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:
The Lord has established Zion,
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.
from Isaiah 14.32
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.
When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous seek refuge in God. (NIV)
Wicked people bring about their own downfall by their evil deeds, but good people are protected by their integrity. (GNB)
Proverbs 14.32
There’s quite the difference in the translations today! It’s one of those ‘how things should be and one day will be’ proverbs. There will be a day of reckoning, and God will ensure that everyone will receive the consequences of their evil deeds. Everyone, that is, who has not covered and cleansed themselves through the blood of Jesus, shed for us on the cross.
I’d like to focus on three little words in the NIV translation: ‘even in death’.
It brings to mind the psalm most often spoken at funerals: Psalm 23. I have preached on it many times of course, and it has a strong message for those experiencing death, in whatever guise.
It’s also one of those that sounds best in the King James Version:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalm 23.4 (KJV)
God promises, not escape from pain and trouble and death – yet – but his faithful presence and a refuge. We need not be afraid because ultimately death has no power over us, if we belong to Jesus’ family: he has already died in our place. We need not be afraid ‘even in death’ because Jesus has conquered the grave, and will carry his brothers and sisters safely through death and into life.
‘Even in death’ – in other words, ‘no matter what’ – we are safe with Jesus.
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:
Widdas Family (Mandy, Mark, Sam, Sophie)
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: Amington Ark
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.
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.