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| As the whole world is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are posting Daily Bible Readings for your inspiration and encouragement. Texts for Monday through Saturday are selected in support of the Sunday lesson in the Uniform Lessons Series, Spring 2020. A daily meditation written by faith leaders who are friends and partners of the NCC accompanies each day’s Bible reading.
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| | 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 12-14, 20-23, 42-45 (NRSV)
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| 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. |
| | May Our Spiritual Eyes Be Opened
By Apostle Janné C. Grover, Community of Christ
Scripture Reading—Ephesians 2:17-19 NRSV
So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.
Prayer for Peace
Source of all Life, Peaceful One, Uniting Spirit…
Come into our broken lives and lands with your healing peace.
Hold us in the light of your love as we hold each other in the light of your love and peace—all who suffer, all who grieve, all who fear, all who languish in isolation, all who seek healing and wholeness.
As we pray and work for peace, may our fear be overcome by Divine Love for all your beloved creation. May our anxiety and uncertainty be silenced by profound awareness of all who work and sacrifice for the healing of persons, families, communities, cities, and nations.
May our spiritual eyes, blinded by doubt and fear and loss, be opened to the metamorphic work of new life emerging. When unbound from this time of global crisis, help us lean into new ways of being, new ways of defining sacred space, and new ways of respecting our interconnectedness. Help us work more diligently toward unity in the beauty of our diversity, honoring the worth of all persons and the sacredness of all creation. Give us eyes to see, minds to perceive, hearts to feel, and lives to embody and share your life-giving peace.
May we have courage to give the God of Peace a peaceful place to live, is my prayer in the grace and peace of Christ. Amen.
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| Serving as a leading voice of witness to the living Christ in the public square since 1950, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) brings together 38 member communions and more than 40 million Christians in a common expression of God's love and promise of unity. |
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