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:

Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27.14 (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 21.14

This is one of those Bible verses that shows how vital it is that we pay attention to everything the Bible says. Taken on its own, it looks like the Bible is in favour of bribery… except it isn’t. Other Proverbs speak against bribery (e.g. 15.27); Exodus 23.8 says, ‘Do not accept a bribe’; Israel’s leaders are condemned by the prophets for taking bribes, and so on.

We are used to Proverbs about how things should be and one day will be; this is a Proverb about living with how things are, and the world is a messy place.

Jesus told a parable in Luke 16 about a shrewd / dishonest manager, who was about to be fired; he called in his master’s biggest debtors, and reduced what they owed so they would be kind to him when he was fired. The master in the parable commends his manager for acting so shrewdly. We struggle with this parable because we usually assume the ‘master’ in Jesus’ parables is always God – yet the master here is cruel and commends dishonest behaviour. We assume the main character is ‘us’ – yet the manager is incompetent and dishonest, and gets away with it.

The issue is that too often we treat the Bible like a book of moral tales or fables, trying to work out if the characters are ‘goodies’ (do what they did) or ‘baddies’ (don’t!). Sometimes the Bible does that – but far more often it simply describes real people, who are a complicated mix of good and bad. The Bible is true, and the truth is the world is a messy place.

When we are confronted with the mess, what should we as Christians do? 1) don’t make it worse (!), 2) pray for God to sort it out (that’s what ‘righteousness’ and ‘justify’ mean: sorting and straightening out the wrong and the wonky), 3) be ready for God to use us to help sort things out.

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:

Jean Austin, Joshi Family (Alan, Jess, Paul)

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: Local Secondary Schools & Colleges

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.