1^st Sunday after Easter 11^th April 2021, Haddington West with Garvald and Morham]                                           

‘The peace of Christ’
Grace be with you and peace from God, our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that your inward eyes may be enlightened, so that you may know how vast are the resources of his power open to us who have faith. – Eph.1,18-19

Collect:
Almighty and eternal God, the strength of those who believe and the hope of those who doubt, may we, who have not seen, have faith and receive the fullness of Christ’s blessing, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Jesus Christ is alive today,

I know, I know it’s true.
Sovereign of the universe,
I give Him homage due.
Seated there at God’s right hand,
I am with Him in the promised land.
Jesus lives and reigns in me,
that’s how I know it’s true.
                                                       Anon

Jn.20,19-3

Dear friends

Who of us can fail to sympathise with the disciples and understand why they hid behind closed and locked doors after what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem? The threat they sought to guard against was real. They knew that in the eyes of the Jewish leadership they were just as guilty as the Lord whom they crucified. That they as his disciples couldn’t expect a more lenient treatment Jesus himself had taught them.
The image of the disciples being locked in, of being locked up by their fears of those who had pursued their master, of being closed in and of closing themselves off from others, speaks to us of experiences that we are all familiar with. Not just in the sense of the natural instinct to guard against external threats, which is a good thing, but in the sense of the ways in which life comes under the sense of being imprisoned and a person becomes locked in to himself, of the way life becomes a thing from which we are separated as by a closed door.

Now when the disciples were gathered behind closed and locked doors on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, it happened that the risen Lord came among them. Appearing to them in body he said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ and showed them that it was really him.
It is difficult if not impossible to imagine just how the disciples must have felt at that moment – we are told that they were overjoyed. But one true way of putting it is to say that it was for them a key moment: that a key was being applied to the disciples which opened them up and unlocked them. Not in the sense that the physical doors which they had locked ‘for fear of the Jewish leaders’ became unlocked. Indeed, we are told that when the disciples were gathered in the same room a week later, they still ensured the doors were locked. But in the sense that they as people and within themselves through Christ’s presence with them received (and experienced) ‘peace’: And what is peace if not a great opening and unlocking? (Think the announcement of peace ending war; or peace ending a feud between brothers/neighbours, etc.)

But what of the peace that Jesus is able to give and does give? We remember his words to his disciples, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’ (Jn.14,27) The peace that Jesus gives is the great unlocking and opening of the heart (soul, self, person) that is locked into itself and is in hiding – in hiding even before the living God and the light of His truth. Is this not man – hiding from sight, bound to his fears, wrapped up in his own self, unable therefore to be at peace? Is this not man – the creature who needs peace?
Do we not see here precisely the distortion which explains why we put locks on our doors? Why we close ourselves off from the suffering of another? Why we cannot be truly open with one another nor with ourselves, and not with God? Why we are in fear of others and in fear of death?
There is a depiction of this issue in the Bible which describes it in the simplest terms. It is of Adam in the Garden of Eden after the fall. When he and Eve heard God walking in the garden ‘in the cool of the day’ ‘they hid from the LORD God among the trees in the garden’. And because man hid from him, God had to ask, ‘Where are you?’, showing man that he was no longer in the light. The story then continues to tell of Abel’s murder at the hand of his brother Cain, leading to God asking Cain, ‘Where is your brother?’ and Cain replying, ‘Am I my brothers’ keeper?’, showing that man was no longer in love.
What’s described here explains that the reason we need peace is that we are in hiding from God’s light and truth on account of our sins which we don’t want to be seen, and that we close ourselves off from others because of the darkness of our guilt. And ever since, the two questions await the key to the answer that would unlock the truth and light that they seek. What is the key to my being able in openness and freedom to answer: “I am here, LORD, and I am yours”? And to answer for my brother even with my own life?

But this key, dear friends, is what the cross and resurrection of Christ are about, is what they are. The key belongs to him who brings peace. In saying to the disciples, ‘Peace be with you!’, does he not declare forgiveness for the sin of their betrayal, their lack of faithfulness, their selfish fear? Does he not cleanse them of all the unrighteousness that they have displayed? He comes into their hiding (not waiting for them to come out of it!) and says: “Do no longer belong to it, there is no need; I know your sins, I have paid for them; I know your fears, I have faced them, and I know your temptations, I have tasted them, and I have overcome both; even your death I have made mine, and now my life I shall give to you. Now I am with you and you are with me and in me you are children of my Father who is also your Father, my God who is also your God, and His love casts out all fear. What locks you into yourself, closing you to God and one another, your sin, in me is gone, it no longer determines who you are and shall be. What now has the say is God’s grace. And when you let it – and as you do – you will know that I live in you and strengthen you.”
So important was it that the disciples understood and grasped this that Jesus told them a second time, ‘Peace be with you!’
And then he sent them out to do for others what he had done for them, to make available to others what he had made available to them. And so that they could, he gave them the Holy Spirit, which meant that what they were to do in his name would through them be done by him, and would be received by faith. But what they were to do was to bring and declare peace: ‘If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’

Dear friends, the gospel of Jesus Christ declares to all who believe that their sins are forgiven – this is the reality of grace which effects the great opening and unlocking of the heart by filling it with the love of Christ. Let us hear the word of grace; like snow remains where it does not melt, so sin remains where it is not forgiven. But all sin is forgiven that is brought to Christ.
If the reality of grace in the risen Lord Jesus Christ is accessed and owned by faith, is not this, then, our foremost need – to entrust ourselves with all our hearts to him who says: “Peace be with you!”
                                                                                                                                                                                          AMEN

Christ, whose glory fills the skies

1  Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
    Christ, the true, the only light,
    Sun of righteousness, arise,
    triumph o’er the shades of night:
    Day-spring from on high, be near;
    Day-star, in my heart appear.

2  Dark and cheerless is the morn
    unaccompanied by Thee;
    joyless is the day’s return,
    till Thy mercy’s beams I see;
    till they inward light impart,
    glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

3  Visit then this soul of mine;
    pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
    fill me, radiancy divine;
    scatter all my unbelief;
    more and more Thyself display,
    shining to the perfect day.

Words by Charles Wesley

Lord God, we give you praise for the redemption of your world which you delivered in Jesus Christ according to your promise. Our life meant the death of your Son, for when he assumed our life, he was made to be sin for us. But his death meant for us a new life, because he died so that we should no longer belong to sin and death but live for him. And this life is his life – the one you so gloriously brought to light through his resurrection. Praise, glory and honour be to you! Let us not forget what you have done, that our life is in him and is at peace, so that by faith and obedience we may wait for and see your plan unfold, which is to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

- time of prayer / intercession – [we pray for those who have become ill, are fighting illness or are recovering from it, for those who care for the needs of others; for those in positions of leadership and authority: that they may rule wisely and seek peace, that they may guard the values by which a society can flourish, that they may lead with courage and wisdom, for a turning to the light that is God’s Word; for those who have lost loved ones, need comfort into their grieving and the loving presence of friends; we give thanks for all the help we have received and still experience, for grace and answered prayers; we pray for the despondent and the hopeless, for those who seek light, for the wisdom to comfort the suffering; we pray for our sister church in Northern India and for the body of Christ worldwide and here; we pray for God’s blessing on the preaching and teaching of His word, for people to respond in repentance and faith, for freedom and liberty and courage to stand for what is good and true and honours His name; ]

‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen

Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father. Set out, then, on a new life with Christ.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you.

AMEN

Palm Sunday in Lent, 28th March 2021,   

JESUS AT THE CENTRE

Grace be with you and peace from God, our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ

Collect:
Lord Jesus Christ, on the first Palm Sunday you entered the rebellious city where you were to die. Enter our hearts, we pray, and subdue them to yourself. And as your disciples blessed your coming and spread garments and branches in your way, make us ready to lay at your feet all that we have and are, that we too may bless your coming in the name of the Lord. Amen

Hosanna to the Son of David

You are the King of glory,
You are the Prince of peace,
You are the Lord of heaven and earth,
You’re the Son of righteousness.
Angels bow down before You,
worship and adore,
for You have the words of eternal life,
You are Jesus Christ the Lord.
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Hosanna to the King of kings!
Glory in the highest heaven,
for Jesus the Messiah reigns!

Words and music by Mavis Ford

Lk.19,28-44

“After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” say, “The Lord needs it.”’
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They replied, ‘The Lord needs it.’
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ Some of Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’ ‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.’”

Dear friends

Joy is in the air and celebration! People gather in happy anticipation, filled with the sense that the good days are finally about to return. At the centre of this joyous celebratory welcome is Jesus, who is riding towards Jerusalem on a donkey. The songs and shouts of the disciples and others give the reason for this happy party-mood – the man on the donkey is the long-awaited ‘king who comes in the name of the Lord’, whose coming their Scriptures have foretold.
That he is this king, of this the people are convinced by the miracles they have seen him do or have heard about him. Jesus himself, the man openly at the centre of these celebrations, does not object to this welcome. And this is not out of vanity. When the people had tried to make him king at an earlier stage he had very much refused. But now he accepts the endorsement he receives. Why? It reveals the fulfilment of Scripture. The event witnesses to the fact that what Scripture foretold is now here: God’s Word is here!  This is the reason why he says to the objecting Pharisees, ‘I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’

Dear friends, this scenario of joy and celebration by way of contrast may make us the more aware of our own situation and our hope for a return of the good days, for a time whose coming we have been longing for for a while, when we can celebrate and enjoy life without restrictions. Instead, fear and restrictions prevail; we’re told not to celebrate (yet?), any anticipation of better days is not to be exuberant but at best ‘cautiously optimistic’. This perhaps depresses the inclination to seek the joy of Palm Sunday and join in the celebration. Perhaps we think that one cannot really know the joy of Palm Sunday if one does not have the material joy of having a good time (peace on earth, as it were), if, as we now experience it, the external circumstances of our lives lacks somewhat a cause for celebration.
Now, we could let this thought keep us from considering the joy surrounding this man at the centre. But what we should do is let it be helpful to us, in the sense that we let it sharpen and focus our eyes to look at the man at the centre, to turn from the joy we may be lacking to the joy we may be caused to find in the man riding on the donkey.
Let us remember, and hold the thought, that he is none less than ‘the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Should his coming not blessing – blessing of the highest order? Does not the name of the Lord mean all goodness? Should not his coming – the word of his coming, the reason for his coming, the result of his coming – in itself be the cause of a joy nothing else can or does yield nor overcome? The joy of which Jesus spoke to his disciples when he said, ‘Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy’? (Jn.16,22) Should not his coming, then, be the coming of ‘your joy’?

But let us be disciplined here (for want of a better word) and not lose the prospect of this joy straightaway by hanging it on ideas of joys regarding which Christ is irrelevant (or merely seen to be the delivery boy). His coming is not in our name, in the name of our joys and pleasures, but in the name of the Lord, our joy! The rich young ruler lost the prospect of this joy the moment (and for as long as) he decided that his joy was to remain in his possessions.
Of the joy, on the other hand, which the rich young ruler discarded, we have the following witness, Paul: “Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” (Phil.3,7-8)

In the song (Ps.118,26) the disciples sing announcing the coming of the king – the coming of ‘your king’ – there is an indication of what this coming means and why the joy of this coming should be of a worth surpassing all things, worth even the loss of all things. The indicator is in the words ‘Peace in heaven’. It means, the man at the centre, the king riding on a donkey, is our joy because his kingdom is not of this world, because the peace he brings is about peace in heaven.
How far we may be from recognising this peace, and therefore the joy that is Christ Jesus, appears in the tears that Jesus sheds over Jerusalem as he approaches it. He weeps over the city, because it does not know ‘on this day what would bring you peace’; because they will reject him when they realise that he is God’s claim on them. Not peace in joy and celebration awaits Jerusalem but judgment and death ‘because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.’
Do Jesus’ tears not ask us whether we recognise it? Whether we recognise the time of God’s coming? Recognise that God finds our heart in rebellion against Him, refusing to let Him be God, not willing to let him be at the centre of our lives? Whether we recognise that we have no greater need than for peace in heaven, then that we have peace with God?

Only peace in heaven yields the joy that nothing can take from you. In the heart that is at peace with God all strife and rebellion has ceased and fear is driven out, it knows of life’s ultimate and greatest celebration and is a guest at it. Of this Jesus speaks to his disciples when he says: ‘Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’ (Lk.10,20)

This peace, dear friends, is the man at the centre of the Palm Sunday celebration and joy, who is riding on a donkey. May we recognise it and in faith acknowledge it to our joy! May we know that he doesn’t ride on a horse because he hasn’t come to judge the people, but that he rides a donkey because he has come to carry the burden of our sin, of our rebellion, of our wilful rejection of heaven, because he has come to bring peace. May we realise that we find our joy as we follow him by faith into his rejection and death on our behalf, thereby being united to him, and into his resurrection to new life, even life everlasting. May you recognise the time of God’s coming to you as through the gospel (for your faith!) Christ is held out to you as the Saviour in whom your sins are forgiven, your death born, your name written in heaven, in whom your soul finds rest and knows the love which drives out all fear. He is your joy. AMEN

Lord God, the joy of knowing and serving you, of being able to say “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” is the fruit of the peace Christ has given us, a peace which is beyond all understanding because it is peace in heaven, peace with you. To you be all praise, glory and honour for the joy that is ours through the king who came in your name to take our sins from us in his death and to raise us in him to a living hope and an imperishable inheritance. As the sinfulness of the heart wars with all its might against the knowledge of this joy, give us grace to seek the might of Christ, incomparably stronger, to rule over us and be at the centre, for the praise and glory of your name. AMEN

- time of prayer / intercession – [we pray for those who have become ill, are fighting illness or are recovering from it, for those in the caring professions and for those in positions of leadership and authority over us that they may seek to further justice, rule wisely and guard the values by which a society can flourish, that the course they are on may lead out of the pandemic; for those who have lost loved ones and need the loving presence of friends; we give thanks for the availability of vaccines and for all the help that is given and received; we pray for the despondent and the hopeless, for those who seek light, for the wisdom to comfort the suffering; we pray for our sister church in Northern India and for the body of Christ worldwide and here; we pray for God’s blessing on the preaching and teaching of His word, for people to respond in repentance and faith, for freedom and liberty and courage to stand for what is good and true and honours His name; ]

‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen

Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you.

AMEN

5th  Sunday in Lent, 21 March 2021, Haddington West with Garvald and Morham 

Like faith like rule

Grace be with you and peace from God, our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ                                                                                                                             Jesus died for all so that those who live should cease to live for themselves, and should live for him who for their sake died and was raised to life. – 2.Cor.5,15

Collect:
Most merciful God, by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, you created humanity anew. Grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross, we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ
 our Lord.

1 He came to earth, not to be served
but gave his life to be a ransom for many.
The Son of God, the Son of Man -
he shared our pain and bore our sins in his body.

King of kings and Lord of lords,
I lift my voice in praise: such amazing love!
But I do believe this King has died for me.

2 And so I stand, a broken soul,
to see the pain that I have brought to Jesus;
a yielding heart will be consoled,
and be made new, the joy of all believers.

3 And from now on, through all my days,
I vow to live each moment here for Jesus;
not looking back, but giving praise
for all my Lord has done for this believer.

                                                                John Pantry (b.1946)

Mk.10,35-45

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.  They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Dear friends

What a moment it was for John and James, 2 of the disciples, when standing before Jesus they heard him say the words, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’!
Many times they had heard him say this to people, who then got what they asked of him and went away healed and helped, their faith in Jesus having triumphed. And in fact, not long after this incident Jesus and the disciples meet a blind man as they pass through Jericho, whom he asks the very same question, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ (v.51). The man says ‘Rabbi, that I may see’, and as he asks so he receives. Are John and James, therefore, not right to be hopeful in their faith with which they come to Jesus, that they will receive what they ask for? After all, does not Jesus encourage faith in this way when he says to his disciples: ‘I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it’ (Jn.14,13).

This is a pivotal moment in the life of faith: To ask for and receive what Jesus does for us (= what God through Jesus and in Jesus does for us)! But what is that, and how do we understand it? We see that in John and James’s request to Jesus there appears a misunderstanding, a misconception, because it leads him to respond to the two disciples with the words ‘not for me to grant’, and to go on to say to all of the disciples ‘Not so with you’.
But this is a misunderstanding we are all likely to labour under and which we do not see if the word does not teach us to. We mustn’t think that the other disciples are indignant towards John and James because they see as Jesus sees. No, they are indignant only because each of them almost got beaten to it by one next to them!
Now, what John and James, who believe in Jesus, ask him to do for them, is that they may rule with him and be rewarded in the way that they wish.  What we have to recognise here is that in asking for this they have actually understood something, namely that faith in Jesus does mean that they will rule with him and that faith is rewarding. You see, it won’t do to conceive of a Christian (a follower of Jesus Christ) in terms other than this that the One they belong to is indeed the King, who rules and whose rule is everlasting, that they share in his rule over sin and death and his power that is above all powers and that indeed they stand to receive by way of reward all that is the King’s. John and James understand this and get this right. And so must all who believe and have faith.
Where, then, does the misunderstanding come in, and what is the nature of it?
We learn it when we follow Jesus as he explains it to his disciples.
He paints before them a picture of Gentile rulers and of high officials and their authority. It is a picture, thankfully, which we can relate to immediately and as easily as they could. We don’t have to imagine sandal wearing people in tunics who apply themselves to the administrative and governing ways of imperial Rome in order to get Jesus’ picture. We have plenty of examples of our own and they do the job just as well. What the picture expresses is a world in which rule means dominance over others and authority means being first. What we see is a jostling for position, for power, for pre-eminence. We see the desire to be honoured, to be important and influential, to deal with matters of consequence and people of standing, who are not beneath you, to have the say and have it over and before others. But what is such rule and authority? They are precisely such as arise from a motivation and drive that is self-seeking and self-serving. The kind of rule and the kind of authority rife in this world, all the restraints that need to be in place and honours that are insisted on, show that this is the case.

And this is the crux of the matter, the point of the picture. ‘Not so with you’, says Jesus. With this little word “not so” Jesus entirely repudiates the notion that faith in him can be self-serving. What rule are believers to seek? What kind of rule are they to display? The rule they are to seek, the rule they through him share in – his rule – is not about having power over others for self-serving ends, but about the power that gives the freedom to serve and do so in a non-self-serving way. And what honour shall be theirs? Not the honour from man which is one of pre-eminence and of being first, but the honour which is from God which is due those who put themselves last and are willing to carry the burdens of others. And what is their reward? Not something they live for, but something they know to leave in the hands of God because they live for him.

Dear friends, John and James want Jesus to do for them ‘whatever we ask’. It is a faith, as it turns out, that is self-seeking and self-serving. Of this Jesus says ‘Not so’. Because a faith that is self-serving is one that locks us into ourselves, it makes God live and do all things for us (‘whatever we ask’) and it makes us see others in the same way. But faith is a life for God and out of this a life for others.

This being the way of faith, what is the way to faith? Explaining to his disciples the way of faith, Jesus doesn’t leave it at that. In the word, ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’, he points to his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead as that which redeems our lives from its bondage to sin and the fear of death and the evil one and makes us free to live for God through union with him.

Let us not seek whatever we may ask for in a spirit of self-serving interest, but what Christ has done for us in order to save us from our sins so that we may live for God. Indeed, “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” (1Tim.1,15) AMEN

Lord God, yours is the power and the glory. Heaven and earth declare the praise of your name. Indeed, how majestic is your name in all the world! We long to acknowledge it with a pure heart and a simple mind made wise. Have mercy upon us.
Let us not seek for ourselves what is yours and forgive us the self-serving ways in which we turn to you, interested far more in how you are useful to us than in how we might praise your name, trust you and be useful to our neighbour. Our joy in you is small because our selves are so big. And therefore our strength to be last and to serve is weak and so often overpowered by pride and despair. Bring us to our Redeemer in acknowledgement of our sin so that by grace we may be truly changed, because we become the place of his strength. To the praise and glory of your name. Amen

- time of prayer / intercession – [we pray for those who have become ill, are fighting illness or are recovering from it, for those in the caring professions and for those in positions of leadership and authority over us that they may seek to further justice, rule wisely and guard the values by which a society can flourish, that the course they are on may lead out of the pandemic; for those who have lost loved ones and need the loving presence of friends; we give thanks for the progress brought about by the availability of vaccines; we pray for the despondent and the hopeless, for those who seek light, for the wisdom to comfort the suffering; we pray for God’s blessing on the preaching and teaching of His word, for people to respond in repentance and faith, for freedom and liberty and courage to stand for what is good and true and honours His name;

‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you.

AMEN

Grace be with you and peace from God, our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ

Those who live on the level of the spirit have the spiritual outlook, and that is life and peace.  – Rom.8,6