The Lord’s Day
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| Today, we stand with persons within our family, within our church, within our local communities, and within our global communities and lift up the universal right for basic human needs—including access to food, medicine, safety, economic opportunities, clean water, education, and the freedom to exercise religion. We lift up the opportunity and the responsibility to eliminate extreme poverty across the world. The United Nations has a plan to reduce extreme poverty around the world by 2015 and eliminate it by 2025. We know that it is possible and because it is possible, it is our responsibility to make the choices that lead to eliminating poverty.
In Malawi, if a family cannot afford to purchase a net to keep out mosquitoes, a child may be stung and become sick with malaria. A child or infant in Africa dies of malaria every 30 seconds. It is no longer acceptable to do nothing while 15,000 persons die per day of HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, and malaria. Today, we ask ourselves what we can do to provide every human being the opportunity that Christ has given us all—the opportunity to live and worship. May we embrace the goal to eliminate extreme poverty and make sure that no woman, child, or man dies of malaria for lack of a net to keep away the mosquitoes or for lack of medicine to treat malaria. —Elder C. Laurie Griffith, manager of Judicial Process and Social Witness, Office of the General Assembly |
 Mal. 3:1–4 Prepare the Way PH 13 The Lord Will Come and Not Be Slow HB 230 Luke 1:68–79 Song of Zechariah PH 601, PH 602 Phil. 1:3–11 People, Look East PH 12 Luke 3:1–6 On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry PH 10 |
 God, we know that by living in your world, By being the body of Christ, We are charged with the opportunity and the responsibility To bring your vision to the world. We look around us and ahead of us And we pray that we have the wisdom and courage To make the choices that must be made To bring about your realm. We know that your vision includes all of your children And we are blessed by your grace So that we may use our voices and our hands And provide a world where all may experience your love. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. |
