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 16.9

I had my life all mapped out when I was 21. I had graduated from university and had the arrogant attitude that I could do anything.

It turned out I couldn’t. I applied for a dozen graduate schemes; not one interviewed me. I applied for jobs; it was 16 months before I got my first interview. I made some bad relationship decisions, including getting married to someone when we should probably have stayed friends. Within five years of my graduation ceremony I was ordained, but churchless, divorced, broke, homeless (I had to move back in with my parents), jobless and, barring one or two notable exceptions, friendless. It turned out planning my own course didn’t go very well.

And yet, here I am. The cliché ‘there but for the grace of God’ is literally true in my case. And it’s not that God has brought me to a perfect place. Life still has its struggles and dark moments. I have always wanted to work in a city centre, or on the coast. So I’m on the ignored edge of a small town and almost as far from the sea as possible!

But – and this is the point of the Proverb – God has not let me fall. I have slipped sometimes, at other times started to slide – but ultimately he has established my steps. He doesn’t do that because I’m a vicar, he does that because I’m his child.

And so are you.

If you feel like you are slipping or sliding, or have lost your way, the only answer is God. He alone can establish your steps. This morning, why not turn to him – in thanks, in desperation, in a mixture of the two – and ask him to fulfil his promise to do just that?

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:

Price Family (Ash, Elsie, Emilia, Matt)

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: Lonely & Bereaved People

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.