Welcome

“And so it shall be:
Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench;
Instead of a sash, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, baldness;
Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
Your men shall fall by the sword,
And your mighty in the war.
Her gates shall lament and mourn,
And she being desolate shall sit on the ground.” Isaiah 3:24-26 NKJV

Father and Lord,

This really is a pronouncement of more than just being told to sit on the naughty step! It touches every part of life. Belongings, health, personal and national safety. Not just because they sinned as a people and as a nation but because they continually, perpetually, through many generations of warnings, stubbornly went there own way.

We look at out world and see such godless, inhuman behaviour we wonder that we are not all bald, dressed in rags and desolate. It could be depressing, till we balance it with Your goodness. Then we remember that moment when Your way out of judgement arrived among us. Jesus. O Holy night. Your commitment to us and all who walk in Him. All those who are following, living for Him, with Him and in Him. All those who are praying for His return and yet praying many will be saved before He comes back.

Having You, God, on our side does not mean life will be a bowl of cherries. (I wonder where that saying comes from!). This world is a mess because of man’s sin and man’s greed. But now we have a choice through Your Son. We can be the sweet aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15). We can have beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair (Isaiah 61:3). We have hope and life with Your blessing and not judgement.

In Jesus name we pray.

Father,

Bless and meet the needs of all those we pray for today. Those close and those estranged and those we worry about sometimes. Take from our souls the strain and stress – of those things that loiter in the back of our minds so we can have a good day.

We pray for those in Ukraine who did not want war or oppression and who are in despair. Grant them sight of the end of conflict. Step in O Lord and turn Russia around to peace in whatever way possible.

We pray for those nations who are in desperation due to bad leadership, ungodly domination and selfish greed of the few. Release them, change the politics and raise up men and women who will stay good and true.

Thank You for all the blessings we have. We pray that our Parliament will return with Your desires in their hearts and not their own agendas. Speak to them in their dreams and waking hours.

In Jesus name, we pray, amen.

Worship Saturday 26th August 2023
Just let the words wash over and encourage you.

In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live,

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

Written in 2002, “In Christ Alone” was a collaborative effort between Stuart Townend and fellow songwriter (and now good friend) Keith Getty. “The song came about in an unusual way,” Stuart explains. “Keith and I met in the autumn of 2000 at a worship event, and we resolved to try to work together on some songs. A few weeks later Keith sent some melody ideas, and the first one on the CD was a magnificent, haunting melody that I loved, and immediately started writing down some lyrical ideas on what I felt should be a timeless theme commensurate with the melody. So the theme of the life, death, resurrection of Christ, and the implications of that for us just began to tumble out, and when we got together later on to fine tune it, we felt we had encapsulated what we wanted to say.”