GREETING (quote from Augustine’s “Confessions”)
“O Beauty, so ancient and so new,
you were with us, but we not with you.”
Together we have traveled so far.
Alone we stumble without our north star.
We again fix eyes and heart on you.
our destination to bring back into view.
HYMN 130 “God Will Take Care of You”
PSALM 68
PRAYER
(Consider some of the following concerns of people for prayers of thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. Follow with your personal prayer list.)
God’s company God’s care for the oceans
God’s support God’s care for rivers and lakes
God’s protection God’s care for our gardens and fields
God’s blessing on our family God’s care for our livestock
Our children and grandchildren God’s care for our seeds
Love of family and others God’s care for our breeding stocks
What we inherit from our parents Our work of feeding the world
What we can pass on to our children Blessings others receive from us
God’s commandments, statutes and laws Blessings we can yet share
Our obedience to God Blessings others shared with us
Our country Those who grow and raise our food
Our community Those who prepare our food
Our land ____________________________
Our home ____________________________
God’s care for the natural world ____________________________
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
Almighty God, you told Isaac to reside in the land as an alien,
assuring him that you would be with him there,
and promising the land to Isaac and his children..
Many centuries later we reside as aliens in this land, Holy One.
The natives here are so completely foreign to us.
We wonder how they prize such dreadful values.
They believe that they can buy, own and possess,
forgetting they are only stewards of the temporary.
They fight each other to move themselves ahead.
They destroy the future to grab fleeting pleasure.
They spend themselves trying to maintain control,
forgetting that our strength is in surrendering to you.
Their ears itch for every new idea, however false.
Their feet itch for every liberty, wherever it goes.
Their hands itch for possessions, however costly,
forgetting the one thing necessary is 2,000 years old.
They kill the unborn, show no mercy to the poor.
They rob the powerless and lean on the helpless.
They trample the elderly, and imprison refugees,
forgetting you are a God of compassion and mercy.
They stunt maturity, coveting youth and beauty.
They grab at health, devouring pills and products.
They wearily fight against death like it is the end,
forgetting that your Son is coming with resurrection.
God, we confess, “They” are us in so many ways.
When we feel at home here, our error haunts us.
When we feel like aliens, we know a true future,
and ache for the new creation that Christ is bringing.
Here we are, Lord, living like aliens in this land still not our own.
Let Jesus return soon, to establish your kingdom.
Send him before we no longer recognize ourselves. 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 139 “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
CLOSING PRAYER
You have covenanted with us, Creator and Almighty God;
and we know you are faithful to all your words.
We enjoy inexhaustible blessings because of your covenant,
and for your favor and gifts we are truly thankful.
We recognize our failures in keeping covenant with you,
and we are determined today to turn that around.
Let your Holy Spirit take possession of our minds and hearts,
so that we please you in all we think, say or do. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
