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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

 

Today’s Reflection

Six weeks into the wilderness, the Israelites missed all that life back in Egypt. They weren’t stoic about it, either. They complained bitterly to Moses and Aaron (the closest they had to clergy) about their raw deal. If God meant to kill them, why not do it back in Egypt, after a big bowl of stew and all the [bread] they could eat? Even condemned prisoners got a last meal.

God responded by raining bread from heaven—one kind, not the kind the people had in mind, but bread all the same.

—Barbara Brown Taylor, “Divine Provision,” in The Upper Room Disciplines 2023: A Book of Daily Devotions (Upper Room Books, 2022)

Disciplines 2024 is now available! Learn more and order your copy here.

Today’s Question

When is it important to remember and include the complaining that took place when you’re telling your story? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

The Israelites said to [Moses and Aaron], “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
—Exodus 16:3 (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

Loving God, we thank you for the ways you provide for us. Help us to become more aware of your presence in our daily lives and to share your love with others. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Something More

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Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

3 Comments

  • robert moeller Posted September 18, 2023 5:39 am

    I don’t see myself as a story teller and generally keep my complaints to myself. The environment isn’t favorable to storytelling or making complaints known.
    Very thankful to have a pastor again, we endured, kept things going without one, but it surely wasn’t the same. A lot of activities in the next two months. As someone mentioned, “it’s nice to have a busy little church again.” Thank You, Lord.

  • Julie Posted September 18, 2023 9:36 am

    I agree with Robert. No one wants to hear my story and they sure as heck don’t want to hear my complaints. Everyone is busy living their own stories and have their own hardships,

    • robert moeller Posted September 18, 2023 10:24 am

      I do think this site is where we could share stories and complaints. The atmosphere here is compatible.

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