+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, loving Father, you have given us your Son Jesus Christ as the true vine of life and our source of strength. Help us to live his life as living branches attached to the vine, and to produce lasting fruit of justice, goodness and love. Let our union with him become visible in our openness to one another and in our unity as brothers and sisters, that he may be visibly present among us now and for ever.
Reading: John 15:12-17 (NLT)
This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
__________
Reflection & Prayer:
Lord Jesus: You have befriended me and commanded me to love others even as you have loved me.
+ Lord, you gave me your life; I give you mine as a living sacrifice. Help me to remain faithful, obedient, and true.
+ Lord, you commanded me to love others; help me to follow your example. Show me how I can give up myself for another today.
+ Lord, you revealed to me what was most personal and important to you; help me to become more transparent and trusting with those closest to me.
+ Lord, you chose me as your friend and appointed me as your emissary to make disciples. Help me to be a worthy example and witness of your Good News.
Lord Jesus: Fill me with your Spirit today, that I may be your friend in word and deed, and not in name only, to the glory of the Father. Amen.
__________
“Friend of God” – Phillips Craig & Dean
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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 57:7-8 (NLT)
My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises! Wake up, my heart! Wake up, O lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song.
__________
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening sentence
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Morning readings
Psalm 39:2 NLT:
But as I stood there in silence — not even speaking of good things — the turmoil within me grew worse.
Johanna Ruth Dobschiner Holocaust Survivor click on photo for YouTube interview
Isaiah 61:1-3 NLT:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.
To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
John 20:1-6 NLT:
Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there…
Reflection/Prayer:
As a young Dutch-Jewish refugee Johanna-Ruth Dobschiner found an illustrated children’s Bible in the home she was evacuated to, and re-read the familiar stories of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Pharoah, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon, Haman, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Malachi…
Almost unconsciouly I entered a part of history previously unknown to me, yet strangely familiar. It still delt with the people of Israel but new characters had entered the scene, names I had never been taught, names which had never been mentioned at home or in school lessons. Scenes which took place in Synagogue and Temple, according to this Bible, registered a blank when searching my memory. Yet all the stories were so obviously Jewish… One person outshone all others in these stories – a prophet born in Israel. As the weeks and months passed by, His life became part of mine. The readings about Him and the incidents concerning Him became more important to me than anything else in my own environment. I found I could tolerate my isolation without frustration, always longing for the next opportunity to learn more about Him for He had become my hero.
Then the cross:
While still reading of His agonies, in myself I wished for Him to show the power that was His, and free Himself from that cross. I knew He would do it, and as I read on I waited eagerly for the moment when this would be described… Instead, ‘It is finished.’ I had lost the one I loved dearly, although I had never met Him, except within the pages of this book. Now all was lost to me.
According to the custom of my people I mourned for Him seven days. My thoughts were wholly centered on my loss and a deep sense of depression settled upon me. I was weepy, edgy, moody and unhappy. True, I had suffered disappointment, but why not act as an adult and read the remaining pages of the book?
The first day of the week, and Mary finds His grave empty, the body stolen. What next! Having fought back her tears for so long, Mary now gave way to her grief. She felt as I had done during these past ten days, and again I joined her in her sorrow.
Beauty for ashes
A garment of praise for my heaviness
Beauty for ashes
Take this heart of stone and make it Yours, Yours
I delight myself in the Richest of Fare
Trading all that I’ve had for all that is better
A garment of praise for my heaviness
You are the greatest taste
You’re the richest of fare
(Psalm 63, Isaiah 61)
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
_____________________________________
The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening sentence
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Morning readings
Psalm 107:43 NLT:
Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 33:3 NLT:
Indeed, he loves his people; all his holy ones are in his hands. They follow in his steps and accept his teaching.
John15:15b-16 NLT:
Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.
Reflection/Prayer:
Rabbinic disciples were people who were attached to a particular person and who then themselves decided to follow and accept the teachings of that person. To become a disciple was entirely up to the individual: they chose to follow a rabbi and accept his teachings until they felt able to leave and establish independent status as teachers themselves. Jesus was different. He chose his disciples. Keith Whitehead, Emmaus Community
When Jesus disputed with other teachers he often argued from the rabbinical principle. ‘From the minor case to the major’, or as Arthur Burt would say, ‘the greater includes the lesser’. So if circumcision could be performed on the Sabbath to make a minor member of the body whole before God, then miraculous power could be used on the Sabbath to make a whole body whole. Or if the commandment said to not commit adultery, the greater which included this would say ‘not even in your heart’. The greater includes the lesser, but the small things mattered, too.
I have a friend you can go to with
your small problems.
My friend’s name is
GOD. Dave Berg
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
_____________________________________
The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Prayer: Heavenly Father – It truly is amazing that you love me and claim me as your friend. Lord Jesus – Thank you for dying for me – a sinner condemned unclean – so that friendship with God became possible. Holy Spirit – Give me endurance in my problems and trials… and build strength of character in me… so that I may joyfully enter into the hope of your salvation… and honor Jesus in all things. Amen.
Spiritual Song:“I am a friend of God” – Israel Houghton (YouTube – Chris Tomlin)
Who am I that you are mindful of me / That you hear me, when I call / Is it true that you are thinking of me / How you love me, it’s amazing (Who am I Lord)
I am a friend of God / I am a friend of God / I am a friend of God / He calls me friend
God Almighty / Lord of Glory / You have called me friend
The Peanut Gallery 