Who Am I?

•May 27, 2015 • Leave a Comment

You are holy Lord,
worthy of all praise,
of my praise.

You hold the earth
in the palm of your hands.
You are everywhere,
in everything;
mighty,
majestic,
powerful,
great,
Lord.

As I stand in awe of you,
as I see all that you are,
I realise how far from that I am.

You are God
and I am not.

I am not even
what you have asked me to be.

I have got it wrong,
and I am not worthy
even to be in your presence.

And yet

you offer
your forgiveness,
your freedom,
your life

and you call me again

to speak for you,
to go for you,
to be for you.

Here I am Lord,
I’ll go
for you.

Isaiah 6:1-8 (CEV)

A Vision of the Lord in the Temple

6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I had a vision of the Lord. He was on his throne high above, and his robe filled the temple. 2 Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying, 3 as they shouted,

“Holy, holy, holy,
    Lord All-Powerful!
The earth is filled
    with your glory.”

4 As they shouted, the doorposts of the temple shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 Then I cried out, “I’m doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful.”

6 One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. 7 It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, “This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.”

8 After this, I heard the Lord ask, “Is there anyone I can send? Will someone go for us?”

“I’ll go,” I answered. “Send me!”

Holy, Holy, Holy

Posted in bible, faith, follow, forgiveness, God, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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Broken Bones

•May 25, 2015 • Leave a Comment

(sorry I’m slightly out of sync this week!)

Dry bones,
weary bones,
broken bones

heaped in a pile,
lifeless,
hopeless.

Lord,
breathe in me,
your life,
strength,
hope

that I may live again

Ezekiel 37:1-14 (CEV)

Dry Bones Live Again

37 Some time later, I felt the Lord’s power take control of me, and his Spirit carried me to a valley full of bones. 2 The Lord showed me all around, and everywhere I looked I saw bones that were dried out. 3 He said, “Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?”

I replied, “Lord God, only you can answer that.”

4 He then told me to say:

Dry bones, listen to what the Lord is saying to you, 5 “I, the Lord God, will put breath in you, and once again you will live. 6 I will wrap you with muscles and skin and breathe life into you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

7 I did what the Lord said, but before I finished speaking, I heard a rattling noise. The bones were coming together! 8 I saw muscles and skin cover the bones, but they had no life in them.

9 The Lord said:

Ezekiel, now say to the wind, “The Lord God commands you to blow from every direction and to breathe life into these dead bodies, so they can live again.”

10 As soon as I said this, the wind blew among the bodies, and they came back to life! They all stood up, and there were enough to make a large army.

11 The Lord said:

Ezekiel, the people of Israel are like dead bones. They complain that they are dried up and that they have no hope for the future. 12 So tell them, “I, theLord God, promise to open your graves and set you free. I will bring you back to Israel, 13 and when that happens, you will realize that I am the Lord. 14 My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again. I will bring you home, and you will know that I have kept my promise. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Posted in bible, faith, God, Holy Spirit, hope, Lectionary, life, Religion, theology
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The Wind of Change

•May 24, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Not my words Lord,
but yours.
Your power,
your vision,
your light.

Breathing,
speaking,
moving,
blowing,
equipping.

Lord,
I pray for your Spirit
to ignite me,
blow through me,
speak in me;
that people may hear
in a way they can grasp,
that I may understand
in a way I can know,
That I may dream
and speak
for you.

Fill me
Holy Spirit,
I pray

Acts 2:1-21 (CEV)

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place.2 Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. 3 Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. 4 The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

5 Many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem.6 And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. But they were surprised, because they were hearing everything in their own languages. 7 They were excited and amazed, and said:

Don’t all these who are speaking come from Galilee? 8 Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? 9 Some of us are from Parthia, Media, and Elam. Others are from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya near Cyrene, Rome,11 Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others of us have chosen to be Jews. Yet we all hear them using our own languages to tell the wonderful things God has done.

12 Everyone was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, “What does all this mean?”

13 Others made fun of the Lord’s followers and said, “They are drunk.”

Peter Speaks to the Crowd

14 Peter stood with the eleven apostles and spoke in a loud and clear voice to the crowd:

Friends and everyone else living in Jerusalem, listen carefully to what I have to say! 15 You are wrong to think that these people are drunk. After all, it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 But this is what God had the prophet Joel say,

17 “When the last days come,
I will give my Spirit
    to everyone.
Your sons and daughters
    will prophesy.
Your young men
    will see visions,
and your old men
    will have dreams.
18 In those days I will give
    my Spirit to my servants,
both men and women,
    and they will prophesy.

19 I will work miracles
    in the sky above
and wonders
    on the earth below.
There will be blood and fire
    and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will turn dark,
and the moon
    will be as red as blood
before the great
    and wonderful day
    of the Lord appears.
21 Then the Lord
    will save everyone
    who asks for his help.”

Holy Spirit We Welcome You

Posted in bible, church, community, faith, God, Holy Spirit, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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