Dear God,
We acknowledge you as our King.
Free us from sin so we can be happy with you
Teach us how to respect each other,
and help each other feel valuable,
So we can work together to spread your Kingdom.We ask this by the blood of Jesus. Amen.
Dear God,
Thank you for choosing us to be your children.
Remind us our identity is in you; and not what we have, want or do.
Please heal our triggers, and teach us to not trigger others,
So we can freely enjoy and boldly share your love.
We ask this in Jesus name, Amen
John 1:12 (MSG)
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.
Ephesians 1:4-5 (MSG)
Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.
Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
Dear God,
Thank you that our family belongs to you.
We confess we need you to free us from our sin and shame so we can love like Jesus.
Give us the grace to:
We ask this by the blood of Jesus, Amen.
Until my twenties, I was almost never consciously aware of my anger. Over the last few decades, learning to identify and process my anger — especially towards God and people I love — has been a critical skill in enabling to break through spiritual strongholds and grow in maturity.
I still (and always will) have further to go, but at least I’ve started developing healthier habits for dealing with my anger. I am writing this down to remind myself, and hopefully help others who may have similar struggles.
O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:
We praise You because You are a good God. In a world that seems filled with brokenness and evil, thank You for taking all that upon Yourself through the cross, so that we might be made whole.
Our hearts go out to the people of Charlottesville, and all those wounded physically and emotionally by the tragic violence of August 12th. We pray especially for the family and friends of Heather Heyer and the police who were killed, that they would experience Your peace and comfort.
“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface…” — Genesis 1:2
At first, it seemed there was no sound or light of any kind. But as my senses adjusted, I heard a faint tinkling of bells. Straining my eyes, I saw tiny patches of light scattered around the walls of the cavern, flickering in and out.
I walked closer. I saw a rainbow of light erupt accompanied by a marvelous chorus of music. I watched breathlessly as the singing lights — perhaps fireflies or pixies — became caught up in some sort of eternal dance. I was speechless, wondering if the dance would become strong enough to finally push back the darkness…
Live Event hosted by Analog.
Update: Podcast audio now available.
The modern church was born in the era of broadcasting: mass-market publishing, sound systems, radio, and television. These technologies enabled it solve certain tasks (e.g., teaching, worship music, announcing and producing events) incredibly well. However, by making some problems much easier to solve than others, those same technologies can subtly influence what we focus on and what we ignore.
We are now entering a new era of digital communication, with greater interactivity, richness, and immediacy than could have been imagined thirty years ago. What are the implications for learning, evangelism, discipleship, and outreach? What new problems does that enable us to solve? Which traditional problems and solutions can be profitably revisited? Can all these changes lead us to a deeper understanding of what God truly wants the church to be?
