Loading more...
A Promising Tomorrow
It is with a heart full of joy and gratitude that we share with our Upper Read More
The Upper Room is here for you in these anxious times. Click Here
Ashlee Alley | Read Luke 21:10-19
Disciplines is available in a variety of formats: print, digital, and print/digital combo packages. A digital subscription includes access to author bios, the ability to comment, and audio lectio.
Sign Up TodayIt seems that every year as Hollywood looks for another story to tell, they find a summer blockbuster that narrates the cataclysmic destruction of the world. Perhaps the writers take their plotlines from these words of scripture: natural disasters, political persecutions, famine, and epidemics are voiced by Jesus himself as...
God, I trust that you will give me words to speak in times of difficulty, and wisdom and strength to endure whatever comes my way. May I hold fast and gain true life. Amen.
Isaiah 65:17-25 looks toward God’s creation of “new heavens and a new earth.” Jerusalem itself is not to be restored but created anew, a place in which life will be revered and protected and in which God will permit no harm to any of creation. The New Testament lessons remind us of the reality— the sometimes painful reality—of the present. Second Thessalo- nians 3:6-13 warns against the disorderly conduct of those who believe that the newness of the eschatological future permits them license in the present. Luke 21:5-19 adds an element of sobriety to the singing of new songs and the expectation of a new future. The faithful are called to bear witness to God’s future in the present, precisely when the new future cannot be seen and even when it seems most improbable.
• Read Isaiah 65:17-25. How does the promise of the new heavens and new earth encourage to tell a new story?
• Read Psalm 118. Which story will you tell? The one of your captivity . . . or the one of your salvation?
• Read 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13. Where in your life do you need to be more disciplined so that you do not deceive yourself?
• Read Luke 21:5-19. What signs from God are you seeking instead of trusting in what you know about God’s character?
Respond by posting a prayer.
Our resolve must be different. My prayer is that we have finally reached a tipping point. My hope is that when the protests fade and the marches slow that our will as a church to truly eradicate the scourge of racism won’t dissipate but grows even stronger.”
View a growing list of resources for the spiritual work of overcoming racism.
