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:

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9.2 (NIV)

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 19.16

I’m not sure the Good News gets this one quite right. That said, it’s definitely in the camp of ‘how things should be and one day will be’. One day we will all have to give a reckoning of our words, actions, behaviour, attitudes, thoughts, and so on: if we keep God’s commandments we will live, if we show contempt for them we will die.

The bad news for you and for me is that only one person has ever managed to keep God’s commandments, so only one person deserves to live. The rest of us fall woefully short. That person is Jesus, and he graciously and generously offers us the life he deserves, in exchange for the death we deserve.

That’s the wonderful exchange that took place when he died on the cross, and it’s the wonderful good news that we call ‘the gospel’.

But if that’s the case, surely we don’t need to bother with God’s commandments? If Jesus fulfilled all that, if he gives us life so we don’t need to earn it (which we couldn’t anyway), does it matter what we do now?

Of course it does! Paul says this: Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? By no means! (Romans 6.1-2, NIV).

If we ‘accept’ Jesus’ gift of life, but refuse to change, we show contempt for his sacrifice, and reveal that our repentance is a sham. Repentance isn’t simply saying sorry, it’s turning: away from sin and towards God.

And Jesus said this: ‘unless you repent, you too will all perish’ (Luke 13.3, NIV). How real is your repentance?

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:

Robert Birbeck, Helen Thompson, Ann Birbeck

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: TCHA Tenants & Staff, Starfish

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.