voice is very challenging. Yet, this ‘listening’ prayer, and practice of ‘listening’ for God’s voice sometiems yield something, but usually not when you expect. When life is slow and easy, and you have time to processs God’s voice, I’ve found my listening is usually the same way. Yet, when life is frantic, hurried, and chaotic, somehow God’s voice wedges in the midst. Sometimes it is simple, like ‘slow down’. Sometimes it is grand, like when I’m stopped in my quick footsteps by the sheer beauty of a summer sunset, and sometimes it is sweet, like when prayer is offered along with the voice and heart of one of my children.
I’m curious about your experiences with prayer? Have you found prayer fulfilling, frustrating, inspiring, mundane?
What are some of the practices of prayer that shape your life?
Inside of this large structure, Virginia United Methodist pastors and lay members met over the weekend to share in worship, to make decisions regarding the business of the conference and member churches, and to fellowship together and celebrate our common mission. Among the most exciting of moments this year was when Laura (Whittle) Stratton was commissioned a provisional elder, during the ordering of ministry worship on Saturday evening.
Despite how joyous that event was, I left conference this year totally encouraged by the message(s) from our bishop. Bishop Young Jin Cho has led the Virginia Conference since September 2012, and this was his first annual conference as the presiding bishop. Bishop Cho has a heavy accent, yet I was easily able to understand his messages. He was relevant and challenging. Learn more about him by reading this article: http://www.vaumc.org/ncfilerepository/ac2013/DailyAdvocateFridayaC2013.pdf
What I found really powerful about his messages, was the way he was realistic about the challenges facing the modern church, but also hopeful about our future. He spoke about the movement of the Holy Spirit among us, and about the need for spiritual vitality. I’ve heard this before, but for some reason this time I was ready to listen. On Sunday morning during his sermon in closing worship he referenced our Wesleyan theology. He spoke about the need for balance and passion. He raised the suggestion that instead of cold hearts and hot heads, the church and its leaders need warm hearts, and cool heads. He reiterated that this begins with spiritual disciplines, and centering upon Scripture. As he has done before, he challenged the conference to commit to an hour a day of spiritual disciplines. This is an area I have struggled in. Moving from times of consistency to periods of drought, I decided to accept his challenge. Perhaps, you too might want to accept this challenge, to spend time getting close to God an hour each day. Let me know if you choose to do so – let’s support one another!
Prayer: God, thank you for the grace you have extended even to us, through your Son Jesus Christ! Assure us that we, your Church, are not on a sinking ship, and that your Spirit resides with us to bring us to a new place of vitality and health. Help us as we commit to be with you daily, in Scripture reading, in prayer, in worship. May our commitment bring us to a new place of connection with you! Amen
This is the song I shared in worship on Sunday. I like the video…..remind anyone else of baptism?
Yesterday, I was driving home from an event in Front Royal. I was able to join with other clergy and lay folk and learn from Rev. Mike Slaughter, who is pastor of Ginghamsburg Church in Ohio (ginghamsburg.org) That church and his leadership have created a context for some extraordinary ministry for their community and our world.
On the way home, I was pondering all of the things that he shared, and the state of our church, and my call, and also thinking about the events in Oklahoma, and I passed Springfield Elementary School, and on their sign that drivers will be able to read when coming south on 340 reads the following quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” This is a quote that is attributed to Gandhi, an individual that gave great strength and insight to humanity.
However, having given much thought to our shared life in Christian community, and the means of transformation offered in resurrection over the past month, that quote struck me in a different way. One of the things I’ve been recently trying to express in preaching, is the invitation the resurrection offers us to participate in God’s kingdom work. Indeed, the resurrection, which opens up to us the opportunity to new life in the present, and fulfillment of the new creation in the future, means that we can begin to see God’s dream, and take on God’s dream as our own. So for Christians, it might be appropriate for us to see our life’s work as ‘Being the Change God Desires for our World‘. What is God’s dream revealing in your life? How are you being called? Have you shared that with anyone?
Prayer: Holy Spirit, continue to reveal God’s desires, wills, and dreams to us. Help us to be so moved by you that we are compelled to live our lives in service to you. In the name of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen
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