Divine Love,
You are the God of all creation. You watch over us, care for us, sustain us with Your Presence and encourage us with the many ways You are revealed to us. We see You in the beauty of the world, because You have given us the ability to observe and reflect. We see You in scripture, the sacred texts which have come to us through time. We see You in the great tradition of the church. While many interpretations are different, tradition is one of the vehicles for Your revelation to all generations. And, O God, we see You in the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Forgive us, Loving God, when we squabble over our different understandings of You. May we come to know and experience You in all Your mystery and glory. It is in Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.
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Please pray for the Townley and Box families as they lay their loved ones to rest this week.
Bring a friend to Sunday school and church today.
The scripture reading for today is 1 Kings 3:16-28:
16Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.17The one woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house.18Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house.19Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him.20She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast.21When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne.”22But the other woman said, “No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine.” So they argued before the king.23Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; while the other says, ‘Not so! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’”24So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king.25The king said, “Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other.”26But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—“Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!” The other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.”27Then the king responded: “Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.”28All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 9:1-11:
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before you.
For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.
You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins; their cities you have rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.
But the LORD sits enthroned forever, he has established his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with equity.
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion. Declare his deeds among the peoples.
Grace and Peace,
John McLemore
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