GREETING (adapted from Psalm 89:26)
You, Almighty One, are our Father, our God, and the Rock of our salvation.
Your steadfast love is forever, and your covenant is everlasting.
Reveal to us your will, so we may worship you with our time in this world.
Hold us to your covenant, where all our blessing and hope lies.
Use our worship to form us as the steadfast covenant-keepers that you desire,
and let our faithful witness draw others to their salvation in you.
HYMN 517 “By Gracious Powers”
PSALM 18
PRAYER
(Think back to the beginning of this day. Start there, and mentally walk through the day again, while you thank God for the day's blessings and God's continuous work of love. Confess and repent of those times when you forgot, ignored or rebelled against God. Continue to pray with your personal prayer list.)
SCRIPTURE LESSON
(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)
Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.
Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.
Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.
Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.
PRAYER
King of kings, Source and Sovereign of the Eternal Kingdom,
David thought you were keeping your promise through Solomon;
but David never could have imagined the heir he had in Jesus Christ.
We thank you that we know David’s heir and your beloved Son.
He came among us in humility, one with our own flesh and blood;
but he spoke with your voice, and he lived among us with your power.
Even today, Christ’s teachings are like no one else’s on earth.
He still heals people we know, and brings many dead back to life.
And he still calms terrible storms, in our lives and around our world.
Jesus brought your kingdom near, but it is not fully among us.
We see flashes of it as it peeks through outrageous acts of love.
We recognize it when we produce good totally out of character for us.
We hear your kingdom sometimes in words we speak or write.
It echoes around the world when you make the impossible happen.
And unbelievable miracles sparkle forth in the most unlikely places.
In the rooms and surgeries of your hospitals, we feel its care.
In the schools of children, youth and adults it teaches your truth.
Orphanages, homes for troubled youth and the elderly proclaim its love.
David never imagined the peace encountered in your kingdom,
but he would have loved singing of the joy its residents celebrate.
And none can fathom the depth of the love that forms its foundations.
Kingdom-Builder, we treasure the glimpses of your kingdom,
but we hunger and thirst for its full measure to come among us.
Send David’s heir, your holy Son, to reign over your kingdom forever.
Let your kingdom’s glory shine across the earth for all to see.
You kept your promise to David. Now keep your promise to us.
Come and dwell among your people. Sanctify us with your presence.
You have washed us with forgiveness, and saved us with grace.
But we long to live day-in and day-out in the joy of your company.
We are fixed on your promise, God. Come, father those you created. Amen.
SILENCE AND COMMITMENT
(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)
HYMN 534 “Be Still, My Soul”
CLOSING PRAYER
You have made a number of covenants with your people, God.
But what is a covenant really – a contract, an agreement, a promise?
When you make a covenant with someone it is more than these.
Your covenants have always been full and unique because they are:
a surprise, with you initiating the whole arrangement for blessing us;
an unbalanced gift, in that we receive more than we can ever return;
a steadfast bond binding you to people you have chosen for covenant;
an alliance of you and your chosen people to work for all that is good;
a relationship with people who are privileged to enjoy your company;
your pledge, your understanding, your commitment to those chosen.
When you make a covenant, you are absolutely, always faithful.
On the other hand, we absolutely, always fail to keep faith with you.
But we can sleep soundly because Christ has kept faith for us,
and tomorrow we begin again in a covenant that still stands in love.
Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
