He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.   Colossians 1 : 17 – 19a

Reading for this week : Luke 10 : 38 – 42 and Colossians 1 : 15 – 28

Thought for the week

If you've ever looked at some modern art, it's not always easy to see what it is or what it's trying to say!

Human beings have always been image- makers, from cave paintings to the present. God it seems is an image -maker too.

St Paul in Colossians says Christ is the image of the invisible God, and he's an image which not only reveals God to us, he is also the key which makes sense of everything else that God has been trying to say to us.

We are made in God's image, so we are image-makers too. God frees us to create our world, our systems and our relationships in ways which reflect his law of love.

Rev Stella

Prayer for this week  (inspired by Colossians 1: 15-20)

O Christ, your cross speaks both to us and to our world.

In your dying for us

You accepted the pain and hurt of the whole of creation.

The arms of your cross stretch out

Across the broken world in reconciliation.

You have made peace with us.

Helps us to make peace with you

By sharing in your reconciling work.

May we recognize your spirit

Disturbing and challenging us to care for creation

And for the poor who most feel the effects of its abuse.

O Christ, the whole of creation groans.

Set us free and make us whole. Amen.

~ from the Iona Community’s Iona Abbey Worship Book (Wild Goose Publications, Iona Community, 2001).

Posted on the Yale Divinity website. http://www.yale.edu/divinity/fb/5thSundayprayers.pdf