Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us (Psalm 96.2, GNB).
If you would like to receive these by email, please click here.
Opening
Speak these words out loud:
Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6.9 (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.
Do not testify against your neighbour without cause – would you use your lips to mislead? Do not say, ‘I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.’ (NIV)
Don’t give evidence against others without good reason, or say misleading things about them. Don’t say, “I’ll do to them just what they did to me! I’ll get even with them!” (GNB)
Proverbs 24.28-29
He had it coming. What goes around comes around. She brought it on herself. He only has himself to blame. She was asking for it. He deserved it.
Have you ever said or thought any of those about someone else – as you treated them badly / shouted at them / cheated them / lied to them / gossipped about them / etc? Most of us are born with an inbuilt sense of justice – or perhaps more accurately, an inbuilt sense of injustice, most especially when we are the ones suffering it. If someone treats us badly, we know they deserve punishment, and there’s a little bit inside us that wants to be the one to mete it out, to be the one to ‘pay them back’.
But if you fight fire with fire – another phrase we like to use to justify our own bad or aggressive behaviour – what do you end up with? No fire? Or more fire? If there’s a big fire, and the fire fighters arrive – what do they use to fight the fire? More fire? Or something that actually puts out a fire?!
If your neighbour or friend wrongs you, and you wrong them back ‘because they deserve it’ – sure, you’re right, they do. But now you deserve wrong for wronging them. This is how feuds start and relationships break.
Next time the red mist descends and you’re tempted to ‘fight fire with fire’ – why not try and take a breath, forgive the other person, and leave the justice up to God?
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:
Wayne, Claire & Jude Pinner-Rosenbach
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: Church Musicians
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.