GREETING (Adapted from Mark 11:9b-10)
Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!
HYMN 185 “When Morning Gilds the Skies”
PSALM 146
PRAYER
(Consider some of the following concerns for prayers of thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. Follow with your personal prayer list.)
For faith to believe in miracles God’s unbelievable grace
Gratitude for the little miracles every day God’s awesome ability to forgive
For never forgetting the big miracles Awesomeness of God’s love
Gratitude for the miracles in nature Incarnation of God in human flesh
Gratitude for the miracles in our bodies Obedience and love in crucifixion
Gratitude for the miracles in our minds Faith and love in martyrs’ deaths
Gratitude for the miracles in our lives Wonder and joy of resurrection
Gratitude for the miracles in others’ lives Our eternal life with God
Gratitude for the miracles in our world The miracle of God’s kingdom
Healing needed _____________________________
Healing granted _____________________________
For coexistence of our science and God’s miracles _____________________________
THE LORD'S PRAYER
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
Terrifying, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping Worker of Miracles,
the Enlightenment sheep, full of scientific method,
dismiss, like little automatons, your every miracle.
These sheep condescendingly pat your church on the head,
and inform us that recorded miracles are additions
of overzealous, but well-meaning, church people.
When they begin with the premise that there are no miracles,
they should unerringly apply the methods of science,
to question and examine their own shaky premise.
You are the One who gifted us with this scientific method.
Yet our sinful use of wisdom turns us into fools.
So you use your foolishness to instill true wisdom.
For example, it was a lovely wedding until the wine ran out.
“Fill the jars with water,” your loving Son said,
and your fine wine changed embarrassment to joy.
While the men washed the nets after a luckless night of fishing,
Jesus told them, “Put out into the deep water.”
The catch was so full it nearly sank two boats.
And when five loaves of bread and two fish were the only food,
he fed more than five thousand astonished people,
with twelve baskets of leftovers for another day.
The paralytic healed by Jesus knew a miracle when he saw one,
as did the Gerasene when Jesus ended his torments,
and Jairus whose dead daughter Jesus revived.
Add to these Jesus walking on the water at the Sea of Galilee,
Jesus calming the howling wind and tossing waves,
and Jesus raising the dead Lazarus from the tomb.
But our wise leaders decided to end this heavenly foolishness,
and arranged for Jesus to be silenced on the cross.
For our wisdom, your Son died an agonizing death.
But then, God, your foolishness saved us all with another miracle,
because three days later Jesus stepped from his tomb!
And then, he fooled us again, appearing first to women!
God, we have come to love and trust your awesome foolishness.
So, any time you want to stump our sciences again,
we stand ready to believe and to loudly applaud you.
The scientific method you gave us is a really good and useful tool,
but when choosing our wisdom or your foolishness,
you can count on us to choose to be fools for Christ. 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 267 “O Love, How Deep”
CLOSING PRAYER
God of good news, plant your gospel deep within us.
Let it sprout and grow penetrating roots and strong branches.
Let its fruit feed the hungry crowds and heal the sin-sick souls.
God of love, for such an exquisite pearl of good news
we would sell all we have, but you freely give this gift to us.
Now send us to employ this gospel to plow and seed your fields. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
