Verse for the week: For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you
are light. Live as children of light— Ephesians 5.8
Prayer for the week: “Lord God, whose strength is sufficient for all who lay hold on it,
grant us in you to comfort our hearts and be strong. Humility, meekness,
temperance, purity, largeheartedness, sympathy, zeal – grant us these evidences
of faith, servants of hope, fruits of love; for the sake of Jesus Christ, our
strength, our righteousness, and our hope of glory. Amen. (Christina Rossetti, quoted in
Fox, A Chain of Prayer, p.161).
Bible reading for the day: John 6.1-15
(note: John tells us that a growing crowd is following Jesus because they have
seen him heal people… but have they heard him? If they are to be more than just
fans of a fantastic Jesus, if they –
and we – are to be faithful followers,
then the Father will have to grant faith; John 6.65)
1After
this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea
of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw
the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the
mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the
Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes,
then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to
Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He
said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip
answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each
of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five
barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus
said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the
men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the
loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were
seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they
had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments,
that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled
twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had
eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said,
“This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
15 Perceiving
then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus
withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
prayer(based on
the TRIP** method): Gracious and almighty
Father, so many eyes – even mine – seeing only the signs. You open your hand
and you know just exactly how and when to end our hunger games. Thank you! Repent me and your whole church of seeing the
signs but overlooking Jesus. Give us
always the food we truly need: feed us Jesus alive in your word for our hungry
hearts… and guide us to give him in truth and love to other hungry hearts. I ask this in his name, amen.
Hymn: follow
this link to a new hymn that gets us past just the signs, just the bread, just
the king we want: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKECQ86XexM
“I believe in Jesus Christ…”
What does this mean?
I believe that Jesus Christ —
true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the
Virgin Mary — is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature,
and has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver
and gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and
death. He has done all this in order that I might be his own, live under him in
his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and
blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns for all
eternity. This is most certainly true!
(from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources,
Sola Publishing, 2011)
benediction:
The Lord will keep you from all
evil; he will keep your life.
The
Lord will keep your going out and your coming in
From
this time on and forevermore. Ps 121.7-8
*There are many patterns for devotions. This pattern has been followed by God’s
people for centuries.
**The T.R.I.P. approach to prayer is based on the way Martin
Luther prayed and taught others to pray. It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid
Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria MN
R:
regret (repentance)
I:
intercession (asking God to take a specific action)
P:
plan or purpose
Reading a biblical text and then applying this method gives
one a sound, simple way to form one’s prayers...not to mention that it helps
one learn how to faithfully reflect on God’s Word and talk to God.
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