O Jesus I have promised – Start The Day

“Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. ¹²The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” ¹³“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” ¹⁴Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” ¹⁵“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” ¹⁶The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”” Judges 6:11-16 NLT

God of the strong and the weakest,

The book of Judges again shows us how You choose the inexperienced, the weak, the scared to show Your mighty love. A nobody hiding in the bottom of a winepress trying to hide grain. He calls himself the least of the least, and he is not trying to be humble.

Many Bible scholars think that the angel of the Lord here was an appearance of Jesus. Whether it was or whether it was an angel, it reminds me that You often speak when we are not spending time listening in particular. When we are not expecting it. When we are about the ordinary or the necessary. It was the last thing Gideon expected. I love that You often break into our thoughts with an idea or something we need to do or a direction. And we know it did not come from our thoughts.

Help us to recognise and not miss those moments but acknowledge them and look if we need to do something in response. And You often confirm it by speaking to someone else about the same thing. or someone tells us that we are an answer to their prayers.

Help us to take time to listen, yes but help us hear Your voice in the middle of our daily tasks. As Gideon did.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Sunday 6th April 2025
verse 3 a beautiful prayer . . . .

O Jesus, I have promised
To serve you to the end;
Be thou forever near me,
My Master and my friend;
I shall not fear the battle
If Thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway
If Thou wilt be my guide.

Oh, let me feel Thee near me;
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
The tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw Thou nearer,
And shield my soul from sin.

Oh, let me hear Thee speaking,
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
Oh, speak to reassure me,
To hasten, or control;
Oh, speak, and make me listen,
Thou Guardian of my soul.

O Jesus, Thou hast promised
To all who follow Thee
That where Thou art in glory
There shall Thy servant be;
And Jesus, I have promised
To serve Thee to the end;
Oh, give me grace to follow,
My Master and my Friend.

Lyrics: John Ernest Bode

This hymn was written by John Ernest Bode (13 February 1816 – 6 October 1874) an Anglican priest, educator, poet, and hymnist on the occasion of the confirmation of his own two sons and daughter at Castle Camps village in 1869. It was not put to music until 1881.

“You didn’t choose me. I chose you.” John 15:16a

God our Father,

This little verse is one of those which is almost a dichotomy. Two opposing things! Because i made a decision to become a Christian because I found You, God and yet it was really because You, God chose me!

This little verse chases away all the rejection the world offers me. Yes, I was always one of the last chosen at school to be on a sports team. But this verse reminds me that You, God choose me, because You loved me regardless that I could not hit a tennis ball, a rounders ball or catch anything thrown towards me. You have a purpose for our lives and more importantly love us for who we are. None of us are last choice. We are all like Your first born and joint heirs because of Jesus (Romans 8:17).

So we bless You Lord, and forget not all Your benefits. You forgive all our iniquities, heal all our diseases, redeem our life from destruction, crown us with loving kindness and tender mercies. Satisfy our mouths with good things, so that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalm 103:2-5)

We are sad that some do not want to be part of Your family and live in the Kingdom of God. We continue to pray for them. Thank You for choosing us. For seeing us as Your precious sons and daughters and not as the world sometimes makes us feel. We pray that You will keep calling those in our family and friends who have not yet opened their hearts to You.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Suggestions for prayer:
God our Father,

For our family, friends, neighbours, church fellowship. For their health, their well being and their knowledge of Your love.
For Kings, rulers and Governments. To be who they should be, righteous, brave and guided by You.
For HRH King Charles and HRH Duchess of Cambridge, and their families as they recover at home.
For our government, Your wisdom in decisions for the many international decisions to be made.
For nations and their rulers and governments to have a desire to make peace, and make it happen.
For Ukraine and Gaza permanent peace. Along with Myanmar, North Korea, Chine, Sudan, Syria.
For those who work away often unseen making society safer and pleasant. District nurses, dustbin men, electrician’s, reservoir keepers, police, bakers, carers, home helps, farmers . . .
For the livestock of this nation, working dogs and family pets.
For us our health and well being and to look up and forward and see all the good You are doing despite the news. And to have a good day.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Monday 5th February 2024