225 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.

Prayer for Morning

This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus.

PCUSA 10/2021

For the Church

O  gracious Father, I humbly pray to you for your holy church, that you would be pleased to fill it with all truth. Where hypocrisy exists, help those who suffer it to see their fault and correct it. Where disputes exist, let them be resolved in all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything it is amiss, reform it.

Where it is right, help us to establish and nurture it through your mighty power; where it is in want, provide for it; and where it is divided, reunite it. All this I pray for the sake of him who died and rose again, and ever lives to intercede for our very souls, Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.

Benediction

Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, let me think about these things. What I have learned and received, let me do; and the God of peace be with us all.

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.

Fear of Men

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (ESV)

The Resurrection of the Dead

ow if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Notes on the Scripture

We live inside a box, sealed and opaque. Every scientist agrees that our universe is finite, a great hollow sphere, the inside of which is all we can see. No matter how powerful our telescopes may ever become, they cannot penetrate the boundaries or even see the edge, which is pure energy.

Outside our universe, science simply has no concept of what exists or does not exist. We don't know if there is matter, or people, or energy, or even time. One plus one might not equal two. But if we believe in the Bible, we know that God is there, for He existed in the void when He created light. (Genesis 1:1) While the Bible is not a scientific document, it did describe the “Big Bang” thousands of years ago — and some scientists scoffed at the Bible because of it!

But our senses and our minds have no knowledge of reality outside the walls of our box.

We Christians, of course, believe that our souls live on eternally and, moreover, that we retain some sort of identity. It would be idle imaginings except for one thing: God has come to us and done things that are impossible under the rules of the universe. A man, the Son of God, who was human in every way, died and then came back to life. Unbelievers scoff because it is physically impossible; but that was the whole point. It cannot happen in our world. And so, when it did happen, it was proof positive of another world.

Paul's passage today addresses a question sent to him, about people in Corinth who said they were Christians but did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. But the resurrection is the linchpin of Christian belief, for (assuming you believe all the people who say they saw Christ after he died) the resurrection proves beyond doubt that there is a God, who is not constrained by the laws of science that exist inside the box where we live.

The Ukrainian Madonna, by Vladimir Lemzyakov, ca. 1966.

Daily Inspiration

“Dressed For Success”

Current Memory Verse     Remember the Bible

Print Today’s Devotion