Whit's Weekly Devotion: Recent Episodes
Pastor Whit Malone
Need a little inspiration? Listen to brief weekly devotions with Pastor Whit Malone from Banner Elk Presbyterian Church in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-saulpaul-is-using-his-music-to-inspire-and-empower-young-people
https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org/articles/it-is-well-with-my-soul.html
Lyrics
When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul
It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ (yes, He has) has regarded my helpless estate
And has shed His own blood for my soul
It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought (the thought)
My sin, not in part, but the whole (every bit, every bit, all of it)
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more (yes)
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul
It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
It is well (it is well) with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul
It is well (it is well) with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul
It is well (it is well) with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul
Watch and listen to Jordan Baize of Bremen, Kentucky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INlvRSH9Vrg
Holy As Thy Day is Spent by Carrie Newcomer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxzO8DyY9e8
A Prayer for the Church in These Times
O God, whose mercy is every faithful and ever sure, who art our refuge and our strength in time of trouble, visit us, we beseech thee – for we are a people in trouble.
We need a hope that is made wise by experience and is undaunted by disappointment. We need an anxiety about the future that shows us new ways to look at new things but does not unnerve us. As a people we need to remember that our influence was greatest when our power was weakest. Most of all, we need to turn to thee, O God, and our crucified Lord, for only his humility and his strength can heal and free us.
O God, be our sole strength in time of trouble. In the midst of anxiety, grant us the grace to count our blessings – the simple ones: health, food, sleep, one another, a spring that us bursting out all over, a nation which, despite all, has so much to offer so many.
And grant us to count our more complicated blessings: our failures, which teach us so much more than success; our lack of money, which points to the only truly renewable resources, the resources of our spirit; our lack of health, yea, even the knowledge of death, for until we learn that life is limitation, we are surely as formless and as shallow as a stream without its banks.
Send us forth into a new week with a gladsome mind, free and joyful in the spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.
- William Sloane Coffin, Riverside Church
Celebrating Fred Rogers:The Presbyterian Foundation shares a short video that showcases how First Presbyterian Church in Manitowoc, Wisconsin paid tribute to the iconic children’s broadcaster with a community mural. Watch it on Youtube.
Prayer for the Overwhelmed
Dear God:
I don’t need to know how.
I don’t need to know when.
I don’t need to know why.
I don’t need to know where.
All I need to know is Who.
Thank you for being the one Who is always there for me.
The one Who never fails to respond top my frantic pleas for help.
Thank you for being the one Who is always dependable, ready and able to support, protect and guide me through the situations I face in my life.
No matter where I am or what I may need, you are always the one Who will take me by the hand and pull me through.
Thank you for being the one Who knows me better than I know myself. Who loves me when I can’t find love within myself.
No matter what the situation or experience, you, God, are Who I need.
Thank you for being just Who you are and for supporting me, guiding me, and pushing me into being a better me.
For who you inspire me to be, I am so grateful.
And so it is! Amen.