Opening Prayer: Almighty God, come and meet with me in this time that I may experience the sweetness of being Your servant. Amen.

Read: Matthew 4:18-22

Reflect: Notice how quickly the disciples respond to Jesus’ call. How do you respond when you know God is calling you? What would it take to follow as quickly as the disciples in this passage?

Prayer: for the church, for others, and for myself

Hymn: “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee;
Earth and heaven reflect Thy rays.
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flowery meadow flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee!

Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother-
All who live in love are Thine.
Teach us how to love each other;
Lift us to the joy divine!

Mortals join the mighty chorus
Which the morning stars began.
Father love is reigning over us;
Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife.
Joyful music leads us sunward
In the triumph songs of life!

Closing Prayer: I have experienced Your joy in my life today, God, now go with me in the power of the Holy Spirit, so I may continue to experience You. Amen.

Opening Prayer: Almighty God, come and meet with me during this time. Transform my heart by the power of Your Spirit. I pray in Jesus name, amen.

Read: Philippians 2:14-18

Reflect: I will be preaching from this passage on Sunday. Please pray that God will speak through this passage as we look forward to a time in God’s presence.

Prayer: for the church, for others, and for myself

Hymn: “We Are Called to Be God’s People”
We are called to be God’s people,
Showing by our lives His grace,
One in heart and one in spirit,
Sign of hope for all the race.
Let us show how He has changed us,
And remade us as His own;
Let us share our life together
As we shall around His throne.

We are called to be God’s servants,
Working in His world today;
Taking His own talk upon us,
All His sacred words obey.
Let us rise, then, to His summons,
Dedicate to Him our all,
That we may be faithful servants,
Quick to answer now His call.

We are called to be God’s prophets,
Speaking for the truth and right;
Standing firm for godly justice,
Bringing evil into light.
Let us seek the courage needed,
Our high calling to fulfill,
That we all may know the blessing
Of the doing of God’s will.

Closing Prayer: Almighty God, go with me in Your grace to share Your love with everyone I come into contact with, by the power of Your Son, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Opening Prayer: Almighty God, come and meet with me during this time. Transform my heart by the power of Your Spirit. I pray in Jesus name, amen.

Read: From I, Francis by Carlo Carretto
You have more wealth than before, and you talk more of poverty. You are middle class and you play “poor Church.” You talk more of community, and you live more isolated, more divorced, from one another.
“Many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip,” they say-and there is a whole ocean of slips between what you say and what you do.
It is the ocean of your chatter, and you are drowning in it in every regard.
Now would you care to know why I am not inclined to give you a “tough talking-to”? Because you are the tough ones, not I.
All one has to do is to listen to you when you gather together.
It is a terrible thing, how hard, unyielding, and radical you are.
What a pity that this hardness, this radicalism, is always directed against others and never against yourselves.
One would say that your great passion is to convert others!
And I, Francis, tell you, aim at your own conversions. You will see that you will understand things better.
Above all, understand this: it is of no use to think you can change the Franciscans, the Capuchins, and Conventuals, and to continue, the Jesuits, the Salesians, the Little Brothers [the Nazarenes].
It is simply not possible!
What is possible is the conversion of a person—especially if that person happens to be you who are listening to me at this moment.
History has its own laws, and no institution escapes the ravages of time, however holy and great its founder.
Only naked human beings, as naked as possible, can escape the ravages of time, and are able to place themselves before the nakedness of the Gospel and make it their own.
My children—…—do not believe in the reform of your Order. Believe in your personal reform.
My brothers and sisters—…— be holy, and the world will appear to you as holy.

Reflect: It is fun to dream about the freeform of your church and denomination, but Carretto urges his readers to focus on their personal reform. What would personal reform look like in your life? How can your personal reform help to bring about reform in the larger body of Christians you belong to?

Prayer: for the church, for others, and for myself

Hymn: “We Are Called to Be God’s People”
We are called to be God’s people,
Showing by our lives His grace,
One in heart and one in spirit,
Sign of hope for all the race.
Let us show how He has changed us,
And remade us as His own;
Let us share our life together
As we shall around His throne.

We are called to be God’s servants,
Working in His world today;
Taking His own talk upon us,
All His sacred words obey.
Let us rise, then, to His summons,
Dedicate to Him our all,
That we may be faithful servants,
Quick to answer now His call.

We are called to be God’s prophets,
Speaking for the truth and right;
Standing firm for godly justice,
Bringing evil into light.
Let us seek the courage needed,
Our high calling to fulfill,
That we all may know the blessing
Of the doing of God’s will.

Closing Prayer: Almighty God, go with me in Your grace to share Your love with everyone I come into contact with, by the power of Your Son, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Opening Prayer: Almighty God, come and meet with me during this time. Transform my heart by the power of Your Spirit. I pray in Jesus name, amen.

Read: Matthew 8:1-15

Prayer: for the church, for others, and for myself

Hymn: “We Are Called to Be God’s People”
We are called to be God’s people,
Showing by our lives His grace,
One in heart and one in spirit,
Sign of hope for all the race.
Let us show how He has changed us,
And remade us as His own;
Let us share our life together
As we shall around His throne.

We are called to be God’s servants,
Working in His world today;
Taking His own talk upon us,
All His sacred words obey.
Let us rise, then, to His summons,
Dedicate to Him our all,
That we may be faithful servants,
Quick to answer now His call.

We are called to be God’s prophets,
Speaking for the truth and right;
Standing firm for godly justice,
Bringing evil into light.
Let us seek the courage needed,
Our high calling to fulfill,
That we all may know the blessing
Of the doing of God’s will.

Closing Prayer: Almighty God, go with me in Your grace to share Your love with everyone I come into contact with, by the power of Your Son, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Opening Prayer: Almighty God, come and meet with me during this time. Transform my heart by the power of Your Spirit. I pray in Jesus name, amen.

Read: Psalm 65

Prayer: for the church, for others, and for myself

Hymn: “We Are Called to Be God’s People”
We are called to be God’s people,
Showing by our lives His grace,
One in heart and one in spirit,
Sign of hope for all the race.
Let us show how He has changed us,
And remade us as His own;
Let us share our life together
As we shall around His throne.

We are called to be God’s servants,
Working in His world today;
Taking His own talk upon us,
All His sacred words obey.
Let us rise, then, to His summons,
Dedicate to Him our all,
That we may be faithful servants,
Quick to answer now His call.

We are called to be God’s prophets,
Speaking for the truth and right;
Standing firm for godly justice,
Bringing evil into light.
Let us seek the courage needed,
Our high calling to fulfill,
That we all may know the blessing
Of the doing of God’s will.

Closing Prayer: Almighty God, go with me in Your grace to share Your love with everyone I come into contact with, by the power of Your Son, in whose name I pray. Amen.