"May they all be one"

              

Monday musical meditations on God's good news






















An opening prayer:

    Lord, our Lord, all lands proclaim
    How majestic is your name.
    Voiceless, still the heavens sing
    Constant glories to their King. How great your name!

    Infant voices chant your praise,
    Telling of your glorious ways,
    Children on their parents’ knees
    Silencing your enemies. How great your name!

    Moon and stars in shining height
    Nightly tell their Maker’s might.
    Galaxies you fixed afar
    Indicate how small we are. How great your name!

    Who are we that we should share
    In your love and tender care?
    Lifted to a stunning height,
    Crowned with honor in your sight! How great your name!

    We, by Eden’s order, stand
    Over creatures of your hand.
    You direct them all to yield,
    In the sea and air and field.  How great your name!

    Lord, our Lord, what majesty
    You want all the world to see,
    For you humbled Christ our King,
    Raised him over everything. How great your name!

    Glory to the Father, Son,
    And the Spirit, Three-In-One.
    As it ever was before
    And shall be forevermore. How great your name! Amen.

John 17:20–26

  • “My prayer is not for them [the apostles] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 

  • 22 “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 

    24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 

    25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Good news questions

  • Jesus promises to unite his church and to fill us with his love.
  • How does that comfort you today? What will that mean for us forever?

For others pray

  • That God spreads the good news of the kingdom of the Son he loves in Burundi

J.S. Bach's beautiful music for today

  • BWV 125 (YouTube, "With Peace and Joy I Go from Here")
  • The cantata with Simeon's prayer after he holds baby Jesus in his arms fits our Gospel beautifully. 
  • He is the salvation and light of all people.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance"

Image
                              Monday musical meditations on God's good news      An opening prayer:      On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry      announces that the Lord is nigh;      Come, then and listen, for he brings      good news about the King of kings.      Then cleansed be every life from sin;      and furnished for a guest within,      And let us all our hearts prepare      for Christ to come and enter there.      We hail you as our Savior, Lord,      our Refuge and our great Reward;      Without your grace we waste away      like flowers that wither and decay.      Stretch forth your hand, our health restore,      and lift us up to fall no more.      Oh, make your fac...
Read more

"Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem"

Image
                 Monday musical meditations on God's good news An opening prayer:      Children of the heavenly Father,      Safely in his bosom gather;      Nestling bird or star in heaven      Such a refuge ne’er was given.      God his own doth tend and nourish;      In his holy courts they flourish;      From all evil things he spares them;      In his mighty arms he bears them.      Neither life nor death shall ever      From the Lord his children sever;      Unto them his grace he showeth,      And their sorrows all he knoweth.      Though he giveth or he taketh,      God his children ne’er forsaketh;      His the loving purpose solely      To preserve them pure and holy.     L o, their...
Read more

"And who is my neighbor?"

Image
                   Monday musical meditations on God's good news An opening prayer:      Though I may speak with bravest fire,       And have the gift to all inspire,      And have not love, my works are vain      As sounding brass, and hopeless gain.      Though I may give all I possess,       And striving so, my love profess,      But not be given by love within,      The profit soon turns strangely thin.      Come, Spirit, come; our hearts control,      Our spirits long to be made whole.      Let inward love guide every deed;      By this we worship and are freed.   Amen. Luke 10:25 –37 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26  “What is written in the ...
Read more