{"id":21129,"date":"2023-08-11T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-friday-11th-august-2023"},"modified":"2023-08-11T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-friday-11th-august-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-friday-11th-august-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion Friday 11th August 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Romans 9: 1 – 18<\/span><\/strong>
I am speaking the truth in Christ\u2014I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit \u2014  I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.  They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;  to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all Israelites truly belong to Israel,  and not all of Abraham\u2019s children are his true descendants; but \u2018It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named after you.\u2019  This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.  For this is what the promise said, \u2018About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son.\u2019  Nor is that all; something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac.  Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God\u2019s purpose of election might continue,  not by works but by his call) she was told, \u2018The elder shall serve the younger.\u2019  As it is written,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God\u2019s part? By no means!  For he says to Moses,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.  For the scripture says to Pharaoh, \u2018I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.\u2019  So then he has mercy on whomsoever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomsoever he chooses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Elder shall serve the younger\u201d, eh? That message seems to have got lost in translation over the generations – or, maybe, just conveniently ignored as an inconvenient truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do we older folk serve those who come after us? Do we encourage worship in a way that helps them to engage and develop their own relationship with God? Do we explain why things are done a certain way or just insist that it is \u2018because\u2019? Do we offer genuine opportunities for others to share new ideas? Do we listen to them when they do? Are we honestly open to change? <\/span><\/p>\n

Or do we carry on doing what we\u2019ve always been doing, thinking \u201cThey can change things when I\u2019m gone but not before\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s quite a risk – because, if we don\u2019t help younger generations feel at home in our churches, in our worship, in our processes and practices, there will potentially be nobody to come after us. They\u2019ll have voted with their feet, as so many have done in the past and, if we\u2019re honest, if many of us wish we\u2019d had the courage to do when we were their age.<\/span><\/p>\n

So let\u2019s take time to think about how we can serve them, rather than the other way around. Let\u2019s see what happens when our world is turned upside down. Let\u2019s let them speak their truth in Christ. Who knows, it might actually lead to an improvement?<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh Lord All The World Belongs To You<\/span>
And You Are Always Making All Things New.<\/span>
Send Your Spirit On All In Your Church Whom You Call<\/span>
To Be Turning The World Upside Down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Patrick Appleford<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 9: 1 – 18I am speaking the truth in Christ\u2014I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit \u2014  I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my … <\/p>\n

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