His mercy is more – Start The Day

Wednesday 26th August 2026

“But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.” ¹⁵“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. ¹⁶See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. ¹⁷Your sons shall make haste; Your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go away from you. ¹⁸Lift up your eyes, look around and see; all these gather together and come to you. As I live,” says the Lord, “You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, And bind them on you as a bride does.” Isaiah 49:14-18 NKJV

God of Faithfulness,

Hindsight is something the nation of Israel had. To be able to look back at their history and see the countless times God, You provided. And led them to freedom, protected them, gave them victory over their enemies – when they followed You as their only God. But also the times they suffered, were judged, taken into slavery because they turned away from You to other Gods. But perhaps it did not seem as black and white to them? We cannot judge or make excuses for them only try to learn Lord?

These are well known and favourite verse from Isaiah for today, because we can adopt it to ourselves. When our prayer times seems barren, when we have slipped or tripped or floundered in our faith. When we are frustrated that prayer is not answered – we are not forgotten or ignored -we are engraved on Your hands. It is not always helpful when we just need empathy to understand our pain. We do not always want to be reminded that we grow through tough times. And I know You cannot forget me or anyone – You are omniscient.

But that You will have compassion Oh that is different. Compassion gave Adam and Eve another chance. Compassion gave Noah the Ark, Compassion chose Abraham to make a nation of Your people. . . Compassion embraced the gentiles in sending Jesus. Compassion gives life to those who chose You. Your compassion, Your willingness to suffer with us. That is something I can hold onto, be held by and be grateful for, forever.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Wednesday 26th August 2026
A repeat from this July. I thought about compassion – and mercy.
Compassion is said to be what you feel in your heart, sorrow or deep empathy for someone’s suffering. Mercy is what you choose to do, an outward act of withholding punishment, judgment, or harm when you have the power to inflict it. Surely our God is both.

Praise the Lord, His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness, new every morn
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

What love could remember no wrongs we have done
Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum
Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Chorus

What patience would wait as we constantly roam
What Father, so tender, is calling us home
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Chorus

What riches of kindness He lavished on us
His blood was the payment, His life was the cost
We stood ‘neath a debt we could never afford
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Chorus

Songwriters: Matt Boswell, Matt Papa

Saturday 25th July 2026

“Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” Ezekiel 1:1

“Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. ⁵Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. ⁶Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.” Ezekiel 1:4-6

“And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. ²⁷Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and down ward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. ²⁸Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.” Ezekiel 1:26-28 NKJV

God of eternity,

While Jeremiah was writing to the exiles and speaking to the remaining in Jerusalem, Ezekiel was with the exiles by the river Chebar in Babylon (modern day Iraq I think). And You certainly took him by surprise because he fell on his face. If you read the whole chapter and try and imagine what he saw you can understand why he had trouble describing it. This was not a little vision in his dream space this was something as vast as the skies and more glorious than anything he could imagine.

We do not know what You look like Father, nor can we imagine it. You are not a man though we find it comforting to see what You are like through Jesus. We have no idea what Your Holy Spirit is like except when we sense He is directing us or moving us to worship. But this vision is You showing a tiny part of Your glory to a mere mortal. As You did to Isaiah in chapter 6. But he only saw You on a throne afar off and so large that just the train of Your robe reached and filled the Temple. These wee not visions of a man sat on a throne on a cloud but were surrounded by the colour of glory if it has colour. Ezekiel saw raging fire, brightness, flashes of lightening, glittering crystal and the sound like many waters.

We need to see the vastness of Your glory – or at least know about it. You are not limited by space or time and yet You choose to appear to one exile who You call to speak for You. You provide him with all he needs. Your Spirit to strengthen him (Ezekiel 2:2) and Your words in his heat (3:Your words in his heart (Ezekiel 3:10).

It reminds me of a children’s chorus, My God is so big so strong and so mighty there’s nothing that he cannot do. And yet You choose to use a man Ezekiel and later a fisherman and a tax collector . . . and us. Ezekiel sat down for 7 days thinking about what You had asked (Ezekiel 3:15). You did not rush him, A mighty and yet patient God.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Saturday 25th July 2026
We are constantly amazed at Your magnificence, Your generosity to sinful man (me) and the depth of Your mercy. We can sit as Ezekiel did and wonder before we go to worship tomorrow . . .

Lyrics: Matt Boswell / Matt Papa

Saturday 23rd May 2026

“In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. ²He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. ³And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁴Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; ⁵because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ⁷Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.”
1 Kings 15:1-7 NKJV

God of eternity,

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Paul tells the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 3:17). And another 3:17 this time from James’s letter says, “Wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”

There was war between Jeroboam and Rehoboam throughout their reign. Abijam walked in the sins of his father and it continued. You were still with them but unable to grant Your peace as they did not look to You for wisdom, peace or reconciliation. They just saw threat, vulnerability and the jealous desire for power.

Father we cannot always make peace. Sometimes there is no coming back from hurt or damage. But we can forgive and give over the judgement to You. We can receive Your peace. We may never trust again but we don’t have to eternally dwell on the situation. With Your wisdom we can see when we have offended and humble and apologise. Constantly living in peace where possible because You are in our midst. Refusing to continue a war by loving our enemies (Matthew 5:44). And above all we remember our sin it is cast in the deepest sea . . .(Micah 7:19) because of Jesus. Making sure we have no jealousy or desire for power.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Saturday 23rd May 2026
Oh His mercy is more . . .

Praise the Lord, His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness, new every morn
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

What love could remember no wrongs we have done
Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum
Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

What patience would wait as we constantly roam
What Father, so tender, is calling us home
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Praise the Lord, His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness, new every morn
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Repeat chorus

What riches of kindness He lavished on us
His blood was the payment, His life was the cost
We stood ‘neath a debt we could never afford
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Chorus
Repeat chorus . . .

Our sins they are many, His mercy is mоre

Lyrics: Matt Boswell, Matt Papa