GREETING (Adapted from Exodus 3:14-16)
I Am Who I Am, you have spoken
from the bush, the prophets and your Son!
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
has come to rescue those in bondage to sin!
Let us bow down before you, I Am,
and lift up prayers and songs of thanksgiving!
HYMN 679 “O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright”
PSALM 27
PRAYER
(Consider some of the following human growth concerns for prayers of thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. Follow with your personal prayer list.)
Praise for the Light To spotlight the truth
That Christ light up our minds To reveal the way
That the light shine on me To illuminate the hope
That the light shine on us To brighten the joy
That the light shine on them To radiate the love
Give us vision To expose the sin
Teach us To highlight the grace
Correct us To glow in the peace
Lead us _____________________________
Gather us into your light _____________________________
Help us focus _____________________________
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
God of sunset and sunrise, Father of Jesus our Christ,
let his light shine in the hearts of your children everywhere.
Show us the path that is different from all the rest,
the one that lights up our lives with your grace and love.
Convince us that your unending love is for real,
and that your love is all we need to live full, vibrant lives.
Turn us into standard-bearers for loving our families,
as well as for loving strangers and neighbors near and far.
Shine your truth on how our dying to selfishness
raises us up in a glorious new life of selflessness in Christ.
Expose how tomorrow is determined by yesterday,
and how it can be amended by your forgiving grace today.
Build our trust in Jesus Christ until it is unbreakable.
Set our faith deeply into the rock of Christ’s resurrected life.
Reveal the peace found in trusting you to save us,
instead of working ourselves crazy failing to save ourselves.
Bare the rich blessings to be found in obedience,
especially obedience done to declare our love for you.
Let the real riches of your kingdom be a beacon,
calling us away from this world’s foolishness to your joy.
Let us behold the wonder of your beauty forever,
and live in your house, holy Father, all the days of eternity. 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 173 “Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies”
CLOSING PRAYER
Your greatness, I Am, is our joy and our hope,
for you have sent your Son to be our shepherd,
the true vine and bread of life, the world’s light,
the gate, opening to grace, shutting out danger.
He has become to us the resurrection and life,
our way, our truth and our life forever and ever.
May our thoughts, words and deeds all this day,
faithfully reflect his presence and compassion. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
