Easter

Daily Readings for Sunday, March 31, 2013

• Morning Psalms 93; 150
• First Reading Exodus 12:1-14
• Second Reading - morning John 1:1-8
• or Second Reading - evening Isaiah 51:9-11
• Gospel - evening Luke 24:13-35
• or Gospel - evening John 20:19-23
• Evening Psalms 136; 117

---

MORNING PSALM 93

¹   The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty;
          the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength.
     He has established the world; it shall never be moved;
²        your throne is established from of old;
          you are from everlasting.

Holy Week

Stations of the Cross
Artist:  Charles Long

Daily Readings for Saturday, March 30, 2013

• Morning Psalms 43; 149
• First Reading Job 19:21-27a
• Second Reading - morning Hebrews 4:1-16
• or Second Reading - evening Romans 8:1-11
• Evening Psalms 31; 143

---

MORNING PSALM 43

¹   Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause 
          against an ungodly people; 
     from those who are deceitful and unjust 
          deliver me! 
²   For you are the God in whom I take refuge; 
          why have you cast me off? 
     Why must I walk about mournfully 
          because of the oppression of the enemy?

Good Friday

Daily Readings for Friday, March 29, 2013

• Morning Psalms 22; 148
• First Reading Genesis 22:1-14
• Second Reading 1 Peter 1:10-20
• Gospel - morning John 13:36-38
• or Gospel - evening John 19:38-42
• Evening Psalms 105; 130

---

MORNING PSALM 22

¹   My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 
          Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? 
²   O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; 
          and by night, but find no rest.

³   Yet you are holy, 
          enthroned on the praises of Israel. 
⁴   In you our ancestors trusted; 
          they trusted, and you delivered them. 
⁵   To you they cried, and were saved; 
          in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.

Maundy Thursday

Daily Readings for Thursday, March 28, 2013

• Morning Psalms 27; 147:12-20
• First Reading Jeremiah 20:7-11 (12-13) 14-18
• Second Reading 1 Corinthians 10:14-17; 11:27-32
• Gospel John 17:1-11 (12-26)
• Evening Psalms 126; 102

---

MORNING PSALM 27

¹   The LORD is my light and my salvation;
          whom shall I fear?
     The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
          of whom shall I be afraid?

My Calls For Help

It was Maundy Thursday, 1996.  One minute I was on the highway, and the next thing I knew I was waking up looking at two deflated airbags hanging from my dash.  I had no windows on the passenger's side and the trunk lid was laying in my back seat.  My attempts to call for help were futile.  I cried a lot and prayed incessantly that someone would find me in this 40 foot ravine under Interstate 70.  Luck was certainly not on my side, had God abandoned me too?

This is My Body

"This is my body, which is given for you." Luke 22:19

Action Tuesday Suggestion:

Jesus enacted his faith and prayers in physical ways.  This week we will be observing the ultimate act in Jesus giving his body to the cross for our forgiveness and salvation. We too, have been blessed with a body, a body that can become an enacted expression of our faith and prayers.

Go through this day, thinking of your body, not only as a precious, fragile gift, but also as it relates to the God who also took on human flesh for your good.  As you bathe, feed, and clothe your body this day, think of some way that body can be given in Christ's service.

It might mean setting aside our preoccupations on our comforts in order to serve someone else in this world that God so loved.  You might choose to fast, or keep food to its essentials, and give what you would normally spend to the hungry.  What is the cross you choose to take, not just the one that comes normally through the circumstances of living.  This is my body, too, how can I give it back to Christ?

This was from the 2002 St. Mark Presbyterian Lenten Devotional.  Comment below on how you took action today.

On Being a Sow and Sow

Luke 8 4-15

The first seed catalog arrived.  I got pretty excited-not jump up and down excited, but I kept turning the pages.  I couldn't put it down, thinking about what I might try new this year in our garden along with the standbys of green beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash and broccoli.

The enthusiasm I have for growing vegetables keeps me in touch with my roots.  Not only does this mean my boyhood gardening, it speaks of my relationship to God.  The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek meaning "to be inspired."  This can be traced to en + theos (god).  To be enthusiastic is to be inspired by God.  It is to have passion or feeling on behalf of a cause or a subject.

Lectionary Readings Palm Sunday

March 24, 2013, Palm Sunday 

(Revised Common Lectionary Readings)
Click on each of the readings to see the full text.

• Liturgy of the Palms Luke 19:28-40
• Psalm Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
• Liturgy of the Passion Isaiah 50:4-9a
• Psalm Psalm 31:9-16
• Second Reading Philippians 2:5-11
• Gospel Luke 22:14-23:56
• Gospel (Alternate) Luke 23:1-49 (Alternate)

---

LITURGY OF THE PALMS LUKE 19:28-40

²⁸After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

God's Gifts

Psalm 18: 30 "As for God, His way is perfect."

An empty white canvas...her brushes nearby,

"I want to paint God's love, " she said.  "At least try."

A portrait of Jesus might be the way

but how to get started was so hard to say.

A Tiny Bundle of Joy and Happiness

Romans 5:1-2
I have long been an empty nester and am elderly in years.  Awhile back, my daughter, concerned about my situation, urged me to get a pet--preferably a small dog--to be a companion and to make life happier and healthier for me and my husband.

I was willing, but it needed to be small enough and old enough--not a puppy--for me to take care of since my husband, Norm, wasn't really interested.  My daughter assured me that if crippling arthritis made it impossible for me to take care of a pet she would take it.  I visited pet shelters and pet adoption agencies.  I found nothing small enough to meet my requirements.  So I decided to wait, hoping to find that perfect ad in the paper that would describe the pet of my dreams.

Then it happened!  There was the perfect ad!  It described a two and a half year old, 6 pound Papillon dog that was up for adoption.  When I saw her, we bonded immediately, and this small loving creature immediately became a member of our household.  She brought joy to our sometimes lonely lives.  I named her Mimi.

Chesterfield, MO - Papillon. Meet PINTO a Dog for Adoption.