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August 23, 2026

Free For Abundant Life

Amy Oden   |   Read Psalm 124:1-8

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Lectionary Week
August 17–23, 2026
Scripture Overview

Our passages share a common theme of being free for the full life God desires for us. In Exodus, we see the stark contrast between Pharaoh’s death-dealing fear and the fearless women who step forward to bring life. The psalm celebrates the soaring aliveness that comes with the freedom only God can provide. In Romans, Paul describes being free to not conform to the world’s values so that we live our everyday life completely transformed. In Matthew, Jesus offers another kind of freedom. He shows Peter who he truly is, free from labels that have defined him up to this point. Instead, Jesus offers Peter a wider freedom than ever before.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Exodus 1:8–2:10. How do you long to be free from fear in your life? What might be God’s invitation for you?
Read Psalm 124. Where does being overwhelmed hold your life captive? What’s it like to trust that God is for us, setting us free?
Read Romans 12:1-8. What helps you pay attention and listen to your body’s wisdom? How might God be speaking to you through your body in everyday life?
Read Matthew 16:13-20. How does Christ show you who you really are? Who does Jesus free you to become?

Respond by posting a prayer.

Psalm 124:1-8

1 If the LORD hadn’t been for us let Israel now repeat! 2 if the LORD hadn’t been for us, when those people attacked us 3 then they would have swallowed us up whole with their rage burning against us! 4 Then the waters would have drowned us; the torrent would have come over our necks; 5 then the raging waters would have come over our necks! 6 Bless the LORD because he didn’t hand us over like food for our enemies’ teeth! 7 We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap; the trap was broken so we escaped! 8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

If the Lord had not been on our side . . .” (NIV). The psalm names the many catastrophes that could easily have befallen Israel but didn’t: being devoured alive, swept away by flood, snared helplessly in a trap. These vivid scenarios remind us how fragile life is. We are...

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Holy One, free us to see you in all things, to embrace the full life you set before us. Amen.


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