Online Ministry 1202 - 1208 2019

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

God of Hope, enlarge our imagination that we might glimpse the height, depth, and width of the beauty of your coming kingdom. May the hope that comes from you not be an escape from the realities of this world; instead, may it help us to encounter those realities while trusting in your promises to work on the redemption of the world. Amen.
  

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

72:1 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king's son.
72:2 May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
72:3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.
72:4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.
72:5 May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
72:6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
72:7 In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
72:18 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
72:19 Blessed be his glorious name forever; may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen.
   

DAILY READINGS

• Monday, December 2, 2019: Psalm 124; Genesis 8:1-19; Romans 6:1-11
• Tuesday, December 3, 2019: Psalm 124; Genesis 9:1-17; Hebrews 11:32-40
• Wednesday, December 4, 2019: Psalm 124; Isaiah 54:1-10; Matthew 24:23-35
• Thursday, December 5, 2019: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Isaiah 4:2-6; Acts 1:12-17, 21-26
• Friday, December 6, 2019: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Isaiah 30:19-26; Acts 13:16-25
• Saturday, December 7, 2019: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Isaiah 40:1-11; John 1:19-28
• Sunday, December 8, 2019: Second Sunday of Advent

   

ABUNDANT HEALTH

Sitting Disease
Lord, you have examined me and know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them. Psalm 139:1-2 (NCV)
  
Believe it or not, the average American employee will sit anywhere from 7.7 to 15 hours a day without moving. Researchers are now beginning to unravel the catastrophic impact that sitting for long periods of time can cause to human health. Experts have coined the phrase “sitting disease” to describe it.
  
This disease is easy to prevent. People who move just a little bit—even fidgeting or getting up from their desks on a frequent basis to get a cup of coffee, or taking a flight of stairs—significantly improve their health.
—Exercise Physiologist Sean Foy
  

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

We thank you, Holy One, for all your good gifts, especially the gifts of prophecy, promise, and calls for preparation. As a thankful response to these gifts, we offer our belief, our commitments, and our treasures, that we may hasten the time when no one will hurt or destroy on all God’s holy mountain. AMEN