God Works through Joseph

  We all probably have stories of people in our lives that have hurt us. I'm more interested in hearing how you responded when someone hurt you. I think it speaks volumes about a person's character and faith to see how they respond to people when they have been wounded.
   I'm not going to pretend that I have always responded the correct way. There have been times I have let bitterness take root in my heart. And times that I really wish I could have responded with more grace. But as time goes on and I grow in faith, I find that I respond differently to being wounded. I try to respond by treating the person who hurt me in the way that I would want to be treated if the situation was reversed.
   Its not easy. But it comes with practice. Do you find it easy or hard to forgive someone who has hurt you? How has your approach to forgiveness changed with time?
(Repost of "Forgiving Others" - 02/2015)

“God Works through Joseph” - Genesis 37:3-8, 17b-22, 26-34; 50:15-21 Devo

September 27th, 2020

Devotional

“God Works through Joseph” - Genesis 37:3-8, 17b-22, 26-34; 50:15-21

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Loved Jospeh More” - Genesis 37: 3-4

Jacob ran away to a different part in the land after deceiving his father into giving him his brother Esau’s birthright, but that is another story of family drama for a different day. He ran to the land of his uncle Laban where he fell in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel. Where we pick up in the narrative today, Laban is asking Jacob what he would like his wage to be for working for him on his land. Jacob pledges to work seven years for Rachel’s hand in marriage. But while Laban agreed at first he later schemed and gave Jacob his other daughter Leah to marry instead. Eventually Jacob takes both women and their maid’s as his wives. The result was twelve sons and a daughter who got into a lot of fights and trouble, along with their mothers fighting as well. Jacob understood family drama. 

But family isn’t just drama, it is also a bond of unconditional love. Something that Jacob seemed to be missing with any of his wives other than Rachel. In fact Leah declares that she is bearing so many children because the Lord has opened her womb because he has heard that she is hated. When we declare that we are family, we aren’t just saying that we know about all of the drama, but that we accept each other in the deepest form of love anyway.

What does make someone family? One could declare that Jacob, Rachel, Leah, and their children were all family. And in the biological scene this is very true. But Jacob loved Rachel best. And he loved the two sons she bore, Joseph and Benjamin, more than the others. Leah knew that she wasn’t loved. She saw how Jacob treated her. Maybe she even heard her husband declaring to Laban that he had deceived him, as if he wanted to exchange Leah in for her sister. She was so despised that the Lord could see that she was unloved. Is this really family? 

In Jacob’s history what do we discover in his pattern of loving some people more?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, all too often we lord our love over one another. We say or treat some people like we love others more. Love others the best. But Lord, we see in the story of Jacob that this is not a reflection of your love. Forgive us, we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Dream” - Genesis 37: 5-8

Joseph gathers his brothers around him one day and says, “Listen. I’ve just had this amazing dream. When we were binding stalks of grain in the field, my stalk got up and stood upright, while your stalks gathered around it and bowed down to my stalk.” And incase the brothers missed the not so subtle meaning of that particular dream, he gathers them together a second time and says “I’ve just dreamed again, and this time the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

Oh Joseph. Not your finest moment. No wonder the brothers got mad at him. Now by no means does their anger justify what happens next, but his brothers think about killing him. But decided, ultimately, that they could make more money if they sold him into slavery, so that’s what they did. They sold Jospeh off to Egyptians, and then lied to their father, Jacob, saying that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. 

How would your characterize Jospeh’s words and actions in this section of Genesis 37?

Prayer: Lord, sometimes as we look at Joseph it is as if we are looking at ourselves in a mirror. We see the lack of humility. The lack of appreciation for other people. The arrogance. Forgive us, O Lord, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Conspired” - Genesis 37: 17-22

The musical Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber tells the story of Joseph, especially from the chapters that we are reading this week and beyond. One of the scenes the struck me the most the first time I saw it was from a song entitled, “Poor, Poor Joseph” which tells of how his brothers conspired to kill him. In both the lyrics they sing and the acting on the stage you could feel in a palpable sense, their anger with Joseph. 

Lyrics such as, “Let us grab him now, Do him in, while weave got the time”

It is hard to sympathize with the brothers in this moment, but in a lot of ways it is equally hard to sympathize with Joseph. Which leads the narrator to ask, "Poor, poor Joseph, what'cha gonna do? Things look bad for you, hey, what'cha gonna do?”

Of course, one brother who stands out is Reuben, who tried to trick his other brothers into   putting Jospeh in a pit, so he could come back to rescue him. 

In reading this particular section of Scripture who do you associate with the most and why?

Prayer: Lord, when we set aside our prior readings of the story of Joseph and see it with new eyes, we see so many wrongs being committed at once. So much harm that has been done. Lord, shape and transform us we pray, so we live as people of love and not as people or hate or disdain. Amen. 

Thursday: “Profit” - Genesis 37: 26-34

Joseph seemed to be fairing okay, all things considered at first in Egypt. He was taken in by Potiphar, a chief official of the Pharaoh. Until one day Potiphar’s wife tried to suduce Joseph, and when she couldn’t, she had him thrown in jail. While in prison, it became known that Jospeh could interpret dreams, only this time they weren’t about his brothers bowing down to him, but instead were about the fate of other people. After a long time in jail, one of the folks who had his dreams interpreted by Joseph, the cup bearer for the Pharaoh, told the Pharaoh all about Jospeh when he himself was having dreams that terrified him. Joseph was able to interpret those dreams to help preserve Egypt during a famine that was on the horizon. 

Joseph’s brothers didn’t weather the famine as well as he did in Egypt. They traveled there to beg someone to have mercy on them and let them buy food - and who should they run into but Joseph. Only they didn’t recognize him. He finally cried out to them “It’s me! It’s Joseph” and started immediately asking about their family. 

How can you see God’s hand at work in Joseph’s life over the years?

Prayer: Lord, while it is sometimes hard to see your hand at work in our own lives, especially during difficult times, it helps for us to look at examples such as Joseph and see how you were at work in his life. Through his story may we recognize your hand and presence with us, whatever we may face. Amen. 

Friday: “Forgiveness - Genesis 50: 15-21

If anyone had a right to be angry at his brothers, Joseph did. In fact, I’m sure during those countless years in jail he thought about them from time to time with anger and disdain. Only when the time came, he didn’t seek their harm, but forgave them and sought their prosperity - inviting them to move to Egypt and be part of what God was doing in and through his life. Jospeh showed so much love and charity as he told his brothers - “Now, don’t be upset and don’t be angry with yourselves that you sold me here. Actually, God sent me before you to save lives.” In other translations it says “What you intended for harm, God intended for good”. Joseph was brought to tears by the reunion with his brothers. 

Sometimes we screw up. Sometimes we don’t get it right. Sometimes we don’t have the right attitude wondering why we should change for “those people” - the people who are not yet here amongst us. We begin to have doubts and can get so caught up in ourselves, that we can be like Joesph’s brothers, missing what is right in front of us. 

  Other times, we miss out on God’s vision, because we are so caught up in our own emotions - guilt, anger, shame, that we can’t take a risk to join in what God is doing for the Kingdom. Joseph could have spent a lot of time, friends, thinking about how things should have been or once where, instead of living into the circumstances he found himself in. Then what? An entire generation would have wasted away in starvation. We need to look to God’s vision, not of how we want things to be based on the past, but firmly rooted in who God is calling us to be today for the future. 

Who do you feel God calling you to forgive in your life? 

Prayer: Lord, we come before you today and we admit that forgiveness is hard. We admit that we do not always get it right. Yet, O Lord, we want to be a people marked by your forgiveness towards us who extend this gift towards others. Mold us and use us, we pray. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Promise of Passover” - Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Genesis 37:3-8, 17b-22, 26-34; 50:15-21

From the Sermon:

Israel, “loved __________ more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age”.

Jospeh was more than a little ____________.

_________ shows up again and again and again and scripture, just like opportunities to show __________ keep showing up in our lives.

Jospeh had to be in a place where his heart was _______________ enough to extend forgiveness in the first place.

Sometimes we may _______________________________ but we don’t really mean it.

Joseph becomes a man of deep __________________________________.

Reflection Questions:

Who was most changed by this story and how?

Are we willing to be molded and made malleable by the work of the Holy Spirit so we, too, can show profound grace and forgiveness?

Prayer:

Lord, we confess that often we pray for others to be transformed, without wanting transformation in our own lives. Make us people who are easily molded and shaped by you and you alone, we pray, O Lord. Amen. 

“Stepping Out In Faith”

     Discipleship and obedience to God are inextricably linked together. You cannot be a disciple if you are not willing to follow. You cannot be a disciple if you want to go against God. Yet, in our world we want to act as if believing in Jesus is enough and discipleship isn't really our thing. We would like to believe in God for insurance but would like to continue to go about our own way, living in sin. Do you see the disparity? Do you see why God doesn't just want our belief but our action as well?

    When do you find it hard to be obedient to God? When obedience requires you to set aside your desires? Or change the path you had intended and go another way? When it means listening to God's yearning for you? We all have times in our lives when it is hard to be obedient, yet we are to choose to be obedient anyway.
    Who encourages you to be obedient to God at all times?

Republished: 03/27/17 "Transformation: Obedience"

Stepping Out in Faith Devo - Genesis 15: 1-6

 September 20th, 2020

Devotional

“Stepping out in Faith”

Genesis 15: 1-6

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Vision” - Genesis 15:1

  Proverbs 29:18 states, that where there is no vision, the people parish. Yet, its not just where there is no vision that we perish, but when we don’t have God’s vision, don’t live into who God wants us to be, then we end up in serious trouble.

The Bible is filled with stories of people who seek the will of God, and people who go their own way. One person who certainly did a little bit of both was Abraham. Abram. We find the story of Abraham in the book of Genesis. Where God comes to him and tells him that he will make him a great nation, with offspring more numerous than the stars. But God also asks something great of Abraham, for him to leave his land and his family and his father’s house in order to go to the land that God would show to him. 

What vision has God put on your heart?

Prayer: God, we thank you for your call to obedience on our lives and in our hearts. Thank you for giving us your vision to follow, all for the sake of your Kingdom. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Eliezer” - Genesis 15:2

The problem with the vision of God is sometimes we are so limited by our human nature, that we can only imagine our own ways to get there. God is promising something great to Abram, but his first thought is that it must be coming through a way other than a son. Maybe it will be through his servant Eliezer.

At another point in the text, Abram thinks the promise may be fulfilled through his wife’s servant, Hagar. 

God is clear here in Genesis 15 that while it would be permissible under the law of the land to name Eliezer as the one to inherit everything of Abram’s that is not God’s plan. But God’s plan involves trusting God every step of the way, especially of Abram cannot fathom the fulfillment of the promise. 

Tell of a time God did something beyond your expectations. What was that experience like for you?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that sometimes we get in the way of your promises. We try to make them happen in our own way and in our own timing and become limited by our human minds. Forgive us, O Lord, and invite us again to follow you. Amen. 

Wednesday: “No Offspring” - Genesis 15:3-4

I think sometime we respond like Abraham - we laugh at God’s plans for us. At God’s vision for our church. We say in our hearts, not here, God, not us. And give our list of excuses. We don’t have enough people. We don’t have enough money. We are an aging congregation. But I think what it all boils down to, if we are honest, is that we don’t want to. We don’t buy into the vision. We are fine with how things are. 

Abram’s excuse was that God hadn’t given him any offspring, so what God is saying is truly possible.

And yet, God’s vision keeps persisting. God’s plans will not give up.

How do you respond to the vision of God?

Prayer: Almighty God, forgive us for the times we have made excuses about why what you have said cannot come to pass. Forgive us for our small imaginations and small prayers. Renew in us a sense of confidence in you and you alone, Lord Jesus. Amen. 

Thursday: “Stars” - Genesis 15:5

God expands the promise - taking Abram to look at the stars and saying that he would have more decedents then even these. That God was the one who led Abram out of the land of Ur and was preparing a place, a land for him to be his own. 

I wish I could say that after this experience Abram got on board and he whole heartedly followed God and lived into the promise and never strayed again. But of course that wasn’t the case. He had to keep being reminded of God’s vision in order to keep following, step by step where God lead. The image of the stars became Abram’s guiding light. When he focused on it, even if he couldn’t understand it, his purpose was clear. When he turned his eyes away, he often acted in ways that were outside of the will of God. 

  What about us? What is our guiding light? What is our vision and purpose from God? And are we willing to follow wherever God may lead us in order to live into who God says we are to be?

Here’s the thing about God’s visions - they are often too big for us to express in our limited words. But Thomas Bandy in his book Moving Off the Mountain Top, puts it this way - “what is it about my experience with Jesus that this community cannot live without?” In other words, how is God using you and us together, to not just renew our community, but to transform it for the sake of the Kingdom of God?

What is the sign of God’s promise to you that you cling to in difficult times?

Prayer: God of Grace, you are so good to us. You give us tangible signs of visions too deep and wide for us to comprehend. Keep your vision always before us, O Lord. Amen. 

Friday: “Believed” - Genesis 15:6

  Sometimes when we think of Abram, the first thing that comes to our mind is that he was righteous. That he was faithful. That he even ended up in the Hall-a-fame of Faith in Hebrews. But just because Abram walked away from this experience with God and believed, doesn’t mean that he still didn’t struggle from time to time.

Abram was not counted as righteous because of his own goodness. And if we are honest, he could not be obedient on his own. Instead, Abram put his trust in God each day, which lead to his righteousness and obedience.

Each morning when we get up we have a choice to make. Am I going to follow the Lord today? Am I going to be obedient today? Let us trust God, each step of each day. 

What makes obedience difficult some times in your life?

Prayer: God, sometimes we pretend that we would never be able to follow you like Abram, because we forget parts of his story. We forget his humanity. Invite us, O Lord, to have the type of faith that trusts you each day. Amen. 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

 Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Genesis 15: 1-6

From the Sermon:

Abram didn’t always ________________________.

Abram had blunders along the way, but he is still remembered as a man of __________.

When God speaks, Abram ___________.

Sometimes we make our prayer life too __________.

When Abram still can’t wrap his mind around it, he gave him ______________________________, telling him to look up into the sky and see the stars.

Abram chose the path of _________________. Even when it didn’t make sense.

Reflection Questions:

Do we really trust God?

How do you pray? Do you take time to listen? To have a dialogue with God?

Prayer:

Lord, remind us this day of your call upon our lives. If we have failed to be obedient in the past, give us the strength to do so this time. If we have doubted your promises, help us to cling to you alone. If we have made our relationship with you too small, let us remember how deep and wide your love is for us. Remind us, this day, we pray. Amen. 

Creation and Fall - Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17; 3:1-8

     When you read this passage from Genesis, do you notice anything? Or rather do you notice what is absent?

       There are two glaring absences - first the apple. For years we have heard that Eve and Adam ate the apple, but really it just says that they ate the fruit. The fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit they weren't to have.

       But do you see the other thing that isn't mentioned in this scripture? Sin. There is no specific mention of sin by name, yet that's what this passage is about. But we don't really take time to define what that sin is. At a quick glance, we would say that it was the sin of disobedience - Adam and Eve did what God told them not to do. But I would say that there is a second instance of disobedience as well. When they abandoned their mission.

      Friends, we can follow all of the rules and still be disobedient to the mission.

      Which is a hard truth to swallow.

      What does disobedience look like in your life? Or what does obedience to the mission of God look like for you?

Creation and Fall Devo

September 13th, 2020

Devotional

“Creation and Fall”

Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17; 3:1-8

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “The Lord Made” - Genesis 2: 4b-6

  One of my absolute favorite places to be is the beach. I love listening to the crashing of the waves as I look out upon the blue water in varying shades. I like the feeling of sand between my toes as I search to see what pieces of seashells have washed ashore. But I love the beach the most because it is a tangible reminder to me of God’s amazing creation. 

Sometimes we can be so steeped in what we see around us every day that we fail to take time to marvel at God’s creation and the majesty of it all. 

This passage goes into detail about creation. God didn’t just create, God created ways to sustain creation’s growth. 

Our God is truly an amazing and marvelous Creator!

What reminds you of the power of God as Creator?

Prayer: God, you created this world and everything in it. Give us moments this week to simply have our breath take away in awe and wonder of your power and glory on display. We pray this in Jesus’s name. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Formed Man” - Genesis 2: 7

  Our relationship with God is primary because it is God who created us. The God who made the Heavens and the Earth. Who thought up every herb that springs in the field and crafted them into being, created humans out of the dust of the ground. God formed man as a potter forms something out of slab of clay - seeing the potential that humans could have and then bringing shape to us. When the shell was formed, God breathed life into us and made us a living soul. Take a moment and marvel in that. God loved us into being. God created us out of nothing, not on a whim, but because God has a purpose for humans. God wanted to be in relationship with us, not in an abstract way, but intimately. God is the god of relationships. God is deeply connected to us and we are deeply connected to God, both in a simple and complex way, just like our family relationships.

What strikes you the most about the fact that God created you? 

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the gift we have - the gift of being in relationship to you. We thank you for forming us. We thank you for calling us. May we continue to marvel at your blessings and grace! Amen!

Wednesday: “The Garden” - Genesis 2: 15-17

After God created Adam, the first human from the dust, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden. Eden can be translated as joy or delight. And in Eden Adam was given a purpose, a vocation, to till and keep the land. Along with these specific duties came instructions, “to eat freely from the garden’s produce, except for that of the tree of knowledge of good and evil”. At the very beginning of humanity’s relationship with the Divine, we were given the capacity for obedience and disobedience.

Obedience is a choice and as we can see there any many things that are trying to pull us away from making the choice to submit to God and be obedient. Obedience requires abiding in the love of God -  to accept and act in accordance with and to continue in without fading. We aren’t to be obedient sometimes, we aren’t to abide sometimes, we are to abide and be obedient all the time

How would you define obedience and disobedience?

Prayer: Lord, you in your mercy gave us the ability to choose to respond to your love. May we have hearts of obedience that draw closer to you each day, we pray. Amen. 

Thursday: “Ate” - Genesis 3: 1-7

In Genesis 3, the story is told how sin enters into our lives. How Adam and Eve chose what is contrary to God and thus the generations that followed struggle to remain in right relationship with God, each other, and the world around them. Sin entered the picture and we lost the joy and delight of Eden. The joy and delight of relationships, which sometimes can get messy. Its not how God envisioned relationships or created them to be, but is the reality of the world we live in - a world marred by sin.

  As a pastor I have often heard people say that they wish God wouldn’t have given us the capacity for free will, the capacity to be obedient or disobedient. But Pastor Mike Slaughter states that it is out of this free will that we get what defines all of our relationships - trust and integrity. God trusted Adam and Eve to obey the command they were given, and for a while it worked so well. But then the seperant entered the picture and made the couple doubt that God could be trusted, so they strayed from the only instruction they were given, and the relationship was broken.

How does our sin break relationships with God and one another today?

Prayer: Healer of our brokenness, we confess that we have hurt one another and we have strayed from you. Restore us, O Lord. Free us from the bondage of sin in our lives. Set our lives on the right path towards healing and wholeness, we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “Hid” - Genesis 3: 8

  Notice that when they strayed from God, it was Adam and Eve who hid from God in the garden. Brothers and sisters, do we not do the same today? When we stray from this relationship that is primary to our very being, when we don’t trust God, or act in a way that doesn’t reflect integrity, we hide from the Lord who made us for relationship with the Divine. Instead of turning to God and restoring the relationship, we hide and isolate ourselves. And when we hide from God, cutting ourselves off from this first relationship, chaos will follow in all of our other relationships. 

  All relationships are important, but when we cut ourselves off from our relationship with God, then we are going to be searching for other relationships to fill the place of our first relationship, our primary relationship, the genesis of all relationships, and its not going to work. We are going to be separated from the joy of the relationship we were created for. 

Where are you in your relationship with God today? Is it your primary relationship? Do you spend as much time in God’s presence as you do in the presence of others? Do you find your joy and purpose in God’s love for you? Or do you feel that your relationship with God is broken or you are hiding from your Creator? How can you work on your relationship with God over the coming weeks - growing it as you would with any of your relationships with each other? How can your relationship with God be one marked by trust and integrity?

What are some of the ways that we try to hide from God?

Prayer: God, you made us. You search you. You know us. Reminds us that we cannot hide from you and your love, O Lord, we pray. Amen. 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17; 3:1-8

From the Sermon:

God gave the man a _______ - _______________________________________________.

Humanity broke _______ with their ____________.

Adam and Eve abandoned the ___________ in favor of doing something else.

We, too, have a mission. To _____________________.

Reflection Questions:

How do we stray from the mission?

Are we going to follow? Are we going to heed the call or are we going to continue to try to do things on our own terms and in our own way?

Prayer:

Lord, we confess that we all too often abandon the mission you have called us to as your Church. We try to do things our own way. Or we do not heed your call to witness in favor of our own comfort. Forgive us, O Lord. Keep calling us to your mission, we pray. Amen. 

The Lord's Prayer: Forgive Us - Luke 11: 2-4

    Forgiveness is hard. 

    It is especially hard when someone we trust hurts us deeply. 

    There are lots of passages about forgiveness in Scripture. This is the prayer that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them - probably because they saw Jesus praying over the years and wanted to learn -wanted that type of connection with God. 

     I have to wonder what they thought however when they reached this part of the prayer. "Forgive us" Yes! Who amongst us does not want to be forgiven when we have wronged someone. "As we forgive others" - that's a lot harder. 

     We sometimes hold on to our hurts and our grudges in a way that is not helpful. Is not redemptive. Is not life giving. So Jesus reminds his disciples to hand it over to God. Because forgiveness can only come from God, but we can be a conduit of that forgiveness to others. 

  What struggles do you have with forgiveness and how can prayer help transform us?

The Lord's Prayer: Forgive Us Devo - Luke 11: 2-4

September 6th, 2020

Devotional

“The Lord’s Prayer - Forgive Us”

Luke 11: 2-4

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Forgive Us” - Luke 11:4

  We can probably all think of someone who has hurt us. Someone who has wronged us. Someone who owes us something - maybe a thank you or an apology. Maybe something much more. Some of us are carrying around the weight of wounds from several years ago. The wounds of debts that we feel that someone owes us. Maybe you even have a list of “should haves”. People that should have treated you differently. But have you ever stopped to consider the times that you have been on someone else’s debt list? Times that you have hurt someone else?

Far too many of us go through life without realizing the grace of God. We may understand in our minds that Christ died for our sins, but that truth hasn’t sunk into our hearts and changed us. Grace isn’t something we can ever earn or have taken away. God’s paid for our debts, yet somewhere along the line we got it into our heads that if we sin enough times then we lose God’s grace. That is like saying that Christ’s death was not enough to cover the weight of our sins. It’s simply not true. But in a world that expects everything to turn out balanced in the end, grace just doesn’t make sense.

How do you claim God’s grace in your daily life?

Prayer: God, we confess that sometimes we are quick to hold the sins of others against them without taking time to consider, Precious Lord, how we have sinned against you. Forgive us, we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Our Sins” - Luke 11:4

Because of the Fall, we hurt each other. We may not mean to. We may try our very best, but angry words still slip out. Intentions are misunderstood. And other times we intentionally hurt each other. We live in a broken world as broken people. It is easy to see how we accumulate sin against each other. Hold grudges. But we owed another type of debt as well. A debt to God. For all of us have sinned against God and fallen short of the glory that was prepared for us. When we don’t follow God’s leading. When we purposely do something we know we shouldn’t. This is sin. This is a debt against God. Its the debt that a simple apology and future good intentions couldn’t erase. A spiritual debt the wage of which was death.

And yet, Christ paid our debt for our sin for us. A debt that he did not owe. He paid our debt out of loving kindness.  Because of the cross and resurrection our debt is covered by the grace of God.

What are some ways that you have hurt other people? How have you experienced forgiveness?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that because we are human we hurt other people. Even when we try not to, it still seems like we slip into sin and cause each other pain. Forgive us, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “As We” - Luke 11:4

Pastor Adam Hamilton told the story of a Christmas gift that got misplaced one year. It wasn’t until he and his family were taking down the tree in January that they found the gift. They could have chosen to throw the gift away along with the stumble of the old tree. But that wouldn’t make it any less of a gift. The intention of the giver was for it to be a gift, but they had to unwrap it in order to put it to use. Friends, we need to unwrap the gift of grace. Choosing to accept God’s gift in our life. Not fearing that we are going to loose it or that it is going to become any less powerful or meaningful of a gift as time goes on. 

But if we don’t need to give grace in order to earn grace, since it is a gift, why would we need to forgive others their debts? We know that God has forgiven our debts, isn’t that enough? Because God knows the pain that can come when we try to get even. Forgiving sins, doesn’t mean forgetting them. Christ knows the hurts and pains that we all carry. Times when others have wounded us with their words, actions, and inactions. In fact he deeply feels those pains, since they were some of the sins he went to the cross to overcome. But that doesn’t meant that we are excused from answering the question, “what are you going to do with those who have sinned against you?”

Are you going to hang on to those pains? Are you going to try to make others earn their way back into your good graces? Are you going to try to get even? Will any of those things bring you true peace and joy?

What is the difference between forgiving and forgetting?

Prayer: Almighty God, we confess that we are slow to forgive because we are afraid that it is letting people off the hook. Teach us, O Lord, that forgiveness is not about condoning, but instead is a gift of freedom for ourselves. Forgive us, we pray. Amen. 

Thursday: “Forgive Others” - Luke 11:4

When we pray “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” we remember the powerful truth of the cross. We remember the undeserved and unearned grace that we received through Jesus Christ and we desire to show others that grace, letting it shine through our lives. Who knows how people’s lives will be transformed because of the forgiveness we offer. Maybe people will come to know Jesus Christ because of the gift we offer. Or maybe people will ignore the gift that is given, choosing to disregard its power and meaning. We cannot control what other’s do with the forgiveness we offer them, we are simply admonished to forgive. To not let things eat us up or define us, for in the end that will harm us even more. 

When we pray this prayer, we remember the people that we have hurt in our lives. We seek reconciliation. But even if they do not forgive us we know we are forgiven by God.

Why do we offer forgiveness?

Prayer: God of Grace, thank you for offering us the gift of forgiveness. As we forgive others, may it share that gift with them, we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “Prayer” - Luke 11: 2-4

  When we pray this prayer, we essentially say “Treat me as I treat my neighbor”. Think back to the parable Jesus told about a man who could not pay his debt to the King. The King graciously repaid his enormous debt and did not throw the man into prison. But then the same man, the forgiven man, came across someone who owed him so little and he threw him in jail. All too often we forget how much we have been forgiven. We fail to unwrap the gift of grace, so we don’t act as forgiven people, forgiving others. But we are called to seek to forgive others because we have been forgiven. Who do you need to forgive this day? What debts do you need to let go of? Let us grab firmly hold of the grace, the forgiveness of God, remembering our debts have been forgiven, and finding the strength to forgive the debts of others.  

What makes forgiveness easy or hard for you?

Prayer: God, give us hearts of forgiveness and minds that are focused on you, we pray, in your name. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic to prepare for worship: “Creation and Fall” - Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17; 3:1-8

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Luke 11: 2-4

From the Sermon:

We _______ others and others ________ us.

As Christians we believe that Jesus taught us a ________________ way to live by both his example and teachings on forgiveness.

One of the reasons we are slow to forgive is because we don’t exactly know what forgiveness __________________________________ in our daily lives. 

When we are wronged we:

1.) Take our complaint to _______.

2.) Choose to show __________.

Forgiveness is not the same as ______________.

Reflection Questions:

How have the words “forgive us as we forgive others” transformed you?

How would God respond to you if you are being judged in the exact manner that you judge others?

Prayer:

Lord, we confess that we are slow to forgive. As a people, when we are wronged, we struggle to even bring our hurt to you in prayer - perhaps because we know that will call us to a place of freedom and forgiveness. Forgive us, O Lord, and help us to forgive others, we pray. Amen. 

Our Daily Bread - Luke 11: 2-4

     When people first get to know me, they are often surprised at how much I eat. I love food. The problem is that I have several allergies that make food not be so kind in return to my body. As a result, I am hyper-vigilant about food. If I am going somewhere for the first time, I will check to make sure they can accommodate my dietary needs or I offer to bring my own food. Honestly, I almost always have a few granola bars stuffed into my bag "just in case".

     I fully understand people's vigilance around food and fears of not being able to eat, because I've lived there due to my health concerns. Yet, Jesus is inviting me, and all of us, to come and pray for our daily bread to be given to us.

      Do I think that means that we are like the ancient Israelites who went out each day to pick up the mana they needed? No. Do I think that I should stop carrying those granola bars in my bag? No. But I do think this prayer is both an invitation and a reminder. An invitation to trust God more. And a reminder that I need to be just as concerned that my neighbor can eat today as I am concerned about myself.

     What is God inviting you to reflect and act upon through this prayer?