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The PC(USA) & The Synod of Living Waters

Holston Presbytery

a council of the PC(USA)
P. O. Box 3647 · Kingsport, TN 37664
Phone: (423) 247-6178 · Fax: (815) 550-2780
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Daily Devotional

  • Daily Lectionary Readings for January 27, 2012

    Morning Psalm 88

    1   O LORD, God of my salvation,

         when, at night, I cry out in your presence,

    2   let my prayer come before you;

              incline your ear to my cry.

    3   For my soul is full of troubles,

              and my life draws near to Sheol.

    4   I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;

              I am like those who have no help,

    5   like those forsaken among the dead,

              like the slain that lie in the grave,

         like those whom you remember no more,

              for they are cut off from your hand.

    6   You have put me in the depths of the Pit,

              in the regions dark and deep.

    7   Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

              and you overwhelm me with all your waves.               Selah

    8   You have caused my companions to shun me;

              you have made me a thing of horror to them.

         I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

    9        my eye grows dim through sorrow.

         Every day I call on you, O LORD;

              I spread out my hands to you.

    10  Do you work wonders for the dead?

              Do the shades rise up to praise you?                                   Selah

    11  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

              or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

    12  Are your wonders known in the darkness,

              or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

    13  But I, O LORD, cry out to you;

              in the morning my prayer comes before you.

    14  O LORD, why do you cast me off?

              Why do you hide your face from me?

    15  Wretched and close to death from my youth up,

              I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.

    16  Your wrath has swept over me;

              your dread assaults destroy me.

    17  They surround me like a flood all day long;

              from all sides they close in on me.

    18  You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;

              my companions are in darkness.

    Morning Psalm 148

    1   Praise the Lord!

         Praise the Lord from the heavens;

              praise him in the heights!

    2   Praise him, all his angels;

              praise him, all his host!

    3   Praise him, sun and moon;

              praise him, all you shining stars!

    4   Praise him, you highest heavens,

              and you waters above the heavens!

    5   Let them praise the name of the Lord,

              for he commanded and they were created.

    6   He established them forever and ever;

              he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

    7   Praise the Lord from the earth,

              you sea monsters and all deeps,

    8   fire and hail, snow and frost,

              stormy wind fulfilling his command!

    9   Mountains and all hills,

              fruit trees and all cedars!

    10  Wild animals and all cattle,

              creeping things and flying birds!

    11  Kings of the earth and all peoples,

              princes and all rulers of the earth!

    12  Young men and women alike,

              old and young together!

    13  Let them praise the name of the Lord,

              for his name alone is exalted;

              his glory is above earth and heaven.

    14  He has raised up a horn for his people,

              praise for all his faithful,

              for the people of Israel who are close to him.

         Praise the Lord!

    First Reading Genesis 17:15-27

    15God said to Abraham,
    “As for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her
    Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover I
    will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she
    shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come
    from her.” 17Then
    Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to
    himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a
    hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old,
    bear a child?” 18And Abraham said to God, “O
    that Ishmael might live in your sight!” 19God said, “No, but your wife
    Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac.
    I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting
    covenant for his offspring after him. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you;
    I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly
    numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I
    will make him a great nation. 21But my covenant I will establish
    with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season
    next year.” 22And
    when he had finished talking with him, God went up from
    Abraham.

    23Then Abraham took his
    son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or
    bought with his money, every male among the men of
    Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of
    their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.
    24Abraham was
    ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the
    flesh of his foreskin. 25And his son Ishmael was thirteen
    years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his
    foreskin. 26That very
    day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised;
    27and all the men of
    his house, slaves born in the house and those bought with
    money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

    Second Reading Hebrews 10:11-25

    11And every priest
    stands day after day at his service, offering again and
    again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.
    12But when Christ had
    offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins,
    “he sat down at the right hand of God,”
    13and since then has
    been waiting “until his enemies would be made a
    footstool for his feet.” 14For by a single offering he has
    perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
    15And the Holy Spirit
    also testifies to us, for after saying,

    16“This is the covenant that I will make with them

    after those days, says the Lord:

    I will put my laws in their hearts,

    and I will write them on their minds,”

    17he also adds,

    “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

    18Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

    19Therefore, my
    friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary
    by the blood of Jesus, 20by the new and living way that he
    opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his
    flesh), 21and since we
    have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us approach with a true heart
    in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled
    clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with
    pure water. 23Let us
    hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering,
    for he who has promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to
    provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together,
    as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and
    all the more as you see the Day approaching.

    Gospel John 6:1-15

    1After this Jesus went
    to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the
    Sea of Tiberias. 2A
    large crowd kept following him, because they saw the
    signs that he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat
    down there with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the festival of
    the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large
    crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip,
    “Where are we to buy bread for these people to
    eat?” 6He said
    this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going
    to do. 7Philip answered
    him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough
    bread for each of them to get a little.”
    8One of his disciples,
    Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
    9“There is a boy
    here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what
    are they among so many people?” 10Jesus said, “Make the people
    sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in
    the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all.
    11Then Jesus took the
    loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them
    to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as
    they wanted. 12When
    they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather
    up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be
    lost.” 13So they
    gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five
    barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled
    twelve baskets. 14When
    the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to
    say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into
    the world.”

    15When Jesus realized
    that they were about to come and take him by force to
    make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by
    himself.

    Evening Psalm 6

    1   O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger,

              or discipline me in your wrath.

    2   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;

              O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.

    3   My soul also is struck with terror,

              while you, O LORD — how long?

    4   Turn, O LORD, save my life;

              deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

    5   For in death there is no remembrance of you;

              in Sheol who can give you praise?

    6   I am weary with my moaning;

              every night I flood my bed with tears;

              I drench my couch with my weeping.

    7   My eyes waste away because of grief;

              they grow weak because of all my foes.

    8   Depart from me, all you workers of evil,

              for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.

    9   The LORD has heard my supplication;

              the LORD accepts my prayer.

    10  All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;

              they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.

    Evening Psalm 20

    1   The LORD answer you in the day of trouble!

              The name of the God of Jacob protect you!

    2   May he send you help from the sanctuary,

              and give you support from Zion.

    3   May he remember all your offerings,

              and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.                    Selah

    4   May he grant your heart’s desire

              and fulfill all your plans.

    5   May we shout for joy over your victory,

              and in the name of our God set up our banners.

         May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.

    6   Now I know that the LORD will help his anointed;

              he will answer him from his holy heaven

              with mighty victories by his right hand.

    7   Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,

              but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God.

    8   They will collapse and fall,

              but we shall rise and stand upright.

    9   Give victory to the king, O LORD;

              answer us when we call.



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Reedy Creek Presbyterian Church 669 Reedy Creek Road Bristol TN

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