Week of May 3, 2009, John 10:11-18

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from the gospel of John, chapter 10, verses 11-18. Here John uses the image of Jesus being a Good Shepherd, and we as followers of Jesus, respond to His words and His presence: Jesus is teaching, and says:
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd, who laid down Your life for us, for each of us. Thanks for Your life on this earth, so many years ago. And thanks for Your presence with us, even right now in our midst. Thanks that You love us, that You know us, that You call us forth.

Help us, Lord, to know You as the Good Shepherd, tending and caring, leading and guiding us beside green pastures, beside calm waters, protecting, watching over, teaching us, reminding us to not be afraid no matter the circumstances of life, even through valleys of darkness and desert.

May we always have the confidence, Jesus, to trust You in all that we do, that You are always with us. Make us more aware of Your presence in our lives – always.

Thanks for Your overwhelming love, Your profound peace, Your infectious joy. 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 emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.

May God, our Great and Good Shepherd, be with you now and always.

Week of April 26, 2009, John 15:9-17

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from John, chapter 15, beginning with verse 9:
9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

Dear Jesus, thanks for Your example of love – unconditional, always available, never ending – obedience to this command is not a burden, but instead a joyful response of love. Jesus, thanks for the example of friendship, that You lay down Your life for each of us, as You did on the cross. Help us to do the same. And help us Jesus, as we respond to Your love, to bear fruit, lasting fruit, and live lives of joy, knowing that our relationship with You grows ever deeper and more profound.

Thanks for Your presence with us, Your love that surrounds us, Your peace that brings contentment and joy. Amen.


May the Lord bless you as you go on your way. May He go before you to show you the way. May He go behind you to encourage you. May He go beside you to guide and befriend you. May He always be above you to watch over you. And may He be within you to give you 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 emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.

May God be with you now and always.

Week of April 19, 2009, 1 John1-2:2

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from 1 John, chapter one to chapter two, verse 2:
The Word of Life
1 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— 3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that oura joy may be complete.
God Is Light
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Christ Our Advocate
2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Jesus, You are the Life, the life revealed to those around You at the time of the disciples, and the fellowship that we now enjoy with You and the Father – all because You chose to reveal Yourself, to draw all people to Yourself, to forgive sins, to suffer and die on a cross for each of us.

Jesus, You are the Light, and there is no darkness around You. As we walk with You, Jesus, we walk in the light, walking in fellowship with You and with one another. Because of Your suffering and death, Your blood cleanses us from all sin. As we confess our sins, You are faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We are made righteous through You, Jesus, our Advocate with the Father, and so we come to You at all times, seeking Your help, strength, joy, and peace.

Thanks, Jesus, for Your loving and grace-filled 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 emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.

May God, our Advocate, our Light and our Life, be with you now and always.

Week of April 12, 2009, John 20:1-18, Easter

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from John, chapter 20, the resurrection story:
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 us that everything has been completed and accomplished. You remind us that by Your supreme sacrifice on the cross, dying for our sins – past, present and future sins, that You paid the price, and by that action, have redeemed 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 us, to spur us on to action, to serve, pray, help, to pour out our lives as a living sacrifice of praise to the Savior and Redeemer, our Savior and Lord.

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 emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.

May God, Father, Spirit and the Risen Jesus Christ, be with you now and always.

Week of April 5th, April 10th, 2009, Good Fridday

A scripture for this day of Good Friday is John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone whobelieves in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
And From Luke 24:6-7, where Jesus, now risen, talks to some followers on the road to Emmaus, and He is explaining the scriptures:
“Remember how Jesus told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”
And Jesus, just before He died, from John 19:28-30:
“…When Jesus knew that all was now finished, He said (in order to fulfill the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then He bowed his head and gave up His spirit.”

Dear Jesus, thanks for Your love, evidenced by dying on the cross for us, for each one of us. You are King of kings, Lord of lords, God of gods, and You humbled Yourself to the point of death for our salvation. May we know the power of the cross, the power of humility in love, the power of God in our midst.

Thanks You, Jesus, for Your presence with us always.


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 profound 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 emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net
May God be with you now and always.

Week of April 5, 2009, Philippians 2:5-11

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from Philippians, chapter 2, verses 5 to 11:
5 Let the same mind be in you that wasa in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Dear Jesus, as we commemorate your entry into Jerusalem, Your final days with Your disciples on earth, Your suffering for our sins, for the whole world, Your death on the cross, may we be reminded of Your great love for us. You emptied Yourself, humbled Yourself and became obedient to death on a cross.

Now Jesus, help us to see how great You are – so much beyond what we know or can imagine – so much so that at Your name, Jesus, every knee will bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that You Jesus Christ, are Lord, all to the glory of Your Father God.

Jesus, thank You for suffering and dying for each of us, for me. Thank You for Your presence with me now, Your love surrounding me, Your strength that helps me in every situation, Your peace that brings wholeness. 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 emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.

May God be with you now and always.