Invitation — Psalm 126:2-3
"Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy... The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."
Quiet
Bible Song — Psalm 95:1-7a
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Bible Reading — 1 John 4:7-16
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Quiet
Dwelling
Read again, perhaps out loud ... how has God's Word moved you? Ponder and meditate what has connected with your heart or mind ... pray to God what it is that has moved you today ... turn your thoughts to God and quietly enjoy being with him.
Free Prayer
- for the call to follow Christ into our neighborhoods and workplaces
- for the shalom and well-being of our communities
- for those who work in business and industry
Prayer — WSC 42
Lord God, plunge me into your love so that I can love you with all that I am. I know I'm asking you for the very thing I'll give right back to you, but my heart feels small and shrunken; I struggle to love well or even love at all. Immerse me in your love so that my heart, soul, strength, and mind find their true home, and I find the room in my heart to love my neighbor. Amen.
Blessing — Jude 21
"Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."