Items for the week of Sunday, July 12th

This past Sunday, July 12^th, was the 7^th Sunday after Pentecost

We heard the following scripture readings, introduction, and prayer of the day during the Sunday morning worship service:

Introduction

God’s word is like the rain that waters the earth and brings forth vegetation. It is also like the sower who scatters seed indiscriminately. Our lives are like seeds sown in the earth. Even from what appears to be little, dormant, or dead, God promises a harvest. At the Lord’s table we are fed with the bread of life, that we may bear fruit in the world.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God, we thank you for planting in us the seed of your word. By your Holy Spirit help us to receive it with joy, live according to it, and grow in faith and hope and love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Scripture
Isaiah 55:10-13 The growth of the word to accomplish God’s purpose
Psalm 65:[1-8] 9-13 Your paths overflow with plenty. (Ps. 65:11)
Romans 8:1-11 Live according to the Spirit
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 The parable of the sower and the seed

Devotion for the Week

From Welcome to Belonging

In this parable, Jesus tells the disciples a story of a gardener. While many people carefully plan where to plant seeds (with some modern farmers using technology to map out, down to the millimeter, where each seed will grow best), the gardener in Jesus’ story scatters seed generously, almost carelessly.

As the disciples, familiar with farming and fishing, would have known deep within themselves, things don’t come easy in this life. Faith is the same. Like seeds that take their time, when the conditions are right to grow and bear fruit, faith isn’t always a steady path. There are seasons of cold isolation—times when prayer and devotions don’t warm the heart as they once did. There are seasons of scorching busyness—times when endless distractions overwork the head enough to overheat. Faith might look different at these times, but no matter the season, faith is never gone.

Ultimately, faith isn’t measured down to the millimeter. Instead, this haphazardly generous gardener extends faith into the impossible places. And when rocks, sun, or thorns from this world and within choke this faith that God has given us, the impossible becomes possible. In every season, God comes again and again to sprinkle more and more seed and to reach out to us before we can even try to grow on our own. And with time and divine Presence, that seed of faith starts to sprout.

Because of this never-ending abundance, every season is an opportunity to engage with God the generous gardener, whose nearness is always available and who gives the gift of faith, no matter the conditions. Today, let the summer breeze remind you of how close God’s Spirit is, always nurturing and providing the abundance that is the essence of faith.