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Showing posts from March, 2014

prayer for today

lord we come as we are, imperfect and hurting rebellious and fearful, and yet we are met by your boundless love and mercy. wash us therefore with your grace, like new morning dew on scented grass. may we rise refreshed. wash us from the outside to our innermost being, let your grace ongulf our soul. awaken us to your presence that we may rise and worship you in spirit, truth words and action help us to become signposts to your son jesus. may those we encounter today see jesus instead of us. help us go forth and preach the gospel with our lives! in jesus' name amen

A lenten Journey

Here is my sermon for this coming sunday, I hope that if you read it you may be blessed in some way, and that the Holy Spirit will male him/herself known to you. When we think about going on a journey somewhere, most of us will probably look at a map, consult the ultimate oracle of today – Google – check sites such as “ trip advisor”.   Well being the arch type rebel, I didn’t do that bit before a trip to Grenoble in South- east France.   I’ll let Carol fill you in with the details.   Sufficient to say. I am most definitely NOT allowed to book hotels on the continent any more.   It was a slightly odd experience.   I wouldn’t want to go there again, that’s for sure; however I am glad that we did as it opened our eyes to the fact that people actually have to live in those conditions We tend to try and be prepared don’t we.   We pack suitcases, hopefully check Passports, even learn some simple phrases.   If all else fails, speak slowly and wave your arms – it seems to work. But

prayer of thanksgiving

Lord Jesus, we want to thank you for coming into humanity.   For showing us what your Father is like.   For showing us where we have got it all so very, very wrong. For loving us enough to open heaven’s door to us.   For loving us so much that you don’t turn away when we show our ugly side.   For loving us enough to die for us in order that we might be saved from ourselves. For loving us again and again as you bring to us a resurrection life. Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit; breathing new life into dry bones.   Breathing warm fire into cold hearts, piercing our hearts and minds with the light of heaven. Thank you for opening for us the way to a lasting relationship with you, the Father and the Holy Spirit, in the way that you intended at the beginning of time. We come to you today Lord, offering all that we are.   We know if falls short, but we also know that you are so full of Grace that you turn our paltry thanks into a gift as bright as the brightest

prayer of adoration

Father, we approach you today in humble adoration, We come as we are, with all our faults and fears, all our hangups and frustrations to meet the one who holds creation together. You created the universe with the wild beauty of black holes and exploding stars; you produced the weirdness of quantum mechanics and space time, where gravity alters time itself. We look outside the window and see your handiwork in the beauty of flowers, blossom and the grandeur of trees. We see the diversity of life on this small planet, and wonder awestruck by the strength of a polar bear to the intricacy of a butterfly’s wing. We are rendered speechless by the complexity inside life.   The wonders of the human brain; the miracle of breathing.   And in the delicacy of a baby’s hand, we see your wonder and delight in your love, trying to love you back. Father, as we turn to you this morning and continue on our Lenten journey, hold us up in your hands, those same hands that created all th

a call for assistance to readers of my blog

I met with someone today who is terminally ill and has decided to stop their chemo to enjoy life rather than to exist while feeling ill. I promised to pray for her when she left the clinic today, and would ask that all who read this blog, since you are part of a worldwidechurch to join me.  We embraced as she left the clinic.  A moment of deep emotion. Thank you all in advance I can't think of anything else to say but to ask for God's blessing

is it just me?

Recent events in Ukraine have reminded me of my teenage years in the midst of the cold war, with regular tit for tat diplomatic expulsions by the various members of the security council, political gamesmanship and populations routinely suffering low levels of fear for the future. The current media circus in Kiev with the USA ramping up the political rhetoric, visits by Kerry and Hague in as many days, and the equally obtuse behaviour of Putin wouldn't look out of place on a 1970s newsfeed.  How odd that Russia tried and somehow failed with a charm offensive that was the Winter Olympics, and is now on a less than charming offensive winding up elements in Ukraine that are sensitive to their own political leanings. This political nationalistic posturing is of course reminiscent of the Middle East in many ways, where lasting peace has proved to be somewhat elusive, partly admittedly due to the artificial nature of the creation of the state of Israel in the first place, and the use