Daily Devotions and Podcasts
Prayer: Lord, help me to see You in every part of my day, even in the places I least expect. Open my eyes to Your presence in the ordinary and the extraordinary moments of life. Amen.
The Cathedral of Hope Devotion Ministry began as an answer to Progressive Christians who wanted to start their days with a little insight, observation, or wisdom about the Christian faith from their own point of view. Conservative internet devotions were abundant, but there was not much out there for liberal thinkers. The need was clear.
Being a large church, we had a generous amount of writing talent available and also a large number of congregants with theological training who were not on the pulpit. In the early days of the ministry, most of the writing was done by the clergy, but gradually the majority of the writers emerged from those lay volunteers.
That dynamic is still in place as new authors are always joining in to keep the ideas fresh. It’s a fitting structure for any center of progressive thought. This particular Body of Christ has many voices and each one has a unique and important story to tell.
SCRIPTURE ļ»æ Psalm 94:18–19 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. WORDS OF HOPE Oh, how quick our minds are to chide us for our clumsiness or sound the alarm of eminent danger! Yet, multiple studies have shown that most of the things we worry about never come to pass. I see the truth in that wisdom, for I have done my share of worrying that brought me no benefit. In retrospect, none of those worries were worth the time spent on them. No mistake or misstep will become a defining moment unless we allow it. Sure, we can learn from our mistakes but making them does not make us flawed or wrong. Instead, let us counter our mind chatter with the certain knowledge that Jesus calls us “friend” and declared that we are divine royalty, Heirs and Joint Heirs with Jesus Christ! The psalmist shows us the way. “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” Let us live joyfully, for this brings honor to our beloved God! PRAYER Dear God, when my mind would lead me into fear, worry, and anxiety, help me to remember that you are always with me, always loving me and affirming my worth. I will then, be able to honor you with Joy and a life well lived. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Carole Anne Sarah
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Words of Hope Podcast
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SCRIPTURE ļ»æ Psalm 94:18–19 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. WORDS OF HOPE Oh, how quick our minds are to chide us for our clumsiness or sound the alarm of eminent danger! Yet, multiple studies have shown that most of the things we worry about never come to pass. I see the truth in that wisdom, for I have done my share of worrying that brought me no benefit. In retrospect, none of those worries were worth the time spent on them. No mistake or misstep will become a defining moment unless we allow it. Sure, we can learn from our mistakes but making them does not make us flawed or wrong. Instead, let us counter our mind chatter with the certain knowledge that Jesus calls us “friend” and declared that we are divine royalty, Heirs and Joint Heirs with Jesus Christ! The psalmist shows us the way. “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” Let us live joyfully, for this brings honor to our beloved God! PRAYER Dear God, when my mind would lead me into fear, worry, and anxiety, help me to remember that you are always with me, always loving me and affirming my worth. I will then, be able to honor you with Joy and a life well lived. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Carole Anne Sarah
READING ļ»æ Isaiah 51:1-3 Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah, who bore you, for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many. For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. WORDS OF HOPE I was born to a scientist and his wife. Their families were vastly different in that my father’s family came from Eastern Europe and my mother’s family came from the hills of Tennessee. My mother was Christian and my father was Jewish obviously from different quarries, yet they gave me a sturdy foundation as a child. They nourished my curiosity, grounded me in the Jewish faith, and instilled in me a good sense of my heritage and an appreciation for all people. I consider myself very lucky to have been raised by such loving parents and am reminded of their strength and patience with me almost daily as I stumbled my way through childhood. I also know not everyone is so lucky, but if we look back far enough we all can find that quarry of which Isaiah speaks. More importantly, we are not destined to become our parents. God gives us the grace and room for us all to grow and develop into our best selves, if we are patient and follow the spiritual guidance we receive. It’s not a recipe for success, but rather a puzzle which we are given that hints at the direction we should travel. Those clues are disclosed not only through scripture, but through our interaction with others on the same journey. We are all seeking the Lord in our own way. We are all hewn from the same rock. PRAYER May we all find comfort and guidance in our journey, and may we work together to create a new Eden in the deserts of our lives. DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman
SCRIPTURE 1 Samuel 16:7 The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. ļ»æ WORDS OF HOPE This scripture from Samuel reminds me of a story: A priest at a church elementary school was speaking to a group of third- & fourth-graders when a young girl approached him to strike up a conversation. A few minutes into their discussion, a look of astonishment crossed her face. "You are blind!" Which was true. "That's not news to me," the priest replied. But before he could say anything more, she blurted out, "You don't know what you look like!" The remark caught him off guard. Then, after a brief pause, she softly added, "You are beautiful!" Her words have stayed with me because, in a symbolic sense, most of us experience a kind of blindness that keeps us from seeing ourselves as we truly are. For the past twelve years, I have been studying the Enneagram. More than anything else I have encountered, it has helped me see myself more clearly. It exposes the stories and assumptions I tell myself about who I am. It challenges me to recognize how much there is still to learn about myself and who I might become. I attend the Cathedral of Hope because I believe its ministers, sermons, music, ministries, and congregation best helps reveal the goodness, truth, and beauty that God has placed within each of us. Yet many of us struggle to see ourselves as God sees us. What are the false stories that cloud our vision? Henri Nouwen identified three powerful lies about identity: I am what I have. I am what I do. I am what other people say or think about me. Whenever I feel unsettled, anxious, or disconnected from myself and from God, I often discover that I have begun to believe one—or sometimes all three—of these lies. They quietly pull me away from the deeper truth of who I am. We have just celebrated Pride Month together. It offered a meaningful opportunity to reflect on our identity and worth. It invited us to look beyond the labels, expectations, and judgments of the world and to consider what God sees when God looks into our hearts. There, we may rediscover the truth that our value is not earned, achieved, or granted by others, but rooted in being beloved children of God. RECEIVE THIS BLESSING Loving God, throughout Pride Month, you helped me look beyond the labels, expectations, and judgments of the world and to see myself as you see me. When I feel disconnected from myself and from you, help me recognize the lies that pull me away from the truth. When I measure my worth, remind me that my true identity is not something I earn or achieve. Call me back to the deeper truth that I am your beloved child, created in your image and held securely in your grace. AMEN DEVOTION AUTHOR David Sims, Deacon
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