Each Wednesday throughout the season of Lent in 2013, a reflection including bible verses, prayer suggestions and a prayer will be available on the ABCUSA website. The following reading is the first reflection, posted for Ash Wednesday, February 13, 2013.
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 (NRSV)
1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”
9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14 Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
15 When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
16 With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.
Romans 10:8b-13 (NRSV)
8 “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
11 The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.
13 For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Prayer Requests:
–May ABC churches continue to grow as they seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
–For the gathering of American Baptists in Overland Park, KS, in June.
— For freedom and peace to live together.