Morning Prayer Wednesday, 5 May 2021

Good morning, good Cornerstone friends, on this May morning, which is struggling to stay like spring.

The readings this morning are similar to those of last Sunday.
I don’t want to repeat what we had then nor contradict the wisdom we received from George.
I hope this does the trick.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts

I was glad when they said unto me,
‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’
And now our feet are standing
within your gates O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, built as a city that is at unity in itself.
Thither the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as decreed for Israel
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there are set the thrones of judgement,
the thrones of the house of David.

Psalm 122: 1–5

‘How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts.’
God of our pilgrimage, bring us with joy to your eternal city founded upon the rock
and give our earthly cities the peace that comes from above
and justice from your throne of grace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

Amen

Jesus the True Vine

‘I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.’

John 15: 1–8

Psalm 122 is another well-quoted psalm.
It has been used in the most recent coronations of British monarchs in the setting by Hubert Parry
and has been sung by our own church choir to celebrate our anniversary.
It very much expresses my thoughts,
as one who is yearning to get back to worshipping in our building together.
Find it in your Bible and read the following four verses. It is a gem.

Chapter 15 of St John’s gospel is another well-quoted and poetic piece of scripture.
Milton Keynes Mission Partnership uses this passage for a venture called, ‘The Vine’.
This has set up a number of groups of four people to meet together regularly
and exchange deep and personal thoughts of how they can grow as disciples of our Lord.
We could have formed a group with the few people of Cornerstone who agreed to participate,
but decided that we would each join another group and then after a few months
we could exchange how the scheme was working in other places.
There was a Mission Partnership meeting yesterday evening
when participants from a number of ‘clusters of grapes’ could share their experiences.
Unfortunately I have to submit these prayers at least a day before,
so I submitted these before that meeting.

The other thought I have from this reading is that we have not had a confirmation
from our ecumenical non-Catholic congregation for some years.
Are we a branch that is not bearing fruit?
Seriously, don’t let us duck the issue with complacency.
Are we really abiding in our Lord if we are not making any new Christians?!

Let us pray for the church:

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Lord and Saviour, we wish to abide in you, we wish to be fruitful.
We ask you to guide us and if being more fruitful requires cutting away,
help us to throw off those things which are hindering your work.
We earnestly pray that you will forward the church
so that we can offer new candidates for confirmation before next Easter.
We ask this, not because we fear the pruning,
but because we wish to share your love with more people
so that Christ the Cornerstone is overflowing with your joyful servants
all giving thanks and praising you, to whom be all glory, now and forever.

Amen

Let us pray for the world.

Tomorrow, those of us who have the right to vote are asked to choose
whom we want to represent us in our local councils
and whom we wish to select as Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley police area.
It is not a race, neither are the candidates just a peg for a party label,
so let us do our duty and vote for the person.
Then we can pray for those who are chosen, whether we selected them or otherwise.
We are in the United Kingdom making good progress in resuming normal social activity
as the incidence of illness is greatly reduced.
We are not safe until all are safe and there are a number of countries,
including India and Brazil, where Covid-19 is still in pandemic proportions
and there are many other countries which are not in eye of our news media
where the situation is unknown but probably equally disastrous.
We still need to remember people in countries who do not have the advantages that we share.
They do not have a comprehensive health service,
social services, freedom of information that we enjoy.
Our government has severely cut its foreign aid,
which is causing problems for our associated charity Advantage Africa.
Let us pray that the good work in sending help to those in need is able to continue,
so that yet more suffering can be prevented.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Heavenly Father, we ask for your guidance on all who are chosen to be leaders in our society,
in politics, in business, in public service and in culture, whether in an official or voluntary basis.
May they be led to make decisions that share our resources,
so that all receive the benefit, care and recognition that we all seek.
Help each of us in our daily activity to be aware of the needs of others
and how we can also contribute to the common good
and in so doing give you the praise and glory.

Amen

As we take leave of one another, may we abide with God, grafted, rooted and pruned.
May the Lord help us to stay connected to one another and to him,
so that we can bear fruit, wherever his love takes us.

Have a joyful day.

Don Head