The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

Friday 31st May 2024

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
Your mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning, new every morning:
great is your faithfulness, O Lord,
great is your faithfulness!

Lyrics: Edith McNeill
Inspired by Lamentations 3:21-23

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV

Father of first light,

After yesterdays confession that I am not a morning person, and the memories of singing morning has broken at school, I started thinking about the very first morning.

The first garden at creation and where You walked God. That the same light of day greets us each morning. And calls us to praise You, God for creation, for each new day and that we never face the day alone, but with You. You still walk with us even though we have messed up. The writer of the hymn (used yesterday) saw raindrops on the grass, heard a blackbirds song and wondered at the morning sunlight. Perhaps it was written in Spring?

Help us to see each new day as fresh, full of opportunities to give You praise and thanks as well as gratitude for Your endless love. Even when things are tough help us to look to You. Keep our eyes full of awe and wonder for Your creation and every new day. To take nothing for granted to give up our worry about tomorrow and rest today in Your peace.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Father of Light,

For our family and friends and neighbours. To be blessed and able to enjoy a fresh new day.
For Ministers, lay leaders, church members. A day to be refreshed amidst preparing and caring.
For the royal family. To be able to plan and execute their duties regardless of politics.
For our nation and Government. Be the God of our nation. Lead those who would stand.
Ukraine, show Your power for peace and disassemble this war. Turn Putin and His advisors.
For Gaza, and the Middle East. Our hope is in You for a way to peace.
For the aid and support organisations that take what is needed into war zones.
For those who do the every day work that enables our communities to function and be safe.
For those who work nights, nurses, police, fire and ambulance. Those on call for emergencies.
For us to pray about the worrying and troubling but lift our hearts to all the good and encouraging.
For good sleep to be able to awake fresh to a new day.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Sneaking in this well known and loved hymn once again in a soft version.

Saturday 28th October 2023

“So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. ²On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. ³And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” Genesis 2:1-3 NLT

God of rest,

Its interesting that when we look at a verses we are very familiar with and think about it how Your Holy Spirit can trigger new thoughts! I always thought of God taking a day off literally and just resting looking at the beauty of all he had created, the universe, the earth and across the diversity of creatures, with his pleasure resting on man and woman as he walked in the garden.

But it actually says You rested from creation. That was actions done. Boxes ticked. But You still had to Govern it’s ongoing and its future. Jesus, Paul reminds us was before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17. Jesus reminded us that His Father, You God, are always at work to this very day, working with Him (John 5:17).

So even though You rested from creation You were still reigning and enabling and direction creation to continue and were sovereign over all.

And I am reminded of one of my favourite Psalms which says my help comes from You, the Maker of heaven and earth who neither slumbers or sleeps (Psalm 121:1).

Thank you that You know even when we have responsibilities that we still hold we can rest. And You carry them with us. You understand. And You never stop giving and being there for us.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

God of rest,

We pray:

For all our family, friends, neighbours, and our church family. For a blessing today.
For those who work tirelessly to ensure we have electricity, gas, clean water, farm the land, and run our hospitals.
For our town, local council and MP’s to make wise choices. For our King and His family.
For Gaza and the Middle East, for the miracle of resting from war and finding peace.
For Putin, the Russian people and Ukraine, an end and soon to war.
For ongoing comfort, help and relief for those in Afghanistan, Libya and Morocco and where there has been flooding in the UK.
For our world, for Governments to see the great benefits to of resting from aggression and seeking good.
For ourselves, to be able to find rest in our hearts and minds even while doing chores, work and essential things.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen

Worship Saturday 28th October 2023