SUNDAY, January 31 4 Epiphany

Jeremiah 1:4-10. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

This is the ordination reading, for those called to be deacons, to be servants in every sense of the word. But it is not for the ordained only; it for all those who want to serve God.

We each have been known from the beginning of time. Each of us has been consecrated--by God--to do God's work in the world. Each of us has been appointed a prophet to the nations, to the entire world, to tell the story of God's great, wild, radical, inexplicable, unending love for every single person ever created.

It is, as well, a love song, sung by God to and for each of us. Think of it: to awaken each morning, knowing that God has always known us, knows us now and will know us forevermore; to know that God on high has laid his hand on us, making us holy people; to know that we are the ones--each one of us--appointed by God to go forth into God's world, proclaiming God's love.

It is a love song from the one who loves us more than we can imagine.

PRAY for the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil

Ps 71:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email this

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (5) Add Comment

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

...

Jan 31, 2010 at 9:40 am

Written by John Moody,

Thank you for your meditations this month. They have been fresh, insightful, provocative, hopeful, real. The connection you make between your evolving understanding of God and the world as you experienced it is what brings them into the realm of prophecy. This gives them a timelessness and applicability to the life of this reader and, I expect, to many others'.

...

Jan 31, 2010 at 11:10 am

Written by Joan Leland,

Thank you, Lauren, for this month's readings. I have shared several of them with friends in my church. I am a Methodist but for years have been using FDD instead of the Methodist Upper Room. I was christened Episcopalian, so I guess I've still got some of that spirit. The cover of the new Feb FDD brings back such memories! My grandmother used to get them back in the '30's and '40's and I can remember sitting in the sunshine on her bedroom floor stacking and restacking all those little books in various bright solid colors. God bless you in your work in Haiti. The honesty of your faith will take everyone a long way!

...

Jan 31, 2010 at 12:39 pm

Written by P.A.M. Lesch,

Thank you once more for you soul touching meditations this month...
I have felt encouraged by the challenge to better understand "our" calling as children of God in the world...
You have stimulated my personal search for my call to make a faithful difference...
Perhaps we will connect in Minneapolis on your visit here...

Author and Missionary

Jan 31, 2010 at 11:05 pm

Written by Lauren Stanley,

My dear friends in Christ,
The journey together this past month, especially since the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January, has been amazing for me. Your thoughts and prayers and concerns for me have been overwhelming, and I have been and remain humbled by all that you have written in response to what I have written.
Thank you for your blessings and for walking this journey with me.
Lauren

...

Jan 31, 2010 at 11:12 pm

Written by Andrea,

Thank you, Lauren, for your meditations this month. Among the many things I have valued about them has been the way you've made clear how much you as a missionary receive from those to whom you are sent. Especially in the wake of the quake in Haiti, I think there is a tendency to see aid and mission as a one-way street, in which we in wealthy countries give and those in need take. Thank you for reminding us how much we can learn from our brothers and sisters around the world, and how the Gospel can sometimes be more real and more immediate in places where material wealth is not so abundant.

Write comment

Show/hide comment form

The History of Forward Movement:

Weary and Divided Church | The First Publication | Church Moves Forward | Name Change | The First Editor

Check out Lent Madness -- daily devotions with the saints that are fun and informative.

Download the new Readers' Guide for the February Forward Day by Day! Updated monthly.

Signup for e-news

10ways-to-pray Claim Your Free Gift Now! Simply subscribe to our e-news by using the form below. You will then be able to download our "Ten Ways to Pray" ebook!

Be sure to confirm your preferences and check your email after subscribing. The link to your free gift is found in your "Welcome" email.

Start a Subscription Prayer Chapel

Resources

Today's Meditation Podcast Día a Día (Spanish Version) Editor’s Notes Mobile Reading For Today A Morning Resolve How to Use Forward Day by Day Scripture Listings

Latest Meditations

Meditation Archives

February, 2012 January, 2012 December, 2011 November, 2011 October, 2011 September, 2011 August, 2011 July, 2011 June, 2011 May, 2011 April, 2011 March, 2011

Request a Catalog Make a Donation