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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

Today’s Reflection

BAPTISM IS A COMMITMENT to be a disciple-making community. We must remember that Jesus is not addressing a collection of individual leaders but a community of disciples. He is inviting them to fulfill his commission as coworkers with him. Again, his promise to be with them is not an assurance that he will remain with each one individually but that he will abide among them all as a community.

It takes a community of discipleship, gathered around the feet of Jesus, to teach others his way of life. As people on the go, we should be imparting the message and life of the kingdom by starting disciple-making communities wherever we are and wherever our travels may take us.

– Philip R. Meadows
Remembering Our Baptism

From pages 21-22 of Remembering Our Baptism: Discipleship and Mission in the Wesleyan Spirit by Philip R. Meadows. Copyright © 2017 by Philip R. Meadows. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Discipleship Resources. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

How do you see yourself as a part of a disciple-making community? Share your thoughts.

Today’s Scripture

The LORD answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you!

Psalm 20:1, NRSV

This Week: pray for those who need comfort. Submit your prayer to The Upper Room Living Prayer Center or share it in the comment section.

Did You Know?

In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.

This week we remember: Anthony of Padua (June 13).

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Sponsored by Upper Room Ministries ®. Copyright © 2018 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

5 Comments

  • Jill Posted June 12, 2018 6:28 am

    It is good to belong to a community. Iron sharpeneth iron. I know I have grown the past few years, due to being in women’s Bible studies. Authentic sharing, prayerful interceding, deep listening – all significant components. We grow together, side by side – and welcome new searchers into our groups.
    Father – thank You for these opportunities, for encouragers who go with us into life.
    Julie – praying for comforting wisdom on the road ahead. He is with you.

  • robert moeller Posted June 12, 2018 7:15 am

    Far from the bustling crowd of the greater NYC area and the urban-country setting of Albany-East Nassau NY, I’m home in an ultra small country church. The UR, seasonal Bible study at church, choir practice, and walks on country roads with mountains all around provide my environment for disciple making. New to this community, I’m only slightly familiar due to family visits long ago, I’m still getting acquainted.

    Prayers that Marcy’s appointment went well and the help she needs is available or on the way. Prayers for wisdom and safety for Julie. God’s peace and comfort for Gloria and Anneliese. Safe travels for Andrea, thankful for her notes on her visit to South Dakota. Thankful for all the posts yesterday, it is a wonderful feature to be able to receive comments not only to personal posts but to all posts. The level of sharing here is heart opening.

    Not 100% sure yet, but preliminary checks indicate that an HO Henschel Bismarck type steam locomotive model may be possible. Received a drawing of the parts and have checked them. Need to be 100% sure before I go ahead.

    More of the garden is up, looks like a nice day, another walk on mountain roads.

    Prayers for Joan with stage 4 cancer and Bob Jones with thyroid cancer, both members of the church I attend. Thankful that Arnolds is recovering and comes to church. Thankful for physical improvements at church, but pray for
    reconciliation between members of church who are deeply divided. Disagreements are present today just as they were when Paul wrote. Lord, help us heal, reconcile, and follow Your example.

    Prayers that the two leaders meeting in Singapore are guided by God’s wisdom and the agreements made are in line with God’s will. I pray for peace in Korea. Thankful for Singapore as the host for the summit.

    Lord, here at home, may we treat those seeking asylum and all who come to our borders with respect and dignity.

    Blessings to all, God is with you.

  • Mary Ng Shwu Ling Posted June 12, 2018 7:33 am

    Grateful for another fruitful day.

    Preparing to work long hours cause my colleague and cleaner will be on leave on the eve of Hari Raya,

    May Marcy’s health and condition improve

    Blessings to all

  • Julie Posted June 12, 2018 7:47 am

    Jill aand Robert, thank you for your prayers. I look to both f you as spiritual mentors and have gained great insights and deepened my faith due to your wise leading.
    Prayers for Mary as she enters into a season of work that will be stressful. Prayers also for her paarents.
    My heart continues to be greatly troubled and my mind consumed with fears of safety and survival. However, God has placed in my life so many kind and warm people.
    Blessings and prayers for and thank you to all UR family

  • Andrea Posted June 12, 2018 9:21 am

    Today we drive home. Marcy, I pray your appointment yesterday was beneficial and your breathing and oxygen saturation are improving. I pray for your support.

    Yes, we were in Needles. We drove (very slowly) through one large herd of bison mamas and their little ones. One bison mama even licked our van in several places. We also crossed a brook that the bison were standing in, drinking the cool water. We hiked a path with close- up views of the needles (groupings of sharp, tall, narrow rock formarions) as a storm was gathering. We drove through a hail storm twice in the Black Hills.

    We just spent a day and a half at Devils Tower in eastern Wyoming. The impressively tall monolithic, columned rock – almost 900 feet high and a mile around at its base – glow a soft pale yellow in the sunlight, with areas of bright, almost neon-green lichen catching the light. Slopes and stretches of open soil are a striking orange-red hue. We watched a red-headed woodpecker working on a pine tree snag – what a deep, brilliant red to its head, against the stark black and white of its body, a truly gorgeous bird.

    We started heading home yesterday afternoon on a highway that rolled through wide open range country, with beautiful long upward rises and long, curving descents, and 360 degree vistas of the big blue skies. The grasses and vegetation are all so lush and green, thanks to a good rainfall this spring. The antelope, horses and cattle we saw must be content with their grazing.

    Julie, my prayers for you and your daughter in finding a new house and navigating the unknown.

    “See, the former things have come to
    pass and new things I now declare.
    Before they spring forth I tell you of
    them….
    I will lead the blind
    by a road they do not know,
    by paths they have not known
    I will guide them.
    I will turn the darkness before them into light,
    the rough places into level ground.
    These are the things I will do,
    and I will not forsake them.”
    (From Isaiah 42.)

    Prayers for UR friends and visitors, and those for whom you pray.

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