Faith Daily | 11 September 2021

PRAYER of the DAY - PENTECOST APBA p579

O God,

you know us to be set in the midst

of so many and so great dangers

that by reason of the frailty of our nature

we cannot always stand upright:

grant to us such strength and protection

as may support us in all dangers

and carry us through all temptations;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

GOSPEL for the Day: Luke 6: 43-49

43 ‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

46 ‘Why do you call me “Lord, Lord”, and do not do what I tell you? 47I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.’

GOSPEL Reflection: Contributed by: Rev'd Josie

What are your fruits? You children, your work, your sewing, your garden? What do you produce that shows the kind of person you are? It’s not so much how others perceive you, because people can be wrong. But when you look back over your life, however many years you have behind or ahead of you, what does it say about your priorities? Your desires? Your strengths?

Remember Paul, writing from his own experiences with the living Christ: If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, … If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Surely then this is the foundation upon which our lives must rest. Love. Not only our love for God, but God’s love for humanity, extended to and flowing through ourselves into the world.

If our foundation is love, how can our fruits be anything else?

As Paul reminds us: Love never fails… these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Love.

FINAL PRAYER: – Rev'd Josie

God of Love, may we be filled with love for each other that reflects your love for us. Your love always trusts, let us trust each other. Your love always hopes, let us be filled with hope, and encourage each other in the hope we have in you. Your love always perseveres, may our love for each other endure through the difficulties of life. Your love never fails, may our love remain strong until the end. Fill us with your love, that we may love each other in the same way. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.