During September, we explored the themes of Gathering, Hearing, Celebrating and Sending as part of our stewardship focus: “Where your Heart Is.” The Bible readings below were specifically chosen to enrich each week’s worship theme
Week 4: Sending
Many worship services end with “Go in peace; serve the Lord.”
Genuine peace, in a world where that is a precious and highly prized commodity, is reason enough to exclaim, “Thanks be to God!” But the promises we hear in worship push us into the street and down the road. If worship is the mountain, the life of Christ’s servants is lived in the valley.
- Day 22: Luke 10:25-37
- Day 23: Romans 12:9-21
- Day 24: 1 John 4:9-11
- Day 25: Matthew 28:16-20
- Day 26: John 14:25-31
- Day 27: Galatians 5:22-25
- Day 28: Isaiah 6:6-8
Take a minute
God’s Word has the power to transform from the inside out. “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Read these daily Scripture texts slowly, letting the words have access to the deep places of your heart. Consider trying a practice called lectio divina (LEK-see-o dee-VEE-na), Latin for “divine reading.” Monks in the earliest Benedictine communities were advised by Benedict to read slowly to savor the books that were all too scarce. A millennium and a half later, this practice is still a vital part of daily Benedictine monasticism, an antidote to the breakneck pace of modern life. Reading in the style of lectio divina calls the reader to slow down, to listen with great care, and to allow the text to speak to the mind and spirit at a profound depth.
The entire text does not have to be read in order to be a source of blessing for the reader. Sometimes a single word or phrase is sufficient to capture one’s heart and mind. After reading the day’s text and pausing like a connoisseur over good wine, move naturally into conversation with God. If you’ve found a word or phrase that has had special meaning to you, say “Amen, let it be so,” and allow the meaning you have discovered come to mind often until you meet God again in the Word.