No Condemnation by Lisa Degrenia Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” – John 8:10-11
Jesus, you do not condem You reveal You write the truth on the sands of our souls
We hear our prejudice We see our hypocrisy
continue with your own prayers of confession
We drop the stones of our deadly traditions Our blood trappings We surrender our false supremancy
All have sinned, we have sinned All fall short, we fall short All need you and your redeeming love, We need you and your redeeming love
Shine On by Lisa Degrenia Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12
Shine on Jesus Shine on me Make me a Child of Light Being light Living in light Bearing the fruit of light
Shine on me and in me exposing the works of my darkness to the light Your healing, redeeming Light
Shine on me, Shine in me, Shine through me Exposing the works of darkness around me The oppression, corruption, destruction Exposing them to the light Your light Your truth, your justice Your mercy, your healing, your love Your ways Your Light
Shine on Jesus Lord of Light Light of the World Shine your healing, redeeming Light
Freedom in Christ by Lisa Degrenia Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.- John 8:34-36
Come Mighty Savior! Wield your truth Release the captives Release us
Come Mighty Savior! Shatter the bonds of Fear and Sin Shame and Injustice Falsehood and Death
Come Mighty Savior! We long for your deliverance Take our strongholds and give us freedom Take our numbers and give us names Take our sentences and give us life
If you make us free We are free indeed
Continue with your own prayers of deliverance and thanksgiving
************
I’ll be posting prayers based on the Gospel of John throughout Lent and Easter this year. Thanks for coming along with me on the journey. – Lisa <><
Open My Eyes
Based on Luke 24:13-35, The Road to Emmaus
Open my eyes to your presence
Break the bread
Tear the veil in two
Open my eyes to your presence
Your Word and your Way
To see and seek
Open my eyes to your presence
A dawn of recognition
The fullness of your grace
Now mine to reveal
Help us Shine
Based on John 1:1-14
John 1:9
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
Welcome Glorious One
Lord of Life and Light
Dawn in us your power and peacemaking
Hallelujah! Help us shine!
You bathe us in the light of your grace, that we may be grace
You fill us with the light of your truth, that we may be truth
You flood us with the light of your love, that we may be love
Hallelujah! Help us shine!
Sharing your light
Spreading your light
Beyond our imagining to your desiring
Hallelujah! Help us shine!
Unveiled
Bright
A beam worthy of the stretch of your embrace
Hallelujah! Help us shine!
Draw us
Draw all
To your light
Hallelujah! Help us shine!
_______________
For the next few months, I’m reading a chapter from the Gospels each day. This is part of the Summer in the Scriptures reading plan sponsored by the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Click Here for the reading plan.
As part of the Facebook group, I’ve been supplying prayers based on the day’s reading. Feel free to post your prayers and observations based on the readings here or there as well.
May the grace of the Gospels, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <
Ephesians 5:8-11
For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord, you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
Shine on Jesus
Shine on me and in me and through me
Make me a Child of Light
To be light
To live in light
To bear the fruit of light
Shine on me and in me and through me
exposing the works of my darkness to the light
Your Light
Shine on me and in me and through me
Exposing the works of darkness around me
The oppression, corruption, destruction
Exposing them to the light
Your light
Your truth, your justice
Your mercy, your healing, your love
Your ways
Your Light
Shine on Jesus
Lord of Light
Light of the World
Shine on me and in me and through me
Shine on
BONUS PRAYER: My Light by Steve Garnaas Holmes
You, beloved, are not in darkness…
you are all children of light and children of the day.
—1 Thessalonians 5.4-5
God, my Light,
shine in me this day.
Fill the night of my fear with your dawn.
Redeem the night of my bitterness with your grace.
Transform the night of my despair with your love.
Be my dawn, my rising sun,
my steady light.
May I bear your light
into the shadows of this world.
Let me shine with your love,
your hope, your truth.
Light of love, shine in me.
*****************
This prayer was inspired by the Ephesians Reading Challenge. Click Here for more information on the challenge to read and reflect on the entire book of Ephesians 3 times in 3 weeks.
The Ephesians Reading Challenge accompanied a sermon series entitled Sit Walk Stand which was inspired by Watchman Nee‘s bookSit Walk Stand, a study of Ephesians. You will find recordings and notes from this series on the blog as well.
Growing in Resilience
Day 21, Read Isaiah 60
Reflection: Everlasting Light,
based on Isaiah 60:1-3; 19-20, NRSV
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn… The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, or your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.
Everlasting Light,
Glorious, Merciful, One,
You come, we rise
Shine in our minds,
Enlighten our understanding of you and your ways
So we may do what is true and live in your light
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Let your face shine, that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:19)
Breath of Life,
Refiner’s Fire,
You come, we rise
Shine in our eyes,
Illumine what is in need of correction and cleansing,
Spark in us your compassion and reign
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Let your face shine, that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:19)
Jesus, Messiah,
Light of the World,
You come, we rise
Shine in our living
Shine in our glory
No more night, No more mourning
Radiant hope for us and for all
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Let your face shine, that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:19)
Message: Jesus, The Light of the World Scriptures: John 3:16-21; John 8:12 I’m catching up on some 2017 sermons which haven’t been posted. This is message 2 of 6 in a Lenten sermon series entitled I AM Jesus. It was offered 3/12/17 at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota Florida.
What is your favorite kind of light?
Sunlight, Moonlight, Firelight, Fireflies
Candlelight, Christmas Lights, Spotlight, Nightlight
Light is a primal, universal experience
And one of the most important themes of the Bible
Look at the way the Bible begins in Genesis: “The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep . . . Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light” (1:2-3). The first thing God spoke into existence was light.
Go to the book of Revelation, to the description of the new heaven and earth: “There will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light” (22:5).
Many of the OT prophecies of a coming Messiah use the image of light: “Arise, shine; for your light has come” (Isa. 60:1). “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isa. 9:2).
The Bible constantly affirms that when God comes on the scene, there is light.
God makes staying in darkness a choice.
How? By coming as Jesus
John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
Jesus said these words in Jerusalem while attending Sukkot, often called the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. Passover is celebrated in the Spring to commemorate God freeing the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Sukkot is celebrated in the Fall to commemorate God leading the people through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
The opening night of Sukkot was a huge celebration. People would sing and dance until morning. The first evening began with The Grand Illumination. Giant torches lined the courtyard of the temple burning so brightly it lit up all of Jerusalem. Imagine this at a time with no electricity!
It’s reasonable, even likely, it was at this moment Jesus said to the crowds, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
Jesus is saying, “Place your trust in me, I will be your pillar of fire leading you through the darkness of the wilderness… I will lead you to the Promised Land. I will lead you home.”
Staying in darkness is a choice. What have you chosen? Have you said, “yes” to Jesus?
Have you placed your trust in his light and direction to lead you now and to lead you home?
1. Sometimes our dark wilderness is circumstance beyond our control
We cannot see the path. We freeze, afraid we’ll fall off the edge or into a pit. Jesus, I choose your light- lead me and guide me now and always
It’s like having a flashlight in the deepest night. We trust Jesus for the next step, the next step, and the one after that. Jesus promises he will lead us step by step to a blessed end.
2. Sometimes our dark wilderness is a result of our own actions
Jesus is the light of the world and the light of life. Because Jesus loves us, Jesus shines a light on our sin, all those things we want to keep in the dark. It can be painful to see it. It can be painful to acknowledge our need for forgiveness and healing and salvation.
My friends, it’s hard, but it’s good. It’s grace. Claim it as an “ah-ha” moment of hope. It’s Christ working within us so we may have the light of life. We are not been abandoned. We are not condemned. We are not beyond grace.
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Staying in darkness is a choice. Come into the light.
Washing Windows Illustration
A teenager went to visit his grandmother one summer. While there, she asked him to wash the windows of her old Victorian home. She gave him instructions in the morning and said she’d be back to check on him in the afternoon. He laughed to himself- This job won’t take that long. So he washed the windows. They looked great and he spent the rest of the morning playing video games on his phone.
The afternoon came and the grandmother pulled back the curtains to see how he’d done. The windows were full of streaks and the corners were full of dirt. The young man was shocked. In the morning everything looked fine. What happened? Nothing happened. The afternoon sunlight revealed more truth than the morning light.
The grandmother did not condemn her grandson. She loved him and helped him to clean what he could now see.
Staying in darkness is a choice. Come into the light.
*****************
I’m excited to now offer mp3’s of my Sunday messages. A huge thank you to Sean and my brothers and sisters at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota for all their help in making this possible. If you’re ever in Sarasota, please drop by for worship Sundays at 9am or 10:30am, or join us live on our Facebook page at 9am Sundays, or drop by during the week for a chat or small group. You and those you love are always welcome.
Ephesians 5:8-11
Growing in Resilience
Revlisad.com 