BELONGING

The 8th Sunday after Pentecost

PSALM 24:1 (CEV)
The earth and everything on it,
including its people,
belong to the LORD.
The world and its people
belong to him.

EPHESIANS 2:19 (MSG)
You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
It's great to belong, especially when God is the one including us. 

DAILY FODDER
How does it make you feel knowing you are a full citizen of God's regime?

PRAYER
God, you are sovereign over everything, and hospitable, too. Thank you for the privileged place you've given to me in your world. Forgive me for neglecting that privilege or for considering it to be something it isn't. Help me to understand what it means to belong and to welcome others. Through my relationship with Christ Jesus, I'm going to live as a responsible citizen of YOUR world! Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.

Give us enough food for today.

Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. Amen.

EVERLASTING

ISAIAH 41:4 (MSG)

Who did this? Who made it happen?

Who always gets things started?

I did. GOD. I’m first on the scene.

I’m also the last to leave.

REVELATION 1:17-18 (MSG)

Don’t fear: 

I am First, I am Last, I’m Alive. 

I died, but I came to life, 

and my life is now forever.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Relax! God is personally overseeing the everlasting life project—and he's very hands-on.

DAILY FODDER
What wears people down to the point where they wonder about the future? What is God's response to such despair? 

PRAYER
Everlasting God, when everything around us falters, we know that we can count on you to be here. Forgive us for allowing the tough times to get to us. Help us to refocus on you and your everlasting track record. I'm trusting you for life everlasting. Amen. 

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.

Give us enough food for today.

Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. Amen.

WORD-SHAPED PARTNERS

1 KINGS 8:56 (MSG)
Not one of all those good and wonderful words that he spoke through Moses has misfired.

LUKE 24:27 (NLT)
Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
The scriptures are reliable, ultimately so in the way they reveal Christ Jesus to us.

DAILY FODDER
How would your relationship with Jesus be different if you didn't have the scriptures written before and after him?

PRAYER
Glorious God, thank you for the written words that bear witness to your faithfulness, and for the living Word, who embodied faithfulness among us. I regret that I haven't allowed either your written or your living Word to fully permeate my life. I'm asking you to drill deeper into my soul. I want to become a Word-shaped partner in your faithful activity. Amen. 

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.

Give us enough food for today.

Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. Amen.

CHILD OF GOD

HOSEA 1:10 (MSG)
But down the road the population of Israel is going to explode past counting, like sand on the ocean beaches. In the very place where they were once named Nobody, they will be named God’s Somebody.

GALATIANS 4:7 (MSG)
Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God is eager to upgrade our status with him to beloved children, with all the rights and privileges therein.

DAILY FODDER
The world may snub you but you are somebody to God.

PRAYER
I'm grateful, God, that you welcome me into your family as a child. Forgive me for looking for status from other sources. Help me to live as a content child of God. I'm going to rely on what you offer and that alone. Thanks! Amen!

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.

Give us enough food for today.

Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.

Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. Amen.