Opening Prayer: Almighty God, clothe me in yourself and enable me to live and serve after the pattern of Jesus. Amen

Read: Colossians 1:21-29

Reflect: Remember the hymn that Paul included in the letter before this passage, go back and reread vv. 15-20 if you don’t remember what it said. How does the teaching in this passage flow out of the hymn in the paragraph before? What do you think Paul means by filling up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ? Could any Christian fill up what is lacking or is Paul special? What instructions in this passage help you today?

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

Hymn: “Come Down, O Love Divine”
Come down, O Love divine,
Seek thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with thine own ardor glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
Within my heart appear,
And kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing;

O let it freely burn,
Till earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
And let thy glorious light
Shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round the while my path illuming.

And so the yearning strong,
With which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the power of human telling;
For none can guess its grade,
Till he become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling. Amen

Closing Prayer: Go forth with the calm assurance that the unparalleled love of God surrounds, upholds, and preserves your life and ministry. Amen.