Thursday, July 17, 2025

Looking into the lectionary - Prayers for after natural disasters

July 27, 2025
Luke 11:1-13
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

During 40 years of leading ecumenical worship services such as funerals, memorial services and prayer gatherings, I learned to give all of the “trespassers” in the congregation time to catch up with all of us “debtors” and “sinners.” The use of “debts” versus “trespasses” versus “sinners” in the Lord’s Prayer is one topic that often arises when discussing Luke 11:1-13.

If you’re engaging this Scripture at a Bible study, I recommend the leader investigate the increasingly common usage of “sins” in this phrase of the prayer. Two questions that I find are frequently asked are:

  1. Do we really mean it when we ask God to “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”? If so, what does that mean about our chances of being forgiven?
  2. Where is the doxology at the end of the Lord’s Prayer, not only in Luke 11:1-4 but also in Matthew 6:7-15? Neither Scripture includes the traditional, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” that Presbyterians are used to saying.

While these questions frequently lead to rich discussions about the usage of the Lord’s Prayer in the church, they may not be the strongest foundation for a sermon. A preacher might find they have too ambitious an agenda if they tackle both these questions in one sermon. Besides that, as engaging as these topics are, they could obscure the meaning of Jesus teaching his disciples to pray in Luke 11:1-13.

Praying as Jesus taught us

Worship leaders frequently employ the transitional sentence, “Now let us pray the prayer our Lord taught us to pray,” referencing Jesus’s instruction in Luke 11:2. But what does it mean to pray as Jesus taught us? In my opinion, there are at least three options for interpreting Jesus’s instructions for our prayer life.  

“Our Father, who art in heaven…”

The first option, as practiced in both corporate and private prayer on a regular basis, is to use the very words Jesus taught (at least those recorded in Luke 11:1-13 and Matthew 6:9-13, with the addition of the doxology).  ...

Read the rest of the commentary at pres-outlook.org.

Thank you to this week's writer, Philip Gladden.

Order of worship — July 27, 2025, by Philip Gladden
Holy dissent: Presbyterians speak out about the Trump administration’s policies by Gregg Brekke
Ordination Task Force has a number of Book of Order amendments it will propose by Mike Ferguson
O God, be near: A Lament after the flood by Teri McDowell Ott
Want the worship resources for July 20, 2025? You can find them here.
In four sessions, “Revelation: Professing Christ Today” by Mark D. Hinds seeks to create an inclusive environment for discussing and reflecting on the political ramifications of following Christ.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...


A blessing for picking up the pieces
Blessed are you, who pick up the pieces: who gather sticks and saw down limbs, who drag away the broken branches and rake up what you can amid chaos ... — Eliza Smith DeBevoise

General Assembly committee publishes a resource to help Presbyterians confront Christian nationalism
GACEIR document includes a liturgical witness against the growing movement. — Mike Ferguson

Churches can endorse politicians, IRS says in court filing
The IRS hopes to settle a lawsuit brought by a pair of Texas churches and a group of religious broadcasters over rules that bar houses of worship and other nonprofits from getting involved in political campaigns. — Bob Smietana and Jack Jenkins

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
"One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" calls preachers and other church leaders to pay attention, show up, and work toward a renewed moral compass in our country and culture. — Amy Pagliarella

APCU and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary launch new certificate program
APCU and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary launch a 24-month hybrid College Chaplains Certificate Program. — By Beth Waltemath

Growing in friendship and faith: Fridays at the library become more than lessons in literacy
Language lessons spark a friendship rooted in faith. Don Griggs and his friend José read the Bible, share traditions, grieve, celebrate — and witness God’s grace.

Presbyterians respond quickly and compassionately to rapid flooding in the Texas Hill Country
A beloved Presbyterian ruling elder is among the victims of the Friday floodwaters. — Mike Ferguson

For such a time as this
Oftentimes, we read but do not act. How can we leverage our positions to thoughtfully expose injustice and protect the vulnerable, asks Teri McDowell Ott?
Facebook

Prayers for Our Community, Our Nation and Our World

We can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Between Monday, July 21 and Sunday, July 27, we'll lay before God the needs listed below.

  • Monday, July 21, 2025 - That we offer God thanks for all his blessings.
  • Tuesday, July 22, 2025 - That we approach our differences with both faith and commonsense.
  • Wednesday, July 23, 2025 - That our leaders work for unity and cooperation.
  • Thursday, July 24, 2025 - That our public officials accept that great leaders are servants. 
  • Friday, July 25, 2025 - That families read their Bible and attend worship services together.
  • Saturday, July 26, 2025 - That our judges would value the principles reflected in the Old and New Testaments.
  • Sunday, July 27, 2025 - That doctors and nurses communicate compassion and concern to their patients. 

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Friday, July 11, 2025

Prayers for Our Community, Our Nation and Our World

We can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Between Monday, July 14 and Sunday, July 20, we'll lay before God the needs listed below.

  • Monday, July 14, 2025 - That those in the entertainment industry recognize any negative influences within their media creations.
  • Tuesday, July 15, 2025 - That World Vision be able to address real human need around the world.
  • Wednesday, July 16, 2025 - That those in the media and government would report facts accurately and without any bias.
  • Thursday, July 17, 2025 - That young people are able to grow into their potential.
  • Friday, July 18, 2025 - That the people of Ukraine be protected.
  • Saturday, July 19, 2025 - That all racial divisions be healed.
  • Sunday, July 20, 2025 - That police officers show strength and compassion when enforcing the law.

The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, July 6, 2025

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service ...: In the series,  Rooted in Christ: A Journey through Colossians , we're journeying through Paul's letter to the Colossians, discoveri...

Sunday's Message - Rooted in Service (Colossians 1:24–2:5)

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: Sunday's Message - Rooted in Service (Colossians 1...: In the series,  Rooted in Christ: A Journey through Colossians , we're journeying through Paul's letter to the Colossians, discoveri...

Thursday, July 10, 2025

WCC NEWS: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2026 resources available worldwide

Churches and Christian communities worldwide are invited to use the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2026 resources to pray together for the unity among churches throughout the year.
Prayer service for peace in Armenia, for support for refugees, and the release of war hostages in St Pierre Cathedral, Geneva, Switzerland, 10 November 2024. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC
10 July 2025

For the year 2026, the prayers and reflections for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were prepared by the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The resources are jointly published by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches (WCC). The final material is sent to WCC member churches and Roman Catholic episcopal conferences. Persons are invited to translate the text and contextualize or adapt it for their own use.

The drafting group had a unique opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the common Christian faith that remains alive and fruitful in the churches in Armenia today. The resources draw upon historic traditions of prayer and petitions used by the Armenian people, along with hymns that originated in the ancient monasteries and churches of Armenia, some of which date as far back as the fourth century.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2026 offers Christians throughout the world the opportunity to draw upon this shared Christian heritage.

The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity for 2026 comes from Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Eph. 4:4).

In a world with diverse and often divided traditions and expressions of Christian faith, Ephesians 4:4 reminds us that all believers are part of the “one body” of Christ.

The traditional period in the northern hemisphere for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is 18-25 January. In the southern hemisphere churches often find other days to celebrate the Week of Prayer, for example around Pentecost, which is also a symbolic date for the unity of the church.

Mindful of the need for flexibility, organizers of the Week of Prayer invite you to use this material throughout the year to express the degree of communion which the churches have already reached, and to pray together for that full unity which is Christ’s will.

Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2026

Learn more about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

See more
The World Council of Churches on Facebook
The World Council of Churches on Twitter
The World Council of Churches on Instagram
The World Council of Churches on YouTube
World Council of Churches on SoundCloud
The World Council of Churches' website
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 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.

Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press
Our visiting address is:
World Council of Churches
Chemin du Pommier 42
Kyoto Building
Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218
Switzerland

Friday, July 4, 2025

Prayers for Our Community, Our Nation and Our World

We can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Between Monday, July 7 and Sunday, July 13, we'll lay before God the needs listed below.

  • Monday, July 7, 2025 - That we put aside our self-interest for the sake of our neighbors.
  • Tuesday, July 8, 2025 - That our church leaders have the strength and faith to stand up for the truth.
  • Wednesday, July 9, 2025 - That our community, state and national leaders would be presented with the Gospel and a loving Christian witness.
  • Thursday, July 10, 2025 - That we listen to those who have experiences different from our own.
  • Friday, July 11, 2025 - That our judges would adjudicate with godly wisdom.
  • Saturday, July 12, 2025 - That college students feel God's love and support
  • Sunday, July 13, 2025 - That teachers and administrators would be open to God's Word and God's will.

The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, June 22, 2025

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service ...: In the series,  Rooted in Christ: A Journey through Colossians , we're journeying through Paul's letter to the Colossians, discoveri...

Sunday's Message - Rooted in Peace (Colossians 1:15-23)

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: Sunday's Message - Rooted in Peace (Colossians 1:1...: In the series,  Rooted in Christ: A Journey through Colossians , we're journeying through Paul's letter to the Colossians, discoveri...

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Looking into the lectionary - Meet a trailblazing woman in PC(USA) history

July 13, 2025
Luke 10:25-37

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

This Sunday’s gospel reading, the parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37, surfaced in the news recently. In a Fox News interview, Vice President JD Vance, a conservative Catholic, aligned “America First” politics to what he said was a Christian concept of “ordered love”—a hierarchy of obligation that prioritizes family first, then neighbor, then community, then country, and finally, the rest of the world. Later, on social media, Vance asked pointedly: “Does [anyone] really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away?”

Vance’s ordering can feel intuitively right. Of course, we prioritize the people closest to us. It’s hard to argue against caring first for our children, our partners, our communities, giving what’s left over – if anything – to those out of sight and mind. But the gospel disrupts our intuitive answers; Jesus consistently calls us beyond what is expected or culturally acceptable. He doesn’t just reorder our obligations; he often explodes the entire premise of hierarchy.

In Luke 14:26, Jesus tells would-be disciples they must “hate” – hyperbole for “detach from” – their father, mother, spouse, children, siblings, even their own lives. He protests against the powerful and aligns himself with the poor and the vulnerable. He says things like, “the last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16). Jesus calls us to reorder our hearts, not around physical proximity or bloodlines or geographic borders, but around compassion.

Jesuit Priest James Martin responded to Vance’s comments by publicly referencing Luke 10:25-37, writing, “This misses the point of Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan. After Jesus tells a lawyer that you should ‘love your neighbor as yourself,’ the lawyer asks him, ‘And who is my neighbor? In response, Jesus tells the story of a Jewish man who has been beaten by robbers and is lying by the side of the road. The man is helped not by those closest to him (a ‘priest’ and a ‘Levite’), but rather by a Samaritan.”

Martin reminds us that the priest and Levite, presumably higher on the “order of love,” were the first to walk away, while the Samaritan would be the last person responsible for the wounded man. Samaritans and Jews of Jesus’ day were not only strangers from different regions and religions, but historical enemies.

Parables aren’t strict instruction manuals. ...

Read the rest of the commentary at pres-outlook.org.

Want to do a sermon series on nonviolent resistance? 

This webinar offers biblical insight, stories, and tools to preach peace in a violent world. "Pay-what-you-can" for the recording now!
Learn more
Order of worship — July 13, 2025, by Teri McDowell Ott
Churches hope to tap the power of pickleball by Bob Smietana
Supporting your congregation’s caregivers by Phillip Blackburn
The Rev. Glenda Hope: One of the first women ordained in the PC(USA) by Maggi Henderson
Want the worship resources for July 6, 2025? You can find them here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...


Cleveland Heights church focus is on student debt relief as repair
Congregation’s Racial Repair and Restoration Task Force addresses historic harms with new program. — Beth Waltemath

National Black Presbyterian Caucus finds hope in ‘Labor Not in Vain’
The caucus provides a vital space to address challenges and issues that are specific to Black Presbyterian congregations. — Dartinia Hull

Intentional awe, awareness and connectivity
Whether it's people or trees, we are surrounded by community, writes Colleen Earp, but connection requires intentionality.

Reckoning with History: Settler Colonialism, Slavery, and the Making of American Christianity
William Yoo's work is of interest to all people of faith, who are called to a more honest approach to American history and who seek a faithful way forward for the church, writes John Wilkinson.

100 years ago, the Social Gospel movement pushed to improve workers’ lives – but also to promote its vision of Christian America
How has white Christian nationalism changed since the Gilded Age? Religion scholar Christina Littlefield compares the Social Gospel with the Christian right today.

Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives
In "Just Making:" Mitali Perkins explores the seemingly bifurcated relationship between creativity and justice and finds that the two are not as opposed as she once thought. — Caroline Barnett
Facebook

Sunday's Message - Rooted in Faith (Colossians 2:6-19)

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: Sunday's Message - Rooted in Faith (Colossians 2:6... : In the series,  Roote...