Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
FRIDAY, August 27 (Thomas Gallaudet with Henry Winter Syle)
John 7:37-52. Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.
In both his background and in the content of his teaching and preaching, Jesus was not what people were expecting in a Messiah.
On the last day of the feast of the Tabernacles, where water ceremonies and prayers for rain had been offered, Jesus spoke of himself as the source of water from heaven. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,” he said (John 7:37). These words divided the people and created enough of a disturbance to merit the calling of the temple police.
Still, in the church today there are many issues that would divide us and bring us into conflict. The ministry of Jesus, Galilean carpenter—who healed on the Sabbath and spoke of himself as bread of life and source of water from heaven—reminds us that our expectations and presuppositions can be wrong, just as many were wrong in Jesus’ day about him.
Today let us examine our prejudices, our expectations of others, and our biases; and may we drink deeply of Christ’s compassion for all.
Can anything worthwhile come out of ___________? You fill in the blank. Absolutely! (1992)
PRAY for the Diocese of Gitega (Burundi)
Ps 16, 17 * 22; Job 9:1-15, 32-35; Acts 10:34-48
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