Read
Psalm 122, Jeremiah 29:1-14
Consider
As summer travel begins, we can view our travels as a form of pilgrimage. We joyfully anticipate the people we will see, things we will do, and all the food we will eat.
Every year, the Israelites would regularly participate in a holy pilgrimage. At least three times a year, they would travel to their nation’s capital – Jerusalem — for the purpose of worship. Each pilgrimage was accompanied with a sense of joy and anticipation. Traveling to the house of the Lord was a highlight experience for the year. Not only did people look forward to worshipping in the temple but also, to worship as a corporate body. They also traveled with fellow pilgrims. Together, they longed for the presence of God in the House of the Lord.
Every Sunday, we make mini-pilgrimages to Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church. We come together to worship together. We eat and celebrate the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrate His love, forgiveness, sacrifice, and the indwelling of the presence of God, the Holy Spirit in our midst. As the Psalmist invited the readers of Psalm 122 to pray for Jerusalem (Ps. 122:6), we are invited to pray for the city of Scarborough.
This week, I encourage you to view Sunday as a mini-pilgrimage and as you travel through the city of Scarborough to SCBC, pray for the city and its citizens. I look forward to praying with you and worshipping together as a family.
Blessings,
Rev. Paul Lam
Pray
Heavenly Father, we praise you Lord of Heaven and Earth. You have created all things. You have put us in our places, neighborhoods, and cities to participate in their flourishing. Grant us strength to love, wisdom to see, patience to understand, and mercy that you have shown us. As you have called us into the world, as you were sent into the world, teach us to be faithfully present as the SCBC family to the city of Scarborough and as fellow sojourners to the cities/neighborhoods where we live.
Bless your church, O’ Lord and help us to live out the mission of disciple-making and faithful presence in our communities. May the world see who you are but how we live.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
Diving Deeper
In Jeremiah 29, the people of God are living in exile. They were forcibly removed from their homes, nation, and temple – the dwelling place of God. They were living amongst enemies in a foreign land where the language, religion, and customs were different from their own.
The people of God were longing to return home. The prophets told them what they wanted to hear, “you are going home soon.”
However, God calls them to settle down, be faithfully present, to seek the peace of the city, and to pray for it. (29:5-7) The Lord conclude by saying, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (v. 7)
God has put the SCBC family in the city of Scarborough; God has placed you in a certain place, neighborhood, and town/city.
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- Pray for the city of Scarborough and its 629,941 citizens
- Ask God to show SCBC, what he wants us to see about the city and its people.
- Pray, God show us how can we love this city.
- Pray for the city/neighbourhood of where you live.
- Ask God to show you, what he wants you to see about your neighborhood.
- Ask God to show you, who and how to love the citizens of your neighborhood.
May the city of Scarborough and its citizens prosper and may the people of God prosper as well.