Not everyone recites the Lord’s Prayer in the same manner. Even within our own congregation, some prefer to use the phrase “forgive us our trespasses” while others prefer “forgive us our debts.” This Sunday we will be taking a closer look at this phrase. While there is value in both recitations of the prayer, understanding this petition in the context of debt can provide context to what Jesus is seeking. The forgiveness of debt has been a central theme in Scripture since the Exodus. God desired for his people to live in a different manner from the surrounding world. In celebration of the Sabbath day, the Sabbath year, and the year of Jubilee we see a model for how we should live as the people of God. In seeking to forgive and be forgiven of debt in all its forms, Jesus is inviting us to take charge, to turn the world around and change the global pattern of retribution and vengeance, control and oppression. In forgiving and being forgiven of the debt we owe to each other and to God, we experience freedom to engage in our own exodus from slavery to the patterns of this world. Please join us this Sunday we continue to see a better understanding of what we recite in the Lord’s Prayer, and don’t forget about our corresponding study and discussion of prayer at 9:00 in the parsonage.