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 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 Reading

Read the verse through three or four times, slowly. Pause in-between, maybe write it out by hand – savour the words, let them speak deeply to you.

Jesus said, ‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden… In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’

Matthew 5.14 & 16 (NIV)

If we respond to Jesus’ light with open-hearted gratitude, he fills us with his light – ‘treasure in jars of clay’ (2 Corinthians 4.7) – so we, in turn, shine with the same light.

It would be quite a good trick to hide a town on top of a hill! I remember watching David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear – but you’d need some pretty enormous mirrors (or however he did it) to make a town disappear.

Friends, I’d like us to think about the word ‘cannot’. There is nothing that can stop the light of Jesus shining. No darkness, no pain, not even death.

Our part is to receive the light and pass it on in such a way that others see and know where that light comes from. It’s actually quite easy to give to the Foodbank, encourage people to be kind to their family, children to listen to their parents and to tidy their rooms, colleagues to be hard-working, married couples to be deeply faithful to each other –

…it’s quite easy to do those things and leave Jesus out of every single one of them: good deeds doth not a Christian make, which is why we are Christians not Good-deed-ians. Why do we do good things and not talk about Jesus? Because a) it’s easier, and b) we get the credit – not our Father in heaven!

Perhaps a good first step, if you want to start being a Christian and not a Gooddeedian, is to make sure you speak of Jesus this Christmas: amid all the festivities and fun (maybe), full of generous gifts and delicious dinners, let us give thanks to our Father for the light he sent and sends us in 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:

Ray & Jane Skarratt, Carol Chadwick

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: People moving in to Amington

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.