Dear friend,
We had a great celebration at church yesterday of God’s grace, mercy, and love in Christ! It was so uplifting to hear, sing, and study the Word of the Lord with fellow believers. And Holy Communion! We were blessed with true wisdom from Ecclesiastes for finding real meaning in life with Jesus. In Bible class we undertook an in-depth study of the Epistle reading from Colossians 3, a powerful passage on using heavenly thinking to do earthly good.
I’m looking forward to our gathering this week on Wednesday—break bread together from 5 to 6pm, then do some more exploring in the Letter to the Philippians from 6 to 7. We got off to a good start last Wednesday in chapter 1. We conclude with all the time we need to lift up individual prayer petitions.
In my morning devotions I came across the following prayer composed by E. Lee Phillips. I think it can be helpful to re-center us for life with the Lord:
Forgive us, O Lord,
For lives unadjusted to the order of Your love
And the familiarity of Your counsel.
Forgive us also:
For living too seldom cognizant of Your Word;
For hearts too seldom in rhythm with Your compassion;
For hands too seldom content with their portion;
For ambitions too seldom in line with Your Will;
For attitudes too seldom shaped by Your love;
For morals so seldom obedient to Your law;
For tongues so seldom accustomed to confession.
O You who frees us in pardon
And gives us a new chance,
Cleanse us, we pray, and align us again
With the familiarity of Your instruction.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Heckmann
