Online Ministry for the Week 8/29 - 9/3 2016

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

God of our lives, you search us and know us. We have refused to take up your cross, to bear the burdens that are ours to carry. We have not given up our attachments to possessions or to self. We have not counted the cost of walking into an unknown future with you. Help us turn away from evil, that we may walk with you once more. AMEN

The Upper Room daily devotional: DEPTH OF DEVOTION

DAILY READING

• Monday (August 29, 2016): Psalm 58; Jeremiah 2:23-37; Hebrews 13:7-21 OR Psalm 119:65-72; 2 Chronicles 12:1-12; Hebrews 13:7-21
• Tuesday (August 30, 2016): Psalm 58; Jeremiah 3:1-14; Titus 1:1-9 OR Psalm 119:65-72; Isaiah 2:12-17; Titus 1:1-9
• Wednesday (August 31, 2016): Psalm 58; Jeremiah 3:15-25; Luke 14:15-24 OR Psalm 119:65-72; Isaiah 57:14-21; Luke 14:15-24
• Thursday (September 1, 2016): Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Jeremiah 15:10-21; Philippians 2:25-30 OR Psalm 1; Genesis 39:1-23; Philippians 2:25-30
• Friday (September 2, 2016): Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Jeremiah 16:14-17:4; Colossians 4:7-17 OR Psalm 1; Deuteronomy 7:12-26; Colossians 4:7-17
• Saturday (September 3, 2016): Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Jeremiah 17:14-27; Matthew 10:34-42 OR Psalm 1; Deuteronomy 29:2-20; Matthew 10:34-42

ABUNDANT HEALTH

Pain Gets Our Attention. Today's reading is a brief excerpt from The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life by Rick Warren, DMin; Daniel Amen, MD; & Mark Hyman, MD (Zondervan). © 2013 by The Daniel Plan. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV).

It’s no surprise that many of us can be stubborn. We don’t change that easily or quickly. Bad habits get ingrained. But God brings in a key tool to work on us: circumstances! The problems and pressures, heartaches and hard times, difficulties and stress that we all experience.

Problems always get our attention, and the more painful they are, the more we pay attention. C. S. Lewis noted that God whispers to us in our pleasure but shouts to us in our pain. It often takes a painful situation to get our attention. Yet God will use it for your good and your growth if you cooperate with him.

—Pastor Rick Warren

NIV DAILY

Clever Resourcefulness (Luke 16:1–10)

Jesus did not excuse the steward’s actions but admired his initiative. He did not let a tragic sequence of events unfold but did what he had to do, however unscrupulously, to make a new life for himself. Without illusions, he makes the most of the little time that remains. The unjust steward who, hearing he is going to be fired and doctors his master’s accounts to secure another job, is commended precisely because he acted. The point does not concern morality but apathy. Here is a man who finds himself in a crisis and instead of wallowing in self-pity, acts resourcefully.

Taken from NIV Ragamuffin Bible ©2014 HarperCollins Christian Publishing

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

God, our Creator, you are the potter who shaped and formed each of us. Through your word and spirit, you continue to mold us over the course of our lives. Help us to listen to your voice so that our actions, in work and in leisure, will be pleasing to you. We present our tithes and offerings from the fruit of our labors. May our gifts support the ministries of this church, bringing renewal to people made in your image. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. ​ (Jeremiah 18:1­11)