Ordinary Time 
Pause
“Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling through the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.”
Daniel L. Schutte, “Here I Am, Lord” in The United Methodist Hymnal
Listen
Whenever I am in deep trouble, you make me live again; you send your power against my enemies’ wrath; you save me with your strong hand. The Lord will do all this for my sake.
Your faithful love lasts forever, Lord! Don’t let go of what your hands have made.
Psalm 138:7-8
Think
Three times per day, (7:00 am, noon, and 5:30 pm) seven days each week, the residential community where I live and do ministry gathers to pray for the needs of our community as well as for metropolitan Richmond, Virginia. Richmond Hill is comprised of persons from various racial, ethnic, and community backgrounds. Yet it is in this communal setting that we come together as the people of God, to ask God’s blessings on the ministry of Richmond Hill, the city of Richmond, and its surrounding counties.
David’s words in today’s reading from Psalm 138 are to remind us of the importance of communal worship, especially in the times we are now living. It allows us to appreciate and understand that living a life of thanksgiving is not the ultimate solution to our personal struggles nor to the selfish ways of the current culture. It is only in communal worship that we find the strength to fulfill our call of commitment to the cause of Christ.
Tom Baynham
Question to Ponder:
How does the phrase in verse 7, “you make me live again,” speak to your spirit today?
Pray
Lord, open my eyes, I want to see you. Open my ears to hear your words of comfort. Open my heart, Lord, to remind me of your faithful love. And Lord, open your arms, and do not let me go. Amen.
Go
“To love the Lord our God is the heartbeat of our mission.
The spring from which our service overflows.
Across the street or around the world, the mission’s still the same.
Proclaim and live the Truth in Jesus’ name.”
Jon Mohr and John Randall Dennis, “The Mission”
