Our church building may be closed, but God’s eyes are open and his ears are attentive to our prayers (2 Chronicles 7.15).

If you would like to receive these by email, please click here.

Opening

Speak these words out loud:

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One, says:
‘In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength.’

from Isaiah 30.15

Today’s Proverb

Read the proverb through three or four times, slowly. Pause in-between, maybe write it out by hand – savour the words, let them speak deeply to you.

Proverbs 14.15

It’s been a while since we’ve thought about how we behave on social media. It is yet another example of how we think ‘other people’ have the problem, not us.

It’s fascinating to see what people write and (more usually) share, because it often reveals their prejudice. So many things appear to be ‘plain-speaking’ when in fact they are a) fake (e.g. not by the person they claim to be) or downright lies, and b) racist / xenophobic / whatever (often while claiming not to be) – and simply pander to people’s prejudices. Which is unfortunately why they go viral.

This proverb is true: people will ‘believe anything’, especially if it tells them what they already think or want to hear.

Now I am not one for political correctness – but I am one for the truth. If something needs to be called out as false, it should be. If a group’s behaviour needs to be condemned, it should be. But let’s challenge others for the right reasons.

Don’t believe everything you see or read – especially if it’s on social media. Lies spread more easily than the truth – which means what you read is more likely to be a lie than the truth. Before you click ‘share’, check the source… just because it’s shared by someone you know, doesn’t mean they’ve checked it!

The prudent ‘give thought to their steps’ – do you? Or do you step / share / speak thoughtlessly?

Prayers

Pray for Five – pray for your five friends / family from Thy Kingdom Come.

Our daily prayer sheet includes the names of everyone for whom we have a signed church family directory form – and local parishes and senior church leaders. Today we are praying for:

Muriel Smith, Albert Pegg, Simon Garratt

Father, please bless them with your peace, and a deep awareness of your presence with them, every day and in every way.

We also pray for: Leaders of Church Groups

Please pray for our leaders and healthcare workers, and all those working to keep us safe, well, and fed. Please pray that people would unselfishly put others before themselves, and buy only what they need.

Church Family Prayer

Come Holy Spirit,
and make us one in heart and action,
so that we can serve God faithfully:
abounding in love,
maturing in holiness,
and seeking out the lost.
Help us grow as disciples of Jesus –
in commitment, in depth, and in number –
that we may be a blessing to Amington;
to the glory and praise of God the Father.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Closing Prayer

Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labour in vain.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus
the only way to the Father.

Psalm 127.1, Hebrews 12.2 & John 14.6

May Christ our Saviour give us peace.
Amen.