Your faith and hope are not in yourself

Verse for the week: “God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”  Acts 10.40-41

Prayer for the Week: “Almighty and everlasting God, through the death and resurrection of your Son you have proclaimed to us the gospel of peace.  Grant that by the power of his resurrection we may be born anew to a living hope, and so overcome the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das Jahr der Kirche, 2^nd ed. Kassel: Johannes Stauda-Verlag, 1948, p. 144)

Bible reading for the day: I Peter 1.17-25 (The first century recipients of this letter know firsthand the experience of their faith being under attack from the devil, the world, and their own sinful selves. Peter writes to encourage the church for life under the sign of the cross.)

¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³ since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴ for

“All flesh is like grass
    and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
    and the flower falls,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Prayer (based on the TRIP* method):  Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for resting my faith and hope in the precious blood of Christ and not in myself. Each day, birth me and my brothers and sisters in Christ anew not in our own grassy flesh… but in the imperishable, abiding seed of your Word. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved hymn which gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqb4HjxYCNg

“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:  Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21) 

 

*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).  The method is founded on scripture and easy to remember:
T: thanksgiving
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.