Thursday, November 3, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

Today's Scripture:

 

May grace and peace be yours in abundance.

 

1 Peter 1:2

 

-- one of the things that I'd lke to make sure we learned/took away from the study we just finished is the idea of grace, and particularly the idea of the means of grace.  This is the way that Wesley talked about the ways that God can channel his grace to us.

 

If you'd like to refresh your memory, go to page 90 of our last study to read the Reflections section.

 

The five means of grace identified by Wesley were prayer, fasting, Bible study, hearing the preached word, and the Lord' Supper.  Note that none of these are essential to our salvation, they are all about ways that God can enrich and transform our lives.  When we feel stalled or distant or indifferent in our relationship with God, these are the ways that we can overcome those feelings.

 

The more that we can engage in these means of grace, the closer we draw to God and the more of his grace we can receive.

 

Today's prayer request:   Our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Pushed to the back pages of the news somewhat, but we still have thousands of men and women there who are in danger every single hour of every day.  We need to continue to pray for their safety and their continued courage.

 

Today's class member prayer: 

 

Andrew Peebles

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay