Good morning.
Today is Tuesday,
March 9th,
2021.
Oh Lord,
Let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to God,
The three in one,
Creator,
Redeemer,
And sustainer.
As it was in the beginning,
Is now,
And will be forever.
Amen.
Come let us worship and bow down.
Let us kneel before the Lord,
Our maker.
Remind yourself that you are in God's presence.
Notice how God may be speaking to you today.
Let yourself dwell on any word or phrase that catches your attention or moves your heart and let your heart simply respond to God in prayer.
Please repeat these words.
Jesus,
You are the light of the world.
Open our eyes that we might see.
Our reading today is John 8 verses 1 through 11.
Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives.
At daybreak,
He reappeared in the temple area,
And when people started coming to him,
Jesus sat down and began to teach them.
A couple had been caught in the act of adultery,
Though the scribes and Pharisees brought only the woman,
And they made her stand there in front of everyone.
Teacher,
They said,
This woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
In the law of Moses,
The punishment for this act is stoning.
What do you say about it?
They were posing this question to trap Jesus so that they could charge him with something.
Jesus simply bent down and started tracing on the ground with his finger.
When they persisted in their questioning,
Jesus straightened up and said to them,
Let the person among you who is without sin throw the first stone at her.
Then he bent down again and wrote on the ground.
The audience drifted away one by one.
Beginning with the elders.
This left Jesus alone with the woman who continued to stand there.
Jesus finally straightened up and said,
Where did they go?
Has no one condemned you?
No one,
Teacher,
Came the reply.
I don't condemn you either.
Go on your way.
But from now on,
Don't sin anymore.
Please repeat these words,
Jesus,
You are the light of the world.
Open our eyes that we might see.
On Tuesdays,
We pray for our friends,
So I invite you now to let your imagination rest on one of your friends and lift that friend before God in this space.
You can repeat the person's name over and over with your voice or in your mind,
Or just hold your friends silently in your heart.
Don't worry about diagnosing the person's need or telling God what to do.
Simply hold this person before the God who loves her or him more than you could ever imagine in this space right now.
May the love of God go before you and behind you,
Beneath you and above you,
On your right,
On your left,
When you rise and when you lie down.
May the love of God be with you.
May the love of God be in you.
We pray in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray,
Our Father in heaven,
Eternal God,
Earth maker,
Pain bearer,
Life giver,
Source of all that is and all that shall be.
Not only father but mother of us all.
May the hallowing of your name echo through the universe.
May the way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world.
May your heavenly will be done by all created beings.
May your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today,
Feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another,
Forgive us.
In times of temptation and test,
Strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure,
Spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil,
Free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
Now and forever.
Amen.
Jesus,
You are the light of the world.
Open our eyes that we may see.
Lead us to live according to your teaching and become your disciples.
That we may know the truth and be made free.
Amen.
And now my friends,
May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you wherever he may send you today.
May he guide you through the wilderness,
Protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
Go in peace.
