The God Minute
The God Minute is a 10-minute daily prayer to help you draw close to God. Peaceful music, sacred scripture and a short reflection are woven together in a spiritual harmony to bring peace and focus to your day.
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The God Minute
Forgiveness
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SCRIPTURE
- Hebrews 8:12
“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities and remember their sins no more.”
REFLECTION
- Cheryl
MUSIC
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NOTES
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PRAYER OF LETTING GO
To You do I belong, O God,
into Your hands I surrender my life.
Pour out Your Spirit upon me
that I may love You perfectly,
and serve You faithfully
until my soul rests in You.
The maple tree just outside our chapel window here is starting to turn. Orange and yellow leaves are starting to overtake the green, and it's just so beautiful. Reminding me of the quote whose author I forgot that says, Every mountain, every ocean, every changing tree whispers something of the majesty of the one who made it. A good place for us to begin our prayer today. Thank you for joining us. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.
SPEAKER_00Psalm 32. Forgiveness. The person who knows the meaning of forgiveness, who is no longer plagued by past failures, who stands blameless and guilt-free before God, that person is rich indeed.
SPEAKER_01When I face up to my failures and confess them, when I open my guilt-ridden heart to you, O God, then I realize the blessed meaning of forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00Thus, everyone who claims faith in the loving God needs to cling to his acceptance and mercy. Times of darkness will come, but the faithful shall not be overcome.
SPEAKER_01Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_03The word of the Lord. It's called Sally B says, I'm sorry, by Courtney Schumel and Susan Barday. The book is excellent. I can't recommend it enough to those of you who have small children. The story focuses on Sally B learning how to apologize the right way after breaking a classmate's art project. With the help of her mom, she learns that a good apology starts with an I'm sorry because rather than her original I'm sorry, but. On the last page of the book, the authors give some really clear and concise tips for authentically apologizing. A few that stood out to me more. Ask yourself how your actions made the other person feel. Gather up your bravery. Say you're sorry because. Be specific. And think about what you can do to make things better. With my oldest being five, this topic really hits close to home because we are actively working on taking accountability for our actions and offering sincere apologies. This book sparked a bit of an epiphany moment for me and has really empowered me to help my daughter learn the skill of saying I'm sorry. Apologies and forgiveness go hand in hand. Our scripture for today tells us of God's forgiveness and how what God offers us goes even beyond forgiveness. God offers us a clean slate, a fresh start. As the scripture says, I will remember their sins no more. However, it's important to remember that this isn't a get out of jail free card. This chapter of Hebrews is rooted in the prophecies given to us by Jeremiah. In fact, our passage for today is a quote from the book of Jeremiah. In addition to foretelling of a new covenant, which is the context for today's scripture, another main theme of his was genuine repentance. God's forgiveness is freely given to a repentant heart. So our question for today is how do I say I'm sorry to God in a real heartfelt way so that I may receive God's forgiveness and a fresh start. When I sin, do I take time to reflect on how my actions directly and indirectly impact others? Am I able to pinpoint my mistakes and shortcomings? Do I find creative ways to make amends to others and to God? And most importantly, am I brave enough to have the conversation? So for this week, let us reflect on the gift of God's forgiveness and to ask for the courage to say, I'm sorry, when we miss the mark, so that we can experience the depths of God's forgiveness and the new beginning He is offering.
SPEAKER_01Along with our prayers and petitions, we lift our voice and pray. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Let us pray. Loving God, you know the wounds we carry and the wounds we have caused. Pour your mercy into our hearts and give us the grace to forgive as freely as you forgive us. May your love heal our memories, restore our peace, and teach us to begin again with you. We ask through Christ our Lord.
unknownAmen.
SPEAKER_01To you do I belong, O God. Into your hands I surrender my life. Pour out your spirit upon me, that I may love you perfectly and serve you faithfully until my soul rests in you. Before we end today, a quick shout out to Brian, our seminarian, who recently joined us as a reflector. Today is Brian's birthday. And we wish you much love and blessing, Brian, along with prayers as you move ever closer to ordination as a priest. What a beautiful day that will be. And uh Brian's contact is on the team menu on the app if you want to send him an email. All right, friends, that does it for us. Thank you for joining your family in prayer today. And may you go now with God's blessing before you and behind you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
unknownAmen.
SPEAKER_01We'll see you tomorrow.
