admin

Friday 5th September 2025

“Jerusalem, once so full of people, is now deserted. She who was once great among the nations now sits alone like a widow. Once the queen of all the earth, she is now a slave. ²She sobs through the night; tears stream down her cheeks. Among all her lovers, there is no one left to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her and become her enemies. ³Judah has been led away into captivity, oppressed with cruel slavery. She lives among foreign nations and has no place of rest. Her enemies have chased her down, and she has nowhere to turn.” Lamentations 1:1-3 NLT

“Cry aloud before the Lord, O walls of beautiful Jerusalem! Let your tears flow like a river day and night. Give yourselves no rest; give your eyes no relief. ¹⁹Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer, pleading for your children, for in every street they are faint with hunger.” Lamentations 2:18-19

“The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.²⁰I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. ²¹Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: ²²The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. ²³Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. ²⁴I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” Lamentations 3:19-24 NLT

God of hope,

Lamentations anonymous and poetic. Written by a person or persons who survived. A reflection of Babylon’s siege of Jerusalem and the destruction and exile that followed (2 Kings 24 and 25)

One of the worst catastrophes in Israel’s history up to this point. God had promised Abraham the land of Canaan, David had made Jerusalem Israel’s capital where the kings from the line of David lived. Where Solomon built the temple for You, God, and where the priests maintained the rituals of Israel’s worship. 500 years of their history and then everything was lost. Lamentations a memorial to pain and confusion. And perhaps a beginning of repentance, regret and humility? And finally hope.

Amidst catastrophe however it happens the best we can do is grieve, cry out to You God, repent if we have had any part in it and finally hope in You. You will not fail us.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Friday 5th September 2025

The steadfast Love of the Lord never changes,
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning,
Great is Thy faithfulness.

Lyrics: Edith McNeill words and tune 1974

Thursday 4th September 2025

⁶At that time the Lord sent me a message. He said, ⁷“Your cousin Hanamel son of Shallum will come and say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else.’” ⁸Then, just as the Lord had said he would, my cousin Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said, “Please buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else, so buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that the message I had heard was from the Lord. ⁹So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces of silver for it. ¹⁰I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him. ¹¹Then I took the sealed deed and an unseale copy of the deed, which contained the terms and conditions of the purchase, ¹²and I handed them to Baruch son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I did all this in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed, and all the men of Judah who were there in the courtyard of the guardhouse. ¹³Then I said to Baruch as they all listened, ¹⁴“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take both this sealed deed and the unsealed copy, and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.’ ¹⁵For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’”
Jeremiah 32:6-15 NLT

God of Israel, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,

Jeremiah has a dream or a vision or hears God. And even though it does not make sense he obeys! I wonder how he felt when his cousin then came and offered him his land as a purchase? Was he encouraged he had heard right? He does not hesitate but buys it and we are told the price in silver so not a token price. And this land would be only about 5 miles from Jerusalem. This would at that time still have been a war zone and looking like it would fall to the Babylonians. So it would have looked like he was throwing away his money not investing.

But he obeyed because he had heard You and even if not for a long time (it took 7 years) You were showing him there would be restoration recovery and a return for those who would be taken captive. It looks easy. He heard and he obeyed. But I wonder if he doubted he had heard. Till his cousin came. Or was it just a coincidence.

Sometimes Lord we wish You would make it clear when You speak to us. Keep the prophetic alive in our day. Sometimes You do speak and we hear the same thing several times and know we must do it. Thank You that You have infinite patience with us. Thank You that You allow us to help You. Thank You that you do not give up on us when we get it wrong. Thank You for investing Your love in us and Your people the church.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Thursday 4th September 2025

Spirit of the Living God
Spirit of the Living God
We only wanna hear your voice
We’re hanging on every word
Spirit of the Living God
Spirit of the Living God
We only wanna hear your voice
We’re hanging on every word

‘Cause when you speak, when you move
When you do what only you can do
It changes us, it changes
What we see and what we seek
When you come in the room
When you do what only you can do
It changes us, it changes
What we see and what we seek
You’re changing everything

Spirit of the Living God
Spirit of the Living God
We’re leaning into all you are
Everything else can wait
Spirit of the Living God
Spirit of the Living God
Come now and breathe upon our hearts
Come now and have your way

‘Cause when you speak, when you move
When you do what only you can do
It changes us, it changes
What we see and what we seek
When you come in the room
When you do what only you can do
It changes us, it changes
What we see and what we seek
You’re changing everything

When you move, you move all our fears
When you move, you move us to tears
When you move, you move all our fears
When you move, you move us to tears

When you fall, we fall on our knees
When you fall, we fall at your feet
God, when you fall, we fall on our knees
When you fall, we fall at your feet

When you speak and when you move
When you do what only you can do
It changes us, it changes
What we see and what we seek
When you come in the room
When you do what only you can do
It changes us, it changes
What we see and what we seek
You’re changing everything

Lyrics: Jacob Sooter and Mia Fieldes

Wednesday 3rd September 2025

“So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. ²Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign. ³By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. ⁴Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley. ⁵But the Babylonian troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. ⁶They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. ⁷They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.

⁸On August 14 of that year, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. ⁹He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city. ¹⁰Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. ¹¹Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. ¹²But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.” 2 Kings 25:1-12

Lord God,

You were true to Your word, God and all that Jeremiah and Ezekiel had told them happened. After the second attack of the Babylonians Jerusalem was taken. And it was the worst it could have been.
Everything they put their faith in. The Temple, the City of Jerusalem, their King and his army failed them and there was nothing they could do. They had forgotten the God who gave them all of this and their relationship with him.

It was one of those moments when they realised how fragile life is and how out of our their own control it all was. They had nothing to put their faith in. At moments such as these through the years people have prayed, “If you are there God, help!” And You have answered their prayers. Miracles have happened.

But for the people of Judah and Jerusalem they did not pray, did not turn to You and were taken. Bad things do happen. We still live in a fallen world until Jesus comes again and there is a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1-4). Whatever happens we can turn to You for help.

Whatever comes. Keep us. Keep us faithful and true. Keep us following You. And we trust You to see us through.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Wednesday 3rd September 2025

A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he, amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right Man on our side,
the Man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
The Lord of hosts his name,
from age to age the same;
and He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo! his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

That Word above all earthly powers
no thanks to them abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours
through him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
the body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever!

Lyrics: Martin Luther