Morning Prayer Wednesday, 30 June 2021
Good morning, good Cornerstone people. Let us prepare for another day.
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall ever be in my mouth.
My soul shall glory in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look upon him and be radiant
and your faces shall not be ashamed.
…
Come my children and listen to me;
I will teach you to fear the Lord
Who is there that delights in life
and longs for days to enjoy good things?
Psalm 34; 1–5 & 11–12
Free us, righteous God from all oppression and bring justice to the nations,
that all the world may know you as King of kings and Lord of lords,
now and forever.
Amen
When he [Jesus] came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out from the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, ‘What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’
Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. The demons begged him, ‘If you cast us out send us into the herd of swine.’
And he said to them, ‘Go!’ So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly the whole herd rushed down a steep bank into the lake and perished in the water. The swineherds ran off, and, on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and begged him to leave their neighbourhood.
Matthew 8: 28–34
The psalmist urges us to spend all our days praising God and later in the psalm refers to the love of God for those on the margins and his disapproval for those who are privileged and do not help others who are in need.
The gospel tells of our Lord dealing with evil; in so doing the owners of the large herd of pigs faced a loss and the town bigwigs begged him to leave. Sometimes doing the right thing can upset the interests of those with power and wealth.
Let us pray for the church and the world with all this in mind.
We pray for the church at this time of the feast of SS Peter & Paul, a time when traditionally in the Church of England and the Methodist Church we pray for all those with a calling to serve as ministers and all those offering themselves to serve in this way. The Methodist Conference is under way in Birmingham, with the first black female President installed.
Let us pray for all those of different traditions who serve us in Milton Keynes and particularly for Ernesto, George and Father Francis and the St Barnabas Cluster team. We pray also for those who have leadership roles in our life of mission in Central Milton Keynes and all who worship here.
This year Geoff Colmer, one of our Mission Partnership Presidents and trustee of our building, is also President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. His theme is that we become ‘attentive to the rhythms of grace’, that is, always being alive to all that God provides in the places where we find ourselves and the people that we meet.
Almighty God, you have given your Holy Spirit to the church to lead us into all truth: bless with the Spirit’s grace and presence all called to serve the mission of Christ the Cornerstone. Keep us all steadfast in faith and united in love, that we may show forth your glory and prepare the way for your kingdom; through Christ our Lord.
Amen
At the time of writing, it has not been confirmed, but it seemed that 19 July would be the date upon which many of the restrictions under which we live will be lifted. Does that mean that we can all sing when we gather together, I wonder?
That is of small concern, however, to those who have suffered more in this pandemic, through grief, through long term illness, through loss of jobs or educational opportunities. Most places in the world have more problems with the Covid pandemic than the UK and many of them had multiple problems to handle before that. Our friend of Advantage Africa, Peter Ogik, reports of destitution within his community in Uganda. This is no doubt repeated in communities in other places in Africa, South and Central America and South Asia.
We were reminded on Sunday that all of us living today in the UK are using too much of the limited resources of our planet. Global warming is much more our responsibility than it is for the farmers in Kenya where George Mwaura grew up and even when they had rains and good crops they were carbon neutral! Even in lockdown we are not.
A plea from the Yoruba tradition in West Africa:
Enjoy the earth gently, enjoy the earth gently,
for if it is spoiled it cannot be repaired.
Enjoy the earth gently.
A prayer written by Julia Esquival of Guatemala:
Our Father, let your kingdom come; your kingdom of freedom and love, which is sisterhood and brotherhood,
which is righteousness and life, which is truth and justice.
A daily prayer recommended by Geoff Colmer:
Gracious Lord, by your Spirit, turn my whole being to you that I might live this day ‘attentive to the rhythms of grace,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Don Head
