CARE AND RESPECT

Reformation Sunday

PROVERBS 3:27 (GNT)
Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it.

JAMES 2:2-4 (GNT)
Suppose a rich man wearing a gold ring and fine clothes comes to your meeting, and a poor man in ragged clothes also comes. If you show more respect to the well-dressed man and say to him, “Have this best seat here,” but say to the poor man, “Stand over there, or sit here on the floor by my feet,” then you are guilty of creating distinctions among yourselves and of making judgments based on evil motives.

THE ESSENCE
Care and respect for the poor is God's way.   

DAILY FODDER
Why is it that God seems so partial to the poor and marginalized?  

PRAYER
Gracious God, I'm grateful that you extend your care and respect to those who can't earn it. That's how I'm included in your family. Forgive me for living as though I have some kind of status that justifies ignoring or excluding anyone else. We're so shallow! Help us to see every single person as they are in your sight. I'm going to go out today looking for ways to do good, in Jesus' name, to those who need it. That's his way! 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 have 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.

BREAD FROM GOD

LEVITICUS 26:5 (GNT)
Your crops will be so plentiful that you will still be harvesting grain when it is time to pick grapes, and you will still be picking grapes when it is time to plant grain. You will have all that you want to eat, and you can live in safety in your land.

JOHN 6:33 (MSG)
The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world.

THE ESSENCE
When God provides the food, it is so rich and plentiful that it feeds the world. 

DAILY FODDER
Choose the best answer. Leviticus 26:5:

1. is about how God will provide unending food security for his chosen people. 
2. is about how God will provide spiritual food security for his chosen people.
3. is about how God provides for both the physical and spiritual needs of his chosen people.
4. anticipates abundant divine provision that gives life and security to the whole world.

PRAYER
God, you've made it clear throughout scripture that you are the source for food security in the broadest terms possible—for the whole world. Forgive us for living as though your provisions are a scarcity. We hoard physical food and try to commodify your spiritual food so that those outside our group go hungry. Help us to grasp the breadth and richness of your food. I want to partner with you in feeding the world so there is no food insecurity of any kind. 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 have 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.

HOPE

JEREMIAH 31:17 (CEB)
There’s hope for your future,
declares the LORD. 

Your children will return home!

EPHESIANS 2:7 (CEB)
God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus.

THE ESSENCE
There is hope for the future, evident in what Christ has done for us.  

DAILY FODDER
The current moment is so intense that it is hard to adequately remeber the past or project realistic hopeful outcomes for the future. But when we are in the presence of Christ Jesus, the angst of the current moment is disarmed. By grace we catch a glimpse of what he has done for us in the past and the future he has planned. All that changes our outlook on the current moment.

PRAYER
Loving God, thank you for breaking into our world to disrupt the system, projecting us onto a new future. I confess that I let the troubles of today swallow the hope that you've given to us. Restore the hope. I want to challege the news of each day with the hopeful outlook that comes through our solidarity with Christ Jesus. 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 have 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.

GOD'S LOVE

ISAIAH 49:15 (NLT)
Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?
Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
I would not forget you!

1 JOHN 4:8
God is love.

THE ESSENCE
God's love can't be disrupted because he IS love!

DAILY FODDER
How do you respond to people who don't believe that God is love because there is so much active hate in the world? 

PRAYER
Amazing God, your love is so great that I can't wrap my head around it. Forgive me for loosing sight of this bottom line fact when I experience hate and rejection in the world. Help me to look at all the problems through the lenses of your love. I'm going to emphasize the basics because I know that you love the world so much that you sent your one and only Son. And I believe in him. 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 have 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.