How wonderful, how grand, how beautiful and magnificent God is. I look upon the world and sometimes I have been overcome by the magnitude and life of a moment. Maybe a mountain top, a tall tree, a relationship, or maybe a simple hug is enough to force me to stop. Yet, each of these only speaks a sliver of God's grandeur. How often do we turn the simple everyday things into the things we want and seek after?

Shouldn't we seek greater things? Shouldn't we be asking for more? The first thing we should ask for and seek after is to know the depth, height, width, and breadth of God. He is the grandeur of everything that is good and knowing him means that we know far more than we have ever imagined. What a glorious offer this is, that God in his grandness wants to come down to us.

As we grow it can be hard to perceive how much has changed. Sometimes we can lose perspective on where we have gone, how thankful we should be, and what we should put our time into.

This is true for our faith as well. Jesus has changed a lot for us. I think we are all thankful for him, but the depth and importance of his work in our life is often forgotten or undervalued. This Sunday we would take a moment to look back and realize what a difference faith in Jesus Christ makes and then look forward to understand how we might grow in that difference even more.

Do you boast about your weaknesses? It seems like a bit of a silly idea. Who would boast about what they are bad at, what they don't have, or how they are hurting? It is a silly idea, except that our weaknesses are usually the place where God can show himself most. It is in our weakness that God realizes his strength in and around us.

We are called to step out in faith. If we maintain control, or only lean on our strengths and those things we can do, where is the faith - when are we stepping out and trusting that God will show up? On the opposite side, when we don't feel strong enough or good enough, are we willing to lean into that enough to watch for how God is showing up? Paul tells us this Sunday, "I will boast all the more in my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me".

Prayer for Spiritual Renewal:

Christ, you have gone before me to prepare a place for me, that where you are there I may be also. Teach me to wait with patience, to watch with alertness, to trust that you are with me in the unknown future and to know your presence. [Jane Williams, professor St. Mellitus College]