Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost- Week of August 22, 2021

Begin your devotion time by praying this prayer: Holy God, you equip us to love and serve you. Give us the strength and courage to stand up for truth and share your love with the world. Amen.

Reflect on the Way of Love together: This week’s practice on the Way of Love is PRAY. What are the prayer practices you do in your household? How might you make prayer a regular part of your everyday life?

Adult and Small Child

Read: Ephesians 6:10-20

Reflect: There is something about people that is broken. We forget that God warns us not to fight against each other. Instead, we should fight against evil ideas that confuse us and divide us. Whatever confuses and divides is not from God. To be strong against evil, we will need some tools. We will need to know what is true. One truth is that nothing can separate us from the love of God. That truth is salvation. Salvation protects our minds from confusion and division. Faith is believing that God is working invisibly, creating good things that we can only imagine right now. Things that have never been seen before. Faith stories can protect us from minding the little stings of life or from giving them. Faith is a tool that we get from knowing Bible stories and stories of our ancestors. We can understand those stories better if we pray for the Holy Spirit to help us. What else can the Holy Spirit do? The Holy Spirit can give us courage to do the right thing. The Holy Spirit can make us quick to bring peace. Salvation, faith, Bible stories, prayer, courage, and peace are the tools to stop confusion and division.

Respond: When you feel like you want to fight a person, stop and pray. Try to think of a wrong idea to fight together instead. If your friend is not taking turns, they might not be mean. Maybe they do not know how to tell time. The solution might be a timer. Everyone is happier when we do not fight against each other and are quick to make peace.

- Lea Colvill

Adult and Elementary

Read: Ephesians 6:10-20

Reflect: Prayer is a wonderful way to offer thanks and praise to God or to spend time with God in a way that quiets and soothes our spirit. Prayer is also a powerful way to invite God to make very real changes in us and our life. Jesus and the apostles spoke to God regularly in prayer and it gave them strength to do very important, and sometimes difficult, things. ‘Putting on the armor of God’ is a special prayer that reminds us of all the gifts we have that offer us protection and strength as we seek to live in the Way of Jesus. Can you find them all in the passage? Did you find truth, righteousness, peace, and faith? What about salvation and the word of God? Does picturing them as pieces of clothing that go on different parts of your body make them easier to picture or remember? Try asking God to help you wear this “armor� throughout the rest of your day and picture yourself putting protective covering on the different parts of your body as you ask God for that protection or thank God for that gift.

Respond: When we put on the armor of God we become the Biblical version of superheroes, with special protections that make us much stronger and able to do wonderful things. Because we have God’s power with us, we are able to stand against the devil and the forces of evil, which is pretty exciting. Think about yourself as a superhero for God. What would your superhero name be? What would your helmet and belt and shield look like? If you enjoy art, try making a comic book page or a graphic novel page. You could also design a shield cut out of cardboard with your favorite Bible verse about faith on it. Your helmet of salvation could be a baseball cap decorated with paint or beads. Just like every superhero has different abilities, so do we. Celebrate your own superpowers through God who strengthens you!

- Carla Christopher Wilson

Adult and Youth

Read: Ephesians 6:10-20

Reflect: There is an odd juxtaposition in Paul’s words at the end of Ephesians. We read military language with imagery of armor used in a violent battle, whereas the strength advocated for is not the power of armies, but the reconciling power of God’s love embodied in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. It is subversive imagery that we have to be mindful about and not lose sight of. In addition, it could be easy to read this passage in individualistic terms; however, the Greek verbs and pronouns used in this passage are “you� plural. Remember, Paul is writing to a community. This is about the Church’s life together. The community stands firm in a posture of love and peace, rooted in prayer. In verse 18 we hear an echo of an earlier exhortation to pray without ceasing. I’ve heard it said that prayer is not simply something we do, but that prayer is an attribute of God. What might a community look like when a defining attribute is prayer? In addition, prayer is not passive. It often prompts movement or action, stirring something in our hearts, God sending us in love and peace.

Respond: What is a challenge or issue in your community that your church is working to address? What is a challenge or issue in the community that your church should be aware of and is not? Spend time praying about these issues. What feelings or thoughts arise when you think and pray about these issues? What ways can you be a loving response in partnership with God and your church? Who can you talk to about this?

- Dorian Del Priore

Adult and Adults

Read: Ephesians 6:10-20

Reflect: The war we fight is not simply one fought with our hands. We are fighting against what Paul calls “the cosmic powers of this present darkness.� (Ephesians 6:12, NRSV) It is often difficult for us to wrap our heads against what a sentence like that means but consider the words of Peter in 1 Peter 5:8, the devil prowls around like a lion seeking whom he can devour. When lions hunt, they look for the weakest in the pack, the one that can be easily picked off. We guard ourselves with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shield of faith. But most importantly, we pray. Paul tells us to pray at all times but this isn’t the first time he’s given that admonishment. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we are told to pray without ceasing. Our earthly tools for fighting wars will prove inadequate but prayer in the Spirit of God will always win the day.

Respond: Prayer serves a multitude of purposes in our lives. It is not by power or might that we will win but by the Spirit. This week, spend extra time in prayer focusing on the spiritual challenges in your life. Ask God to reveal the trouble areas to you, write them down, and specifically pray for God’s strength in those battles each day.

- CJ Quartlbaum