wednesday focus

Too good to be true - 29 April

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Ephesians 2:1-11

The old saying reminds us that if something seems too good to be true…it probably is! T’s also true that you probably have not understood God’s grace unless it has seemed outrageous and too good to be true.

God gives everything when we deserved nothing.

Today the church is encouraged to read Ephesians chapter 2. Here we find grace is defined and explained. But this is not just theology it’s strength for living.

For here we find comfort ('with him'), strength ('riches of his grace'), joy, wisdom, forgiveness, cleansing, unity, hope ('seated in the heavenly realms'), kindness, purpose ('created in Christ'), love ('even when we were dead').

That’s a list that ministers to our everyday lives. And here are truths that create in us extraordinary possibilities.

Lets pray in God’s grace today. Remember, this is so good because it’s true!

 

11 March - There and here

17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5

9Blessed are the peacemakers,
      for they will be called sons of God.                   

Matthew 5

As 3 people are murdered in Ireland peace is in our minds once again. ‘We don’t want to go back 40 years’, said a woman interviewed on the streets of Craigavon, where the policeman was shot on Monday night.

What should our response be? One of the main things must surely be to resist the desire to rerun old arguments, or stereotype every nationalist or republican. Clearly the complexities of both sides resist simplistic blame. This act was as much provocation towards mainstream republicanism as it was anti-British or anything else.

With a refusal to succumb to simplicity should also come the resolve to pray for peace. It starts with praying for our enemies and blessing those we dislike, whoever they may be. No matter how distasteful of strange it may be to see former terrorists in political office they, and everyone involved in the situation, need our prayers.

But just as we pray for the situation over there, peace demands that we act with integrity back here. Jesus talks about peacemakers and elsewhere we are called to be bearers of reconciliation. If the gospel is true we should be bearers and makers of peace everywhere.

•    Who do you find it hard to be with at home? God calls you to be a peacemaker with hem
•    Which member of church annoys or irritates you? God calls you to be a peacemaker with them?
•    Your neighbours, work colleagues, friends and enemies? God calls you to be a peacemaker with them.

It’s easy to point over the Irish Sea and wonder what’s wrong with others. But the gospel demands that we first look to our own hearts and attitudes and deal with what's wrong with us.

For peace in your country
For the victims of violence everywhere
For those struggling for peace and justice
For churches in conflict situations
For a world without war and violence

Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth,
Lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust.
Lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace,
Let peace fill our beings,
our world and our universe. Amen

4 March - The Lord’s Other Prayer

Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’
           

Matthew 9.35-end

‘Our father…’ – that’s how the Lord’s Prayer is supposed to start. But here in Matthew 9 we find one of the Lord’s other prayers. It’s different, but equally important. It reminds us that God is in the business of mission, that his church is called to be a people in mission. So we are called to pray for workers in God’s field. I don’t think it’s just a prayer for more Vicars – may the Lord save us from that!! It’s much more radical, it’s about workers who will acts as shepherds for the crowds and the people. In your street, your area, your work place, your club there are people who need God’s compassion and his guidance. Perhaps you are his labourer in your corner of the field.

So let’s pray this prayer today. As we see the crowds in our city let’s look on them with compassion, not fear. As we go about London and Walthamstow, let’s pray that God would meet the harassed and helpless. On Monday evening the church council endorsed a plan to try and look at how our church can help people caught in debt and financial problems. It’s a great initiative to meet the harassed and the helpless at their point of need. Pray for it (more news will follow).

Of course prayers like this are dangerous. Because as you cry to God for his action, he may ask you to start working in your area.

Pray for leaders for our ministries, pray for all our church to consider how we are responding to God’s call for service, and pray for our attitudes to our city and community may be the same as Jesus.

O Lord our God,
Grant us grace to desire you with our whole heart;
that so desiring, we may seek and find you;
and so finding, may love you;
and so loving, may hate those sins from which
      you have delivered us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All
          Amen.

25 February - Welcome to Lent

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
       so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

 14 for he knows how we are formed,
       he remembers that we are dust.

 15 As for man, his days are like grass,
       he flourishes like a flower of the field;

 16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
       and its place remembers it no more.

 17 But from everlasting to everlasting
       the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
       and his righteousness with their children's children-

 18 with those who keep his covenant
       and remember to obey his precepts.

Psalm 103

Lent 2009 comes at a time of uncertainty and unknownness. Many people are forced into disciplines they never wished to practice: restraint, budgeting, cutting back, abstinence. It may seem the time to soften the call of God, to make his way easier, his truth more palatable and his life less demanding. But God’s knowledge of our frailty flows from his love for us, his compassion comes because he knows we are but dust. Although our circumstances may be different the call of Lent, to take up our cross and follow him is still the same. What will it look like fo you, to lay down aspects of life and to pick up a deeper commitment to Jesus?

Lord Jesus,
Desert dweller,
Help us now,
At this time of Lent,
To accompany you.

If we have grown soft,
Cushioning our lives
With excuses
Expose us to the toughness
Of your way.

If we have grown lazy,
Cushioning our minds
With easy, thin thoughts,
Expose us to the rigour
Of your truth.

If we have grown comfortable,
Cushioning our living
With satisfaction and success,
Expose us to the challenge of your life.

As we walk,
God be our way.
As we learn,
God be our truth.
As we grow
God, be our life.

We pray in Jesus name

11 February - Pray for London

7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." 8

Jeremiah 29


6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
       "May those who love you be secure.

 7 May there be peace within your walls
       and security within your citadels."

Psalm 122

As part of the preparation for the Global Day of Prayer at Pentecost this year, we are asked to join in prayer for London. During the last 12 months we have been reminded of God’s call to us to be part of the city, working praying and witnessing for it and to it. Prayer is an integral part of what it means to be called to the city.

What are your prayers for London and Walthamstow?

We are encouraged to pray for the following areas of London life in particular:

•    Healthcare
•    Transport
•    The Church
•    Government
•    Education
•    Business
•    Marginalised people

4 February Standing firm

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6

Last weekend nearly 50 women from across the parish spent time together on retreat. During that time people made significant moves forward with God. Many Christians will testify that after a time like that they have faced a real sense of spiritual battle. As soon as we get serious with God, so the spiritual opposition gets serious with us.

So we’re not uniquely evil if we find ourselves questioning what happened, doubting or forgetting what we thought God did, or just allowing the rush of normal life to snatch it away. It was the experience of Jesus and part of his teaching (parable of he sower) and the first disciples and the early church.

Thankfully God has made in Ephesians 6 and reminds us that:
•    we are in a battle so be prepared
•    pray for the resources of truth, righteousness, salvation, God’s Word and Spirit, for each will help me our doubts, fears and forgetting
•    pray for each other (‘all the saints’ vs.18) to be sure everyone is supported

Today let’s pray these things for all who attended the retreat, in particular that:

•    nothing would snatch away the truth, insight and healing that people received last weekend.
•    the growth received would be the start of lasting and deep renewal for each person
•    all of us would ‘put on he armour’ of God each day to protect and equip us for the spiritual battle

January 28 - Who Are You?

3 Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Those blessings come from the heavenly world. They belong to us because we belong to Christ.

 4 God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes. He loved us. 5 So he decided long ago to adopt us as his children. He did it because of what Jesus Christ has done. It pleased God to do it. 6 All those things bring praise to his glorious grace. God freely gave us his grace because of the One he loves.

Ephesians 1

Who are you? A mum, a shop worker, an executive, teacher, public servant, footballer, musician? We all define ourselves in some way. But our culture mostly defines us by what we do. Subtly we are rated against our job, and so many people make judgments on that basis. Is this person a success, or attractive, or good? Have you noticed how damaging that can be to us. What if we don't have, hate or no longer do a job? Why should we be judged by these standards, and reduced to simply what we do?

That's why Ephesians 1 is such good news for us. Read the verses again and remind yourself the identity God gives you. You are his creation chosen for goodness and holiness,and blessed to belong to him. Now ask yourself the question, 'who am I?', and answer it with those things. And with thanks, pray.

January 21 - A New Era?

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Romans 12

12 noon, January 20 2009 was for many the start of a new era. Yesterday as Barrack Obama became the 44 president of the United States there was a sense of hope across the world. One journalist described the people in Washington DC in startling terms, 'it's like Children on Christmas eve, everyone is excited, wide-eyed and full of hope.' Only time will tell how much this man can deliver the weight of expectation laid upon him. There will be inevitable disappointments as reality bites. We must pray for him and his advisers.

If 3 million + people who gathered to witness the occasion can be so overtaken by joy, how much more should we be constantly living out the life of Jesus by being 'joyful in hope'? In Romans 12 Paul commends this to us as part of what it means to be transformed by Jesus. The three things he encourages are a wonderful mix of the visionary and the practical. They're all about how we are to live in the world.

Today as we continue to live, work and witness in difficult times, how will our joy in hope minister to those around us? If we face trouble, what will it mean to be patient in a Godly way? How will our patience help others facing trouble today? What chance will you have today to be hospitable - at the shops, by your desk, in the office, in your home...?

And of course we're called to be 'faithful in prayer'. As part of our vision we believe God continues to call us to pray together. But what shape and focus should that have? Should we continue with Wednesday Focus in its current form, times and shape? What should be the balance of our on-line praying and our actual, physical meeting together?

How is God calling us to be more faithful in prayer?

Do pray and let us know your thoughts: in person, on line or any way you like!

As for today, it certainly is the start of something new for America and us all. But the real difference in our homes and streets, work and communities, will come from us. 3 things to be and do to transform your part of the planet today:

Joyful in hope. Patient in affliction. Faithful in prayer.

Let the Revolution begin!

B.O.G.O.F?

44 Then Jesus cried out, "Anyone who believes in me does not believe in me only. He also believes in the One who sent me. 45 When he looks at me, he sees the One who sent me. 46 "I have come into the world to be a light. No one who believes in me will stay in darkness.

John 12

B.O.G.O.F.

It’s a phrase we will get more and more used to in 2009. Buy One, Get One Free. It’s no longer just a marketing tool. For many businesses it might be their last hope.

Whether it’s the senseless slaughter of 1000 people between the opposing sides in Gaza, or the constant fall of jobs and companies regarded safe, the word seems scarier by the day.

Faith in Jesus may seem flimsy or confusing. It may like raging against the storm. But at the heart of Jesus' life and work was a single relationship that sustained and shaped him in the face of death itself. It was summed up in one word, Father. When we connect to Christ we get in on that relationship. We’re not just mates of Jesus, we get to join the whole family and the great father becomes our father too.

So whatever shocks or joys today brings remember that with Jesus comes the Father as well. ‘To trust Him is to trust the Father; to observe or contemplate Him is to observe or contemplate the Father. He s come not to give light to the world, but to be light in the world’ (William Temple)

The ultimate Bogof offer. This one is not just for this month, or the downturn. It’s for eternity and it can face anything. St Paul knew that with Jesus you get the Father and here’s the prayer he prayed on that basis. Remember that next time it’s 2 for 1 at Tesco.

I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen.

Christmas Eve 2008 - Embrace the earth with your glory…

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
John  1:5

Almighty God,
you make us glad with the yearly remembrance
of the birth of your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as we joyfully receive him as our redeemer,
so we may with sure confidence behold him
when he shall come to be our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Almighty God,
as we prepare with joy
to celebrate the gift of the Christ-child,
embrace the earth with your glory
and be for us a living hope
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Two prayers for Christmas Eve. Rather than play ‘spot-the-difference’ we’re going to take insights from both as  cue for praying this Christmas Eve. Both prayers seek to fill out a little of what John spoke of when he proclaimed that whatever darkness there may be in our personal and corporate lives, in the whole created order, it is nothing to the light of Jesus. Let’s pray for:

•    True joy for people this Christmas
•    People would receive him as their redeemer
•    The whole of creation would be renewed with Gods light and love
•    Hopeless people would be given a living hope

Remember today’s leaders and preachers, readers, prayers and musicians.