Look: A Busy Mind, Caitlin Connolly - Source

Listen: Would You Be Well, Taylor Leonhardt - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube

Read: (Sunday) Joshua 24:1-2; Joshua 24:14-25; Psalm 16; Ephesians 5:15-33; Ephesians 6:1-9; John 6:60-69

(Through the week) 1 Kings 3:1-12; 4:29-34; Psalm 19; Proverbs 1; Matthew 11:25-27; 1 Corinthians 2

Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Thirteenth Week After Pentecost

Do: For this middle seven weeks of Ordinary Time, we’ll consider a cycle of God’s love that alternates between permission to love ourselves and the imperative to love our neighbor.

This week, consider the reality that “In [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3).

As you linger in the mystery and wonder of this gift, consider what a posture of intellectual humility and spiritual openness looks like in your relationships with yourself and your neighbors.

Consider these questions: What are the habits you’ve cultivated to feed your mind? What are the habits you’ve cultivated to stay humble in mind?

1. WE MEET THIS WEEK for the second virtual retreat in the Rhythms of Grace Retreat Series for Ordinary Time. WANT TO JOIN US?

   The Love My Neighbor & Myself has a few open spots left. Want to join us?

   We’ll meet 40 minutes for guided prayer, silence, and scripture reading, 40 minutes for individual reflection (offline) with the help of simple prompts included in the downloadable retreat guide, and 40 minutes for group spiritual direction with space for guided response and Q & A.

   AUGUST 26: Love Neighbor & Self

   11:30 am - 1:30 pm (Eastern)

   Caring for self and neighbor: Hospitality, generosity, justice, and forgiveness.

   To keep it simple, I’ll email you the day before the retreat with the Zoom link and retreat guide pdf. That's it. You just register and show up!

   REGISTER HERE

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Look: Interactive map of Native Lands - Source; Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America, University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab via American Lament + area description notes- Source

Listen: The Zaccheaus Song, The Porter’s Gate, feat. Sandra McCracken & Paul Zach -Spotify | YouTube w/ lyrics

Read: (Sunday) Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 147; Ephesians 5:3-14; John 6:53-59

(Through the week) Psalm 112: Genesis 13; Matthew 20:1-16; Luke 2:1-4; Romans 12:1-13

Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Twelfth Week After Pentecost

Do: This week, consider how one response to God’s incalculable grace is to extend that bounty to our neighbors.

1. In the lavish generosity of God’s presence with you, consider the following question: Where do you have an opportunity to be generous this week with your money, time, or God-given abilities?

2. Register for the second virtual retreat in the Rhythms of Grace Retreat Series for Ordinary Time.

   On August 26, I’m hosting Love My Neighbor & Myself. You can read all of the details and register at this link

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Look: Adam and Eve, Brian Kershisnik - Source

Listen: His Banner Over Me, Christy Nockels - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube

Read: (Sunday) Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Psalm 34:1-7; Psalm 34:8-15; Psalm 34:16-22; Ephesians 4:17-5:2; John 6:37-51

(Through the week) Psalm 128; Song of Solomon; Ecclesiastes 9:7-10; Matthew 6:25-33; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Eleventh Week After Pentecost

Do: This week, consider how the expression of God’s loving hospitality informs how we perceive and care for our own bodies. We care for others as we care for ourselves - our actual living, breathing, needing bodies.

1. As you commune with God, consider the following questions:

What is your attitude toward your own body with its needs and pleasures?

Do you need to hear God’s permission to care for and enjoy your body?

Do you respond to your own body with indifference or neglect - giving your time, energy, and money toward habits of your mind or emotional needs only? Or have you noticed that your response to your body is to anxious and indulgent - overspending time, energy, and money?

2. Register for the second virtual retreat in the Rhythms of Grace Retreat Series for Ordinary Time.

On August 26, I’m hosting Love My Neighbor & Myself. You can read all of the details and register at this link.

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Look: Dinner Party, Ryan Kapp - Source

Listen: Psalm 23, Zach Winters - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube

Read: (Sunday) Exodus 16:2-4; Exodus 16:5-8; Exodus 16:9-15; Psalm 78:1-13; Psalm 78:14-26; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35

(Through the week) Genesis 18:1-17; Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Psalm 23; Ruth 2; 4:13-22; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 14:1-14; 3 John

Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Ninth Week After Pentecost

Do: This week, consider how the expression of God’s love flows to us and through us to our neighbors in the form of hospitality. First God sets a table for us and then instructs us to invite others to the table. As you commune with God, consider the following questions:

Who do you know that could benefit from the kind of hospitality that reflects the character of God?

What plans could you make this week to show such hospitality to someone in the coming days or weeks?

1. Register for the second virtual retreat in the Rhythms of Grace Retreat Series for Ordinary Time.

   On August 26, I’m hosting Love My Neighbor & Myself. You can read all of the details and register at this link.

Read More

Look: Life in Community, Aidan Hart with contributions from Donald Jackson for The Saint John’s Bible - Source (Image used from this article: The Art of The Saint John’s Bible)

Listen: The Church’s One Foundation, Indelible Grace, feat. Brian Moss - Text | Spotify | YouTube

Read: (Sunday) 2 Kings 2:1-15; Psalm 114; Ephesians 3:1-7; Ephesians 3:8-21; Mark 6:45-52

(Through the week) Psalm 67; Genesis 12:1-9; Luke 10:1-20; Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 1:11-2:10

Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Ninth Week After Pentecost

Do: In the safety of God’s presence, ask the Spirit to help you prayerfully sit with questions about what it means to join Christ in his giving and sending community. Ask God’s help to give something of yourself this week to one of the partners or people groups highlighted in your time of prayer.

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Look: Voici l’homme!, 2019 by Marc Padeu after Caravaggio’s “Ecce homo” - Source 1 Source 2

Read Victoria Elizabeth Jones’ description of Padeau’s work here.

Listen: Love is the Rebel Song by Jon Foreman - Spotify | YouTube w/ lyrics

Read: (Sunday) Isaiah 57:14-21; Psalm 22:23-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-44

(Through the week) Psalm 105; 1 Kings 18; Luke 9:7-9; Luke 22:66-23:25; Acts 12; Acts 21:22-26:32

Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Eighth Week After Pentecost

Do: In the safety of God’s presence, ask the Spirit to help you prayerfully sit with questions about what it means to join Christ in his confronting the (false) religious and political powers of this world.

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Look: Forgive Thy Other, Scott Erickson - Source

Listen: Brother, Good Shepherd Collective, feat. Propaganda, Liz Vice, Charles Jones & Dee Wilson - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube

Read: (Sunday) Amos 7:7-15; Psalm 85; Ephesians 1:1-14; Ephesians 1:15-23; Mark 6:7-13

(Through the week) Psalm 133; Jonah 1-4; Luke 7:1-10; Acts 10:1-11:18; Colossians 3:1-17; Philemon

Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Seventh Week After Pentecost

Do: In the safety of God’s presence, ask the Spirit to help you prayerfully sit with questions about what it means to join Christ in his suffering and his serving community

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