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

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Opening

Speak these words out loud:

Let us build with care,
building on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

from 1 Corinthians 3.10-11

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 16.3

That’s nice and easy then. Say the right magic phrase to God and you’ll be successful in whatever you do.

Really?! No. The Good News lets us down here – it completely misses the point.

First, the word ‘commit’ here means ‘hand over’, not ‘ask to bless’. It means offering everything we do to him, completely – recognising that he is our Lord, that he is in charge.

Now imagine you work for a good boss, and you have some good ideas for the business. She wants to hear them – but they don’t fit with the philosophy or direction of the business. What does ‘committing’ those plans to your boss mean? Doing them anyway? Or accepting it graciously when she says, ‘No’?

‘Committing’ our plans to God does not mean saying a magic formula and then doing whatever we want – but in humility submitting our plans to God, so that our plans align ever more closely with his.

If you remember our sermon series last year which talked about God’s ‘Upper Story’ and our ‘Lower Story’, it’s about bringing those together, so we follow his story, and his plans, as closely as possible.

Which of your plans do you need to let go of, and do you need to listen to God’s prompting a little more closely?

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:

Peter & Jane Sheppard, John & Cathy Ward

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: Tamworth Christian Churches (TCC)

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.