Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2021-03-19
Friday, March 19th, 2021
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Friends,
The Lenten Devotionals from the Presbyterian Outlook for this weekend are at the very bottom of this email. May they be a blessing to/for you and those you love.
* * *
Eight people were killed at three massage spas in Georgia on Tuesday night. Six were Asian, seven were women. Our sisters were killed by a white man in a time when anti-Asian hate incidents are terrifyingly high. The group Stop Asian And Pacific Islander community Hate—Stop AAPI Hate—count 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents in the last year. Most targeted women.
As we hold the whole world in our prayers, let’s pause and hold our local community in our prayers, particularly our Asian friends.
The best way I know to love the world, to serve the world, to be friends with the world, to heal the world, to engage the world, to be healthily part of the world is to be part of my church. On Sunday, we’ll celebrate God and pray for the world.
Join us on-line at 9:00 a.m. FirstPres.Live or, if you feel safe, in person at 10:15 (preregistration before noon today is preferred as we are almost at-capacity for this Sunday).
See you then.
Much, much love to you all.
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
I shall be released
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
In need of a friend?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
* * *
A Timely Prayer/Gimme Shelter
Mick Jagger/Keith Richards
Ooh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Ooh yeah I’m gonna fade away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Ooh, see the fire is sweepin’
Our streets today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Rape, murder, yeah, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Mmm, a flood is threatening
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I’m gonna fade away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
I tell you love, sister
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away
* * *
Lenten Daily Devotion
Friday, MARCH 19, 2021
LUKE 6:6:36–42
Another hard teaching of Jesus is before us: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.” In the hyperpolarized times in which we live, judging others is part of daily discourse and seems to have become a virtue rather than a vice. This passage challenges that notion at its very core. Today’s Scripture, combined with yesterday’s injunction to love our enemies, highlights mercy as a central characteristic of the Christian life — because God is merciful, and we are God’s children and are to reflect that family resemblance.
Practice: Prayerfully read this passage, mulling over aspects of it that
stand out to you and that resonate with your own experience. Reflect on
ways in which the merciful character of God informs our identity as God’s
own children.
Journal: Note in your journal what happened as you prayed with this
text.
Saturday, MARCH 20, 2021
LUKE 6:43-49
Jesus’ teaching in this passage is very simple yet weighty: good trees produce good fruit. Thus, good conduct comes from a good heart. Moreover, the words that come out of our mouths reflect what is in our hearts.
Practice: Prayerfully read and reflect on this Scripture, with special
attention to the connection between fruit and tree — between action and
heart, and speech and heart.
Journal: Note in your journal key reflections that emerged in your prayer
with this passage of Scripture.
Week 5
MARCH 21-27, 2021
Transfiguration and transformation
HYMN OF THE WEEK: “Crown Him with Many Crowns”
PRAYER FOCUS: Supplication — As I pour out my heart as a needy person, what do I long for from God? What friends or relations are hurting? Where would I love to see God’s healing power at work?
ACTION: Reflect on a mentor or teacher from your past who helped you grow in some way. Reach out to those you can to share what their influence meant to your life.
Sunday, MARCH 21, 2021
LUKE 8:22-25
As you pray this passage, imagine that you are present in the boat with Jesus and his disciples, endangered by the raging wind and waves of a storm. The boat is often depicted as a symbol of the church. As you pray
with this text, think of storms that currently endanger your life and the life of the church and that threaten to undo us.
Practice: Prayerfully read this story and enter into the boat with Jesus and the disciples. What assurance or challenge do you hear Jesus addressing to you in the midst of storms?
Journal: Note in your journal what emerged in your prayer time, and your
sense of movements of your spirit toward God or away from God as you
prayed with this text.
