God
Published in Blog Posts. Tags: Meditations.
Good Morning, my name is Carl and I am being coached by Grace. It is the Grace of God that stands behind us, is to the right of us, to the left of us and opens doors before us. (If you are comfortable repeat that statement using your own name.)
At times various groups of people would sing as they entered the sanctuary to worship. Try to sing along as you prepare your mind for today.
Alison Krauss “Down To The River To Pray”
Morning Scripture: Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Psalm 8 • 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 • Matthew 28:16-20
Morning Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, for each breath this morning.
Lord, with tears I pray for healing for myself and for those I (we) have come to love.
Lord, I pray for those starting new jobs.
Lord, I pray for those just trying to figure life out.
Lord, I pray for those who are having a bad “hair day.”
Lord, I pray for those wrestling in their minds, trying to figure out life.
Lord, I pray for each person who recovers only to be hit again with illness.
Lord, I pray for those running their own business.
Lord, I pray for our families, the small ones and the larger ones.
Lord, I pray for our travelers.
Lord, I pray for those who have experienced setbacks.
Lord, I pray for those taking great and little strides forward.
Lord, I pray for those doing ministry today.
Lord, I pray for those making life changing decisions today.
Please add your prayer thoughts as well.
Music (please choose music that points to the work of the Spirit in our lives):
“Be Thou My Vision” by Alison Krauss
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” by Chris Rice
“Be Thou My Vision” by Eden’s Bridge
Meditation: God.
(Please read all scripture first.)
In the beginning, God. The King James translation of the Bible served as The Bible, the only acceptable translation for many. For many many years traditions and liturgy often guided worshipers without giving time to question what was even being said.
In the beginning, God. As a teenager I questioned that thought. Where did God come from, when did God come? What can we really understand and know about God?
In the midst of the illness and concerns of our people these questions often hide behind the quiet desperation of those who suffer from day to day. Ultimately the question ceases and changes to another direction. Does God even care?
I stood in the pulpit one Sunday and instead of preaching a sermon I started with a confession. The words went something like this: This week was one of the most difficult weeks I remember. As was my custom I went to my office on Monday morning. I worked on the text and outline for the coming week. That Monday despite spending extra time in prayer the sermon outline never came. Tuesday had become my day off, but the sermon outline had not been prepared so I went to my office and started over. I spent a half day agonizing, then decided I needed to trust God and go home.
Wednesday came. It was the day of the week I spent time doing visitation. There were also other tasks needing to be done, I did those and went back to the sermon as possible.
Thursday arrived. My calendar called for making a list of things to be thankful for. At the top of the list was simply my gratitude for the opportunity to preach. I had no doubt the sermon would come. Thursday came and went. No sermon. Friday, no sermon. As I walked to my office on Saturday morning I wondered if this was the beginning of the end? Were my preaching days over? Saturday was filled with preparation for the activities of Sunday. The sermon never came. That night after supper I walked back to the church. I went into the Sanctuary. I knelt at the alter. I asked God, where are you? Are you ever going to come again? Are there just to many preachers and you don’t have time for me? Did I do something wrong? I don’t have a sermon for tomorrow. I am sorry, I failed. I then said, God, this is my job. I must have a sermon. Yet there was no sermon. Instead I prayed for each member of the congregation. I prayed for all of the activities. I prayed for our community. I prayed for the next few hours. Then I went home.
Sunday came. I went to my office and prayed again. Yet no sermon.
That morning, there wasn’t a sermon. When it came time to preach the sermon I told the congregation what I just told you.
Earlier that morning when I went to my office I had opened the Bible. My finger pointed to a verse in the Epistle of 1st John. It said, Behold what manner of love hath the Father that we should be called the children of God for such we are. That is how I ended my sermon time.
How do we answer the questions? We acknowledge, in the beginning God, out of the chaos surrounding creation, out of the grayness of life, out of the the brokenness surrounding us the message never changes. God reaches into our lives revealing through all we go through we are still the children of God. Amen.
There are moments that touch our souls. One such moment for me is this: “Amazing Grace.”
I invite you to go back to the prayer list this morning and add more. The thoughts I listed arise from posts and conversations from our membership.
Amen.