259 people in our community are currently praying with you.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

To Proclaim the Gospel

Almighty God, who called your Church to bear witness that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself: help us to proclaim the good news of your love, that all who hear it may be drawn to you; through him who was lifted up on the cross, and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

CofE website c. 9//2017

For the Whole State of Christ’s Church

Almighty and everliving God, who by thy holy Apostle hast taught us to make prayers, and supplications, and to give thanks for all men; Give me first a Spirit of fellowship with all those who pray with me, who I cannot see; and let each of us know that we pray in the unity of Spirit, although we are all separated from one another in body;

We all, and each of us, humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our alms and oblations, and to receive these our prayers, which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty; beseeching thee to inspire continually the Universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord: And grant that all those who do confess thy holy Name may agree in the truth of thy holy Word, and live in unity and godly love.

We beseech thee also, so to direct and dispose the hearts of all Christian Rulers, that they may truly and impartially administer justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of thy true religion, and virtue.

Give grace, O heavenly Father, to all Bishops and other Ministers, that they may, both by their life and doctrine, set forth thy true and lively Word, and rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments.

And to all thy People give thy heavenly grace; and especially to those who pray together in Spirit at this time; that, with meek heart and due reverence, they may hear, and receive thy holy Word; truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life.

And we most humbly beseech thee, of thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour all those who, in this transitory life, are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity.

And we also bless thy holy Name for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear; beseeching thee to grant them continual growth in thy love and service, and to give us grace so to follow their good examples, that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom. Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our only Mediator and Advocate,

Mason Barge mod. from 1928 BCP 11/1/2014

~ based on an old Episcopal prayer

Benediction

Now, to God the Father, who first loved us, and made us accepted in the Beloved; to God the Son, who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood; to God the Holy Ghost, who sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts, be all love and all glory in time and to all eternity.

Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Psalm 46:8-9

Isaiah 61:1-4, 11

The Year of God’s Favor

he Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

*     *     *

That they may be called oaks of righteousness,the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.

Notes on the Scripture

As we come into the heart of Christmas season, we celebrate the promise of new life amidst the dark death of winter. The star of Bethlehem is like a little sun, a promise of a sun that will certainly rise and overcome the sleeping world around us. Isaiah was led to see this promise many centuries before it rose; he was a prophet of Christ 750 years before Christ was born.

If you have read much of Isaiah, it seems to be filled with predictions of wrath and destruction, God’s wrath against those who would deny Him. But really, this is not how the book ends. Isaiah’s final message is one of hope that can be found in even the worst of times; and Israel was to know times that were more terrible than most of us can imagine, when all of Israel was devastated, killed by swords, or taken into captivity as slaves.

These times, especially the invasion of Israel by Babylon, were still in the future during Isaiah’s life; they are why so much of his prophecy is grim and frightening. But always, he holds out the promise of a rising star in the distant future. In the passage today, he tells us his ultimate purpose. Yes, he was sent to warn Israel of the devastation it would suffer from its idolatry; but even more, he was sent to bring God’s promise of a savior from the suffering.

His final message is one of comfort to all who suffer. Christ, and those who follow Him, will repair the ruined cities. Like plants growing back in a ruined garden, they will be the source of “righteousness and praise to sprout up before all nations.”

We must never forget the ultimate salvation that comforts us in time of difficulty, no matter how terrible it may be; for remember, Isaiah was telling people to have hope, in a time worse than anything we will ever have to face, when an entire nation would be murdered by men with swords or taken into slavery in a foreign land. Nor should we ever forget the last paragraph today; God’s purpose for us is that we stand at the heart of rebuilding His earth and that we be the source of righteousness and praise before all nations.

A typical medieval Tree of Jesse, from a Scottish Book of Hours (a sort of prayer book), ca. 1520. Mary holding Jesus is depicted as the top branch.

Daily Inspiration

“Being A Peddler”

Current Memory Verse     Remember the Bible

Print Today’s Devotion