“Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” Colossians 3:14 (NRSV)
Here is the link for Sunday, April 27, 2025 hymn sing worship service: https://youtu.be/EfbOXnZ2zxA
Sunday, May 4, 2025 – Worship starts at 10:45 a.m. with guest minister Rev. Chewe Mulenga. Communion.
Scripture to Ponder & Prayer
Third Sunday of Easter
Scriptures for this week: Acts 9:1–6, (7–20) Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus.
Psalm 30 (VU p. 757); Revelation 5:11–14; John 21:1–19
NOTE: Please receive this as a devotion for this week. Though we may focus on a different Scripture passage in worship this coming Sunday, may this reflection offer something to ponder deeply as part of your exploration of faith.
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
He asked, “Who are you, Lord?”
The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” —Acts 9:4–5 (NRSV)
Saul was convinced he was doing God’s work. With fervor and certainty, he moved forward in a mission that, in reality, was causing deep harm.
Then Jesus interrupted. A flash of light. A voice from heaven. A pause that would change everything. Jesus didn’t simply rebuke Saul—He reoriented his entire life. From persecutor to preacher, from blindness to true sight.
In Saul’s story, we see ourselves. How often do we pursue what seems right—by tradition, habit, or ambition—without recognizing the cost? Our modern age is marked by progress and innovation, yet also by environmental decline and disconnect from creation. We have polluted skies and oceans, depleted forests, and a warming planet. Still, we cling to systems and lifestyles that are convenient but unsustainable.
And in the midst of it all, a question still echoes: “Why are you persecuting me?”
Perhaps Christ’s voice is heard today in the cries of a struggling Earth—in the disappearing species, the rising seas, the shifting seasons. Creation is not a backdrop to our lives—it is part of God’s ongoing revelation. Just as Saul was invited to stop and see with new eyes, we too are invited:
To stop.
To listen.
To see differently.
To live differently.
God’s grace meets us even in our blindness, but it never leaves us there. It calls us forward into transformation, into healing, into partnership with God’s work of renewal.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to see.
Where I have ignored Your presence in the world around me, forgive me.
Where I have chosen comfort over care, change my heart.
Like Saul, interrupt me.
Call me to a new way of living—one rooted in humility, compassion, and restoration.
Make me a caretaker of Your creation and a vessel of Your peace.
Amen.
This Week’s Practice:
Take a moment outdoors.
Notice one simple, beautiful part of creation—a leaf, a bird, the sound of the wind.
Pause and say, “This is sacred.”
Let that awareness shape how you live, consume, and care today.
Your companion in faith
Trinity United Church 