Second Sunday after Pentecost- Week of June 6, 2021

Begin your devotion time by praying this prayer: Dear Jesus, your life, death, and resurrection brings us hope for the future. Help us focus our faith on your way of love each and every day. Amen.

Reflect on the Way of Love together: This week’s practice on the Way of Love is TURN. This week’s Scripture reminds us to turn our lives on Jesus and make him a focus of our faith. What reminds you to turn toward Jesus’ love?

Adult and Small Child

Read: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Reflect: There are times when we must keep trying until we figure out a way that will work for us. For example, when you learn to tie your shoes, you have to practice and try out a few different ways to see which way works best for you. You may get frustrated or even mad at the person who is trying to teach you. When things like this happen remember to show yourself some grace and believe in yourself. You can also show grace to others just like God gives us grace.

Respond: Read the story of The Three Little Pigs. (Or watch this read-aloud.) Talk about how they tried different ways of building a house, but they kept getting their house blown down until they built one of brick. In our lives we have a place to live for now, but when we go to heaven, we will have an eternal home. Can you imagine what they might be like? Draw a picture of what you think your eternal home might be like. Share your ideas with a grownup.

- Kelly Benz

Adult and Elementary

Read: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Reflect: Have you ever had those times when you feel the comfort of something outside of yourself? For me it feels like a wave of peace. I’ve experienced this when looking at a sky full of stars in the night sky. Or even when I’ve experienced a radiant sunset. But I most often feel this when I’m in the midst of something difficult. During a hard conversation. Sitting with someone who is sad. This presence, that I cannot truly explain, seems to say to me “no matter what you are going through, I am here with you.�

I think these are GOD moments. Moments when God breaks through the noise and emotions of this world to remind me that I am not alone and that whatever experience and emotion I am feeling, God is sharing that moment with me. The thing is, the more I name these moments as GOD moments, or encounters with GOD, the more and more I have them.

Respond: I wonder if you have had GOD moments before? What do you call them? Try this: make a list of the times that you remember having these moments? When you are done making this list, go back and read your list and name them in your heart an encounter with GOD and be on the lookout for future encounters with GOD.

- Malcolm McLaurin

Adult and Youth

Read: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Reflect: Throughout my formative years, my brother and I went to summer camp. One activity was mountain biking. During the safety orientation, the guide said, “Look where you want to go, and your bike will follow. Whatever you put your eyes on, that’s where you’ll end up.� Welp, I heard a crash behind me. My brother had hit a tree. I asked him how it happened, and he said, “I couldn’t look away!� And sure enough, he ran straight into it.

Second Corinthians tells us where to put our eyes, so we can end up where we want to go, avoiding the hazards that tempt us to lose focus. Paul talks about how even though there are hardships associated with living on this earth, focusing on the promised joys of eternally being with God keeps us going, so “we do not lose heart.� (2 Corinthians 4:16, NRSV) We might be tempted to focus on material “stuff� or let things that are ultimately temporary drag us down, but we’re called to reorient our focus, and put our eyes on the things that are most important in life (to love God and love others.) That’s how we endure hardship and ensure a life well-lived.

Respond: So, where are you looking? What are your eyes on? What’s your focus? Make a list of things you spend time on that are ultimately temporary. Make another list of the things that are most important in life, things you do to love God and others. How can you foster that second list? Get some sticky notes, and write some phrases from the Scripture on them (like, “do not lose heart� or “glory beyond measure� or “what cannot be seen.�) Stick them around your home to remind you to put your eyes on what’s most important, because wherever you’re looking, that’s where you’ll end up.

- Sally Ulrey

Adult and Adults

Read: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Reflect: During this season of pandemic, many people have learned that they enjoy working from home every day. I have learned that this is NOT true for me. When I am at home, it is so easy for me to lose focus and become distracted. My cat wants me to play, I want to sit on the couch rather than in my office chair, I want snacks constantly, or I’d prefer spending time in the kitchen, rather than my workspace. The familiarity of the surroundings in my apartment hinders my own productivity, and I find myself thinking more creatively when I am working in a space where I don’t live.

During this pandemic, I have learned more about what distracts me from nurturing my own faith, too. In many ways, stripping away the commitments of Sundays (or any day for that matter) at church have forced me to reflect on what practices truly bring me worship, peace, and rest. I have been challenged to re-focus my faith on what it means to follow Jesus without the “busyness� that we experience with our church involvement. And, although I long for the day when we can once again fully gather in community for worship and spiritual formation, I hope that this re-focus will remind me what matters: living my life in a way that draws me closer to Jesus and the promises of the resurrection.

Respond: Make a list of the ways that you have turned toward Jesus during this pandemic, or of new spiritual practices you have tried. Write these things on index cards and place them somewhere you’ll see them. When you need to re-focus on your faith, pull one of the cards and use the listed practice as a way to re-center yourself with Jesus.

- Victoria Hoppes