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Thought for the Week: Rejoice Always

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Last week I mentioned what some of us were doing during Lockdown. It was a very brief list and I’m sure that if I made a full list of how we have kept busy it would be very interesting and would probably fill a whole page. As I was giving it more thought with prayer, I was led to think about Paul when he was imprisoned in Rome and how he reacted to being away from the church of the Philippians, which he had begun at an earlier journey.
Paul’s reaction was to write to the Christians there for two reasons. Firstly, he wrote a thank you letter for the gift that Epaphraditus had brought to him from the church and from which he had felt great encouragement. Secondly, he wanted to encourage the people that he felt great love for. His letter was particularly about joy.
Paul had joy in his relationship with Jesus Christ and he was encouraging the people to find that same joy. He believed that Christians should be joyful always no matter what they were going through. While some of us are still under Lockdown we would all get help from Paul’s letter for, as well as writing the joyful letter, he says that he had learned to be content and have joy in Jesus Christ. Many of us have been away from those we love and might find his words comforting when he says, “in all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel”. So, even if the pandemic prevents us from being together, we share in the grace of God which gives us the loving affection of Jesus Christ.
I heard someone recently suggesting that there would soon be no place for letters because of emails and other ways of making contact with others. I would be very sorry if I could not send or receive post, such as letters, post cards, and birthday and Christmas cards. I know I am old fashioned, but I am quickly to the door when I hear something coming through my letter box. I also, going back to Paul, love to get a thank you card. I always get thank you cards from my family and one of my friends teenaged granddaughters sends me thank you cards with all about her life and I cherish all of those cards.

PRAYERS

Beginning with well-known words of Paul who said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice”. EVER LOVING GOD, hear our prayers and help us, through the Holy Spirit, to show joyfulness at all times.
Then Paul says, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” We admit that we are not always gentle in how we help others. Forgive us if we have been harsh in word or in our actions. Thank you Lord Jesus for the words by which we are led.
Once more in the words of Paul we come to you. “Do not be anxious in anything but in prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God.” Father we thank You for Paul and his leading words. We pray for help when we are afraid of the future. We pray again to find joyfulness in Jesus Christ, and we thank you for the promise of your peace.
Loving Father there are people throughout the world who need help. There are children dying of the lack of food and medicine and the virus is making their lives even worse. We pray for them, that they might be shown the love of Jesus Christ and that the peace which transcends all understanding will be for all people so that they might find out what it means to be joyful in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Saviour. Amen.

Thought for the Week: Keeping Busy

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Family and friends: Gwen is knitting; Becky is puppy training; Lisa does jigsaws; Angela is baking bread rolls; Hazel makes jam; Tony grows vegetables; Lucy makes masks; Sally raised money for Carers; Rachel made cards; Marion tries the keyboard; and John sings. These are some of the different activities we do during Lockdown and I could have mentioned many more things that people are doing, but this week I want to focus on singing.
Many of us would like to get together to sing but it’s on the ‘not allowed’ list. If its importance is questioned one would only need to count up the number of choirs in Warwickshire to realise that singing is enjoyed by a large number of people throughout the country. Not long before COVID-19 raised its evil head, I had to leave the choir I had enjoyed for years due to ill health and I had just joined the Harmony singing group. Sunday came, the Chapel was closed, so I went for a walk along country roads and I sang. I sang to the sheep, I sang to the cows, I even sang to a cyclist passing by who probably thought I was strange but what I was doing was lifting myself out of the sadness that had come over me on that first day of Lockdown.
My suggestion for this week is to sing. Why? Because it is uplifting, and research has shown that the benefits to our lives are great and overwhelming. Each Sunday during lockdown I have enjoyed the church service arranged online by the Reverend James Church, which gives me the opportunity to sing along in my lounge. I then turn on to Songs of Praise and sing along again. I know that until the pandemic is over, I will sing as much as I can and I urge everyone to try to do the same.
In Psalm 40, King David, after he’d been through the mire writes, “God put a new song in my mouth”. James wrote, “If anyone of you is in trouble he should pray. If anyone happy let him sing” (James 5 v.13). Even Job who had been through terrible times said people don’t ask the question ‘Where is God’ because he showed them by his faith that God gave him songs in the night (Job 35 v.10).

PRAYER TIME

All the prayers this week will be taken from hymns that we love to sing.
PRAISE: “Praise my soul the King of heaven, to his feet thy tribute bring. Praise Him Praise the everlasting King!”
“Sing praise to the Lord all people on earth; in tuneful accord sing praise; praise Him for His grace from above.”
FORGIVENESS: “Dear Lord and Father of mankind forgive our foolish ways, reclothe us, in purer lives thy service…”
“O for a heart to praise my God; Gracious lord, write thy new name upon my heart, thy blest name of love.”
DISCIPLESHIP: “Hushed was the evening hymn, when suddenly a voice divine rang through the silence… O give me Samuel’s mind, a sweet unmurmuring faith, obedient and resigned to you in life and death.”
“Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy; in joyful obedience your tasks to fulfil, your bondage, freedom, service strong.”
FAITH: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, seek and ye shall find, ask and knock to open…”
“O Jesus I have promised to serve thee to the end. O guide me, call me, draw me, uphold me to the end.”
HOPE: “Sometimes a light surprises a Christian while he(she) sings. It is the lord who rises with healing in his wings”
PROCLAIMING: “Colours of day dawn into the mind, the day hast begun. So light up the fire & let the flame burn.”
FOR THE WORLD: “Brother, sister let me serve you, let me be as Christ to you, I will hold the Christ-Christ light for you, I will share your joy and sorrow, when you laugh, I’ll laugh with you, till we’ve seen this journey through.”
FATHER & SON: “To God be the glory, great things He has done! So loved he the world that he gave us His Son.
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father through Jesus the Son and give Him the glory- great things He has done!”
The parts of the Hymns speak for themselves when read as prayers.
Have you recognised twelve Hymns? If you need a hymn book, ask me and I will deliver one to you.

Thought for the Week: Choices

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In the prayer time last week, I pointed to Romans 8. V.28 where Paul said, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him”. This week I want to say a little more about that sentence. I don’t need to tell you that we are going through tragic circumstances which are not made by God but by evil that is prevalent in the world. At the beginning of Paul’s statement, it says, “we know”, so if we know what is good, we also know what is bad and are therefore led to make choices. In order to make the right choices we need the help of the Holy Spirit who deals with what is true and good for us. We had all hoped that by now we would be out of Lockdown but sadly that has not happened and I feel strongly that our prayers must be for what that means for us now and also what we are afraid of what we think the future will be.
As a lover of wildflowers, I move now to share with you something that has uplifted my recent days. On the day before Lockdown my daughter Lisa went to a funeral of the sister of her friend from Plymouth. When she came back home, she gave me six packets of seeds and on the packet were these words: “Let wildflowers grow in all the places I could not and every time you see them flower think of me.” Then it added, “Please scatter these seeds in memory of Del.”
I planted them in twenty small pots and spread the others in a part of the ground which needed weeding. I then watered the pots and after a week or two some little green shoots were seen and gradually, we saw some strong green plants but no flowers. They were overgrowing the small pots so then I transplanted them into the old plastic dog basket with a prayer that they would survive. Then, about ten days ago, there were signs of small white flowers and following, day by day, different flowers popped up and we now have corn flowers, lesser spear wort, fox and cubs, sand wort, ox eye daisies, willow herb, dog rose and others.
What a lovely way for the family and friends to remember their loved one.

PRAYER TIME

AMAZING GOD we praise You for all the ways You help us to cope with sadness. As it says in Psalm 30 v. 11 “You turned my sorrow into joy!”
Today Lord we are facing more sadness as thousands of people are losing their jobs and are afraid of the future because they will be unable to feed their children and some families are already in that situation.
Lord, You know that many people have died because of the pandemic and are distraught because they have not been able to be with their loved ones as they died. FATHER GOD, we place all of those people into Your hands.
LOVING GOD, we have heard that You overturn the bad to make it good. When Mary was told that she would give birth to Jesus, the Angel Gabriel said, “Do not be afraid, for nothing is impossible with God.”
FORGIVING GOD, during recent days people have made choices which were against the law and in doing so have made danger for other people. We all at times fail to follow the way Jesus Christ showed us how to live and how to show our love for one another. Lord we ask for forgiveness for our wrong choices in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour.
CREATING GOD, we thank You for the abundance of wildflowers in the countryside as well as the varieties of beautiful flowers in our gardens and in hanging pots in our cities and towns.
CARING GOD, we ask help for the problems made by COVID-19. For instance, that the children can return to school safely and that the teachers will be ready to restart lessons for them. We pray too that if another spike occurs, the NHS will be able to cope with those who are ill and have all that is necessary to keep the doctors, nurses and carers safe.
FATHER GOD all our prayers are in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave us the Holy Spirit to intercede in our weaknesses and our choices. We reach out for the hands of God to hold us in safety. AMEN

Thought for the Week: The Peace of God

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It was Monday, the 14th Monday of Lockdown. Monday is often not good for me and I have at times been very reluctant to get out of my bed! However, I prayed to God for inspiration for the THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK and at first, felt lead to the United Reformed Prayer Book of 2010 and when I opened it I nearly laughed out loud as I read the heading which said, ‘LOOSE OUR CHAINS AND SETTLE US IN PEACE’.
Suddenly I saw a light in the tunnel, my Monday grumpiness went, for God had answered prayer immediately because. the words in my mind which I had had as I woke up were almost the same: ‘LOOSE THE LOCKDOWN AND GIVE US OUR FREEDOM AND PEACE’.
This followed the reading in Galatians 3 v.23 where we are reminded that before we had faith in Jesus Christ we were imprisoned by our past mistakes and by the wrong things like sins that we had done even though we knew they were wrong. We also might be craving the wrong things today and all of it would have been forgiven due to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The other part of our wish to be free is peace.
You may have heard the verse from Philippians 4 v. 7 many times but it is a special gift from God and is as follows:
“AND THE PEACE OF GOD WHICH TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING WILL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS”. God’s peace is different from the peace we talk about so often, especially when It is used at times of war or some other kind of conflict.
There are many commentaries regarding people’s understanding of God’s peace. One wrote, “God’s peace is the smile of God reflected in the soul of the believer”. Another wrote, “It is a very special gift from God, founded on Grace and the love of Christ which is explained in Ephesians 3 v,18 where Paul wrote, ‘I pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ’”. What more can we ask for?
Going back to freedom, if you can find one of my favourite hymns which begins with, “And can it be” and read verse 4 you will find an explanation on how in believing in Jesus lives are changed.
As we come to Prayers for the week, I copy that verse:
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light.
My chains fell off, my heart was free
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

PRAYERS FOR THE WEEK

Jesus teaches us to pray. Give us our daily bread;
As we give thanks for our food, our homes, our security,
We remember that many are hungry, or homeless, or in danger.
Help us not to be complacent with what we have,
But to look for ways to make a fairer world.
Jesus teaches us to pray, and keep on praying,
To ask and search and knock.
O God, who always hears our prayers
Accept these and all our prayers in the name of
the one who taught us to pray. Amen ( Prayer taken from “Teach us to pray” by Sue McCoan )
Father God, We have been through a time of trial caused by COVID-19. Paul wrote, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him”.
Heavenly Father as we pray in the name of your Son, we might see good coming from what has been a very difficult time throughout the world. We ask now that the terrible times many have suffered by losing their loved ones will end and they will find peace. As we search for a better future, we pray that those who are still suffering from the virus will be healed and able to enjoy their lives again.
Lord Jesus Christ as we reach out to you we would pray that as we get used to our changed lives we might be given your special peace which we have been thinking about and may we be used to help those who, as yet, have not taken you into their lives that they will be blessed by finding you as their saviour. Amen

Thought for the Week: New Normal/New Life

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As the constraints that we have all lived with for twelve weeks are beginning to be eased I have heard people talking about getting back to normal and then talking about ‘THE NEW NORMAL’ meaning, as they look back over that time, they have realised that their way of living has changed in ways that are better. I know that I have been surprised that I have used the time in ways that have been better for me.
As the poet W.H. Davies wrote “What is life if full of care, we have no time to stop and stare.” For the first time in years I have sat in my garden in the lovely sunshine eating my lunch instead of trying to fill my time with unnecessary activities.
I know that I took that quote of the poem out of context when using “full of care”. In today’s news programme it said that for many people life in the near future is going to be full of care. During lockdown, the parents of children with severe special needs lost their carers and thousands of people who have already been on part pay will discover that there are no jobs for them.
The reading for last Sunday was about a man who had been crippled from birth and who was taken daily to the Beautiful Gate of the Temple so that the people leaving worship would give him some money. When he saw Peter and John coming from the Temple, he asked them for some money. Peter answered him by saying, “Silver or gold have I none but what I have in the name of Jesus I will give to you.” Peter touched the man and he was healed. What this story says is that because we are Christians, we have been given a new life in Jesus Christ. To give money is helpful but more important is to spread the love of Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit. We may not have the gift of healing but by leading someone to Jesus gives them a new and eternal life. The whole story is in Acts 3.v 1-10.

PRAYERS FOR THE WEEK

Abba Father, Almighty God, during this very difficult time, our strength has come through the children’s hymn “He’s got the whole world in His hands”. Soon after the lockdown began we were unable to be together to live once again through all the suffering that Jesus endured for His people, like the Passover, Good Friday, and His crucifixion followed by being able to share in the celebration of the Resurrection. Loving Father our strength came from You then and it will continue to come via the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus the King.
Lord Jesus, we know how you loved both children and people with disabilities, our prayers are for the many in the world who suffer, their families and their carers. Lord we pray that there will be many with the gift of caring who feel able to help them.
Dear Lord Jesus, because of COVID-19, thousands of jobs have been lost causing people and families to become desperately poor. Lord Jesus, we may not have the answer to this problem but we know that you will have it and so we put it at the foot of the cross.
Holy Spirit, our prayers now come to you as we ask for your intervention to make the words of these prayers acceptable. In the name of Jesus, the Son, Father creator and Holy Spirit, Amen
Near Santiago there is a statue of Jesus Christ. It has no hands because they disappeared many years ago. It was discussed about replacing the hands, but it was decided not to. On the plinth of the statue there is written: I HAVE NO HANDS BUT YOURS.

Thought for the Week: Waiting for the Feeling

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Waiting for the Feeling
I was watching the ‘Homes Under the Hammer’ programme on TV. A couple had bought a house and renovated it to the man’s satisfaction. The woman was not satisfied and said, “I am waiting for the feeling”, meaning she would feel when the house was the home she wished for. I wrote about Pentecost in the last ‘THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK’ and mentioned what happened when the Holy Spirit came. The Apostles had been waiting for the feeling and they were touched by flames of fire which gave them the feeling without a doubt.
Sometimes, a person seeking Jesus will expect to have something like the strong winds and flames before they can be sure. I knew one such person many years ago who was waiting in that way and had almost given up saying, “Unless I have something miraculous, I will not believe”. On his way home from work that day he stopped for a break and in that moment, he had a feeling which changed his life. The Holy Spirit had shown just with a feeling that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and the man gave his life to Him.
I imagine we are all having thoughts about COVID-19 and may be getting tired of asking God to change the world and give us back the freedom we enjoyed before the virus came. I know that I have been made aware that most of the people who have a faith have found it difficult not to have an opportunity to worship their God. We are waiting for the time to come when we will have a feeling that the Holy Spirit has turned things around.
Many years ago, when my son was in university, he had a chance to have a year in Texas. The church he worshipped in was out of doors under a bridge. Every Sunday, whatever the weather, even deep snow, and whatever the age of the congregation, they gathered together to worship God. After the service they dispersed to serve the Lord in different ways. My son taught black children who were not receiving an adequate education at that time. This week, we have been told that our chapels can be opened for prayer. There are many difficulties which have to be overcome. We have a challenge though. If any of you have a feeling about a way of us worshipping again together within the law, let me know.

PRAYERS FOR THE WEEK

Ever loving, ever caring God, we pray today that the times will change to enable us to get together to worship you, our Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We are still struggling to cope with the constraints of our lives, but we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who was made to suffer before His crucifixion. Our Lord Jesus cried out about what was happening to Him, and then added, “Thy will Father”, and so, even though we find it difficult to accept the constraints, we also say, “Father God Thy will be done”.
Lord Jesus, we bring to you this week those who are in hospital and the doctors and nurses caring for them. We pray for carers who are suffering mentally as they try to keep people alive, only to stand by their bedsides as they die.
In our thoughts this week we consider thinking and waiting, Lord Jesus. You went through all of those emotions and disappointments and we ask that by the power of the Holy Spirit, people who have not yet given their lives to You will get that feeling of a new life, a changed life and become a person joining all of us in your special family.
With love in our hearts and thanksgiving for our own lives of faith, help us to help others to know You, In the Name of God, the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Thought for the Week: All Change

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ascension of Jesus Christ

Today’s thoughts are about changes and the Ascension of Jesus Christ.

Following Easter Sunday, Jesus was showing His disciples that he was resurrected and alive, but not all of the people who were told about His change were able to accept it. Some were uncertain.
Nine weeks ago, the lives of people throughout the world were changed, not all in the same way but they were changed. Some were heard to say that they had lost their freedom and others just looked for someone to blame.
Today, we will think about what the Ascension meant at the time when it happened and what it means to us today at this time of uncertainty – yes, uncertainty, because no one understands how COVID-19 will react from now on.
On the day of Ascension, the people were looking up at the sky, and I imagine it was because they were still uncertain about where Jesus was. Two men dressed in white appeared, angel messengers from God who said to the onlookers, “Why are you looking up, Jesus has gone to His Father God in heaven and will return as He promised”.
We need have no uncertainty because we have the truth a) that Jesus is alive, b) that He is with God, c) that He will return one day in the future, d) the love that God has for us never changes because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and e) the ministry of Jesus on earth becomes our ministry.
Throughout these past nine weeks, we have been told firstly, to do certain things to save the lives of other people and secondly to be safe. That is the same today. We have done what Jesus did and many have given their lives for others. The prayers for today were written 7 years before the pandemic by Karen Campbell for Ascension Day.
Before we come to the time of prayer I hope you will forgive me for including my cat in the thoughts again…I have learned a lot since having Nala 3 months ago. Many people find change very difficult to handle and are uncertain about doing new things. I tend to be untidy and put things down in haste instead of putting them back where I got them from. Nala has her own way of putting me in my place. As soon as she comes across something new or something out of place she will sniff it, stand by it, look at me with her beautiful big eyes and even make her strange cat talk at me and wait for me to put things right. As we read the prayers we may feel that God is speaking to us about putting things in our lives right while we make the necessary changes.

PRAYERS FOR TODAY

LIVING GOD’S KINGDOM

Inviting God,
You call us to work as partners with you, in and for your world.
Show us how to live your kingdom into being inspired by the love of the risen Christ,
Now seated at your right hand.
Sustaining God, you call us to be as Christ in our world,
Starting here, where we live and work and dream. By your Spirit, grant us wisdom to discern your will,
When to wait, and when to move,
When to be silent and when to speak, when to be stubborn, and when to change,
Show us how to live your kingdom into being
Immersed in the love of the risen Christ now seated at your right hand.
Loving God, you see when the road seems too long,
When the task seems too great, when we encounter hostility or disbelief,
And the world laughs at the foolishness of the gospel
When we are tired, disheartened and ready to give in, remind us that we are a people of power,
Show us how to live your kingdom into being empowered by the love of the risen Christ
Now seated at your right hand. Amen