With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation
Lord Jesus, you once came to humanity in a rustic barn and a messy manger. Do not be distant from the rough places of our lives. We often find ourselves far from you. In mercy, come near to us, our Lord, Emmanuel; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Confession
Forgive my sins, O Lord – forgive me the sins of my present and the sins of my past, the sins of my soul and the sins of my body; the sins which I have done to please myself, and the sins which I have done to please others. Forgive me my wasted and idle sins, forgive me my serious and deliberate sins, forgive me those sins which I know and those sins which I know not, the sins which I have labored so to hide from others that I have hid them from my own memory. Forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all.
Word: Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Meditation: Witnesses
Today’s meditation is written by Susan Senechal.
I love a good crime novel or drama. A powerful courtroom scene. A witness on the stand tells what he or she has seen with their own eyes, what they know. Not hearsay, what someone else has told them, but what they have witnessed personally. In my own life, however, I am a reluctant witness when it comes to testifying to God’s mercy and grace in my life, because I don’t know how it will be received. But I have seen his hand.
Paul writes of his own journey in 2 Corinthians, “Five times I received forty lashes minus one…three times I was beaten…once I was stoned…three times I was shipwrecked…” My own story is not so dramatic, but perhaps the modern day equivalent by way of parenting; and though I didn’t face death, I have known great fear and been utterly humbled and humiliated.
God’s grace entered this chapter of our story by way of car wrecks and police knocking on our door, and by public school officials who went beyond any requirements or expectations to extend a hand of love to us, as God met all of our needs. The evidence is all around us.
The story continues to be written, and it is a story in which we are the eyewitnesses to God’s miracles, both big and small. And it is a story we are compelled to tell, especially when we meet people who are experiencing their own shipwrecks and stonings—because we can witness that God is good even when, and sometimes especially when, circumstances are not. And it is only by God’s grace that we are even able to tell the story, reluctant to admit our own failings and weaknesses, but equipped by the Holy Spirit to witness to God’s boundless love.
What is your story, big or small, of God’s incredible mercy and patient love? Will you be open to the Spirit as he gives you the power to share your story with others?
Dear Jesus, help us by your Spirit, to be effective witnesses to the power of God’s love in a world that is hurting. It is only through your grace and mercy that we can share your story with those around us. We thank you that your grace abounds. Amen.
Benediction
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7)