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If you would like to receive a copy of the Open
Arms bulletin each week via e-mail, send your e-mail
address to
recycler4earth@comcast.net |
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Children's prebaptismal classes will be
starting soon...
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The Feinstein Challenge has begun!...
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We're on Facebook.....
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Prayer Chain: To request prayers for
immediate distribution on the prayer chain or to
be added to the e-mail list of people who pray
as requests come in, contact Nici Brownlee at
nbrownlee24@hotmail.com
If you would like a
visit from Community of Christ ministers or
would like to receive Communion at your home,
please call David McDonald at 796-0823 or Linda
Davenport at 810-6374. |
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Please let Brad Speaks know of
any updates in your personal information (change
of address, phone number, marriage, divorce,
legal name change, death). Contact him at
816/373-6155 or
bspeaks1@comcast.net |
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Welcome to our congregation! Open Arms presents basic
Christian faith. If you are investigating Christianity,
or if you are a follower of Christ who prefers
contemporary worship, these services are designed
especially for you. While we use up-to-date language,
music, and drama, our Bible-based message is as eternal
as the revelation of God's love through the life of
Jesus. If you would like more information,
click here
to send an e-mail with your request or question.
Isaiah 55:1-9 NRSV
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
…Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
…I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
…Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
…For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
This format follows the
format of
Daily Bread,
a Community of Christ resource that is available for
daily meditation. It includes a short message, a short
excerpt from the Daily Prayer for Peace, a spiritual
discipline, and a statement of a peace covenant.
God’s Spirit makes a special invitation to Israel to return, and invites all people in all places to find in God a banquet of the gospel. To attend this banquet, one must only be conscious of the thirst within.
The blessings of those rivers of the Holy Spirit, the wine of joy and the good, unadulterated milk of the word of God wait for us as we thirst and listen for the call of the Lord.
When Israel distanced itself from God, it used up its energy and its resources, and it failed. If you listen to the call of God you will enjoy the mercy that the Lord promised David.
The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Today, how many people are distanced from God? Even many in the church have not found the real significance of their relationship with God. They have not learned to enjoy the peace that God gives during any difficulty.
When David crossed the desert of Judah into exile, he felt that thirst, and it’s marvelous to hear him reach out to God in a simple but significant way. He said, “My God.” This phrase shows the trust David carries in God, and it expresses their intimate relationship. What is your relationship with God?
Once, a storm surprised a boat filled with tourists. The boat seemed to be sinking, and the people scrambled from one side to the other, screaming. During all this, a man saw a boy playing with a toy car. The man asked, “Don’t you know what’s happening? This boat is almost sinking.” The boy answered, “I’m not afraid because my father is the captain of this boat.”
God calls us to reflect that trust. God asks us to have total confidence that in the Lord we will find what we seek.
—Carlos Enrique Mejia,
Council of Twelve Apostles
Prayer for Peace: Today’s Focus Is Myanmar
Gracious God, deliver us from the shallowness of our commitments and from the thousand ways our strivings separate us from each other and alienate us from you.
Spiritual Practice: Sabbath Keeping (Holy Attention)
Honoring and keeping the Sabbath is a spiritual discipline that nourishes persons, families, and congregations. Spend several minutes meditating on your plans for the day. Discern ways you can give intentional attention to God, the sacredness of life, and creation. Pray over these possibilities and enter the Sabbath with reverence.
Peace Covenant:
Let us find peace, not the peace of slumber, but of quiet confidence in the triumph of your word.
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