ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS JUST All of God’s judgments are infinitely and perfectly just.
Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
PRAISE THE GOD WHO IS JUST
Praise God because he is patient in justice. Praise God because he extends mercy and grace, but does not overlook sin. Praise God because his justice is perfect.
CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100
SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.
- Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
- Pray for Youth Horizons. Ask God to use their work guide children to lead healthy and productive lives.
- Pray for kids in foster care in need of a home. Ask God to provide a home.
- Pray for the lost.
- Ask God to speak to you as you read the scriptures.
SCRIPTURE READING:
1 Corinthians 16 English Standard Version
The Collection for the Saints
Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.
Plans for Travel
5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
10 When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 11 So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
Final Instructions
12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.
13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.
15 Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— 16 be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.
Greetings
19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20 All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
“But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.”
That seems counter intuitive. A door has opened AND there are many who oppose him. We would probably believe that much opposition means a closed door. But here the two things are tied together…an open door and opposition. Do you tend to believe that if you do everything “right” then God will ensure that everything will go smoothly? Then if things do not go smoothly then either God or you are messing up? But what if you are doing things “right” (and of course it’s never true that God has messed up) and yet everything is not going as planned? What if things are difficult? What if people are unhappy with you or even “coming after” you? Can you make peace with the reality that God can be opening a door for his will and work to be done and walking through that open door requires great effort, faith, and sacrifice on your part? Ask the Lord to help you see the world as it actually is not what we “wish-dream” it could be. In the world that actually “is” open doors from God and great personal difficulty can be one and the same thing.