The Sunday Lectionary and Prayers for Sunday, September 17, 2023—Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

 

The Sunday Lectionary and Prayers
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 114; Romans 14:1-12;

Matthew 18:21-35
[Ordinary 24, Proper 19]
(Revised Common Lectionary Year A)
(Semi-continuous Reading Plan)

Opening Statement

The story of the Egyptian army’s total destruction can be hard to read. And yet, this story has been incredibly important for all who experience oppression and yearn for God’s liberation. The dead bodies and wrecked chariots on the shores of the Red Sea communicate God’s rejection of oppression, as Miriam and the women celebrate with song and dance. The Talmud records that God stops the angels from singing their praise, for how can they rejoice when God’s creatures are drowning? Perhaps these are the two responses we need to hold together: celebration that evil is conquered and the realization that this triumph means suffering for others. In Romans, Paul addresses issues that undermine the church—how we diminish one another and the church. How do we live God’s righteous initiatives while remembering the humanity of our adversaries?

Restoration

Opening Prayer
(Exodus 15, Romans 14)

We sing to you, O God, for you have been our strength. You open the waters of suffering and lead us safely through. You uphold us in times of deep distress and we exalt your holy name. Receive our honor and thanks, mighty God. Amen.

Call to Confession
(Exodus 14, Exodus 15, Romans 14)

When we hear praises of your past help and triumph, we wonder where you are today, O God. We look at our lives and see hurtful relationships. We look at our nation and see communities suffering under oppression. We look at our world and see injustice and brutality. We need your mighty arm to shatter wrongdoing and corruption. When we are weak, strengthen our faith. When we despair, renew our hope. When we give up, stand us up in your just cause, that we might live for you. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon
(Romans 14)

We stand before God—a God of justice, a God of forgiveness and acceptance. This God raises us up and upholds us in our living. Praise be to God!

Today’s Verse-of-the-Day:

Ephesians 5:1

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children.

If we are the children of God, it only makes sense that we are to follow our Father. And if we refuse to walk in the ways of our heavenly Father, there is biblical reason to wonder who our father really is (1 John 3:10).

Introduction to the Word
(Exodus 14, Exodus 15)

Today we hear a familiar story. Hear it with new ears! Let it shock you. Let it move you. Would you dance and play your tambourine? Listen to this amazing story of an impossible getaway made possible by God.

Today’s Lectionary Readings:
First Reading

Exodus 14:19-31
Israel delivered at the sea

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

A Psalm and A Prayer
Responsive Readings from the Psalms and Prayers
for Public Worship and Private Devotions
Psalm 114
Tremble O earth
In exitu Israel

Hallelujah!
    When Israel came out of Egypt, *
  the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech,

Judah became God’s sanctuary *
  and Israel his dominion.

The sea beheld it and fled; *
  Jordan turned and went back.

The mountains skipped like rams, *
  and the little hills like young sheep.

What ailed you, O sea, that you fled? *
  O Jordan, that you turned back?

You mountains, that you skipped like rams? *
  you little hills like young sheep?

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, *
  at the presence of the God of Jacob,

Who turned the hard rock into a pool of water *
  and flint-stone into a flowing spring.

Lord our God, you fill heaven and earth with your Spirit and allow us to share in your gifts. We thank you for all you have given us, for all you are giving and will give. We are poor and needy; all people are poor and needy in spite of their striving, longing, and seeking. Only you, through your Spirit, can awaken something in us to help us go toward your goal. Keep us from being caught up in what men do. The greatest help for our hearts is what you do, and each of us can tell something about it. Each of us has received help beyond anything we had hoped or thought of. How much you have done for us! How much you are doing for the nations! Yes, we thank you for this present time. Although our lives often seem hopeless and full of sorrow, your powers are still living among men, working for their good and awaking them to new life. The time will surely come when our hearts will be released from their hunger and we can be filled with the life from above, which you give us in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Second Reading
From the Epistles

Romans 14:1-12
When brothers and sisters judge each other

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Today’s Gospel Reading

Matthew 18:21-35
A parable of forgiveness

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Here end the Readings

Click HERE to read today’s Holy Gospel Lesson message

The Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed

• We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

• And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and was made human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried. The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end.

• And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord's Prayer - Our Father Who Art in Heaven

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 trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy Communion

Holy Communion
A nondenominational serving of bread and wine

Though no video can truly replace the experience of celebrating together in our places of worship, we know that where two or more are gathered, the Lord is present. This table is open to all who recognize Jesus Christ as healer and redeemer. This table is open to all who work to bring God’s Kingdom here on earth. No one is turned away because of life circumstances. No one is barred from this table. No one seeking God’s abundant grace and mercy is turned aside. We see before us the abundance that a life of faith offers as we respond to God’s everlasting mercy in prayer and deed.

Benediction
(Exodus 14, Exodus 15, Romans 14)

Who is like our majestic God? The One who is wonder-worker and awesome in splendor. *

  No other!

God calls to us to join the holy work of making the world right. *

  We will live for God and for God’s world in all we do. Amen.

His Name Is

Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets].

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Responsive Readings from the Common Book of Prayer (1789).

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year A. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2023, we will be in Year B. The year which ended at Advent 2022 was Year A. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
The Sunday Lectionary and Prayers for Sunday, September 17, 2023
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 114; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35
The story of the Egyptian army’s total destruction can be hard to read. And yet, this story has been incredibly important for all who experience oppression and yearn for God’s liberation. The dead bodies and wrecked chariots on the shores of the Red Sea communicate God’s rejection of oppression, as Miriam and the women celebrate with song and dance. The Talmud records that God stops the angels from singing their praise, for how can they rejoice when God’s creatures are drowning? Perhaps these are the two responses we need to hold together: celebration that evil is conquered and the realization that this triumph means suffering for others. In Romans, Paul addresses issues that undermine the church—how we diminish one another and the church. How do we live God’s righteous initiatives while remembering the humanity of our adversaries?

“Forgiveness” The Gospel Message for Sunday, September 17, 2023—Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Today, our gospel message comes to us from 18th chapter of Matthew, beginning with the 21st verse, “A parable of forgiveness.”

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:21-35)

Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to reveal your will for our lives and redeem us from sin and death. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, inspire us with confidence that you are with us amid the storms of life, bring peace to our troubled souls, and lead your church throughout the ages. Enable us to live as your redeemed saints, that our lives may witness to our faith. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.

“Forgiveness”

By Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Right here at the beginning of this sermon, let us quietly and honestly ask whether we know anyone from our own circle of friends and family whom we have not forgiven for some wrong that person might have done us, a person from whom we once separated ourselves in anger—perhaps not even in open anger, but in quiet bitterness, thinking: I cannot stand it any longer, I can no longer associate with this person.

Or are we really so inattentive that we say we do not know anyone like this? Are we so indifferent to other people that we do not even know whether we are living in peace or at odds with them? Whether one after another may not someday stand up and accuse us, saying: “You separated yourself from me in discord—you could not tolerate me—you broke off fellowship with me—you found me unsympathetic and turned away from me—I once did you wrong, and you left me alone—I once wounded your honor, and you broke with me—and I could not find you again—I often looked for you, but you avoided me—and we never spoke frankly with each other again, but I wanted nothing more from you than your forgiveness, and yet you were never able to forgive me. Here I am now, and I am accusing you—do you still even know me?”—Whether or not, in that particular hour, names will come back to us that we hardly recognize anymore—many, many wounded, rejected, poor souls whose sin we did not forgive. And among these people, perhaps even a good friend, a brother or sister, one of our parents?

And at that moment, a single, great, threatening, terrible voice will speak against us: You have been a hard person—all your friends cannot help you; you were hard and proud and as cold as a stone; you did not concern yourself with any of us; you were indifferent to all of us and hated us, you never knew what forgiveness might accomplish; you never knew how it benefits the person who experiences it and how it liberates the person who forgives. You have always been a hard person.

We make it too easy for ourselves with other people. We entirely blunt our sensibility and then believe that not thinking ill of someone is the same as forgiving that person—yet in so doing, we utterly fail to see that, as a matter of fact, we have no positive thoughts about the person— and to forgive would mean having nothing but good thoughts about the person and supporting that person whenever we can. But precisely, that is what we avoid—we do not support such persons. Instead, we continue alongside them and grow accustomed to their silence; indeed, we do not take it seriously to begin with—and yet the whole point is to support such persons—to support them in all situations, with all their difficult and unpleasant sides, including any injustice and sin they may commit even against me—to be silent, to support, and to love without ceasing—that would come close to forgiveness!

Those who do indeed take this posture toward others, toward their parents, their friends, their wives, their husbands, and toward strangers, in fact, toward all those we encounter in our lives—they know how difficult this really is. They know how often they want to say: I just cannot do it any longer; I just cannot stand this person any longer; I’m just worn out from it. One cannot always just keep on as before. “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive?” How long must I endure this person who acts so harshly toward me, hurting me, wounding me, who is so completely inconsiderate and insensitive, and who has hurt me immeasurably—Lord, how often…? At one point or another, it simply must end; wrong simply must be called for what it is; my own rights simply cannot continue to be violated on and on—“As many as seven times?” We probably will smile at Peter here since seven times does not seem like all that much to us—how often have we already forgiven and overlooked? And yet we certainly should not smile. Indeed, we have absolutely no reason to do so with regard to Peter here. To forgive seven times, genuinely to forgive, would mean making the best of the wrong that has been done to us, would mean repaying evil with good; it means accepting the other person as if that person had always been our dearest friend—no small feat. Indeed, it is what we tend to call forgiving and forgetting: Live and let live. But then genuinely forgiving, out of pure love, love that simply refuses to turn the other person loose and instead insists on continuing to support that person—that is certainly no small feat.

Such questions are a real torment. How can I deal with this person? How can I endure this person? Where do my own rights begin concerning this person? When these questions arise, let us always go to Jesus, just as did Peter. If we were to go to anyone else, or if we were simply to ask ourselves, we would only get insufficient help or no help. Jesus, however, will indeed offer help, albeit only in a quite peculiar fashion.

Not seven times, Peter, but seventy-seven times, Jesus says, and he knows that only in this way can he help Peter. Do not count, Peter; instead, forgive without counting—do not torment yourself with the question of how long—endlessly, Peter, endlessly, that is what it means to forgive—and precisely that is what grace is for you, that alone will make you free.

When you count once, twice, three times, the whole matter gets increasingly threatening—and your relationship with that person gets increasingly agonizing—but do you not notice that as long as you are still counting, for that long, you are still reckoning that earlier sin against the person, for that long you still have not really forgiven that person, not even for the first time! Peter, free yourself from such counting—forgiving and pardoning know neither number nor end. You need not worry about your own rights since they are already taken care of with God—you may forgive without end! Forgiving has neither beginning nor end; it takes place daily, unceasingly, ultimately coming from God. This is what liberates us from forced relationships with others; here, we are liberated from ourselves; here, we may surrender our own rights merely to help and serve others.

Listen, there is no longer any need for us to be so sensitive—we gain nothing by it—no need for us to be so concerned about our own honor— no need to be indignant when others repeatedly wrong us—no need to continually judge those persons—we need only accept them just as they are and forgive them for everything, absolutely everything, without end, without qualification. Is it not truly an enormous grace that we can enjoy such peace with our neighbor—that no one and nothing can ever disturb that peace? Here our friendships, marriages, brotherhood, and sisterhood receive precisely what they need, namely, firm, enduring peace through forgiveness.

When he said this to Peter, he told and gave him something joyous, something wonderful, something that would free Peter from the agonizing opposition between people. You may forgive one another, Jesus says. This is truly good news.

What is unfortunate is that precisely when Jesus wants to give us such enormous help, something so truly great, we immediately say: Ah, but how difficult it is, what Jesus is putting on us here, how unbearably difficult.

Rather than helping us, this merely burdens us further. For who can do this, forgive brother or sister for everything, and bear it together with them? All our defiance reawakens: No, I do not want to do it, and I cannot do it. Nor have the other persons really earned such forgiveness.

And behold, it is only when we start talking in this way that Jesus gets angry with us. We may ask him for help without end—but to resist his help, saying: That is not really help at all—Jesus does not want to hear that from us. “You cannot forgive, you do not want to forgive, the other person does not deserve to be forgiven—indeed, who do you think you are, talking like that?”

And now, with great anger, Jesus recounts the terrible story about the roguish slave. This slave experienced mercy and yet remained a hard person, to whom all mercy was thus denied and who experienced God’s terrible judgment. And by telling us this angry story, Jesus gives us the greatest help possible by showing us the path to true forgiveness. It is this path that we now want to understand.

Are we able to recall a moment in our own lives in which God called us to judgment, a moment in which we were lost ourselves, in which our own lives were at stake? God demanded that we render an account of ourselves, and yet we could show nothing but debts, immeasurably great debts. Our life was stained and impure and guilty before God, and we had nothing, absolutely nothing to show but debts and even more debts. Let us recall how we felt at that time, how we had nothing to hope for, how futile and meaningless everything seemed. We could no longer help ourselves; we stood there completely alone—facing nothing but punishment, righteous punishment. Before God, we were utterly unable to stand up straight. Before God, before the Lord God, we fell down on our knees in despair and pleaded: Lord, have patience with me—and we came out with all sorts of prattle, just as does the roguish slave here: I promise to pay back everything and to make restitution—that sort of talk, even though we knew too well that we would never be able to pay it. And then suddenly, everything changed; God’s countenance was no longer filled with anger but rather with enormous misery and pain because of us human beings.

And so God remitted all our debt, and we were forgiven. We were free, and all anxiety departed from us, and we were once again joyous and were once again able to look God in the eye and to offer thanks.

Thus did we, too, once appear just like this roguish slave. But how forgetful we are! And now we go and seize someone who may have done us a slight wrong, who may have deceived us or slandered us, and we say to that person: Make good what you have done to me! I can never forgive what you have done! Can we not see that what we really ought to say is: Whatever that person has done to me is nothing, absolutely nothing compared to what I have done to God and to that other person? Who has called us to condemn that person when we ourselves are so much more culpable?

But, looking at verses 31-34, now we have forfeited grace; now all our earlier guilt emerges anew; now wrath rains down upon us—now we are lost people, lost because we have had contempt for grace. That is the whole lesson here: Though you certainly see the other person’s sin, you do not see your own. Only by recognizing in penitence God’s mercy for you will you yourself then also be capable of forgiveness.

How can we get to the point that we are able to forgive each other’s sins, all of those sins, from the bottom of our hearts? My dear friends, those who have experienced what it means for God to lift us up out of a great sin and to forgive us, those to whom God has in such an hour sent another brother or sister to whom we might then confess our sin, whoever knows how a sinner resists such help because the sinner simply does not want to be helped, and whoever nonetheless has experienced how a brother or sister genuinely can release us from our sin in God’s name and in prayer—that person will surely lose all inclination to judge or to hold grudges and will instead want but one thing: to help bear the distress of others, to serve, to help, to forgive,—without measure, without qualification, without end,—such a one can no longer hate sinful brothers and sisters, but will instead want only to love them all the more and to forgive them for everything, everything. Lord, our God, may we experience your mercy so that we, too, may practice mercy without end! Amen.

Prayer: O blessed Christ, my teacher, my savior, my God: You have commanded me to love others as myself. Yet it is so often easy to see the faults in others, for I see their outside and compare it against what is inside me. I have inflated my goodness and importance in my own mind, but have judged others for the smallest shortcoming, and I am filled with foolish pride.

I vow by this prayer that I will strive to follow your Word, to forgive all who have injured me, to turn loose the petty resentments and grudges that poison the world with hatred, and to overlook the faults of others; and I ask to be pardoned wherever I have done injury to my brothers and sisters, who are your beloved children even though they, like me, are sinners. And I vow, when I fall short of your commandment, to seek out and confess my wrongdoing. Forgive me, Holy Christ, and help me to ever amend my life; this I pray, with faith in the grace you have promised to the penitent sinner. Amen.

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Scripture is taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Sermon contributed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
How can we get to the point that we are able to forgive each other’s sins, all of those sins, from the bottom of our hearts?

The Morning Prayer for Sunday, September 17, 2023

 

Prayer of the Day
Sunday, September 17, 2023

People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Mark 7:37 (NIV)

Lord our God, you fill heaven and earth with your Spirit and allow us to share in your gifts. We thank you for all you have given us, for all you are giving and will give. We are poor and needy; all people are poor and needy in spite of their striving, longing, and seeking. Only you, through your Spirit, can awaken something in us to help us go toward your goal. Keep us from being caught up in what men do. The greatest help for our hearts is what you do, and each of us can tell something about it. Each of us has received help beyond anything we had hoped or thought of. How much you have done for us! How much you are doing for the nations! Yes, we thank you for this present time. Although our lives often seem hopeless and full of sorrow, your powers are still living among men, working for their good and awaking them to new life. The time will surely come when our hearts will be released from their hunger and we can be filled with the life from above, which you give us in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Sunday, September 17, 2023

 

Verse of the Day
Sunday, September 17, 2023

Ephesians 5:1

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children.

If we are the children of God, it only makes sense that we are to follow our Father. And if we refuse to walk in the ways of our heavenly Father, there is biblical reason to wonder who our father really is (1 John 3:10).

Read all of Ephesians Chapter 5

Listen to Ephesians Chapter 5

Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.