Morning Prayer Wednesday, 23 June 2021

Good morning, good Cornerstone friends. We are halfway through 2021 already.
Don’t wait too long to do those things you intended to do; time flies.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
Who forgives all your sins and heals your infirmities.
Who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with faithful love and compassion.
Who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth will be renewed like an eagle’s.

Psalm 105: 1–5

Merciful Lord, show us the face of our Redeemer that in our frailty we may bless your name and praise you all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit and every bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus will you know them by their fruits.’

Matthew 7: 15–20

This psalm opens with words used in several other psalms. It is familiar in the form of a Taizé chant:

Bless the Lord my soul and bless his holy name;
Bless the Lord my soul who leads me into life.

The gospel speaks of fruits in the sense of what we do, rather than what we say.
We are ‘known by how we act’, which reminds me of the parable of the sheep and goats;
‘just as you did not do it to one of the least of these my children, you did not do it to me’.
Sunday’s message from Ernesto reminded us not to lose faith and panic.
I am sure in his urging us to do nothing he did not mean us not to continue to do those things
which forward the kingdom of God.
Cheryl’s intercession drew from the epistle to continue to support one another,
and Paul’s sermon reminded us that we are still reliant upon people who take risks
to bring our food to us from overseas even if we do not face real storms.

Let us pray for the church using the prayer of approach from last Sunday:

God of our ups and downs, we come together in your name
with concerns in our hearts and questions in our minds,
with troubles in our lives and fears for our world.
We come trusting that you share our concerns and hear our questions,
embrace our troubles and know our fears.
We come trusting that you never give up on us that you never abandon us, never dismiss us.
For you are a God of love, of peace, of power – you are our God.

Amen

Let us pray for the world:

The email from Jane Betts has reminded us that, although we can give thanks
for the increasing numbers in our country who have received one or both of their vaccine injections,
this is far from the position in every country and particularly in Uganda, where Advantage Africa spends much of its limited resources.
The rich countries, including our own, who have taken the ‘lion’s share’ of vaccine supplies,
have shipped through COVAX only a little, and that which is given often has a very short ‘use by date’.

We are gaining at the cost of those in less developed economies.
We also demand a variety of foods all year round in our supermarkets
which are grown in Africa and South America, shipped and sometimes flown into our country.
Those who grow and those who crew the ships to provide these luxurious foods
are for the most part citizens of nations that have poor resources and they spend long periods away from their families.
Our exotic foods come at a great cost from those who have less choices in life than we do.
Does that make us more or less spiritually fruitful?

Forgive us, Lord, for the mountains of food in our stores while stomachs elsewhere are empty.
Forgive us for political systems which depend on the weak getting weaker and the rich possessing the earth.
Friend of the poor and weak, by your grace lead us to use less of the riches of your creation,
to take more care and be more aware of the needs of others.
Move us from complacency with the idea that this is a problem in which we have no part and into a real love for all life on earth.

Amen

Stay full of love today, good friends, and may he who satisfies you with good things
give you renewed life to soar like an eagle through the day.

Don Head