Daily Scripture:‘The Lord is my shepherd; therefore can I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. He shall refresh my soul and guide me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.’ (Psalm 23:1-3)Daily Reflection:Surely these are words of the most well-known of Psalms; some of the best known words of scripture that most people can recite? But do we live our lives by these words? A shepherd cares, protects, nourishes and provides; a shepherd leads and guides the sheep in his care. This shepherd guides his flock along the right path…. leads them the right way, so that they lack absolutely nothing in their lives.Is the Lord your shepherd? He can lead you in a life where you lack nothing. Listen for His voice.Revd David Prayer: O God, our sovereign and shepherd, comfort us with your protecting presence and your angels of goodness and love, that we also may come home and dwell with him in your house for ever. Amen.
Daily Scripture‘Forget about what’s happened….don’t keep going over old history. See, I am doing something brand new!’ (The Message Bible: Isaiah 43, v18-19)Daily Reflection It’s not always good to keep looking back at the past, reliving things that have hurt us, or made us sad. Hope stays alive as we look forward, not back. When we place our hope in God, we take a step up – out of the swamp of our worries and our fears. God, who is able to, so much more than we can ever imagine, is doing something brand new… right now. The Bible tells us that there is a season for all things, and seasons will pass. The old will be replaced with the new, just as winter is replaced with spring - new life and new hope each year. Let hope stay alive in your hearts. Vicki Young
Daily Scripture‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord,or who can rise up in his holy place?’‘Those who have clean hands and a pure heart,who have not lifted up their soul to an idol,nor sworn an oath to a lie;'Daily ReflectionJoe Biden has been declared the victor in the American presidential election and soon he will ascend Capitol Hill and take his place in the White House. The hill that the Psalmist refers to, is Zion, the hill in Jerusalem where the Jewish temple once stood. To ascend this hill was to draw near to God. I don’t know if President-elect Biden has clean hands and a pure heart, and somehow I expect not, as politics in any country is quite a dirty business. But let us hope that this middle-of-the-road Catholic has a better grasp of the truth, something that seems to have been singularly lacking in his predecessor, and that he has not lifted up his soul to an idol, at least not too often. Time will tell….Revd Ylva
Daily Scripture:‘But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.’ (1 Thessalonians 4.13-14)Daily Reflection:It is absolutely natural that we should grieve for those we have loved and from whom we are separated by death. Jesus himself was moved to tears at the graveyard of his friend Lazarus. The only way to shield ourselves against grief would be to shut ourselves off from ever loving anybody, though that would mean cutting ourselves off from life itself. But for those of us who believe Christ’s promise of resurrection grief is tempered by hope, the hope that lies at the very heart of the Christian faith. We can entrust our loved ones to God in the knowledge that they are even more dear and precious to him than they are to us.‘I give them eternal life’ says Jesus, ‘and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand’.Revd Rosemary Rev Rosemary Kobus van Wengen
