Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Welcoming others, welcoming God...

Matthew 10: 40
Whoever welcomes you welcomes me,
and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
O welcoming God,
you invite me
to come to your feast
and I arrive surprised
by the crowd who has gathered.

Rich and poor,
young and old,
a multitude of languages, races, nationalities...
No one is forgotten; no one is alone.

Today I was invited to such a meal.
You came looking like a couple
who were hungry and looking for work.
They asked if I could give them something to eat,
but really it was an invitation to a meal, a banquet of sorts.

So we sat at table together.
We prayed, we ate,
we talked, we share our humanity.
There were so many differences evident at that table,
and yet we were so alike
-- in need of grace, in need of encouragement,
in need of hope, in need of nourishment...

Thank you for inviting me to lunch.
Open me to share your welcome with others,
especially those who are different than me.
May I be open to be surprised by your grace.
Amen.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Good News for ALL

Today I share one student's reflections on our devotions during this year's Bladen Mission Project.

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” -- Philippians 1:6


God wants us to believe
and trust in his word.
He wants us to go out
and share his good news
to those who have not heard of him
and do it with His love.

written by Chloe Campbell

O God,
send us 
in the power of your Holy Spirit
to proclaim your good news
to those who have yet to hear.
Give us the courage to tell 
not only stories of transformation 
from the Bible,
but also from our lives.
Your grace has changed us.
May we speak your truth of love
with words of love.
Amen.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

God is working toward completion!

This week I am participating in the Bladen Mission Project. This is an important week of making the Love of Jesus Christ real and tangible in Bladen County. This week's prayers were written for the mission project's daily devotions. I invite you to pray along with us!


WORD
“I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

REFLECT
This has been a week of hard work and reflection. We have done good things together. Soon our work will be done, but we will not be finished. God is not done yet. This week we have tried to live as the Body of Christ for the world. Yes, this week of mission may be coming to an end, but God’s Spirit continues to work in us and through us. The challenge will come next week and the week after that and the week after that and when school starts again… Will we continue to act as the ONE BODY of CHRIST? God’s not done yet! and God will bring these good things in us to finish! Thanks be to God!


SHARE
Share where you have seen God’s hand at work this week.




Think about what else God has yet to do in you, with you, through you.





PRAYER
God,
we have done
some good work.
We have laughed and played
and grown closer to you.
Keep working in us,
through us, with us,
so that others may know
the power of your love in Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

ONE BODY!


This week I am participating in the Bladen Mission Project. This is an important week of making the Love of Jesus Christ real and tangible in Bladen County. This week's prayers were written for the mission project's daily devotions.  I invite you to pray along with us!




WORD
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” I Corinthians 12:12-13


REFLECT
United. One. Together. Without division. Whole. One-for-all and All-for One. This passage of scripture says that we, the followers of Christ, are one. On the outside we may seem very different. We may talk differently, dress differently, act differently, like different things, look different, think differently, and even believe differently. But in fact, as followers of Jesus Christ, as Christians, we are united as one – one body. We have ALL messed up. We are ALL in need of being forgiven. And we are ALL LOVED by God. 

United. One. Together. Without division. Whole.

We are the ONE forgiven loved children of God.



SHARE
Think of something that has many small parts but put together becomes one whole.



Share one way you think believers of Jesus Christ can act as ONE body.




PRAYER
Lord,
today help me
work with other Christians
as a team.
Help us become
the ONE Body of Christ
for the world.
Amen.








Monday, June 16, 2014

Freed From and Freed For...

This week I am participating in the Bladen Mission Project. This is an important week of making the Love of Jesus Christ real and tangible in Bladen County. This week's prayers were written for the mission project's daily devotions.  I invite you to pray along with us!


WORD
“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:13-14

REFLECT
Freedom – one of the hallmarks of the United States of America. Many times I hear people say, “I’m free to do whatever I want.” Really? No. Not really.

Our own well-being, the well-being of others limits us. In Galatians, Paul reminds us that we are freed FROM slavery to sin. God’s grace sets us free. But as followers of Christ, our freedom is limited by our love for God and our love for others. Yes, we are freed FROM sin, but we are freed FOR serving God and each other.


SHARE
What are some ways God’s love limits our freedom?




What do you think it means to be “freed FOR serving”?



PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
forgive us
and set us free from our past.
Today
help us live as free people
loving you
and loving others.
Amen.


Sunday, June 15, 2014

You are the light of the world...

This week I am participating in the Bladen Mission Project. This is an important week of making the Love of Jesus Christ real and tangible in Bladen County. This week's prayers were written for the mission project's daily devotions.  I invite you to pray along with us!


WORD
Jesus said:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” Matthew 5: 14-15

REFLECT
This verse refers to us, as followers of Jesus Christ,
going out and spreading His word.
When we are filled with the love and joy that He gives us,
it is impossible to keep those feelings hidden.
We should spread His light to others
so that they can feel this overwhelming love and joy
that we have felt because it is such an amazing experience.
written by Anna DeVane

SHARE
Make a list of those who have shared God’s light with you.




Remember a time when you felt the “overwhelming love and joy” of God.
Share that story with someone.




PRAYER
Today, Lord,
I will have many
opportunities to be your lamp
and to share your light.
Help me to burn brightly!
Amen.


Christ has no body but yours...

This week I am participating in the Bladen Mission Project. This is an important week of making the Love of Jesus Christ real and tangible in Bladen County. This week's prayers were written for the mission project's daily devotions. I invite you to pray along with us!

We are inspired this week by the following:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
written by Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)
Our theme this week is "Being the Body of Christ".
Our theme song is:


Thursday, June 12, 2014

Go...

Matthew 28:19
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"

Sending God,
like a mother bird,
you push us out of the nest,
for you know its the only way we'll learn to fly.

We've watched you take off.
We've seen your wings of grace stretch out
and with a powerful act
you have launched into flight
soaring to the heights.

The stories of the Bible
reveal your grace
demonstrating your powerful acts
modeling for us
in real and tangible ways through the lives of the faithful
and most powerfully in Jesus Christ
life and faith, obedience and faithfulness,
love and loving, grace and forgiving,
challenge and calling, dying and rising.

But now you say its our turn --
our turn to go,
our turn to act with grace,
our turn to leave the comfort of the Bible stories
and to live out our faith
discovering the power of your Spirit at work
in, with, and under our outstretched arms
to be the Body of Christ in real and tangible ways today.

Help us live up to that calling.
Amen.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Some doubted...

MATTHEW 28:16-17
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
When they saw him, they worshiped him;
but some doubted.

Lord,
after your resurrection, some doubted.
Today still some doubt,
sometimes I doubt.

Lord,
I wonder... did you ever doubt?
Did you ever doubt your calling?
Did you ever hesitate to speak God's word?
Did you ever waiver in how to live obedient to God?
When you empowered your disciples to extend your ministry,
did you doubt if they, if we, could do it?

Or is that why you said,
"Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age."

Forgive me when I hesitate in my faith.
Forgive me when my devotion to you waivers.
Forgive me when I doubt my ability to be your disciple.
Remind me again of your presence.

Open my eyes
to see you in real and tangible ways
supporting me
calling me
challenging me
praying for me
leading me.

Today I will face difficult decisions.
Give me courage to be bold in faith.
Amen.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

One among the creatures...

PSALM 104:24-30
24 O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
27 These all look to you
to give them their food in due season;
28 when you give to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the ground.

O Lord,
today I celebrate your creation
Great and wide,
tiny and microscopic
Fierce and wild,
Calm and at rest.

You took great delight
in making creatures of all variations.
flowers colored in splendor and delicate
plants in shapes unimagined
trees that tower
mountains and crags and hills and plains
rocks and shells and sand and lava
10s of thousands of species of insects
animals who sing and fly and creep and crawl 
and leap and gallop and swim and gnash
human ones with our variations
and me -- just one creature among so many.
One of God's beautiful creations.

And you, O God, care for us ALL.

Today I take my place among your creation
doing what I was made to do... 
to give you praise!
May my words and my actions bring honor to you.
Amen.

Monday, June 2, 2014

A Violent Wind

 Acts 2:1-4

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Lord Jesus,
We expect you to come gently into our lives,
like a baby born in Bethlehem,
like a king of peace riding on a donkey,
like a lamb silent before the slaughter.

But on this day you surprise us,
even scare us coming as a violent rushing tornadic wind.
Language barriers are shattered, like glass windows.
Social expectations are torn, brick from brick.

Radical in breaking.
Transformation.
Upheaval,
Disorientation.
Change has come so fast,
we are paralyzed by fear.

Forgive us for being afraid 
of the power of your grace.
Forgive us for not grasping
just how earth-changing your love is for ALL.
Forgive us for being timid
in the face of the Spirit's awesome power.

It all reminds me of the process of giving birth.
Surely the infant was most comfortable in the womb,
but its very survival
and the survival of the mother requires birth to take place.
Birth is painful, hard. 
Things are torn, stretched, pushed, pulled, cut.
And then the moment of first breath.
Breathe. 
The first critical milestone of life.
Breathe.

O Spirit, 
Breathe on me breath of God
Fill me with life anew.
That I may love with Thou dost love.
And do what wouldst do.
Amen.