Archive for February 2011
Epiphany 8A
Microsoft Word – 2011-02-27 Read Think Pray – Epiphany 8A.doc.pdf
2011-02-27 Read Think Pray – Epiphany 8A.doc
Monday
Psalm 131
Think:
The whole Psalm is 3 verses.
Are you too busy talking and thinking?
Take some time to be silent.
Pray:
Today as you pray; don’t think of all the things you NEED to pray for. Don’t stand on ceremony – believing that prayer must follow a certain formula.
Just rest and hope in the Lord.
Tuesday
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Think:
Isaiah comes before TV. We have lazy imaginations, Isaiah has a fertile imagination. As the people of Israel return to their homeland he imagines (verse 13) the heavens singing, the earth praising, the mountains bursting into singing; because of the Lord’s compassion.
This is another moment in which to remember God’s love for us.
Pray:
God doesn’t give up on his people.
All creation rejoices when it sees God doing what God does – loving and nurturing faithfully – despite our unfaithfulness.
Use your imagine as you pray about ‘coming home’; asking God to help you become the person you were created to be.
Wednesday
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Think:
Are you ‘hard on yourself’; do you judge others? I think we’d have to say that we all do.
The truth is that only God can ‘bring to light the things now hidden in darkness’ and ‘disclose the purposes of the heart.’ – 1 Cor 4:5
Pray:
Pray that we would give ourselves and each other grace as we struggle to become the people God created us to be.
Thursday
Matthew 6:24-34
Think:
We try very hard to be the people God created us to be. We ‘worry’ about our faith – often living without the peace that God has offered us.
We can not supply our own need for grace and mercy – it is God’s free gift to us.
Pray:
Surrender yourself to God;
‘Without you Lord, I can do nothing.’
Friday
Matthew 17:1-9
Think:
This coming Sunday is ‘Transfiguration Sunday;’ in a Holy Moment the Disciples get a glimpse of Jesus inner identity.
Revealed in the company he keeps – Moses and Elijah, revealed in his apppearance; his face shining like the sun, his clothes shining white. Images that echo the book of Daniel and prefigure the Revelation to John.
Pray:
God offers us grace; familiarity; reconciliation in Jesus.
But he remains God.
Spend some time in humble adoration.
Epiphany 7A
Microsoft Word – 2011-02-20 Epiphany 7A – Read Think Pray.doc.pdf
2011-02-20 Epiphany 7A – Read Think Pray.doc
Monday
Psalm 119:33-40
Think:
‘Teach me, O LORD, the meaning of your laws…’
I like that phrase. The laws combine to tell us something – that God loves us. They are laid down to protect us from ourselves and each other.
Pray:
Is there an aspect of God’s law you are struggling to understand?
Ask for grace to understand and interpret God’s laws.
Tuesday
Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18
Think:
We’ll understand more of what verse 2 means when we get to the gospel reading for this week. So keep it in mind.
I love the law expressed in verse 9-10; the instruction not to gather ALL the fruit of your fields; but to leave some for those in need.
Pray:
We’ve been selfish; we harvest more than we need – and fail to share with those who have nothing. Pray that we would learn to share.
Ask God to show us how to share.
Wednesday
1 Corinthians 3:10-11; 16-23
Think:
Verse 23: “You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”
Is this longhand for ‘you belong to God’; I think it is. So many Christians I know suffer from a lack of self esteem; they don’t feel clever enough, or spiritual enough – or whatever ‘enough’. Because the people who make all the noise are the ‘clever confident’ ones.
Paul – after speaking of the Corinthians foolishness; their need for spiritual milk and not solid food – affirms them: ‘Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells in you?’ (Verse 16)
Pray:
Pray for confidence, especially for the timid and the quiet – that we would know God’s power in us – that we would remember who we belong to – that every one who loves Jesus everywhere would find their voice in the body of Christ.
Thursday
Matthew 5:38-48
Think:
Note verse 48 ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ And Leviticus 19:2: ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.’
Our ambition is to be Christ Like; is to become ‘perfect’ as God is perfect.
And that perfection; that holiness, is expressed in God’s embracing love.
The laws of Leviticus and of the beatitudes are fulfilled in ‘Loving God and loving our neighbours.’
Pray:
Pray that we would have the grace to love even those whom we are often tempted to call our enemies.
Friday
Matthew 6:24-34
Think:
Also read the part skipped; Matthew 5:49-6:23.
Its hard not to worry – its difficult to entrust all to God; but God is worthy of our trust; God has shown us his love.
Pray:
Pray that we would have a sense of God’s love for us – and the ability to surrender ourselves to his care.
Methodist Covenant Service
I prepared a guide to help my congregation prepare for their covenant service.
The first time I did this was in 2007; I reissued the guide in 2009, here it is:
Feel free to use it, adapt it edit it. Just make sure – that if you put in new words; you don’t attribute them to me.
And I’ve prepared one for this year; 2011:
2011-02-20 Preparing for Covenant – Booklet – Inside Pages.pdf
2011-02-20 Preparing for Covenant – Booklet – Outside Pages.pdf
2011-02-20 Preparing for Covenant.doc
Preparing for Covenant 2011 – A4.pdf
There is a Word document, which you are welcome to edit and use on the same condition as above – or the .pdf versions, in A4 format; and booklet form – print the outside pages, put them back in the printer and then print the outside.
I’ve been greatly encouraged by those who have used my preparation guides and found them useful. Please let me know if you use them; especially if they are helpful to you – then I’ll know to create and share more in the future.
In the 2011 guide I’ve quoted prayers from Richard Foster’s book: Prayers from the Heart, a collection of prayers which I highly recommend.
God Bless,
Gus
Epiphany 6A
2011-02-13 Read Think Pray – Epiphany 6A.doc
2011-02-13 Read Think Pray – Epiphany 6A.pdf
Monday
Psalm 119:1-8
Think:
‘Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.’
The Sunday before last we heard the Beatitudes of Matthew’s gospel. ‘Blessed are those…’ or ‘Happy are you who…’
Short blessings that assume certain behaviors.
These verses of this Psalm point us towards the kind of joy that comes from living life the way God would have us live it.
Pray:
All of us make our lives unnecessarily complicated by ‘transgressing’ God’s law. Our transgressions have consequences – for us; and for those around us.
Confess your transgressions; ask for grace to move forward in God’s power; hear Jesus’ words spoken to you:
‘My child, your sins are forgiven; Go and sin no more.’
Tuesday
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Think:
You can choose.
So often we act as if we are not responsible for our actions; but in fact – we are in control, we get to choose how we respond – but most often we decide to put off our decision one more today.
‘…today I have set before you life and death.’
‘Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days…’
Pray:
‘…loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him, for that means life to you.’
Pray about how you can love God more, obey God more, and hold fast to him in that – so that you would have life.
Wednesday
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Think:
(Verse 9) ‘You are God’s field, God’s building.’
The first two readings this week have been particularly challenging; challenging us to be more faithful to the life to which God has called us.
In this reading; Paul reminds us again that we belong only to God. It is God who is growing us – who reaps the credit for putting us right.
Pray:
One thing Paul speaks about here is division within the church; pray that we might ‘be one so that the world may believe.’
Give thanks for all those gardeners, farmers and builders who have nurtured you; ask God to continue the work that he has begun in you; pray for grace to become the person you were created to be.
Thursday
Matthew 5:21-37
Think:
‘Let your yes be yes and your no be no.’
For me, these verses are about simplicity; the blessing of being obedient to God.
Pray:
Ask for the grace you need to live more simply.
This is not just about possessions, but about attitudes, relationships and desires.
Friday
Matthew 5:38-48
Think:
(Verse 45) ‘…so that you may be children of you Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.’
(Verse 48) ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’
Often we think Christian perfection is keeping a list of laws; but in the sermon on the mount, perfection is perfect love.
Pray:
Ask God to help us to focus more on loving than anything else.
Epiphany 5A
2011-02-06 – Read Think Pray – Epiphany5A.pdf
2011-02-06 – Read Think Pray – Epiphany5A.doc
Monday
Psalm 112:1-10
Think:
Verse 6: “For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.”
I think everyone wants their lives to be of some significance; yet we feel insignificant – when compared to the heroes we encounter in the media and in history.
The Psalmist paints a simple picture of ‘true greatness’; people who ‘conduct their affairs with justice.’ (Ps 112:5)
Pray:
Look at your day ahead; ask God to help you enact the values of the Psalm throughout the day. Think about how you and your Bible Study or Church can work together to live these values.
Tuesday
Isaiah 58:1-12
Think:
After exile some Jews return to Israel to begin rebuilding the city; rebuilding the city, fasting and praying – seem like the right thing to do. But ‘religion’ gets in the way of living a life that honours God.
They have the form – but not the Spirit.
The Spirit brings justice and freedom from oppression, it brings the sharing of bread rather than the hoarding.
Pray:
Ask that God would help us not to pray out of obligation; but out of love. And to show us how to begin (in some small way) living out the justice to which these passages call us.
Wednesday
1 Corinthians 2:1-16
Think:
1 Cor 2:5 “So that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”
Paul says he decided to know nothing but ‘Jesus Christ, and him crucified’ when he first preached to the Corinthians. In the simplicity of that gospel message he speaks of the love the God has for the world (I think of John 3:16).
You don’t have to be clever to follow Jesus – you just have to love; and the Spirit will empower you to be who you were called and created to be.
Pray:
All the passages so far this week challenge religion gone wrong. Religion that leads to arrogance and fighting – and moves away from our simple dependence on God for all our strength and power.
As you pray this morning simply give thanks to God for the breath and life you have been given; and commit your life once again to serving God by loving people.
Pray that we would all have the simple faith of which Paul speaks.
Thursday
Matthew 5:13-20
Think:
YOU are the salt of the earth, YOU are the light of the world.
In this passage Jesus affirms us; and reminds us that each and every one of us in our own unique way has a gift to offer the world.
A gift that brings light and life.
YOU are God’s gift to the world.
Pray:
Today, don’t pray about what you should do; pray simply that God would set you free to be who you were created to be; Salt and Light – the person that you truly are; at the very core of your being when all the sin and distraction of this world is removed.
Friday
Matthew 5:21-37
Think:
Sin makes life complicated.
Being angry with people is a waste of energy. Desiring what you should not desire leads only to distress and despair.
In this portion of the beatitudes Jesus’ counsels us to a more simple way of life. A life of righteousness and justice.
Pray:
Pray that God would help you to clear up your thoughts, conflicts and suspicions; so that you could live at peace with yourself, with God and with others.
Read Think Pray 