Communion is the theme for this week’s reading in the Uncommon Truth for Common People project at MoSt Church. The schedule looks like this:
• Mon., Apr. 30 – Exodus 12.1-30
• Tues., May 1 – Jeremiah 31.31-34; Luke 22.7-23
• Wed., May 2 – John 6.26-59; 1 Corinthians 10.16-17
• Thur., May 3 – Hebrews 9.1-28; 10.19-22
• Fri., May 4 – 1 Corinthians 5.6-8; 11.17-34
This week’s memory verse is: “…we who are many are one body, because we all share the one loaf of bread.” (1 Corinthians 10.17 CEB)
Would you join me this morning in prayer for my friend and brother, Roberto Hernandez, Jr., and all of those who also serve in his unit, who are currently deployed in Afghanistan?
God our Father, I come to you in the name of our Shield and Protector, our Strength and Savior: Jesus Christ.
Thank You for Roberto and for all in his unit. You know all things and you know everyone in this unit better than they know themselves. Who else could we turn to, Father, but you?
You are greater than everything and everyone. And so, may every heart bow to you and serve you first and humbly in whatever role they find themselves in.
As surely as you have provided what all of these have needed every day of their life thus far, pour out on them what they need today, and in all the coming days.
Every day you call us to live courageously and humbly, boldly and compassionately, and every day You lead by example in this, holding before us the life of your Son. Thank you.
Where there is pain or wound in spirit or body, may your Son, the Great Physician, attend, ministering your complete and perfect care.
When unspeakable things happen, stir every heart to speak openly and often with you in prayer, not holding back or ceasing, for we know that you, the Great Listener, loves to pour out the help of the Comforter, your Holy Spirit, on all who truly call on you.
May trust in you grow and deepen, especially in those times when faith is hard pressed.
May hope never give out, but only grow, particularly in what appears, in human eyes, to be hopeless situations.
May much love, your great love, be shown by this unit to each other and to all they encounter.
You finish what you start, Father. And so, as certainly as you have brought Robert and his comrades this far in life, bring them all the way, all the home.
Amen.
All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold, and all the items in the Forest of Lebanon Palace were made of pure gold, not silver, since even silver wasn’t considered good enough in Solomon’s time! The royal fleet of Tarshish-style ships was at sea with Hiram’s fleet, returning once every three years with gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks. King Solomon far exceeded all the earth’s kings in wealth and wisdom. (1 Kings 10.21-23 CEB)
American history: ‘Historical fact differs from myth,’ said historian Lambert by John Pierce
“‘Most countries construct myths of their origins … and speak of those myths in divine hues,’ said Franklin T. Lambert, professor of history at Purdue University, during an April 18 lecture at Mercer University. The United States is no different …”
Church & fellowship: 10 Insights About Your Church’s Fellowship by Joe McKeever
“Fellowship may not be why people are drawn to your church, but it’s why they stay.”
Churches of Christ & decline: Jay Guin’s review of Flavil R. Yeakley, Jr.’s book, Why They Left: Listening to Those Who Have Left Churches of Christ [required reading]
Here are links to parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen.
Ministry: It’s a Strange Thing Being a Pastor by Julian Freeman
“Ultimately we labour and long for results that we can never achieve. Being a pastor is a lifelong journey to a place of utter dependence.”
Preaching: No Small Matter
“It is no small matter to stand up in the face of a congregation, and deliver a message of salvation or damnation, as from the living God, in the name of our Redeemer. It is no easy matter to speak so plain, that the ignorant may understand us; and so seriously that the deadest hearts may feel us; and so convincingly, that contradicting cavillers may be silenced.” (Richard Baxter)
Statistics: Poodwaddle World Clock
