Unite Church 11/27/23 Unite Church 11/27/23

Monday

This week we dive back into Matthew and the words and actions of Jesus.

Before you read, take a few breaths, inviting the Holy Spirit to lead your heart.
Consider -
Q1. What does this passage tell me about God?
Q2. What does this passage tell me about humanity?
Q3. How is the Holy Spirit leading me to respond?

Matt 15:1-20

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

9 They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’[c]”

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[d] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible,
New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Unite Church 11/26/23 Unite Church 11/26/23

Sunday

This week we take a break from Matthew and meditate on Psalm 139, focusing on trust and surrender. Before you read, take a few breaths, inviting the Holy Spirit to lead your heart.

Consider -
Q1. What does this passage tell me about God?
Q2. What does this passage tell me about humanity?
Q3. How is the Holy Spirit leading me to respond?

Psalm 139:23-24

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.

5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible,
New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Unite Church 11/25/23 Unite Church 11/25/23

Saturday

This week we take a break from Matthew and meditate on Psalm 139, focusing on trust and surrender. Before you read, take a few breaths, inviting the Holy Spirit to lead your heart.

Consider -
Q1. What does this passage tell me about God?
Q2. What does this passage tell me about humanity?
Q3. How is the Holy Spirit leading me to respond?

Psalm 139:23-24

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible,
New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Unite Church 11/24/23 Unite Church 11/24/23

Friday

This week we take a break from Matthew and meditate on Psalm 139, focusing on trust and surrender. Before you read, take a few breaths, inviting the Holy Spirit to lead your heart.

Consider -
Q1. What does this passage tell me about God?
Q2. What does this passage tell me about humanity?
Q3. How is the Holy Spirit leading me to respond?

Psalm 139:19-22

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible,
New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Unite Church 11/23/23 Unite Church 11/23/23

Thursday

This week we take a break from Matthew and meditate on Psalm 139, focusing on trust and surrender. Before you read, take a few breaths, inviting the Holy Spirit to lead your heart.

Consider -
Q1. What does this passage tell me about God?
Q2. What does this passage tell me about humanity?
Q3. How is the Holy Spirit leading me to respond?

Psalm 139:13-18

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

Unite Church 11/22/23 Unite Church 11/22/23

Wednesday

This week we take a break from Matthew and meditate on Psalm 139, focusing on trust and surrender. Before you read, take a few breaths, inviting the Holy Spirit to lead your heart.

Consider -
Q1. What does this passage tell me about God?
Q2. What does this passage tell me about humanity?
Q3. How is the Holy Spirit leading me to respond?

Psalm 139:7-12

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Unite Church 11/21/23 Unite Church 11/21/23

Tuesday

This week we take a break from Matthew and meditate on Psalm 139, focusing on trust and surrender. Before you read, take a few breaths, inviting the Holy Spirit to lead your heart.

Consider -
Q1. What does this passage tell me about God?
Q2. What does this passage tell me about humanity?
Q3. How is the Holy Spirit leading me to respond?

Psalm 139:1-6

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.

5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.