Week of April 30, 2006, Luke 24: 36-53

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from Luke, chapter 24:36-53, where Luke continues the Resurrection story and Jesus appears to His disciples:
36 After the Resurrection, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.
38 He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?
39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.
41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?"
42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.

Jesus, thanks for being our Savior – the King of kings all glorious, risen from the dead. You come in our midst – in the troubles and joys of our lives, and bring peace and understanding. You call us to repentance, to put sin far from us, and this repentance leads to forgiveness and cleansing.

Jesus, may I always see You as the all-powerful resurrected Christ, who brings peace and understanding. When I quietly take time for You, Lord, may Your Word come alive in my mind and my heart, and may I be open to Your presence and power and peace. And as I ponder and reflect on Your words, give me an understanding of Your character and personality, that leads to a deep love for the Scriptures and an understanding of Your Father’s love for us, that leads to zeal and passion for You, and that leads to a desire to invite others to know and respond to Your love.

Thanks for Your peace, Your power, Your presence with us always. Amen.

May the love of the Lord Jesus draw us to Himself;
May the power of the Lord Jesus strengthen us in His service;
May the joy of the Lord Jesus fill our souls;
May the fire of the Holy Spirit bring comfort, guidance and fervency;
And may the blessing of the almighty and most merciful God - Creator, Word and eternal Holy Spirit - be upon us and remain with us always.
In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by e-mailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
May God our Father, Jesus our Resurrected Savior, and God the Holy Spirit who empowers us each day, be with you now and always.

Week of April 23, 2006, John 20:19-31

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from John, chapter 20, verses 19-31 - a continuation of the narrative after Jesus' resurrection:
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Dear Lord, we praise You, the Resurrected Christ, with us, bringing us hope, peace, confidence, faith. Jesus, we’re sorry for sometimes needing the visible and the natural, when we need to look beyond the obvious and see the supernatural, seeing You in all Your glory.

Thanks for Your peace that You freely give. Thanks for Your Spirit that You freely give. Thanks for forgiving our sins and cleansing us as we call on You for forgiveness. Thanks for a faith that sees You in our ordinary lives and that allows us to believe and trust in You, and call You Lord, Savior, Redeemer, and God.

Thanks for Your presence and the many miracles that occur in our lives each day without our awareness. And thanks for the peace that You bring as we trust in You, our Resurrected Savior, who brings eternal life…. Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His strength and His great peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by e-mailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
May God, our Father, Jesus, our Resurrected Christ and Savior, and the Holy Spirit, breathing freshness into us each day, be with you now and always.

Week of April 16, 2006, John 20:1-18

One of the Scriptures for Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, is from John chapter 20, verses 1-18:
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.
4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,
7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.
8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes,
11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb
12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him."
14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

With Mary Magdalene’s cry of faith – “I have seen the Lord” – we come to the realization that Jesus, the One we have read about, thought about, heard about, is truly alive!

Jesus, You truly are the Son of God, as the centurion had exclaimed. When You said, “It is finished,” You are reminding me that everything has been completed and accomplished. You remind me that by Your supreme sacrifice on the cross, dying for my sins – past, present and future sins, that You paid the price, and by that action, have redeemed me, redeemed all of us, as we put our trust in You, seek forgiveness and turn our lives into Your hands, the great God who knows the best for each of us.

May Your glorious resurrection permeate every part of me, to spur me on to action, to serve, pray, help, to pour out my life as a living sacrifice of praise to the Savior and Redeemer, my Savior and Redeemer.

Thanks for Your powerful presence with each of us always. Amen.

May the love of the Lord Jesus draw us to Himself;
May the power of the Lord Jesus strengthen us in His service;
May the joy of the Lord Jesus fill our souls;
May the fire of the Holy Spirit bring comfort, guidance and fervency;
And may the blessing of the almighty and most merciful God - Creator, Word and eternal Holy Spirit - be upon us and remain with us always.
In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by e-mailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
May Jesus, our resurrected Savior, be with us always.

Week of April 9, 2006 Philippians 2:5-11

One of the Scriptures for Sunday, Palm Sunday beginning Holy Week, is from Philippians 2, 5-11, where Paul talks about Jesus as both fully God and fully man:
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Dear Jesus, this mystery is hard to grasp. You are fully God and You are fully man, made in human likeness.

When I face my daily routine, and look forward to the day, remind me that You did the same. Help me to look to the cross, to walk in Your path, and to accept any suffering in my life as a reminder of all You suffered for me. My greatest desire, Jesus, is to be like You, a servant to others, and respond to others with love and grace, forgiving shortfalls and encouraging those I meet….

And Jesus, may every knee bow to You, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and may every tongue confess that You, Jesus Christ are Lord of lords and King of kings.

Thanks for being my Savior and my King. And thanks for Your power, Your peace, Your presence with us always…. Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His strength and His great peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by e-mailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
May God be with you now and always.