Access to God--Jan. 17, 2019

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O God,

As the paralytic was desperate for access to Jesus,

as the poor and needy thirst for access to water,

as peoples torn by war seek access to peace,

so your children long for access to you.

Christ came and proclaimed peace to all,

and through him we have access

in one Spirit to the Father.

Thanks be to God, 

who does not

forsake us.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 97; 147:12-20; 16; 62

Isa. 41:17-29

Eph. 2:11-22

Mark 2:1-12

Selected Verses

Ps. 147:14

[The LORD] grants peace within your borders;
          he fills you with the finest of wheat. 

Isa. 41:17

When the poor and needy seek water,
          and there is none,
          and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the LORD will answer them,
          I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 

Eph. 2:7-18

So [Christ] 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. 

Mark 2:3-4

Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.  And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay.