Category: Life in America

Morning Prayer: 12 March – John 7:40-53 ~ Pharisees: This foolish crowd follows him.

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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

Opening Sentence

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
(Isaiah 55:6)

Morning Reading: John 7:40-53 (NLT)

When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” So the crowd was divided about him. Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.

fool_for_christ

When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

“We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.

“Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!”

Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.

They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes from Galilee!”

Then the meeting broke up, and everybody went home.

Morning Prayer

Thank you, Christ my Savior, for welcoming me into your presence. Lord, help me by your grace.

+ Cleanse me and wash me free from sin.
+ Fill me to overflowing with your Holy Spirit.
+ Show me how to offer myself to others this morning.
+ Strengthen me to do your will throughout the day.
+ Grant that I may hunger for the food of eternal life.
+ Feed me to the full on your Word – the bread of life.
+ Walk with me through the valley of the shadow of death.
+ Lead me home to your banqueting table in heaven.

Lord God, in your gentle mercy, guide my wayward heart. Help me by your grace, for I know that left to myself I cannot do your will. I ask through my Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

“Lord, You Have My Heart” – Delirious?

Closing Sentence

Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. (Isaiah 55:7)

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

Morning Prayer: 11 March – John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 ~ he sent me to you

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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

Opening Sentence

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
(Isaiah 55:6)

Morning Reading: John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 (NLT)

After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters….
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But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view.
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Christ Jesus

Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each other, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing to him. Could our leaders possibly believe that he is the Messiah? But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from.”

While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him. But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you.” Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.

Morning Prayer

Jesus Messiah: you redeemed us by your death and resurrection. Lord, have mercy on us.

+ You went up to Jerusalem to endure the passion and enter into glory; lead your Church into the paschal feast of eternal life.
+ Your heart was pierced with a lance; heal the wounds of our human weakness.
+ You made your cross the tree of life; share your victory with all who trust in you.
+ You gave salvation to the repentant thief; pardon all our sins.

Lord God, have mercy on us, and grant that we may reach out gladly for your healing grace, and thereby live in accordance with your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

“Jesus Messiah” – Chris Tomlin

Closing Sentence

Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. (Isaiah 55:7)

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

Morning Prayer: 10 March – John 5:31-47 ~ The Scriptures point to me!

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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

Opening Sentence

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
(Isaiah 55:6)

Morning Reading: John 5:31-47 (NLT)

“If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved. John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. But I have a greater witness than John — my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me — the one he sent to you.

search the scriptures

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

“Your approval means nothing to me, because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.

“Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

Morning Prayer

Praise to you, heavenly Father, for your loving kindness, which is revealed to me in Jesus Christ. Remember, Lord, that I am your child.

+ Lead me more deeply into the life of your people; make me a clearer sign of your saving presence.
+ Lover of mankind, help me to play my part in my civic community; make me a kingdom builder in every way.
+ Bear my burdens and lighten my load; you, Lord, are the spring of living water who refreshes me.
+ Forgive the harm that I have done; create in me a clean heart and guide me in the path of justice and truth.

Compassionate Lord, remember that I am your child. Teach me what is true, and make me realize what is wrong in my life. Correct me when I am are wrong and teach me to do what is right. Grant me purity of heart that I may abide in your Word, and joyfully enter into the celebration of Easter. Through my Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

“Christ In Me Arise” – Trevor Thomson

Closing Sentence

Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. (Isaiah 55:7)

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

Morning Prayer: 09 March – John 5:16-30 ~ listen to my message and believe in God

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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

Opening Sentence

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. (Isaiah 55:6)

Morning Reading: John 5:16-30 (NLT)

So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.

The Salvator Mundi Gian Lorenzo Bernini, circa 1679 Monastery of Saint Sebastian outside the Walls, Rome
The Salvator Mundi
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, circa 1679
Monastery of Saint Sebastian outside the Walls, Rome

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

“And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.

Morning Prayer

Heavenly Father, you gave your own Son, the Word made flesh, to be our bread of life. May the message of Christ, in all its richness, live in my heart during this Lenten season.

+ Quiet me before you – that I may hear your voice and pass with Christ from death to life.
+ Forgive my sins and cleanse me – that I may walk with Christ in newness of life.
+ Teach me to live by your Spirit – that I may bring hope and help to those in need.
+ Penetrate my mind and heart – that my way of living may express your love and mercy.
+ Purify your Church in every tribe and nation – that we may be the living witness of your presence in the world.

Merciful God, you crown your saints with glory and pardon sinners when they repent. Prepare me – body, mind, and spirit – to contemplate Calvary and welcome Easter with great joy and love. Through my Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

“Omusharaba (The Cross)” – Ambassodors Of Christ Choir 2016 (Rwanda)

Closing Sentence

Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. (Isaiah 55:7)

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

Morning Prayer: 08 March – John 5:1-16 ~ Lord, heal me!

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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

Opening Sentence

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. (Isaiah 55:6)

Morning Reading: John 5:1-16 (NLT)

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

get-well

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

“Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.

So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules.

Morning Prayer

Father God, you gave your own Son, the Word made flesh, to be our bread of life. May the message of Christ, in all its richness, live in my heart during this Lenten season.

+ Quiet me before you – that I may hear your voice and pass with Christ from death to life.
+ Heal me and forgive me – that I may tell others the good news of what you have done for me.
+ Teach me to live by your Spirit – that I may bring faith and hope to those who doubt.
+ Penetrate my mind and heart – that my way of living may express your love and mercy.
+ Purify your Church in every tribe and nation – that we may be the living witness of your presence in the world.

Gracious God, prepare me – body, mind, and spirit – to welcome the mystery of Easter with great joy and love. May the message of Christ, in all its richness, live in me; and may I proclaim the good news of peace and salvation. Through my Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

“Healer” – Hillsong

Closing Sentence

Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. (Isaiah 55:7)

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