Morning Prayer Wednesday, 14 October 2020

Good morning good Cornerstone friends.
I hope you are keeping safe and in good heart this morning.
God’s gift to us is this new day with its autumn colours,
let us thank Him for it and consider some scriptures together and pray.

The Lord is King: let the earth rejoice;
let the multitude of the isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him;
righteousness and judgement are the foundations of his throne.
Fire goes before him
and burns up his enemies on every side.
His lightnings lit up the whole world
the earth saw it and trembled
The mountains melted like wax in the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
The heavens declared his righteousness,
and all the peoples have seen his glory.

Confounded be all who worship carved images
and delight in mere idols.
Bow down before him, all ye gods.

Zion heard and was glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoiced,
because of your judgements, O Lord.
For you, Lord, are most high over all the earth;
and you are exalted far above all gods.
The Lord loves those who hate evil;
he preserves the lives of his faithful
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light has sprung up for the righteous
and joy for the true of heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name.
You, Lord, are most high over all the earth.

Psalm 97

Most high and most holy God, enthroned on fire and light,
burn away the dross of our lives and kindle in us the fire of your love,
that our lives may reveal the light and life we find in your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen

St John’s Gospel, chapter 6, verses 25–35 (This comes the day after the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus walking on the lake. Crowds from Capernium got in boats and crossed the lake to look for him.)

When they found him on the other side of the lake they said to him ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’

Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’

Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’

Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’

So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’

Then Jesus said to them, ’Very truly I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’

They said to him ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’

John 6: 25–35

‘You, Lord are most high over all the earth,’ so says the psalmist.
Jesus says ‘I am the bread of life.’
Both of these are pretty profound stuff for a mid-week morning
and we can easily feel they are ‘beyond our understanding’, to use another well-worn phrase.
Let us try to keep in mind today that God is greater than anything else we may encounter
and provides all that we may need in our lives.
We have to strive to question our motives on what we ask of God:
is it for ourselves or for God to be glorified on earth?

We pray for the church at this time of limited activity
and when our gathering together is in such limited circumstances.
Pray that we may be kept from complacency and spiritual blindness and by grace to be guided
so that we can remain whole and united in discipleship and service to others.
Later today the Bishop of Buckingham will licence Krou Assoua as Lay Reader.
Krou and I will be in the church building and the bishop will act via zoom.
Pray for Krou and his calling to serve in this way.
We ask for grace that we all may seek the right things
and act always searching for ways to show God’s love for the world
to those who do not acknowledge his kingship of all creation.
It is frustrating that when the need is greatest for us to be active
we are behaving as if we are totally hampered
in providing for those living on the margins of society
and doing so little.

God our Father, Lord of all the world,
through your Son you have called us into the fellowship of your universal Church:
hear our prayer for your faithful people that they in their vocation and ministry
each may be an instrument of your love;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen

We pray for our troubled world
at a time when the coronavirus is again spreading through the population
of so many countries, including our own.
We live in an area with a low incidence of cases,
but this level has doubled in the last ten days.
Our problems may be irksome but many face bigger problems, loss of jobs and homes.
Our country has some form of social ‘safety net’,
like other countries in Europe and the developed world.
For the majority of humankind, this illness comes on top of almost insurmountable problems,
conflict and greed are depriving millions of the basic needs of life.
Let us remember to thank God for shelter, clean water, food and warmth
as we go about our life today.

Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you most humble and hearty thanks
for all your goodness and loving kindness.
We bless you for our creation, preservation and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
for the means of grace and the hope of glory.
Give us, we pray, such a sense of all your mercies
that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful,
and that we show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up ourselves to your service,
and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honour and glory, for ever and ever.

Amen

Keep safe and secure if you are shielding and go safely if you are out and about.

Visit www.mkcommunityfoundation.co.uk to view the latest publication of ‘Vital Signs’
a survey of how Milton Keynes compares to national benchmarks in areas such as
health and wellbeing, education, diversity, disadvantage and poverty, and homelessness.
It helps, when praying for our community,
that we have some appreciation of what others are facing.

Don Head