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 14.18

For most of my life I thought the phrase ‘just deserts’ was spelled desserts – i.e. that it was about pudding, along the lines of, ‘your meal will end as you deserve – with pudding (good) or without (bad)’! I then discovered – quite recently! – that it only has one ‘s’ in the middle, and comes from the same route as the word ‘deserve’; i.e. it has nowt to do wi’ pud.

It’s a principle I suspect most are in favour of – until it applies to us. When someone is convicted of a crime and receive what we regard as a ‘light’ sentence, we are up in arms. But how often are we ‘innocent’ / full of self-justification when we are caught out for doing something wrong!

I read recently about a survey commissioned by Halfords, which found that more than 40% of motorists were concerned about the condition of other vehicles on the road – of those same motorists, only 2% felt there might be a problem with their own vehicle. And, around 30% of vehicles fail their MOT each year.

This rather neatly illustrates one of the most dangerous aspects of sin and foolishness: an inability to recognise it in ourselves; it’s always someone else’s problem.

It’s time to be honest with yourself. What are your ‘just deserts’?

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:

Janet Wilson, Catriona Paton, Joyce Moore

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: Baptism Candidates & Families

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.