Father in Heaven! You have loved us first, help us never to forget that You are love so that this sure conviction might triumph in our hearts over the seduction of the world, over the inquietude of the soul, over the anxiety for the future, over the fright of the past, over the distress of the moment. But grant also that this conviction might discipline our soul so that our heart might remain faithful and sincere in the love which we bear to all those whom You have commanded us to love as we love ourselves. Amen.
Soren Kierkegaard

1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
Psalm 42 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary
(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)
Isaiah 40:25-31 - Ephesians 1:15-23 - Mark 1:14-28

More than ever I find myself in the hands of God.
This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth.
But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God.
It is indeed a profound spiritual experience
to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.
—Pedro Arrupe

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Psalm 1 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary
(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)
Isaiah 40:12-24 - Ephesians 1:1-14 - Mark 1:1-13

Your prayers are requested for all of those affected by the tragic and senseless shootings in Arizona this past weekend.

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will,All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace,that is enough for me.
Ignatius of Loyola

1I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4Then I called on the name of the LORD:
"O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!"
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6The LORD preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Psalm 72 – New Revised Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary
(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading) Isaiah 52:3-6 - Revelation 2:1-7 - John 2:1-11

The Feast of the Holy Epiphany

O God, who by the leading of a star manifested your only Son to the Peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to a king’s son.
2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his glorious name for ever;
may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen
Psalm 72 – New Revised Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary
(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)
Isaiah 60:1-6 - Ephesians 3:2-12 - Matthew 2:1-12

Kaj Munk, Martyr, 1944

Gracious Lord, in every age you have sent men and women who have given their lives for the message of your love. Inspire us with the memory of those martyrs for the Gospel like your servant Kaj Munk whose faithfulness led them in the way of the cross, and give us courage to bear full witness with our lives to your Son's victory over sin and death; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen(Lutheran Book of Worship/ Phillip Pfatteicher)

1Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my groaning.
2Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
3O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
4For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6You destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
Psalm 5 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary
(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)
Joshua 1:1-9 - Hebrews 11:32-12:2 - John 15:1-16

We pray to you, O God, the lover of all, for those whom we have named our enemies.Deliver us from the hardness of heart that keeps us locked in confrontation. Deliver us from the hatred that binds us in old ways. Grant unto all people the blessing of your love. And grant unto us such transformation of our lives that we may make peace with our enemies, and that together we might make this world a safer place for all. Amen.
( Vienna Cobb Anderson)

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord has them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’
7 I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, ‘You are my son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Psalm 2 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary
(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)
Exodus 3:1-15 - Hebrews 11:23-31 - John 14:6-14

William Passavant

Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
(From the "Book of Common Prayer")

1 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of honor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures for ever.
4 He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations.
Psalm 111 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary
(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)
Genesis 28:10-22 - Hebrews 11:13-22 - John 10:7-17