Month: July 2019

Colossians 1:1-14 – Bearing Fruit

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Colossians 1:1-14

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

3In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. 7This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

9For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes focusing on the Breath.
  • Bring your attention to the place in you that you hold hope.
  • Inhale hope.
  • Exhale compassion.
  • In the past day or two, notice how you are bearing fruit in your work.
  • Name fruit.
  • Describe the feeling and sensing that accompanies the fruit. (ie.  The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.)
  • What is this teaching you about God?
  • How is this strengthening you?
  • How is this preparing you?
  • Do you have a sense God is preparing you for something new?
  • What is God’s message for you?
  • Reply as you feel led in the box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, July 14, 2019, the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82:1-8
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  (c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD

Psalm 82:1-8 – How Long Will You Judge Unjustly

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Psalm 82:1-8

1God has taken his place in the divine council;

in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

2“How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked?

Selah

3Give justice to the weak and the orphan;

maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

4Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

5They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

they walk around in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6I say, “You are gods,

children of the Most High, all of you;

7nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,

and fall like any prince.”

8Rise up, O God, judge the earth;

for all the nations belong to you!

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Bring your attention to a place in in you, in a neighbor or in the world where the orphan and widow are judged unjustly.
  • With gentleness, be with the feelings and sensations that arise.
  • Is there a word or an image that emerges?
  • Embrace the word or image and let it speak to you.
  • Where is justice for the weak and the orphan?
  • Where are rights for the lowly and destitute?
  • Where is knowledge and understanding for those walking in darkness?
  • How can you be light to them?
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, July 14, 2019, the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82:1-8
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  (c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD

Amos 7:7-17 – Setting a Plumb Line

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Amos 7:7-17

7This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; 9the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. 11For thus Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'” 12And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; 13but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

14Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, 15and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16“Now therefore hear the word of the LORD. You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.” 17Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.'”

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Let your focus go to the part of you that feels like a boundary (plumb line) needs to be set.
  • Remember that boundaries are set with love.
  • How do you desire to set this boundary with God?
  • Where do you notice freedom in setting this boundary?
  • Is there any unfreedom in setting this boundary?
  • Continue to seek peace in the unfreedom.
  • What do you need to let go to receive this peace from God?
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, July 14, 2019, the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82:1-8
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  (c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD

Psalm 146 – Independence Day

/ Lil Smith / Leave a comment

Psalm 146

1   Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2   I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

3   Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4   When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.

5   Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
6   who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
7        who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8        the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
9   The LORD watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10  The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD!

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Freedom is a gift.
  • Freedom is a gift from God.
  • Freedom unbinds us from the world.
  • Freedom invites us to praise God.
  • Freedom leads us to God.
  • Breathe in the gift of freedom God has for you and be set free.
  • Notice how the breath creates space in your chest.
  • Let the breath reach every part of your body and being.
  • The LORD sets the prisoners free.
  • The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
  • What new freedom does God desire for you to embrace today?
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

 

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings (c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD

Galatians 5:1, 13-25 – You Reap What You Sow

/ Lil Smith / Leave a comment

Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16

1My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. 2Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. 4All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. 5For all must carry their own loads.

6Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.

7Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. 10So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

11See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! 12It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised-only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. 14May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! 16As for those who will follow this rule-peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes focusing on the Breath.
  • Bring your attention to a time you sowed the Spirit.
  • What fruit of the Spirit resulted in this action? (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, etc.)
  • Bring your attention to a time you sowed the flesh.
  • What was the result?
  • Being gentle with yourself, what are you learning about yourself that will help you turn to be freed from the world, turn toward God, and sow the Spirit?
  • A new creation is everything!
  • What is God’s message for you?
  • Reply as you feel led in the box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, July 7, 2019, the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
2 Kings 5:1-14
Psalm 30:1-12
Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings. (c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD