Saratoga United Methodist Church

09/06/2026

09/01/2026

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin… Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:1-2, 7)

When I was a child I could get pretty dirty. A casual washing couldn’t begin to remove all the dust and grime that I had enthusiastically collected in play. But with loving eyes that were able to see the boy beneath the dirt my mother was able to resurrect the child that had been hidden. And with patience and unfailing love God is able to do the same.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your willingness to look beneath our individual and collective sinfulness which hides our true identity as your children. Use the circumstances in which we live as a means for cleansing us and restoring the image with which we were created, an image which is seen most clearly in your son Jesus. Yes, cleanse us and we will be clean; wash us and we will be whiter than snow.” Amen.

Shalom,
Steve

08/26/2026

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

These words of Jesus run counter to our understanding of power and influence and the source of true happiness. Yet in living this way he exercised more power and has had more influence than anyone else who has ever lived. And even in his sorrow he experienced happiness that only comes with humbly doing the will of his Father.

Heavenly Father, remind us often that your kingdom is not built on power and might, but on poverty of spirit that you can use to change our world. This we ask in the name of your son who in his life and death gave us an example of what poverty of spirit is all about. Amen.

Shalom,
Steve

08/24/2026

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded….” (Philippians 2:1-2a)

In a complex and sometimes confusing world, it’s difficult to identify anything about which we fully agree. So help us, Lord, to focus on the basics of our faith: your love and concern for all people as seen in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. For it is in so focusing that we experience the joy for which Paul longed and for which Jesus came into this world to give. Yes, Lord, through tenderness and compassion, make our joy complete throughout this day and days ahead, we ask in the name of the source of true joy now and forever. Amen.

Shalom,
Steve

If you want someone’s name to be on our updated list of prayer concerns, please give the name of that person to either Tim or Steve by Wednesday, September 2.
Thank You.

08/19/2026

“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God… Blessed are those whose strength is in you, Lord Almighty, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” (Psalm 84:1-2, 5)

Lord God, it’s not only those who in ancient times longed to be in your dwelling place, people whose hearts were “set on pilgrimage.” Our hearts too hunger and thirst for your presence and the peace your presence brings. As we journey through the days ahead, grant us a vision of that dwelling place, not only as it will be when in your time it fully arrives, but as it is right now. For your dwelling place isn’t so much in a far off location, removed from the cares and concerns of this world. Your true dwelling place is within the hearts and minds of those “whose strength is in you.”

Yes you, O Lord, are our “sun and shield “ (84:11) whose light and protection we need as we travel through these days. Amen.

Have a blessed day and continue your pilgrimage in peace.

Shalom,
Steve
August 19, 2026

08/12/2026

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the highest heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” (Psalm 139:7-8)

Lord God, if there has ever been a time in which we seem to be making our beds in the depths it is now. If there has ever been a season in which we are aware of our need for your presence, surely it is the season we are now in. Your knowledge of us is too wonderful for us to fully comprehend - but so is your love.

So, with knowledge and love, hear us when we call to you, you who “created our innermost being and knitted us together in our mothers’ wombs.” (139:13) You created us in your image and gave us this world in which to live. So “search our hearts… and lead us in the way everlasting.” (139:24) Amen.

Shalom,
Steve