Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us (Psalm 96.2, GNB).

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Opening

Speak these words out loud:

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.

Jeremiah 17.7 (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.

Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being. (NIV)

Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways. (GNB)

Proverbs 20.30

The Good News isn’t really a translation here, but I think it helps understand what the Proverb is all about.

There is a sketch by Rowan Atkinson called ‘Fatal Beatings’ which mocks the way school children were beaten (then common, particularly in public schools). The headmaster informs a parent that he ‘administered a beating, during which your son died’. It is hilarious and shocking at the same time.

A couple of years ago there was a scandal in the Church of England, in which various people admitted they had been subjected to beatings at Christian camps – one of them a previous Bishop of Aston (Andrew). John Smythe used this Proverb to justify his behaviour as a sexual predator (he and the boys were naked when he beat them).

Friends, that is not at all what Solomon is talking about. If you are being abused in any way, please find a safe place and person to share it with. You can talk to me or a member of our pastoral team in confidence, and there are others who can help.

The truth of the Proverb is suggested by the Good News version. People are stubborn. So stubborn we regularly fail to see when we are wrong, or on the wrong path. Sometimes it takes something really painful to make us stop and take notice. God uses those painful moments to show us a) how wrong we can be, b) how much loves us still, c) the right path (his).

I suppose the question is, as so often with these Proverbs: are we listening?

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:

Brown Family (Abbey, Josh, Mike, Sue)

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: Prayer Team

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.