The LORD God is the Creator of the ends of the earth. He has established laws in nature which govern all the processes of life–planting, growth, cultivation and harvest. These principles give us insight on how to conduct our lives, families, churches, and societies (to continue reading this essay, click on image above).
From Mourning to Joy, Jer. 31.7-14
The hope of the Kingdom promises full and refreshing restoration for Israel, with the Lord covenanting to gather his scattered people from the ends of the earth. He will lead them beside streams of water, guiding them on level paths where they will not stumble on their return. God will be Israel’s father and Ephraim his firstborn, and will redeem and restore his people fully. The vision of his restored people culminates in a picture of their abundant joy, returning with rejoicing and divine blessing—young women dancing, young and old men celebrating together, and mourning turned to gladness and joy. God’s salvation will bring rich and lasting satisfaction to his people, who will return to their land with grace and lovingkindness, Jer. 31.7-14.
Invocation
Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, to Thy people firmness of faith, that as we confess Thine only begotten Son, the everlasting partaker of Thy glory, to have been born in our very flesh of the Virgin Mother, we may be delivered from present adversities, and admitted into joys that shall abide; through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.
~ St. Leo, A.D. 440 (Fox, p. 214) Fox, Selina Fitzherbert. A Chain of Prayer Across the Ages: Forty Centuries of Prayer, 2000 B.C.-A.D. 1916. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1943.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
Is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.
Chronological Scripture Readings for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the entire Bible in one year in chronological order.
Sunday: Exodus 13-15
Lectionary Readings for Today
Our readings from the Psalms, the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Epistles are taken from the Revised Common Lectionary for this Feast Day.
Psalm: Psalm 147.12-20
Old Testament (or Acts [during Eastertide]): Jeremiah 31.7-14
Gospel: John 1.1-18
New Testament: Ephesians 1.3-14
Click here for all of this week’s Scripture readings
Psalms and Proverb for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the Psalms and Proverbs each month.
Sunday: Psalm 5, 35, 65, 95, 125 and Proverbs 5
The restoration of God in the promise of his kingdom will bring his people back to their home, transforming their mourning into joy, Jer. 31.7-14.
Reflection
The promise of the Kingdom of God ensures the restoration and blessing of his people. He will return his people to their homeland from all over the earth, and God will transform their mourning into joy. The covenant promise of God will provde faithful; he will gather again his people, lead them home, and provide for them along the way. We can trust in God’s promise of abundance even in seasons of scarcity and difficulty, and we can anticipate his full and sufficient support until we come to our home. Just as God has promised his people Israel both return and restoration, so we too can expect God to turn our mourning into joy, and to guide us home.
Engaging God’s Word Today
In what areas of your life do you need to trust God’s promise of restoration, and how can the knowledge that he is a gathering, guiding Father change your perspective on these areas and challenges?
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God,
Begotten of the Father before all ages,
God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God,
Begotten not created, of the same essence as the Father,
through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became human.
Who for us too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who spoke by the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin,
and we look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Benediction
O God, who hast given us grace at this time to celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ: We laud and magnify thy glorious Name for the countless blessings which he hath brought unto us, and we beseech thee to grant that we may ever set forth thy praise in joyful obedience to thy will; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
~ Scotland Prayer Book (Suter, p. 79) Suter, John Wallace, Jr. Ed. The Book of English Collects. New York, NY: Harper, 1940.
Scripture Memory for this season
Isaiah 55.10-11 (ESV):
12 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Scripture Engagement
As disciples of Jesus, the Churches of Christ the King strongly seek to engage the Scriptures to discover the centrality of Christ and his Kingdom in the prophetic and apostolic writings. You will find a rich treasure of resources on engaging Scripture at the Center for Scripture Engagement of Taylor University.
Book Reading and Reflection
ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute. A man’s weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man’s; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man’s. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains. A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition. It has been usual for men to think and to say, “Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor.”
Now, however, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, “One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves.” The truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor; a perfect Love, seeing the suffering, which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed. He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free. A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.
~ Allen, James, As A Man Thinketh. Readers Library Classic, The Original 1902 Edition. Amazon Electronic Edition, 2020, Location 280.
Seedling Focus for the Season: God’s Word Like Rain, Isaiah 55.10-11
Description: Just as seedlings require water to grow, our spiritual lives require the continual nourishment of God’s Word, Isaiah 55.10-11.
On Eagles Wings Prayer Focus: A Long Time Comin‘
Nativity of the Lord, The Word Was Made Flesh, John 1.1-14
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