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The Curiosities of Christmas
“Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Read More
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Larry Peacock | Read Psalm 100:1-5
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Sign Up TodayThough many psalms speak to our personal situation, most of the book of Psalms entered the canon as the songbook and prayer book of the community. If you imagine a procession of joyful, singing people as they stream into the gates of the Temple, you begin to catch the width...
Amazing God, send ripples of joy through all our days. Bring smiles and laughter. Birth hope and create opportunity. Make sweet melody in our words, and dance in our lives. Amen.
The readings this week lack a common theme. Genesis recounts the promise of Isaac’s miraculous birth and the fulfillment of that promise—a key story in the history of God’s people. The psalmist cries out with gladness to the Lord, for we are God’s people and the grateful recipients of unending faithfulness. Paul rejoices because we have peace with God through our faith in Jesus Christ. This is not because of anything we have done or could do; rather, God’s love sent Christ to die for us when we were distant from God. In Matthew, Jesus calls his disciples and declares that God’s harvest is vast, but there are not enough workers willing to go into the fields. It is a call for us to go as the disciples did.
Read Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7. How does your faith invite you to laughter?
Read Psalm 100. How do you make a joyful noise to God? Consider trying a new practice of joyful praise.
Read Romans 5:1-8. How has God’s love for you prompted you to “the second movement of the symphony,” to share God’s love with others and all creation?
Read Matthew 9:35–10:23. How are you called to participate in Christ’s ministry of healing?
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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