Morning Prayer Wednesday, 14 April 2021

Good morning, Cornerstone people.
Are you still keeping at home, or have you ventured out to those activities that we can now enjoy:
shopping, hairdressers, libraries, etc.
Let us gather and share our thoughts and give thanks for being able to be more sociable this week.

I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall ever be in my mouth.
My soul shall glorify in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look upon him and be radiant
and your faces shall not be ashamed.
This poor soul cried and the Lord answered me
and saved me from all my troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him
and delivers them.

O taste and see that the Lord is gracious;
blessed is the one who trusts him.

Psalm 34: 1–8

Send you holy angels to watch over us, O God,
that on our lips shall be found your truth and in our hearts your love;
so we may ever taste your goodness in the land of the living;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Daily prayers

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are already condemned, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light so that it may clearly be seen that their deeds have been done in God.

John 3: 16–21

O magnify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
O taste and see that the Lord is gracious;

is the message of the psalm writer.
The passage from St John is part of our Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus,
and this excerpt starts with possibly the most quoted verse in the gospels.
Can we today think of the last sentence:
But those who do what is true come to the light so that it may clearly be seen that their deeds have been done in God.

Most of us can now meet together in groups of six rather than in just two.
More are returning to the shops and to their offices
and to the leisure facilities which surround our building.
It is different.
There are gaps in the shopping frontages of the mall,
some offices have shut for ever, and are being converted into residential use,
while cranes mark the places where new office buildings and a new hotel are springing up on the skyline
and large scale residential development is nearing completion in Campbell Park by the new canal marina.

I accept that we must remain vigilant to limit the spread of disease
and possibly delay our use of the building for worship,
but we need to prepare well so that our building can shine out
to the residents, the workers and those now enjoying the leisure facilities

O magnify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.
O taste and see that the Lord is gracious

If we are not seen to be there for these people, where they are now,
it is only another reason for them to ignore us.
We have to be relevant to the new circumstances:
those blank shop frontages are lost jobs;
those new buildings show us that more people are going to be about in central Milton Keynes.
So how do we get ready to serve this wearied uncertain society?
‘so that that it may clearly be seen that our deeds have been done in God’

Let us pray for the church:

Ever present God, everything is in your hands.
By the spirit of prophecy you have awakened our souls to expectancy.
So let your resurrection light radiate all our work and worship by the power of your Holy Spirit.
Help us to know ourselves as women and men who have been made new.

By that same power inspire us to walk even as he walked;
that going the way of faith and gladness we may come at last to those things
which you have prepared from the beginning of the world for all them that truly love you.

Amen

George MacLeod, Iona

Let us pray for the world:
We in England can meet more people face to face
Many countries are facing a ‘third wave’ of the pandemic, but supplies of vaccines are increasing.
Europe and the USA are now moving fast to implement mass vaccination,
but many countries are having difficulty in getting supplies
because of the cost and lack of expertise to distribute them.
Where they do, the results can be amazing.
A little country like Bhutan obtained supplies only last month
but had the infrastructure to get the vaccine into the arms of people.
It delivered at least one dose to over 80% of the population in a period of less than six weeks!
Remember also the people of St Vincent forced to move from their homes
and all who live in fear and are forced from their homes and country.

Lord in these times when we fear we are losing hope or feel that our efforts are futile;
let us see in our hearts and minds the image of your resurrection.
Let that be the source of courage and strength so that in your company
we can face the challenges and struggles against all that is born of apathy and injustice.

Amen

from the Philippines, Iona Prayer Book

I had the privilege to volunteer in our building on Monday.
Can I wish you all the opportunity, while staying safe, to socialise with more people this week
and leave this poem with you which holds some thoughts of St Teresa de Avilla:

Christ has no hands but your hands to do his work today;
no other feet but your feet to guide them on his way;
no other lips but your lips to tell them why he died;
no other love but your love to win them to his side.

Vamos adelante. Let us go forward!

Don Head