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Prayers for Mass Shootings and Natural Disasters
In the wake of storms that have devastated communities across the Southern United States, and following Read More
James E. Magaw Sr. | Read Psalm 71:1-6
Note the cries for protection from the enemy in this psalm: “Deliver me . . . . rescue me . . . . save me.” We might add, “Save me from allowing my trust to be shaken when others oppose me.”
I have seen many laypersons, as well as ordained...
O God, take us in when we are bruised, make us strong to love those who hurt us, keep us on course to continue your work. Amen.
The Luke text portrays the healing that Jesus has just performed as a call to decision, a call to “repentance and changed lives.” Hebrews proclaims to the readers that they “have come . . . to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem . . . and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” For Luke, Jesus and his wonderful works signal the accessibility of God’s transforming power and thus signal also the time for repentance. The accessibility of God’s transforming power is evident in the lessons from Jeremiah and the psalm, although Jeremiah has no choice! And amid opposition from the wicked, the psalmist af rms what Jeremiah had been told by God—that his life from its very beginning has belonged to God.
• Read Jeremiah 1:4-10. God offers light to a world covered in darkness. Where do you see God’s light in your life? How can you offer this light to others?
• Read Psalm 71:1-6. When in your life have you turned to God for refuge? How did trust in God help the situation?
• Read Hebrews 12:18-29. We belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. How does that realization help during dif cult times?
• Read Luke 13:10-17. How do the limitations we experience turn us to the power and grace of God?
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