#Pray4PPL Choose life and not death!

Life Support Prayer Calendar  Dear Prayer Team Member,   God wants life for his people. Jesus came to bring life---life abundant! God urges all people: choose life and be blessed! Call to Prayer: "Christ holds the center!" Deuteronomy 30:19 (NRSV)   I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live. Jan | Feb |Mar | Apr Prayer Calendar January 31 - February 6, 2021   1. Pray for private and public decision-makers to consider the lives of generations yet to be born choosing life for people of all ages, sizes, and abilities as they make those decisions.​   2. Pray for Pregnancy Care Centers to know God’s abundant provision in funding and volunteers so that they may offer support and care to women who are pregnant and needing help.   PO Box 5239, Lancaster, PA 17606-5239 412-487-1990 Share Via: Check out PPL's website

Churches, Denominations and Religions: Connectional Church School and Episcopal District Virtual Sunday Morning Worship Services on January 31st

Churches, Denominations and Religions: Connectional Church School and Episcopal District Virtual Sunday Morning Worship Services on January 31st: Virtual Sunday Morning Connectional Church School and Worship Services on January 31st Connectional Church School Church school will be at 9...

A Thought from the Word

A brief thought based on John 4:24 - “God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth.”

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Praying for one another

tness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Praying for one another: How a Mission Yearbook prayer and other unexpected prayers helped turn me around January 29, 2021 The Rev. Donna Frischknecht Jackson Just h...

Study, Learn and Grow: Connecting during social distancing: This week's resources for worship, study and navigating COVID-19

Study, Learn and Grow: Connecting during social distancing: This week's resources for worship, study and navigating COVID-19: SUBSCRIBE  \  ABOUT   \  DONATE   \  CONTACT Presbyterian Outlook COVID-19 news & resources Friends, Here's our weekly roundup of mi...

Churches, Denominations and Religions: Register for the 51st Annual Worship & Music Conferences

Churches, Denominations and Religions: Register for the 51st Annual Worship & Music Conferences: Join us this summer for Worship & Music 2021 registration is open Visit PAM's wesbite Conference Dates: Week 1 | June 20-25, 2021 We...

A New Devotion - Don’t Be Foolish

 Here's a new devotion that I wrote. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Galatians 3:1-5

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing? — if it really was for nothing. Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

Don’t Be Foolish

Paul said that the Galatians had become foolish. You see, in the past, he’d told them all about grace, you know, how it was a gift of God given through the Holy Spirit, something in which a person could trust but never earn. And because they’d accepted this message, Paul reminded those Galatians that they’d felt a new sense of peace and hope, something they’d never experienced in the past. Now that’s what had happened when he shared with them the truth of the Gospel. 

But for some reason, they’d turned from that message of grace. And instead of just claiming this incredible gift, they started working in new rules and commands which they felt they needed to follow. Of course, I’m sure they had several reasons for doing it. For example, since it involved their future, maybe they felt that they needed something more concrete than just trust. Or maybe they thought that incorporating obedience into their faith would give them more control. Or maybe their decision was motivated by something else. We just don’t know. But for Paul, the reason was not relevant. You see, it didn’t matter why they did what they did. For him, they were turning from the truth to follow a lie and abandoning the Spirit for the sake of the flesh. And because of that, they were being foolish.

And you know, as modern Christians continue to construct their own systems to determine salvation and apply those rules and laws to themselves and to others, I think we need to hear these words of Paul and to make the decision that we’re not going to be foolish either.

WCC Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021: Summary

SUMMARY GLOBAL PRAYER Global ecumenical prayer for Christian Unity NEWS Global ecumenical prayer shows “we are one world and one human family” In a culmination of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the World Council of Churches (WCC) held its first ever online global ecumenical prayer on 25 January, drawing attendees from across the world who came together in a spirit of hope.      Newly published vademecum for Catholic bishops highlights importance of reciprocal trust An Ecumenical Vademecum for Bishops, first drafted by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity then published by the dicastery with the blessing of Pope Francis, promotes ecumenism within the Catholic Church and within its relationships with other Christians.   Week of Prayer daily devotions now reaching Arabic-speaking audience For the first time, a Bible app is making daily devotions during the 2021 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity available in an Arabic translation provided by the Middle East Council of Churches. Christians worldwide gather in prayer for unity— even if distanced Even as nations continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, final preparations are under way for one of the world’s largest annual prayer observances, traditionally celebrated 18-25 January. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity involves Christian communities from many traditions and all parts of the globe. At a time when public health concerns put a limit on physical gatherings, it provides an opportunity for churches to come together by means of a typically Christian practice that long predates modern transport: prayer. Week of Prayer: can you picture it? Can you help us create a global picture of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity? In times of pandemic, creative photos and illustrations are more inspirational than ever! Please send us your photo or illustration by 26 January.   WCC will host online celebration for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca is inviting the global ecumenical family and friends to join the WCC for a livestreamed public prayer service on 25 January, the final day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.   Sisters share wisdom of life rooted in Christ for next week of prayer for unity The newly available materials for next year‘s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity draw on the experience of contemplative community life to guide us on a journey of prayer bearing fruits of reconciliation and solidarity. Tasked with preparing a draft for the 2021 edition, the Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland chose the theme “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit” (cf. Jn 15:5-9).   Praying for unity with the Sisters of Grandchamp in 2021 You may miss the cry of the tortured Christ on the cross, carved by the Brazilian artist Guido Rocha, if you do not look carefully at your right hand side as you enter the dark-wooden chapel of the monastic Community of Grandchamp, a hamlet near the Lake of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland.

RESOURCES Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: Material for 2021 Global ecumenical prayer for Christian Unity: Order of prayer Sister Svenja's reflection for morning prayer on the first day of the Week of Prayer 2021 Pilgrim Prayer: The Ecumenical Prayer Cycle

Week of Prayer 2021 Bible reading plan in the YouVersion Bible app MORNING PRAYERS SOCIAL MEDIA Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 on Twitter EVENTS Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 18 - 25 January 2021 Preparing the Week of Prayer 2021, the Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland chose the theme “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit” (cf. Jn 15:5-9). It expresses their community’s vocation to prayer, reconciliation and unity in the church and the human family. Global ecumenical prayer for Christian Unity 25 January 2021 WCC interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca is inviting the global ecumenical family and friends to join a livestreamed public prayer service on the final day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. JOIN THE PRAYER Pray with us - all year long! LEARN MORE Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 Share Tweet Forward

Stay updated following the World Council of Churches on social media: The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC interim general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland