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To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord! Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. (Psalm 25: 1-10) Reflection At the Thanksgiving dinner table in my family, often it would be hard to get a volunteer to lead the prayer before the big meal. So, in November 2006, I decided I’d write a litany that we all could say together. I share this with you on this day that we uplift the blessings God has given us. –Chad Hershberger Leader: Creator God, we raise our voices and say People: Thank you for the blessings you give us each day Leader: Thank you for the bounties of this land People: Which come directly from your hand Leader: Thank you for the food on our Thanksgiving table People: Prepared by hands that were more than able Leader: Thank you for family with bonds like no other People: For sister and brother and father and mother Leader: Thank you for friends, beside us they walk People: And lend us their ears when we need to talk Leader: We thank you the most for your only Son People: On earth, the victory over death He won Leader: O Lord, you are good, your mercy will last People: You are the same-- future, present and past Leader: So, with all generations, our voices we raise People: With psalms of thanksgiving, we give you our praise All: Amen Prayer: Almighty God our Father, your generous goodness comes to us new every day. We thank you with gratitude from the depth of our soul for all you are and all you do. You created us, you redeem us and through your Holy Spirit you sanctify us. For this we give you eternal thanks. In Jesus’ name we pray—Amen. Our devotions are based on this Sunday’s Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The RCL is a three-year cycle of readings telling the story of our Christian faith and corresponding to the season church calendar. On any given Sunday, we are hearing and praying and examining the same Scripture with millions of Christians around the world. In our current Year C, the Old Testament readings progress through the Prophets and have the theme of the day that it is connected to the Gospel reading. The Psalm, a song the congregation sings in response to the Old Testament reading, most often corresponds to the theme of the Hebrew Lessons and/or that of the Gospel Lesson. The lesson from the Epistles or from Acts typifies the church’s focus on the meaning of Christ for today. The Gospel lesson is connected to the season of the Church Year. This year, our gospel readings are from Luke, who writes that Jesus is the universal Savior and the perfect Son of Man. In the current season of Advent, we long for Christ’s coming: Christ coming as a baby; Christ coming again; Christ in our lives today.
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