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:

By his power God raised Jesus from the dead,
and he will raise us also.

1 Corinthians 6.14 (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 22.6

I suspect this is the flip side of the English proverb ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’… i.e. you have to get your training in early!

Neither that, nor this, is quite the whole truth. Plenty of people go off the rails having had lovely childhoods, and plenty of people who are ‘old’ learn new things.

For me the truth here is about inertia, the momentum of travelling – perhaps a bit like a huge cargo ship. We saw recently in the news how hard it is to move one when the Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal. Their stopping distances and turning circles are measured in miles; in other words, if you’re going wrong it’s not impossible to turn, but it’s much better to head in the right direction to start with!

So if you are responsible for teaching, encouraging, mentoring, showing an example to young people, don’t underestimate the importance of what you’re doing. It might be hard to tell in the moment, but in general all those little nudges add up into the direction the young person is heading on.

And if you didn’t have that, or things have gone wrong since, be warned (it’s not easy to change direction) but also encourage (neither is it impossible). With God’s help good can be brought out of the hardest, worst, most difficult situations and upbringings.

Which should encourage parents every time you make a mistake!!

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:

Janet Wilson, Catriona Paton, Joyce Moore

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: Baptism Candidates & Families

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.