GREETING (Adapted from Isaiah 52:7)
How beautiful upon the mountains, O God,
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
HYMN 718 “Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending”
PSALM 96
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
These are waiting times, Promise Keeper,
and we are a waiting people.
Christ has returned to his native heaven,
your plan’s next-to-last step.
We celebrate this tremendous victory.
We rejoice that Jesus lives.
And we long to see him coming back for us.
That cannot happen too soon.
This waiting for his return is long and hard.
Enemies work against us.
The willful deceits and lies of the evil one,
has stolen some from us.
Others, beaten by this world’s injustices,
were unable to trust or hope.
Still others have fallen into destruction,
grabbing this world’s glitter.
And some, tainted by instant gratification,
lost patience and gave up.
And those blind to the marks of your love,
have unwittingly melted away.
But a remnant remains, waiting and believing,
the last step our security.
Christ has not abandoned or forgotten us.
We expect him any moment.
We count on the justice and righteousness
that Jesus will be bringing.
Not for the punishment of others’ wrongs
do we so earnestly pray;
but for his mercy and love that understands
and forgives our own sin.
His open arms will come like cold water
to those exhausted in the desert.
His welcoming smile will be a beacon
to those lost in the darkness.
His justice is weighed in the scales of grace,
a blessing rather than a burden.
His righteousness is constructed from love,
and his judgments from mercy.
Come, Lord Jesus, finish God’s good plan.
Come to your waiting people.
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 706 “Soon and Very Soon”
CLOSING PRAYER
You, God, are the very essence of love and grace,
and tonight as we approach our beds for needed sleep,
we turn over all our concerns to your compassionate heart.
Wrap our families and friends in your protection.
Guard those whose paths we have crossed today,
and our neighbors: known and unknown, near and far.
Heal those with diseases, wounds and afflictions;
those boiling with deep troubles inside themselves;
and those cursed with bad decisions and crippling habits.
Bring good news to the people suffering in wars;
those impoverished by ignorance or sick economies;
and those living under the burden of earth’s pollution.
Take all your people into your arms tonight, Lord.
Comfort them with your steadfast and faithful love.
Let them find rest and hope tonight in your tender care. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
