Week Commencing Sunday 3 October 2021

Devotional materials. Week Commencing Sunday 3rd October 2021.

Call to worship

Psalm 121:1, 2 “I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth”

These verses speak of God’s great power; He is our Creator- “the Maker of heaven and earth” -but also His love and care for the individual. “Where does my help come from? The Lord…”  This hymn speaks of God’s power and love:

Hymn

Timothy Dudley- Smith (from Luke 1)

Prayer.

We praise You for Your greatness and love. Father, we see your love in the mercy you have shown to us in the Gospel. We were burdened by sin, but you bore our burdens and brought us forgiveness. You call us sons and daughters, such undeserved grace, all because of Your Son’s sacrifice for us. At the Cross we also see your power in apparent weakness- despite the ridicule and rejection, betrayal and abandonment faced by the Lord Jesus, by your power you raised Him from the dead and seated Him above every power and authority. His is the name above every name. And so too by your power you have delivered us from our sins and raised us to new life, by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.

We see your power and love at work in our salvation, and we can continue to know You yourself present with us. We can rely on your power and love every day of our lives. Father please lead us this morning into a greater appreciation of you and so have faith to trust and rely on you in all we face in our lives at this time. Amen

Reading. Psalm 46. Betty Whyler

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Hymn (Guitar)

Graham Kendrick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYxSXHgMFmg

Sermon

Elizabeth and I have visited Lincoln on a couple of occasions. Lincoln is a cathedral city and also boasts an impressive castle.

William the Conqueror had ordered the construction of the castle almost a thousand years ago. It is set high on a hill with far reaching views. No doubt it also served as a reminder to the local population that the Normans were in charge. Over the years the castle was besieged four times, it withstood the first three sieges, but despite its great strength fell at the fourth: that is in 1644, during the English Civil War when the Royalists holding it were overwhelmed by the Parliamentarians.

The Psalmist in Psalm 46 declares ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble’ (1).

God is our refuge and strength. Not our castles or armed forces. When trouble comes others may seek refuge in human strength or human speculation and philosophy. Still others seek refuge in living for pleasure and entertainment or look to escape through taking drugs and drink as their refuge. But for Christian believers it is God Himself who is our refuge and strength.

The Lord is a far better refuge than any other. The Lord is a present help in trouble. The Lord Jesus said ‘I am with you always’. He is with each of us in the immediate present. He is closer to us than any circumstance we face:

On one occasion, described in Psalm 3, King David had been betrayed by His son Absalom, having fled from the palace he rested in the desert. He and his followers were outnumbered by their enemies. David uses his shield to cover himself as he sleeps. And the shield becomes a metaphor; a reminder that the Lord Himself is ‘a shield around him’. David’s enemies surround him, but the Lord is closer still. He finishes that Psalm with the words ‘From the Lord comes deliverance’ and although at that point David did not yet see the Lord’s deliverance- he makes that statement by faith- in the end the Lord did indeed deliver him from Absalom.

So too the Lord is a present help for us when trouble comes. Indeed He is an ever present help. He is constantly there with us, faithful even when we have been faithless, totally committed to us, throughout our lives- ever present- not even our most devoted friend or relative is ever present. But He is ever present; He continually intercedes for us and always hears us when we pray.

And He is more able to provide exactly the help we need, because we can say ‘He knows me better than any other person knows me, indeed He knows me better than I know myself’. He is our Creator and Saviour.

The trouble imagined in this Psalm is cataclysmic- though ‘the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea’. The Psalmist imagines the firmest and strongest of created objects destroyed, ruined. For many people today across the world Covid- 19 is that threat- where Nature itself is shaken in a catastrophic way. But if God is our refuge and strength, our ever present help, then we will not fear. Let the worse come to the worse- God remains faithful.

Back in May 2020 the Church Times reported on Christian doctors and nurses and how their faith had helped them through the fear, anxiety, and physical toil of working on the NHS frontline during the coronavirus crisis. This is an excerpt from that article:

“A doctor in Sheffield who is specialising in histopathology said on Wednesday that her postgraduate exam had been cancelled 10 days before. “This felt like a major career set back when it happened, but God is helping me to see it as inconsequential when compared to the challenges being faced by so many.”

She has been redeployed to a virology lab to help with the increased workload owing to Covid-19. This involves calling staff to confirm positive Covid-19 test results. “It is easy to treat each phone call like another box to tick on a list of jobs, but my faith reminds me each person I speak to is created in the image of God with complex feelings and emotions and I try to treat them with gentleness and compassion.”

She is encouraged to attend educational-video conferences about the status and statistics in her hospital and to learn from findings in other hospitals. “These, much like the constant news, can fill me with anxiety and fear when I consider the impact this pandemic is having the world over. . .

“In these moments I am grateful for a God who is a comforter and who offers to take my burdens. Jesus made a way for humanity, by his incredible and undeserved grace, to know that this earth is only our temporary home; and that gives me comfort when considering my own mortality.” “My faith keeps me from spiralling into hopelessness, and studying Romans with my church small group via video link each week is a beautiful reminder that our hope is in Jesus and his death and resurrection.’ (https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2020/1-may/news/uk/a-praying-christian-presence-intercedes-silently-on-the-covid-19-wards ).

Arguably the most cataclysmic trouble that we can face in this life is Death. Psychiatrists tell us that all our other fears are rooted in our fear of Death. The Bible describes Death as the ‘last enemy’ (1 Corinthians 15:26). But the Bible also tells us that through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, we too can share in His victory over Death.

It was the will of God that Christ suffer for us on the cross. Even as others were doing their very worst to him, he was hanging there to save us. On the cross Jesus bore all our sins on himself. He died for us, instead of us. He did it out of love. He did not want us to have to pay the penalty for all the wrong things we have done because of sin. None of us are good enough to break sin’s rule. Our best deeds are as ‘filthy rags’ and cannot put us right with God.

But Jesus was able to bring us forgiveness of sins. He was the only one able to do it. The only one who was perfect. Sin had no entrance into his life. The sinless Son of God who was able to die in our place and be the perfect sacrifice for our sins: “when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy spirit whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Titus 3:6).

But having descended; having made the ultimate sacrifice for our sakes on the cross, Christ was exalted

First, the Father raised the Son from the grave. To show to all that His atoning work on the cross was ratified by the Father. To show everyone that Jesus has conquered death. And the book of Philippians describes how Jesus was exalted again: ‘God exalted him to the highest place’. That phrase refers to Jesus Ascension. Jesus didn’t just rise from the tomb, but he rose higher again ‘He was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God’ (Mark 16:19). Christ is exalted above every authority. Who else?

Who else is our Refuge and Strength when our greatest trouble visits us? Only Christ who has defeated that enemy. Nothing else, no one else can save us from Death and the Judgment that must follow because of sin.

It was by God’s mighty power that Christ was raised from the dead, and the promise is that we who believe in Him will also be raised from the dead by God’s power; ‘in Adam all die, even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. Jesus says ‘Because I live you also will live’. The same Jesus who raised Jairus’ daughter, the widow’s son and Lazarus from the dead will also raise you who believe on Him.

Psalm 46, this wonderful Psalm, contains some vivid imagery to show just how God is our refuge and strength:

‘There is a river whose steams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells, God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at break of day’ (Verses 4 and 5).

Now there is quite literally a stream running into the heart of Jerusalem. People of the city built the famous Siloam tunnel, so that water from the Siloam stream could run into the heart of the city. When enemies besieged Jerusalem the people in the city would be sustained through drinking of its waters. The Psalmist is saying that that is what God’s help is like. It’s quiet and unobtrusive but sustaining. When trouble comes He sustains the believer, he sustains His Church from His presence within.

Jesus still offers the invitation He first gave to the men and women of Jerusalem: ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’ (John 7:37). Jesus was referring to the promise of the Holy Spirit who would come and live within the person who later believed on Him. The Spirit imparts new life to the believer. The Spirit gives the believer a love for Christ and the desire to serve Him. Christians across the world and through the ages testify to this truth. With the early Christians we can say ‘We know that we live in Him, and He in us, because he has given us of his Spirit’

Will you drink of Christ by believing on him and so receive His Holy Spirit?

Revelation 21 is a picture of heaven. There God Himself dwells with His people. It reads ‘God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’.

However, Revelation 21 also tells us that ‘nothing impure will ever enter, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life’ (27).

Do you wish to be delivered from death when your time comes? Do you want to go to heaven?

Jesus issues the same invitation in Revelation 21 as He does in John 7: He says ‘To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life’ (6).

It’s without cost- because as we have seen, you and I cannot pay for or earn our salvation- though it cost Jesus everything on the cross.

Numerous Christians have found Him to be an ever present help in trouble throughout their lives. God by His Holy Spirit lives within them (like streams of living water), so they are sustained even within trials of health. He is the Good Shepherd who even guides us safely through the valley of the shadow of death to the glories of eternity and heaven.

We have been conscious as a fellowship that 11 of our number have died since March of last year. Taking Doris Poole’s thanksgiving service yesterday was a further reminder. I have also been saddened on learning of Steve Lomas death. Steve died on Saturday 25^th September. He passed away peacefully at St Wilfred’s hospice. Steve was Minister at Arundel Baptist Church, and before that East Worthing Baptist Church. He had an active role in the Sussex Baptist Association. I knew Steve quite well from the Baptist Union local fraternal and spoke to him on more than one occasion after he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But I have been shocked how quickly death has come since his initial diagnosis.

Charles Swindoll in his book ‘The Finishing Touch’ includes this piece written by Dan Richardson, an enthusiastic believer in Christ who was also diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was distributed at his memorial service:

Cancer is limited…

It cannot cripple love,

It cannot corrode faith,

It cannot eat away peace,

It cannot destroy confidence,

It cannot kill a friendship,

It cannot shut out memories,

It cannot silence courage,

It cannot invade the soul,

It cannot reduce eternal life,

It cannot quench the Spirit,

It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.

We believers do not fear Death- arguably that most cataclysmic of troubles. We have received Christ and His salvation and so did not fear. We are content trusting in His promise, His power and His love. Kept by Him. One day we will see Him face to face.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)

Millions have accepted Christ’s invitation. Their names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lord promised Abraham that his spiritual descendants would be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, and as numerous as the stars in the heavens (Genesis 22:17). We believers inherit those promises first given to Abraham (Romans 4:17-19).

Will you accept his invitation too? Will you do so today?

Jesus says ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the  Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’ (John 7:37).

Item. Recorded song. ‘Not Home Yet’ Steve Curtis Chapman

We are not home yet
We are not home yet
Keep on looking ahead
Let you heart not forget
We are not home yet
Not home yet

So close your eyes with me
And hear the Father saying, welcome home
Let us find the strength
In all His promises to carry on
He said, I go prepare a place for you
So let us not forget

We are not home yet…
I know there'll be a moment
I know there'll be a place
Where we will see our Saviour
And fall in His embrace
So let us not grow weary
Or too content to stay

We are not home yet…
Steve Curtis Chapman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-A1u-Zfal8

Prayers about Coronavirus.

We thank you for everyone who has worked to produce, distribute and administer effective tests and vaccinations. We thank you for the availability of these in this country, and we pray they will be made available to all across the world. We pray against any increasing spread in covid variant strains or any further need for lockdown.

Sovereign Lord we would pray for your deliverance. At the same time we pray You would use these extraordinary times for Your glory. We pray many would reflect on the transience of life, be humbled and turn from sin and rebellion toward You, and instead turn to Christ for their salvation. We pray this sense of urgency will not be lost now we are not under lockdown

Compassionate God, we pray for vulnerable people to be reassured, and supported safely and effectively to protect them from coronavirus. Please strengthen anyone who is seriously ill with it because of underlying conditions. Bring healing and comfort to them and their families. Amen.

Lord, You are the Prince of Peace and the King of Love who casts out fear. Please help us not to be anxious about Covid-19 but to seek Your wisdom and show compassion to those who may be vulnerable. Amen.

Gracious God, please grant strategic wisdom and insight to governments, local health authorities, and providers as they decide how to use the funding that is available and distribute staff and other resources to meet the needs brought about by Coronavirus here and in other countries across the world. Amen.

Merciful Lord, in this time of economic instability, please send your great comfort to those who are worried about their finances and carry many burdens and responsibilities. Come alongside them, and grant them provision. Amen.

All mighty God, at this time we lift to you those who are working on the front line in providing medical services. Who work hard to ensure people who are unwell are well looked after. We ask that you would give them your peace and wisdom at this challenging time. May they know your presence and have a new zeal for caring well for their patients.

Sovereign Lord, we pray for those who continue to self-isolate because they are more at risk. Please give them comfort and hope. May they use their time creatively and productively and grant them good rest and patience. Please may neighbours and families step up to help support them and provide for their every need. In Jesus name. Amen.

St Patrick’s Prayer (excerpts)

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension…

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who desires me ill…

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation. Amen.

Hymn

temporary home; and that gives me comfort when considering my own mortality.” “My faith keeps me from spiralling into hopelessness, and studying Romans with my church small group via video link each week is a beautiful reminder that our hope is in Jesus and his death and resurrection.’ (https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2020/1-may/news/uk/a-praying-christian-presence-intercedes-silently-on-the-covid-19-wards ).

Arguably the most cataclysmic trouble that we can face in this life is Death. Psychiatrists tell us that all our other fears are rooted in our fear of Death. The Bible describes Death as the ‘last enemy’ (1 Corinthians 15:26). But the Bible also tells us that through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, we too can share in His victory over Death.

It was the will of God that Christ suffer for us on the cross. Even as others were doing their very worst to him, he was hanging there to save us. On the cross Jesus bore all our sins on himself. He died for us, instead of us. He did it out of love. He did not want us to have to pay the penalty for all the wrong things we have done because of sin. None of us are good enough to break sin’s rule. Our best deeds are as ‘filthy rags’ and cannot put us right with God.

But Jesus was able to bring us forgiveness of sins. He was the only one able to do it. The only one who was perfect. Sin had no entrance into his life. The sinless Son of God who was able to die in our place and be the perfect sacrifice for our sins: “when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy spirit whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Titus 3:6).

But having descended; having made the ultimate sacrifice for our sakes on the cross, Christ was exalted

First, the Father raised the Son from the grave. To show to all that His atoning work on the cross was ratified by the Father. To show everyone that Jesus has conquered death. And the book of Philippians describes how Jesus was exalted again: ‘God exalted him to the highest place’. That phrase refers to Jesus Ascension. Jesus didn’t just rise from the tomb, but he rose higher again ‘He was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God’ (Mark 16:19). Christ is exalted above every authority. Who else?

Who else is our Refuge and Strength when our greatest trouble visits us? Only Christ who has defeated that enemy. Nothing else, no one else can save us from Death and the Judgment that must follow because of sin.

It was by God’s mighty power that Christ was raised from the dead, and the promise is that we who believe in Him will also be raised from the dead by God’s power; ‘in Adam all die, even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. Jesus says ‘Because I live you also will live’. The same Jesus who raised Jairus’ daughter, the widow’s son and Lazarus from the dead will also raise you who believe on Him.

Psalm 46, this wonderful Psalm, contains some vivid imagery to show just how God is our refuge and strength:

‘There is a river whose steams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells, God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at break of day’ (Verses 4 and 5).

Now there is quite literally a stream running into the heart of Jerusalem. People of the city built the famous Siloam tunnel, so that water from the Siloam stream could run into the heart of the city. When enemies besieged Jerusalem the people in the city would be sustained through drinking of its waters. The Psalmist is saying that that is what God’s help is like. It’s quiet and unobtrusive but sustaining. When trouble comes He sustains the believer, he sustains His Church from His presence within.

Jesus still offers the invitation He first gave to the men and women of Jerusalem: ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’ (John 7:37). Jesus was referring to the promise of the Holy Spirit who would come and live within the person who later believed on Him. The Spirit imparts new life to the believer. The Spirit gives the believer a love for Christ and the desire to serve Him. Christians across the world and through the ages testify to this truth. With the early Christians we can say ‘We know that we live in Him, and He in us, because he has given us of his Spirit’

Will you drink of Christ by believing on him and so receive His Holy Spirit?

Revelation 21 is a picture of heaven. There God Himself dwells with His people. It reads ‘God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’.

However, Revelation 21 also tells us that ‘nothing impure will ever enter, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life’ (27).

Do you wish to be delivered from death when your time comes? Do you want to go to heaven?

Jesus issues the same invitation in Revelation 21 as He does in John 7: He says ‘To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life’ (6).

It’s without cost- because as we have seen, you and I cannot pay for or earn our salvation- though it cost Jesus everything on the cross.

Numerous Christians have found Him to be an ever present help in trouble throughout their lives. God by His Holy Spirit lives within them (like streams of living water), so they are sustained even within trials of health. He is the Good Shepherd who even guides us safely through the valley of the shadow of death to the glories of eternity and heaven.

We have been conscious as a fellowship that 11 of our number have died since March of last year. Taking Doris Poole’s thanksgiving service yesterday was a further reminder. I have also been saddened on learning of Steve Lomas death. Steve died on Saturday 25^th September. He passed away peacefully at St Wilfred’s hospice. Steve was Minister at Arundel Baptist Church, and before that East Worthing Baptist Church. He had an active role in the Sussex Baptist Association. I knew Steve quite well from the Baptist Union local fraternal and spoke to him on more than one occasion after he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But I have been shocked how quickly death has come since his initial diagnosis.

Charles Swindoll in his book ‘The Finishing Touch’ includes this piece written by Dan Richardson, an enthusiastic believer in Christ who was also diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was distributed at his memorial service:

Cancer is limited…

It cannot cripple love,

It cannot corrode faith,

It cannot eat away peace,

It cannot destroy confidence,

It cannot kill a friendship,

It cannot shut out memories,

It cannot silence courage,

It cannot invade the soul,

It cannot reduce eternal life,

It cannot quench the Spirit,

It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.

We believers do not fear Death- arguably that most cataclysmic of troubles. We have received Christ and His salvation and so did not fear. We are content trusting in His promise, His power and His love. Kept by Him. One day we will see Him face to face.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)

Millions have accepted Christ’s invitation. Their names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lord promised Abraham that his spiritual descendants would be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, and as numerous as the stars in the heavens (Genesis 22:17). We believers inherit those promises first given to Abraham (Romans 4:17-19).

Will you accept his invitation too? Will you do so today?

Jesus says ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the  Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’ (John 7:37).

Item. Recorded song. ‘Not Home Yet’ Steve Curtis Chapman

To all the travellers
Pilgrims longing for a home
From one who walks with you
On this journey called life's road
It is a long and winding road

From one who's seen the view
And dreamt of staying on the mountains high
And one who's cried like you
Wanting so much to lay down and die
I offer this, we must remember this
 

We are not home yet
We are not home yet
Keep on looking ahead
Let you heart not forget
We are not home yet
Not home yet

So close your eyes with me
And hear the Father saying, welcome home
Let us find the strength
In all His promises to carry on
He said, I go prepare a place for you
So let us not forget

We are not home yet…
 

I know there'll be a moment
I know there'll be a place
Where we will see our Saviour
And fall in His embrace
So let us not grow weary
Or too content to stay

We are not home yet…
 

Steve Curtis Chapman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-A1u-Zfal8

Prayers about Coronavirus.

We thank you for everyone who has worked to produce, distribute and administer effective tests and vaccinations. We thank you for the availability of these in this country, and we pray they will be made available to all across the world. We pray against any increasing spread in covid variant strains or any further need for lockdown.

Sovereign Lord we would pray for your deliverance. At the same time we pray You would use these extraordinary times for Your glory. We pray many would reflect on the transience of life, be humbled and turn from sin and rebellion toward You, and instead turn to Christ for their salvation. We pray this sense of urgency will not be lost now we are not under lockdown

Compassionate God, we pray for vulnerable people to be reassured, and supported safely and effectively to protect them from coronavirus. Please strengthen anyone who is seriously ill with it because of underlying conditions. Bring healing and comfort to them and their families. Amen.

Lord, You are the Prince of Peace and the King of Love who casts out fear. Please help us not to be anxious about Covid-19 but to seek Your wisdom and show compassion to those who may be vulnerable. Amen.

Gracious God, please grant strategic wisdom and insight to governments, local health authorities, and providers as they decide how to use the funding that is available and distribute staff and other resources to meet the needs brought about by Coronavirus here and in other countries across the world. Amen.

Merciful Lord, in this time of economic instability, please send your great comfort to those who are worried about their finances and carry many burdens and responsibilities. Come alongside them, and grant them provision. Amen.

All mighty God, at this time we lift to you those who are working on the front line in providing medical services. Who work hard to ensure people who are unwell are well looked after. We ask that you would give them your peace and wisdom at this challenging time. May they know your presence and have a new zeal for caring well for their patients.

Sovereign Lord, we pray for those who continue to self-isolate because they are more at risk. Please give them comfort and hope. May they use their time creatively and productively and grant them good rest and patience. Please may neighbours and families step up to help support them and provide for their every need. In Jesus name. Amen.

St Patrick’s Prayer (excerpts)

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
 

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension…

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who desires me ill…

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation. Amen.

Hymn

David Barnes 29/9/21