Evening Prayer Thursday, 16 July 2020

A reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. ⁹ For we are fellow workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. […]

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives among you? […]

²¹ So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future – all are yours, ²³and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

1 Corinthians 3: 5–11, 16 & 21–23 NIV®

Dear Lord, we pray tonight for your Church of Christ the Cornerstone,
at the centre of the life of our city.
You have called us to be the body of Christ, his hands and feet and head and heart,
serving the people in our community, as Jesus served all those in his community
and all those he met on his travels.

We ask you for your blessing on our Ministerial Team
and all those fellow workers in your service, who strive to minister to your people.
May they all build with care, with due regard and respect for the efforts of their co-workers.
The foundation of all our work must be that created by you in Jesus Christ.

We continue to pray for the welfare of our friend and pastor, George.
Grant him the peaceful rest and relaxation, free from all worries and concerns,
that he needs to enable him to return, fully restored, to continue his good work in your field.

We pray for the members of our Sponsoring Body,
the senior members of our five covenanting churches.
Grant them, we pray, the wisdom and resolve to guide your Church of Christ the Cornerstone
to be the vibrant, thriving body of Christ, the living temple, serving your mission
in the heart of Milton Keynes.

We pray for ourselves, we pray that we may serve you in all humility,
in whatever calling you have for us. Grant us the ability to listen to you,
wherever, whenever and however you call us to your service.

We close our prayers this evening by saying together the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen