Seek God in prayer and listen in response

Many thanks for all of your prayers and support. Our HEARTwork for this week is to pray for those in the path of hurricane Florence and other natural disasters, or those facing a myriad of crises in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. Specifically, I urge you to pause immediately as you are able when you hear of such a need. Pause, take a few deep breaths, and speak aloud or in silence the persons, places, and situations that the Holy Spirit has made known to you. Then comes the hard part: be silent and listen. Steady your breathing and listen in silence. Offer a few words of prayer or a simple, “Lord, in your mercy, hear my prayer.” Since this is HEARTwork we have practiced as a community of faith, I encourage you and pray for you to receive God’s help.

As we prepare our hearts and minds for THIS Sunday’s celebration in word and music, please read these Scripture lessons Psalm 19 and James 3:1-12. The Psalm describes the way all of creation sing God’s praise. The letter of James is instruction about the use and trouble our tongues can cause.

I thank you for your prayerful support of one another, and I give deep and joyful thanks to God for our faith-walk together. As we move into fall, let us enjoy what we can and remember to give thanks in everything. And keep practicing! See you in worship.