John 1:35-42 and Sunday School Lesson

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. (John 1:35)
      Jesus, please help us to stand with your disciples.

And looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36)
      Jesus, please help us look to you, the author and finisher of our faith, and help us behold you and know you as the Lamb of God.

The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. (John 1:37)
      Holy Spirit, please work in our words so that when we point to Jesus, people will follow him.

Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are you staying?” (John 1:38 )
      Father, please give us a heart like Ruth’s so that we can say to Jesus, “Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; and your father will be my father.” Thank you! (See Ruth 1:16)

He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and remained with him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). (John 1:39)
      Jesus, please help us come to you as these two disciples did; help us daily “Come and see.”

One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. (John 1:40)
      Lamb of God, we pray that our names will be written in your Book of Life.

He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). (John 1:41)
      Father, please help us to be faithful and effective witnesses in our families as Andrew was.

And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, he said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone). (John 1:42)
      Holy Spirit, please help us bring our family members to you as Andrew did. Help each of us receive that new name and be marked out as Christ’s own forever. Please help us to be rock steady in Jesus. Thank you.

A word received: Come to me; I AM waiting. Come to me and I will give you rest for your souls.

STUDY GUIDE: SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 23, March 13, 2011
            Lectionary A, First Sunday in Lent
Theme Verse: “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
Readings: Matthew 4:1-11; Romans 5:12-19; Genesis 2:15-3:7; Psalm 51:1-18
Memory Verse: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)
Next Week: John 3:1-17; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; Genesis 12:1-8; Great Litany
      Epistle: Romans 5:12-19

A word received: I want you to recognize your sin for what it is and your need for forgiveness. I want you to come to me knowing (underline knowing) that my heart’s desire is to see you free and forgiven.

      Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11

A word received: Come to me and I will lead you through every temptation Satan brings to you. Come to me and I will give you strength and refreshment.

      Old Testament: Genesis 2:15-3:7

A word received: Both were there — either could have and should have stopped the other. I want you to be a helpmate in stopping the other as well as abetting each other.

      Psalm: Psalm 51:1-18

A word received: This is the way to peace: acknowledge your transgressions to me and ask for my forgiveness.

Friday: 95 & 31 * 35; Deuteronomy 7:12-16; Titus 2:1-15; John 1:35-42

      Notes from the Front Line

***** The Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori will be accompanied on her visit to this diocese by her public relations person, Neva Rae Fox. Please pray that their visit will be blessed and anointed by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

***** With every hour that passes, new and challenging events are unfolding in Libya, causing great fear and uncertainty. The global community of faith seeks to immediately respond to this crisis by mobilizing prayer and opportunities to help.
Prayer: http://www.pray4libya.net/ displays real time http://twitter.com/pray4libya# and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pray4Libya/165636503485905?ref=ts prayers about this crisis. Sign up for daily emails with prayer points.
Post and follow prayer requests on http://twitter.com/pray4libya# and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pray4Libya/165636503485905?ref=ts
Each day, dynamic information will be added to these sites, where you will find ways to:
Give: Provide funding for Medical Relief and other tangible initiatives.
Serve: Submit and find opportunities to serve those affected by this crisis.
The http://pray4libya.net/ Crisis Response is open to everyone who wants to see the people of Libya experience the love and grace of God.
Please Share this announcement with your networks!!!

***** Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011
From: Fr. Nigel Mumford+
Subject: Athletes in Action – Father Son interactive retreat
      Father/Son interactive retreat with NY GIANTS Keith Elias and Chris Canty, others to be announced. April 8 — 10th ” What does it mean to be a man from a Biblical standpoint.” Christ the King Spiritual Life Center.
      Program pkg $99.00 adult $69.00 youth ( lunch/dinner ) Program with lodging father/son double occupancy $387.00 includes 2 night accommodations and all meals.
      Contact Sandra for reservation: 692-9550 x 202

Albany Intercessor

Pray4Libya

www.Pray4Libya.net displays real time Tweets and Facebook prayers about this crisis. Post and follow prayer requests on Twitter @pray4libya and Facebook pray4libya.

Jerusalem

Isaiah 60:1-3 (New Living Translation)
“Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see.
For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you.
Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.
All nations will come to your light;
mighty kings will come to see your radiance.

O Lord, there is much darkness over the earth. Arise and let Your glory be seen. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Amen.

Titus 1:1-5

Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, (Titus 1:1)
      Holy Spirit, bring us all to the truth which leads to godliness.

in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, (Titus 1:2)
      Father, please help us live and die in the hope of the resurrection and eternal life with you.

but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; (Titus 1:3)
      Jesus, let your word be preached throughout this diocese. Win many to yourself.

To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. (Titus 1:4)
      LORD, we pray for all your children who remain steadfast in the faith: grace, mercy and peace from you, LORD. Thank you.

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you (Titus 1:5)
      Father, please set things in order in every parish of this diocese. Raise up elders throughout the Episcopal Church who will be faithful to their apostolic call. Bless the visit of the Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori to this diocese. Give many a heart to pray for her during her visit. Thank you.

Thursday: 37:1-18 * 37:19-42; Deuteronomy 7:6-11; Titus 1:1-16; John 1:29-34
Friday: 95 & 31 * 35; Deuteronomy 7:12-16; Titus 2:1-15; John 1:35-42

      Notes from the Front Line

***** The Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori will be accompanied on her visit to this diocese by her public relations person, Neva Rae Fox. Please pray that their visit will be blessed and anointed by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Albany Intercessor

Cairo, Egypt

Thirteen people were killed in the violent clashes between Egyptian Christians and Muslims on Tuesday night. The violent clashes took place in Egypt’s capital city Cairo when Muslim men attacked thousands of Christians protesting against the burning of a church.

O Lord,
Would that “The City of a Thousand Minarets” be known as “The City of a Thousand Lighthouses of Peace.” We pray for the reign of the Prince of Peace in Cairo. Amen.

Persecutions in Ethiopia

Religious persecution of Christians in Ethiopia. Some traditions say that St. Matthew was martyred in Ethiopia.

Matthew 5:44 (New Living Translation)
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

O Lord, we cry out for our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia. Have mercy upon the Christians and upon their Muslim persecutors. Guard and protect the Christians from harm. Stem any acts of retaliation. Show them the right path forward. Shelter them under Your wing. Grant them wisdom where to live and how to sustain themselves.
We ask that the shed blood of St. Matthew and all Christian martyrs in Ethiopia open a portal for Your blessings over this land.
Bless Ethiopia. Your know her needs far better than we. Bless her Christians and bless her Muslims. Bless the government, and bless the missionary societies. Pour out Your blessings, Lord! Amen.

Israel and the Middle East

Romans 9:1-5 (New King James Version)
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Father,
We thank You for the blessings we have received through Israel, and we bless her. Christ is over all of the Middle East. We pray for the salvation of the Muslim people and of the Jewish people. We pray for reconciliation of Arab and Jew through Yeshua. Bind the spirits of anti-semitism worldwide. Guide the government leaders in Israel and throughout the Middle East. Prepare the Church in Israel and throughout the earth to stand victorious at the second coming of Your Son. Amen.

(Inspiration for this prayer came from Asher Intrater, Messianic Jewish pastor.)

Isaiah 58:1-12

“Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1)
      Holy Spirit, please move in the preaching in this diocese so that you people are convicted of their sin and truly repent.

Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching God. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and you take no notice?’ (Isaiah 58:2-3a)
      Jesus, bring us to true repentance.

“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? (Isaiah 58:3b-5)
      Father, please move in our hearts and do an inward work in us that will let your light shine forth.

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? (Isaiah 58:6)
      Lord, please help us set the captives and the oppressed free.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? (Isaiah 58:7)
      Jesus, help us reach out and embrace your little ones who are in need.

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. (Isaiah 58:8 )
      LORD, let your glory be manifested among us. Help us see and walk by your light. Let your light sine on the visit of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori to this diocese.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, (Isaiah 58:9)
      Holy Spirit, shut the lions mouths as you did for Daniel and stop the “strife of tongues” (See Psalm 31:20).

If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. (Isaiah 58:10)
      Holy Father, please help us extend our soul to the hungry — both the physically hungry and the spiritually hungry. Thank you.

The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. (Isaiah 58:11)
      Lord, let this diocese be a watered garden where people find refreshment for their souls. Help the Presiding Bishop find it such a place.

Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. (Isaiah 58:12)
      Father, help us be repairers of the breach and restorers of streets to dwell in. Bless the prayer table ministry and help us build up the old waste places in our communities. Thank you.

A word received: I AM the true shepherd of the flock; turn to me for direction.

Ash Wednesday: 95 & 32, 143 * 102, 130; Jonah 3:1-4:11; Hebrews 12:1-14; Luke 18:9-14
HC: 103 or 103:8-14; Joel 2:1-2,12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
Thursday: 37:1-18 * 37:19-42; Deuteronomy 7:6-11; Titus 1:1-16; John 1:29-34

      Notes from the Front Line

***** The Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori will be accompanied on her visit to this diocese by her public relations person, Neva Rae Fox. Please pray that their visit will be blessed and anointed by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

            A Watered Garden, by W. B. Anderson, 1919
      I have a precious memory. It is the memory of a garden that I happened upon one tired midsummer’s morning, in the midst of a torrid plain in India. I was weary, and travel-stained, and thirsty, when over the drooping head of the horse, I saw a clump of trees on the far horizon. I hoped it might be a garden. It seemed ages until we should reach it. When we did arrive under the spreading branches of great mango trees, a cool zephyr, as grateful as the fanning of angels’ wings, rippled over my parched cheeks. It was still early in the day, when, swinging myself wearily from the hard seat of the springless yekka, I walked straight into the heart of the garden, down the shady aisle of mango and loquat trees. Before dawn there had been a shower of rain, and now the gardener was running the clear, cool water from the irrigating well all about among trees and shrubs. Everywhere leaves were green and flowers were bright. Parrots circled through the cloudless blue, swung upon the swaying branches, calling merrily to one another. The air was ladened with the intoxicating odors of roses and jasmine. The fountain sparkled laughingly in the shaded center of the garden. I stooped to bathe my hands and face in the cool waters of the fountain’s basin. Then, from its joyous spring I drank until satisfied. I sat for a few precious moments upon the marble edge of the fountain and reveled in the refreshment of a watered garden. The driver called, and I hurried out again across the stifling, heated plain. I had tarried for so short a time, but I was a new man. I carried away the song of the garden in my heart, and its echoes shall never die from my life.
      I was making the same journey in another year. The road was more uninviting than before, the weather was hotter, and I was not only weary, but ill. But I had a memory! For hours I looked and longed for the place of the garden of refreshing. At last we came to the shade of its trees. Wearily and weakly, but eagerly, I climbed from the seat of the torturing, springless cart. With unsteady steps I entered the door of the garden. The trees were gray with dust. The flowers drooped in the heat. The little water courses were parched and dry. The fountain was stopped. My soul sank with weariness, and I turned away sick at heart to finish the torturing journey unrefreshed. At the door I met the gardener. I asked him why his garden languished so. He explained with guilty look that he had been absent attending to affairs of his own for a week. I asked him if the raja would not be vexed at the neglect of his garden. He explained that the raja had gone to the mountains for a month. Then I knew that the garden had been neglected because the master’s orders had been disobeyed. He intended that every traveler might be refreshed; but his gardener had not been faithful.
      I have a precious memory. It is a memory of a friend. Sin-stricken and weary, and far from God, I was traveling one day when I came into his life. His whole life was wet with the dews of Heaven; his garments were redolent with the odors of Paradise; he just breathed the very life of God. I sat and communed with him, and from within his life there flowed into mine rivers of living water. I walked with him through lovely avenues of restful shade in his friendship, and saw heavenly vistas, and drank from life-giving springs. I went out to my life renewed and refreshed. I was a new man, and there rang through all my being a song of the memory of that blessed life. All through eternity shall the echoes of that friendship call from peak to peak for me.
      In time of need and anguish I came again to that friend. I ran to meet him as a shelter from my sore distress. I found him and entered into communion with him. But the fountains of his life seemed dried up. The refreshment seemed to have vanished. His own life seemed parched and drooping. His speech was as the speech of other men. I struggled back to my own life as I came. Later he told me that the King of his life was not being obeyed, and the garden of his heart was not being watered.. The trees and the walks of his friendship were still there, but they no longer soothed and strengthened. The fountain of his friendship was still there, but its waters had been hushed. The King had intended that this garden, this life, should be kept perpetually refreshing for the souls of all who might come to it, but the King had not been obeyed, and the living water had not been kept flowing, and I went away unrefreshed.
      Then I prayed, “Oh God, keep flowing into me, and within me, and from within me Thy rivers of living water for the health and joy of other men! Oh, King of life, make my life a watered garden!”

Albany Intercessor

God’s mercy

And all the wickedness of this world
that man might work or think
Is no more to the mercy of God
than a live coal in the sea.

William Langland, The Book Concerning Piers the Plowman

Miserere, My Maker

Miserere, my Maker,
O have mercy on me, wretch, strangely distressèd,
Cast down with sin oppressèd;
Mightily vexed to the soul’s bitter anguish,
E’en to the death I languish.
Yet let it please Thee
To hear my ceaseless crying:
Miserere, miserere, I am dying.

Miserere, my Saviour,
I, alas, am for my sins fearfully grievèd,
And cannot be relievèd
But by Thy death, which Thou didst suffer for me,
Wherefore I adore Thee.
And do beseech Thee
To hear my ceaseless crying:
Miserere, miserere, I am dying.

Holy Spirit, miserere,
Comfort my distressèd soul, grieved for youth’s folly,
Purge, cleanse and make it holy;
With Thy sweet due of grace and peace inspire me,
How I desire Thee.
And strengthen me now
In this, my ceaseless crying:
Miserere, miserere, I am dying.

—Anonymous, c. 1615
[Note: "Miserere" is the first word of the 51st Psalm in Latin]

Egypt–a cyclical pattern

Egypt achieved independence from Britain in 1922.
Three decades later, the constitutional monarchy was overthrown in the Egyptian revolution, which ushered in a profound pan-Arab nationalism. The autocratic rule of a series of three presidents ensued.
Three decades after the Egyptian revolution, President Anwar Sadat was assassinated. The assassination, under the approval of a fatwa, had been undertaken by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
Three decades after Sadat’s assassination brings us to the current revolution.

Father in heaven,
We see through a glass darkly. At this time, as Americans, we acknowledge our sins of using the continent of Africa for our own pleasure, from the past sins of slavery to the current greed for natural resources. We have propagated patterns of violence and theft. We confess our sin of indifference as many Africans have suffered greatly. We confess our sin of manipulation and control. As Christians, we acknowledge our failure to share the good news of Jesus Christ to our African brothers and sisters.
If this cyclical pattern of thirty years in Egypt’s modern history is indicative of a portal in time, then, in humility, we intercede for this threshold. We take the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and spread it over this juncture in time in Egypt. Cleanse this time and cleanse this land, Lord. Bless Egypt to be the nation that You designed her to be.
During famine, Abram and Sarai found food in Egypt. In a later famine, Joseph in Egypt saved the peoples of the age from starvation. Centuries later, another Joseph found refuge in Egypt for his wife and son.
Father, You designed Egypt to be a place of salvation, nurture, and refuge. We affirm this as her true identity. Bless Egypt! Bless her destiny in You. Bless her as a place of safety, a place of abundance and generosity, and a place of life.
We speak life into the atmosphere over Egypt. Life! Life! Life! Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We speak His name–JESUS! May this time be a portal of life. Amen.

Deuteronomy 6:16-25

“You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted him in Massah.” (Deuteronomy 6:16)
      LORD, we have all had times when we doubted you and thought you were not able or willing to help us in our hour of need. Have mercy on us and help us hold steady in you as we go though times in the desert.

“You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, his testimonies, and his statutes which he has commanded you.” (Deuteronomy 6:17)
      Jesus, please help us cleave to you and your word day by day.

“And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the LORD swore to your fathers,” (Deuteronomy 6:18 )
      Holy Spirit, please help us lay aside those things that are good in our sight and do those things which are good in your sight.

“to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.” (Deuteronomy 6:19)
      Jesus, please go before us and defeat those enemies that attack us through our emotions, our bodies, and our spirits.

“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;’” (Deuteronomy 6:20-21)
      Father, please help us give a faithful testimony to your good work among us — how you have brought us out of bondage to sin by your son Jesus the Christ.

“‘and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household.’” (Deuteronomy 622:)
      Holy Trinity, one God, you have led us by the hand and not let our feet stumble. Thank you.

“‘Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers.’” (Deuteronomy 6:23)
      Jesus, thank you for this good diocese and the Christ the King Spiritual Life Center.

“‘And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.’” (Deuteronomy 6:24)
      Father, thank you for your good commandments — they daily teach us of your love for us. Thank you for setting those boundaries around us that protect us from harm.

“‘Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.’” (Deuteronomy 6:25)
      Jesus, we have no righteousness of our own, but only that righteousness which comes from your cross and blood shed for us. Thank you for what you endured for us. Please help us keep a holy Lent. Thank you.

A word received: I AM a father to the fatherless. I AM a father to all who seek my son. I AM a father — I long to hold you in my arms.

Tuesday: 26, 28 * 36, 39; Deuteronomy 6:16-25; Hebrews 2:1-10; John 1:19-28
Ash Wednesday: 95 & 32, 143 * 102, 130; Jonah 3:1-4:11; Hebrews 12:1-14; Luke 18:9-14
HC: 103 or 103:8-14; Joel 2:1-2,12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

      Notes from the Front Line

***** Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2011
From: Fr. Nigel Mumford+
A word for this Shrove Tuesday in preparation for Lent:
“Unforgiveness is an emotional cancer that rots away the soul.”
Fr. Nigel Mumford+
      Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Any questions?

Albany Intercessor

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
      Holy Spirit, please help us begin each day with Jesus and his/our father.

He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:2)
      Jesus, you have always loved us. Thank you.

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:3)
      Jesus, we are stamped with your image and we are your new creation. Thank you.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
      Jesus, please be our light today — help us to take each step by your light.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1:5)
      Jesus, please shine your light into all the dark places of our lives. Thank you.

Monday: 25 * 9, 15; Deuteronomy 6:10-15; Hebrews 1:1-14; John 1:1-18
Tuesday: 26, 28 * 36, 39; Deuteronomy 6:16-25; Hebrews 2:1-10; John 1:19-28

Albany Intercessor

Libya

Libya is essentially two countries, telling two entirely different stories, reports Al Jazeera. In Tripoli they believe Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have taken back control of two towns but witnesses say the government claims are false. And in the west, rebels claim to have taken full control of the oil port of Ras Lanuf.

Judah deprived the widow Tamar of her legal right to marriage, and she masqueraded as a prostitute to conceive the twin sons of Judah. While she was in labor, one twin put out his hand. The midwife tied a scarlet thread around his wrist, thinking he would be the firstborn. He drew back his hand, and and out came his brother! “What!” the midwife exclaimed. “How did you break out first?” So he was named Perez, which means breaking forth. Perez is an ancestor of Christ.

Break out, truth! Break out, justice! Break out, mercy! Break forth from on high and flood the nation of Libya. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Transfiguration

“And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” —2 Thessalonians 2:14

Father,
The light of Your presence shone from Moses’ face and flooded Solomon’s temple at its dedication. It radiated from Jesus and bathed His disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. May Your glory reveal itself in us, through repentance and prayer, praise and worship, in unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen.