¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰ Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. ²¹ We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:17-22

Dear God, it’s amazing to see how many ways the Bible finds to tell me that you love me. That’s something even now I tend to take for granted. You love me. You love the people I love. You love the people I don’t care for. Like a parent loves a child at the deepest levels of their soul, you love us that much and even more. I’m sorry I don’t really know how to appreciate that.

And then there’s the matter of spreading your love to others. Sharing it. Helping other people be drawn to you. To experience what it means to sink their roots into your river and feel you flow into them. To grow your fruit.

Father, help me to be a source of your love for others today and to encourage just one person to embrace your love for them. I pray for the two new pastors in town and the new church that started last month. Help all of them. For the new church, while it breaks my heart that it felt it needed to break away from another church to star anew, I pray that it will fill a need in the community that wouldn’t otherwise be met. Fill the leadership with your love, compassion, wisdom, and Spirit. Help them to hear your voice. For the new pastors, well, there are always criticisms of the last guy. The day I leave my position there will be criticisms of me. Help these two pastors to avoid those traps. Help them to follow their predecessors in love, to follow you completely, and to be part of your kingdom coming and your will being done in their churches and in our community as it is in heaven. Show me how to support them as well. And for those who are on my mind who are facing physical challenges, I pray that you will heal, strengthen, and comfort them. Strengthen their caregivers as well.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen