Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for blessing and keeping us, and always showing us grace. May your light shine through us, and may we extend that grace to everyone we meet. Amen.
Reading: Romans 15:4-14 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: When I read this passage from Romans, it reminded me of a benediction. Especially verse 13 where it says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The benediction at the end of the service is like a hug and a pep-talk as you leave the building to be the living and breathing church body to the world. It is one of my favorite parts of the church service, and I always enjoy when I am in a Lutheran church service and here the familiar words: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you, and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.” I have placed one of my favorite songs at the end of my field worship playlist as a benediction because it also feels like that hug and pep-talk given at the end of a church service. It is appropriately titled Benediction, and is by Josh Garrels. I was at a loss of how to describe him as a musician and surprisingly Wikipedia hit the nail on the head: “his music combines traditional folk music with other musical elements and the nontraditional exploration of Christian themes.” This song opens with, “May all of your days shine brightly. And your nights blessed with peace” and I recommend you take a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpUqBoj2wzk --Anne Harshbarger
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Authors
Anyone is welcome to contribute! If you'd like to write for us, please e-mail [email protected] Email
Get our daily devotions delivered to your e-mail box each day by signing up below:
Archives
May 2022
Subscribe |