Daily Prayers Wednesday, 23 November 2022

Good morning Cornerstone friends.

Next Sunday is Advent Sunday and last week we had Storytelling Sunday. Our Advent courses start and I hope that many of you have joined a group to prepare ourselves for the coming of Our Lord into the world. Please do join a group if you have not yet joined one.

Psalm 98

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things.

His own right hand and his holy arm have won for him the victory.

The Lord has made known his salvation;
his deliverance has he openly shown in the sight of the nation.

He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness towards the house of Israel,
and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Sound praises to the Lord all the earth, break into singing and make music.

Make music to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the voice of melody.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn sound praises before the Lord and King.

Lord God just and true, you make your salvation known in the sight of the nations;
tune the song of our hearts to the music of your creation as you came among us to judge the earth;
through our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen
(Common Worship)

St Luke Chapter 21 verses 12 -19

(Jesus in the week of Passover and Passion, talks to his disciples about destruction of the Temple)

But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; the will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.
This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

–#–

Today the church remembers St Clement who was a Bishop of Rome in the first century following the Apostle St Peter in that office. He wrote epistles and some of these writings have survived. It is claimed that he is buried in St Clement’s church in Rome but there are also traditions that he was imprisoned, exiled from Rome to work in a quarry far away, in Crimea. There he was martyred by being thrown into the sea with an anchor tied round his neck. His emblem is an anchor and he is a patron saint of Kyiv. He is claimed as a ’Father of the early church’ by both Orthodox and Catholic traditions.
Within a hundred years of the Holy Spirit charging the Apostles to accept Christ’s call to preach the gospel to those seeking to persecute them, the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed and persecution of Christians was widespread all over the Roman Empire.

Let us pray for the church today as it prepares for another celebration of the birth of Christ

Eternal Father, whose Son Jesus Christ ascended to the throne of heaven, stir up the wills of your faithful people that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may keep the Church in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, and bring the whole created order to worship at his feet; who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.
Amen
(combination of prayers for last Sunday from Common Worship)

Let us pray for the world torn by war in Ukraine and in several parts of Africa. The UN Climate Change Conference has closed but the problems of getting our planet back into some level of balance still remain without firm solutions and goals.
Meanwhile floods, drought, fires and rises in ocean levels affect many of the less developed communities in every part of the world. Most advance economies are suffering from supply shortages, higher energy costs and inflation but people from the less developed areas use any means that they can find to make their way to Europe and the USA.
In our country we have borrowed heavily to survive the first wave of the Covid infections and need to set out ways to repay that borrowing. This has put added pressure on our health and education services leading to poor outcomes for patients and pupils. We are all feeling the strain but we are fortunate compared with most of the world. So let us give thanks for our relative security and pray for those who are really suffering.

Giver of Life we wait with you to bear your hope to earth’s darkest places;
we wait at the places where darkness is deeper than the deepest pain:
where love is denied:  let love break through;
where justice is destroyed:  let righteousness rule;
where hope is crucified:   let faith persist;
where peace is no more:   let passion live on;
where truth is denied:   let the struggle continue:
where laughter has dried up:  let music play on;
where fear paralyzes:   let forgiveness break through.
(Robin Green, from “The Book of a Thousand Prayers” ed. Angela Ashwin)

God in his love has given us many blessings. May we have a day making full use of them and share that love with all those that we meet.

Don Head