Here is the next edition of Devotions@Home a daily selection of readings for personal study which respond to the previous Sunday and lead us to the coming Sunday. Set within a short prayer service, this may be a new way to cultivate a habit of reading the Bible for a few minutes each day. Feel free to substitute in your own prayers (the Lord’s Prayer is an especially attractive option). We have also included a hymn that matches up with this coming Sunday’s themes for you to make music in your home. Blessings to you and your family.
Opening Prayer
Blessed Lord God, you have caused the holy scriptures to be written for the nourishment of your people. Grant that I/we may hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that, comforted by your promises, we may embrace and forever hold fast to the hope of eternal life, which you have given us in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Daily Readings
Monday, August 10
Psalm 18:1-19
Genesis 7:11-8:5
2 Peter 2:4-10
Tuesday, August 11
Psalm 18:1-19
Genesis 19:1-29
Romans 9:14-29
Wednesday, August 12
Psalm 18:1-19
Job 36:24-33; 37:14-24
Matthew 8:23-27
Thursday, August 13
Psalm 67
Isaiah 45:20-25
Revelation 15:1-4
Friday, August 14
Psalm 67
Isaiah 63:15-19
Acts 14:19-28
Saturday, August 15
Psalm 67
Isaiah 56:1-5
Matthew 14:34-36
Closing Prayer
O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sunday, August 16
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
In Isaiah we hear that God’s house shall be a house of prayer for all people and that God will gather the outcasts of Israel. The Canaanite woman in today’s gospel is a Gentile, an outsider, who is unflinching in her request that Jesus heal her daughter. As Jesus commends her bold faith, how might our church extend its mission to those on the margins of society? In our gathering around word and meal we receive strength to be signs of comfort, healing, and justice for those in need.
Readings and Psalm
Isaiah 56:1,6-8
Psalm 67
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15:21-28
