Morning Prayer: 16 July – Romans 4:1-8 ~ on Abraham’s faith

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 4:1-8 (NLT)

abraham090807_01 — Abraham’s Journey from Ur to Canaan József Molnár ( 1821-1899) Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:

“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”

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Reflection: Romans 4 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

In Romans 4… Paul further clarifies the meaning of justification by faith. He uses what Scripture says about Abraham and David to elaborate the significance of both words, ‘justification’ in terms of the reckoning of righteousness to the unrighteous and ‘faith’ in terms of trusting the God of creation and resurrection.
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Abraham and David show that justification by faith is God’s one and only way of salvation, first in the Old Testament as well as in the New… for Jews as well as for Gentiles.
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The crediting of faith as righteousness is a free gift, not an earned wage, and that it happens not to those who work but to those who trust, and indeed who trust the God who, far from justifying people because they are godly, actually justifies them when they are ungodly.

This emphasis on faith (Abraham believed God) plainly shows, then, that God’s ‘crediting faith as righteousness’ is ‘not a rewarding of merit but a free and unmerited decision of divine grace’. Faith is not an alternative to righteousness, but the means by which we are declared righteous.
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https://youtu.be/2BtaCeJYqZA
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Canticle

Christ, as a light illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 15 July – Romans 3:27-31 ~ on righteousness through faith

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A reading from Romans: Romans 3:27-31 (NLT)

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
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Reflection: Romans 3:27-31 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

“All human beings are inveterate boasters. Boasting is the language of our fallen self-centredness…. All boasting is excluded except boasting in Christ. Praising, not boasting, is the characteristic activity of justified believers, and will be throughout eternity. So ‘let him who boasts boast in the Lord’, and ‘May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’”
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“The gospel of justification by faith alone also excludes all élitism and discrimination…. This identical truth applies to all other distinctions, whether of race, nationality, class, sex or age. Not that all such distinctions are actually obliterated… but these continuing distinctions are rendered of no significant account. They neither affect our relationship with God, nor hinder our fellowship with one another. At the foot of Christ’s cross and through faith in him, we are all on exactly the same level, indeed sisters and brothers in Christ.”

‘The message’, writes Dr Tom Wright, ‘… is simple: all who believe in Jesus belong to the same family and should be eating at the same table. That is what Paul’s doctrine of justification is all about.’

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“Faith upholds the law, i.e. justified believers who live according to the Spirit fulfil the righteous requirements of the law….”

“Here are three implications of the gospel of justification by faith alone. First, it humbles sinners and excludes boasting. Secondly, it unites believers and excludes discrimination. Thirdly, it upholds the law and excludes antinomianism. No boasting. No discrimination. No antinomianism.”
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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 14 July – Romans 3:21-26 ~ God’s righteousness revealed

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A reading from Romans: Romans 3:21-26 (NLT)

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
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Reflection: Romans 3:21-26 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

Nobody approaches God’s standard of righteousness. Bishop Moule: ‘The harlot, the liar, the murderer, are short of God’s glory; but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you are on the crest of an Alp; but you are as little able to touch the stars as they.’
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Paul teaches three basic truths about justification: 1. Its source – the saving initiative from beginning to end belongs to God the Father; Grace is God loving, God stooping, God coming to the rescue, God giving himself generously in and through Jesus Christ. 2. Its ground – the death of God’s Son on the cross in our place effected a redemption of sinners; a propitiation of God’s wrath and a demonstration of his justice. 3. Its means – faith alone, altogether apart from works, is the heart of the gospel and unique to Christianity.

No other system, ideology or religion proclaims a free forgiveness and a new life to those who have done nothing to deserve it but a lot to deserve judgement instead…. Christianity is not in its essence a religion at all; it is a gospel, the gospel, good news that God’s grace has turned away his wrath, that God’s Son has died our death and borne our judgement, that God has mercy on the undeserving, and that there is nothing left for us to do, or even contribute. Faith’s only function is to receive what grace offers.
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To stand on the rim of the abyss, to despair utterly of ever crossing over, is the indispensable ‘antechamber of faith’.
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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 13 July – Romans 3:9-20 ~ on our universal guilt

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A reading from Romans: Romans 3:9-20 (NLT)

Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say,

“No one is righteous — not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good not a single one.”

“Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.”

“Snake venom drips from their lips.”

“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

“They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace.”

“They have no fear of God at all.”

Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
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Reflection: Romans 3:9-20 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

Paul appears to almost personify sin as a cruel tyrant who holds the human race imprisoned in guilt and under judgement. Sin is on top of us, weighs us down, and is a crushing burden.
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Three features of this grim biblical picture stand out: 1. the ungodliness of sin; 2. the pervasiveness of sin; and 3. the universality of sin.
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Luther: The principal point… of the law… is to make men not better but worse; that is to say, it shows them their sin, that they may be humbled, terrified, bruised, and broken, and by this means may be driven to seek grace, and so come to Christ.
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It is an essential part of our dignity as human beings that, however much we may have been affected by negative influences, we are not helpless victims, but rather responsible for our conduct.
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Two responses: 1. make certain that we have ourselves accepted this divine diagnosis of our condition as true, and that we have fled from the just judgement of God on our sins to the only refuge there is, namely Jesus Christ who died for our sins; 2. accept the challenge to share Christ with others. All around us are men and women who know enough of God’s glory and holiness to make their rejection of him inexcusable. They too, like us, stand condemned…. Only Christ can save them. Their mouth is closed in guilt; let our mouth be open in testimony!
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Canticle

Blessing

Sunday: 12 July – Amos 7:12-15; Psalm 85:9-14; Ephesians 1:3-10; Mark 6:7-13 ~ on being blessed and sent

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence and Prayer:

God has blessed us and has showered His grace upon us. Give thanks to the Lord for all we have received.
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God of justice, God of salvation, from every land You call a people to Yourself. Yours is the work we do, Yours the message we carry. Keep Your Church single-minded and faithful to You. Let failure not discourage us nor success beguile our hearts, as You send us to proclaim the gospel. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.
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A Reading from the Old Testament: Amos 7:12-15 (NLT)
[Amos explains that he is not a professional prophet. He’s an amateur, just doing what God told him to do.]

Kloster Blaubeuren, Klosterkirche, Chorraum Chorgestühl von Jörg Syrlin d. J., 1493 Prophet Amos Ulm, Germany — Kloster Blaubeuren, Klosterkirche, Chorraum
Chorgestühl von Jörg Syrlin d. J., 1493
Prophet Amos – Ulm, Germany

Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there! Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!”

But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’
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A Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 85:9-14 (NLT)

Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, so our land will be filled with his glory.

Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed! Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven. Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings. Our land will yield its bountiful harvest. Righteousness goes as a herald before him, preparing the way for his steps.
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A Reading from the Letters: Ephesians 1:3-10 (NLT)
[Paul wrote this letter to the people of Ephesus while he was in prison. Today’s reading describes the beautiful way God deals with us.]

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ — everything in heaven and on earth.
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A Reading from the Gospels: Mark 6:7-13 (NLT)
[Jesus sends the disciples out in pairs, to preach the message of repentance and to heal the sick.]

And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick — no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

“Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.
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https://youtu.be/HTbJmCTqgkg
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Intercessions:

God’s help is near for those who turn to him – Lord, hear our prayers.

+ For all who have been sent out to preach the message of repentance and forgiveness – that whatever their reception, they may not give up…. Lord, hear us.
+ For those who find belief in God hard – that, seeing the sick healed and evil conquered, they may believe…. Lord, hear us.
+ For people who hunger and thirst for justice – that they may be rewarded for their dedication…. Lord, hear us.
+ For the sick and all who suffer – that You may heal them, according to Your will…. Lord, hear us.
+ For all those who have died in war, or in the service of their country – that they may rest in eternal peace…. Lord, hear us.

Lord God, Your help is the strength of Your people: hear the longings of our hearts and continue to give us Your help, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: