Morning Prayer Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Good morning good Cornerstone friends.
I hope you feel refreshed from a good night’s rest
Are you part of a bubble with another single isolator or member of your family?
Have you had the joy of meeting grandchildren again?
Have you made a trip out to the shops for the first time in ages?
Or is life just a dull continuation of lock-down?
May the Lord hear you in the day of trouble,
the name of the God of Jacob defend you.
Send you help from his sanctuary
and strengthen you out of Zion.
Remember all your offerings
and accept your burnt sacrifice.
Grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfil all your mind.
May we rejoice in your salvation
and triumph in the name of our God;
May the Lord perform all your petitions.
We will call upon the name of the Lord
Psalm 20 (Common Worship)
Merciful God, purify our hearts in the flame of your Spirit
and transform our toil into an offering of praise,
that we may reject the rule of might, and trust in Christ alone,
for he is our Lord for ever and ever.
Amen
When we began this period of lockdown, thirteen weeks ago,
the first flowers were showing and spring was arriving.
The time of planting had come.
Now the blossom on the trees is turning into tiny fruit waiting to swell and ripen.
We still have a way to go and while the restrictions are easing,
we still have to take care of ourselves and each other.
Perseverance, good people!
Hang in there.
He [Jesus] also said, ‘The Kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’
He also said, ‘With what can we compare to the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, it is the smallest of all seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make their nests in its shade.’
Mark 4: 26–32
When I read those last two sentences, in 2020,
I immediately thought of Captain (now honorary Colonel and Sir) Tom Moore.
He set out, at nearly 99 years old, to do a little sponsorship for NHS charities
and raised over twenty million pounds.
None of us is too old to try and do something good.
Let us give thanks and bring to God what is on our hearts:
I am starting with a prayer attributed to St Richard of Chichester,
who is celebrated on 16 June when I am recording this.
Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you
for all the benefits that you have won for us,
for all the pains and insults you have borne for us.
Most merciful redeemer, friend and brother
may we know you more clearly,
love you more dearly and follow you more nearly,
day by day.
Amen
We pray for the church as we begin to open our buildings:
Almighty and everlasting God,
we praise you for the many blessings you have given us
to worship you in our building in Central Milton Keynes.
We pray for all those who will be entering the building
and all who will be ensuring that it is safe and welcoming.
We pray for those of our fellowship still praising you from their homes
and we ask that all who seek you may find you
and, being filled with the Holy Spirit, may become a living temple
acceptable to you through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
We pray for our city and the world
as more people return to work places,
more shops open, schools begin to take more pupils
and our roads become busier.
During this time of emergency we have become aware
that our society was creating barriers which excluded many of its members,
by colour of skin, by language, by educational background,
by differing abilities which require special needs.
This has led to a number of universal protest movements.
#MeToo and Black Lives Matter are two notable movements, but not the only ones.
We have been blind and divided people into specific groups
without recognising that we are all different and need to be respected as individuals.
All are of equal worth to God.
Our society needs bus drivers as well as business leaders,
cleaners as much as cardio-surgeons.
With God there is no ‘black’ and ‘white’, only a diverse multi-coloured world.
We have also realised that the natural environment has benefitted
from our ceasing to use motor vehicles so much.
We have spent more time looking around us
and become more aware of the diversity of plants and animals who share the earth with us.
God our Father,
you never cease the work you have begun
and you prosper with your blessing all human labour:
make us wise and faithful stewards of your gifts
that we may serve the common good,
maintain the fabric of the world and seek justice
where all may share the good things you pour upon us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Let us close our time together saying:
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all evermore.
Whether you are staying at home or venturing out,
have a day that causes you to be thankful when you get ready to go to bed tonight.
We have prayed for one another and if you are not feeling too good, this morning,
then remember our prayers for you last all of the day.
