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:

Let us take up the cross and follow Jesus,
whatever the cost.

from Luke 14.27-28

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.

Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. (NIV)

Better to eat a dry crust of bread with peace of mind than have a banquet in a house full of trouble. (GNB)

Proverbs 17.1

What’s your home life like?

Some families are loud and raucous – but in a good way. There’s a lot of noise and talking, but no strife. Some families are peaceful and quiet – but the aggression is passive, through snide comments and sidelong glances.

This isn’t so much about the noise, as the strife (though I think I’m with Solomon: give me peace and quiet any day!).

The thing about the house full of strife or trouble, is that the strife or trouble has nothing to do with the building, and everything to do with the people inside. Sometimes we think and talk as if the problem is ‘out there’, whereas actually the problem is in our hearts.

And I do mean ‘our’. All too often we can think the problem is someone else – if they were different, if they could change, then there’d be no trouble. Friends, that’s true. Of course it is: they aren’t perfect.

But neither are you.

Whether your house is full of noise or it’s quiet – how can you change what you say and do to encourage peacefulness instead of strife?

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:

Robins Family (Daniel, Joanna, Rachel, Steve)

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: PCC & Standing Committee

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.