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Advent in The Upper Room Chapel
As we journey through this Advent season, Rev. Beth A. Richardson leads us in a moment Read More
The Upper Room is here for you in these anxious times. Click Here
Sharon G. Austin | Read Romans 5:1-11
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Sign Up TodayGod’s covenant with Abraham has been reformed in this
credo, “justified by faith.” Paul writes and teaches and
reminds us of the mighty acts of a God who loves us, courts us,
and receives us, even before we respond in like fashion.
Paul invites collective ownership and embrace of the...
O Holy Way-maker, you commit to our well-being with a resounding Yes! May we always hear your yes and respond with our yes! Amen.
All the readings af rm God’s benevolent care of those who place their well-being in God’s hands. While imperishable, God’s love can be frustrated by human pride and faithlessness. Water is an important symbol of God’s sustaining grace. In Exodus 17 the Israelites’ dependence on water becomes a statement about their dependence on God. The manner in which they obtain their water stands as commentary on human pride and arrogance. The psalm recounts this episode as a means of warning the people against the kind of obstinacy that impedes grace. John 4 focuses on the full actualization of God’s love in Jesus Christ through the “living water.” Paul speaks of God’s love being “poured into our hearts,” a grace that comes in the death and life of Jesus Christ.
• Read Exodus 17:1-7. When have you complained to God about a situation, only to discover God had already begun to forge a way through?
• Read Psalm 95. How does weekly worship allow you to hear God’s voice? How do you testify to God’s goodness?
• Read Romans 5:1-11. Reflect on a time when your suffering produced endurance and ultimately character.
• Read John 4:5-42. How do the words of Paul to Timothy about a worker “who correctly handles the word of truth” serve as a bridge between the “truth hurts” and the “truth will set you free”?
Respond by posting a prayer.
I join many of those who will pray for you as you seek to discern what you are called to be at this moment. May God grant you the courage to fulfill that calling. May we all open our eyes and see the misery, open our ears and hear the cries of God’s people, and, like God through the Lord Jesus Christ, be incarnate amongst them.”
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