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 Luke 6:12-16 Now during those days, he went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. WORDS OF HOPE This passage almost sounds like a cast list from a movie. It lays out the 12 individuals who go on to play such a pivotal role in the spreading of Christ’s message and yet the key words escaped me until recently. The twelve go from being “disciples”, which means essentially pupils of Jesus to being “apostles”. That is a big change. The word “apostle” translates as envoy or emissary, literally “one sent off”. This is an important detail I missed, because it is the moment when they were transformed from followers to missionaries. This moment along with the Pentecost story changes the focus of the Scriptures from Jesus, the individual, into Jesus the idea. From here on out they story is about how Jesus’ message was spread far and wide. This moment marks the foundation of the church itself. As I consider that change, I am reminded that the work of spreading Jesus’ message didn’t end with the Apostles, it continues today through each person who follows his teaching. That means we are all called to continue that work, not just by our words, but by our actions. PRAYER May I live out Christ’s teachings and may my life become part of that message of love, justice and peace. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman
Send us a Message
Have a question? We’re here to help. Send us a message and we’ll be in touch.
Words of Hope Podcast
Click images below to reveal the entire Devotion. Click Show More button for more past Devotions.
SCRIPTURE ļ»æ Luke 6:12-16 Now during those days, he went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. WORDS OF HOPE This passage almost sounds like a cast list from a movie. It lays out the 12 individuals who go on to play such a pivotal role in the spreading of Christ’s message and yet the key words escaped me until recently. The twelve go from being “disciples”, which means essentially pupils of Jesus to being “apostles”. That is a big change. The word “apostle” translates as envoy or emissary, literally “one sent off”. This is an important detail I missed, because it is the moment when they were transformed from followers to missionaries. This moment along with the Pentecost story changes the focus of the Scriptures from Jesus, the individual, into Jesus the idea. From here on out they story is about how Jesus’ message was spread far and wide. This moment marks the foundation of the church itself. As I consider that change, I am reminded that the work of spreading Jesus’ message didn’t end with the Apostles, it continues today through each person who follows his teaching. That means we are all called to continue that work, not just by our words, but by our actions. PRAYER May I live out Christ’s teachings and may my life become part of that message of love, justice and peace. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman
READING "What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." -Jane Goodall ļ»æ WORDS OF HOPE I have spent the last few weeks recovering from surgery. I thought I’d take this time to catch up on some reading, but instead I have been binge watching a four-season series on Netflix. It is a Canadian “romantic drama” that is filled with emotional relationships, medical situations, and the beautiful scenery of Nova Scotia. Much of the drama that defines the individual characters and the relationships between them centers on ideas such as being true to yourself, being honest, accepting responsibility for past actions, and seeking reconciliation. Themes of compassion, forgiveness, trust, prayer, and unconditional love also are woven throughout the story, which takes place in a small town in Nova Scotia. We meet and get to know the characters in community gathering spaces—a local diner, the town fire station, a hospital, individual homes, and the primary setting of a family-owned campground and its general store. The town, especially the campground, is a refuge for broken and hurting souls, for those seeking respite and rebirth, for people starting over with the hope of finding wholeness. I was almost through watching the entire first season when it dawned on me there was no church that was a part of this community, despite the fact that I felt it to be deeply spiritual. Paul wrote the following in his letter to the Romans (12:9-18) Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. This is what the drama I watched was about, without ever mentioning religion or being in “a church.” It reminds me that being the church is not about what happens in the walls of a specific building on Sunday mornings. We are the church and we carry with us at all times the responsibility for the work of the church, work that is a 24/7 job. We don’t have to mention God or Jesus or quote Bible passages while on the job. Our actions will do that for us. We join together on Sunday mornings to be nourished so that we are equipped to do this work. Often times our group of friends would go to brunch after being in church on Sunday mornings. Someone would say or do something that was not reflective of how we are called to live as followers of Christ. The rest of us would respond with a chorus of, “Wow! Church didn’t even last fifteen minutes today!” It was said as a joke, sort of. But hearing those words does make one stop and think. Am I being the church that Jesus wants me to be? PRAYER Loving Creator, I ask for your blessing upon my efforts to serve others. May my actions be guided by your love and motivated by a genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of those around me. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Kris Baker Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
SCRIPTURE 1 Corinthians 13.13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. WORDS OF HOPE How do you feel when you lose something important? I have different levels of replacement value that I put on different things. For family album pictures and things regarding the people I love among the highest valued things… Those irreplaceable objects of my affection. It’s almost like losing a memory of who I am; my origin. There are other things like work related items such as my calendar that I lost recently. I’m a hybrid old school/new school. I love to have a paper calendar back up, while also using a Google Calendar that can remind me of things I may clearly forget. But since I was a young child I remember looking feverishly for things that I had lost. Some things I never found again and by default would either forget about them or choose to let them go. It’s always difficult choosing to let go of a personal treasure. We all know what our particular feelings of loss are regarding material value versus people, friendships, and relationships. I don’t take losing the people I care about very lightly. There are so many friendships and relationships that I refuse to let go of, especially for loved ones that have passed. I have come to this point in my life in my mid-sixties, when I have begun categorizing and bullet pointing a list of those various losses and sometimes gains. Even when relationships come came to a close, I couldn’t help but think, like the eternal optimist I am, about cherishing the good and happy memories, before we ended our time together. I know more realistically sometimes it’s more difficult to move on and let go, but I know I’m not one of those people. It takes a lot for me to give up all hope. A lot. I think about what that means in the bigger picture… Maybe that’s just a taste of Jesus’ example of unconditional love. But I know in my heart, the creator of the universe does not consider any microbe of creation as “OK to lose”. That goes for you and me and all the things that exist in the space between spaces. And the only way I can justify believing that is this crazy little thing called love, that drive within us that the Apostle Paul calls the greatest. What will you do today to lose the negative, the toxic, and the things that simply don’t serve your time well? In the same regard what are the things that continue to bear fruit in your life, bring you joy, and lead you to practicing your greatest love? PRAYER May we have the faith to go forward into the ends and beginnings of life, always in hope and in love, remembering the assurance of your guidance along the way. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Charlie Rose ļ»æ Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
Get Devotions sent to your Email!