Collect
LORD, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
James 5:13 – 20
Mark 9: 42 – 48
‘if anyone among you wanders from the truth’…
‘And what is truth?’, said Pilate, before walking away from it, quoted in John 18:38
‘To say of what is that it is, or of what is not that it is not, is true.’ That’s Aristotle.
‘Truth is what I say it is’ according to politicians and dictators through the ages
‘Er, search me’ said quite a lot of wise philosophers.
Do we have to define something to understand what it means in our daily lives? I would suggest that while a definition certainly often helps – but a definition isn’t always necessary. As an example, to survive. we have to breath something called ‘air’ – but we don’t have to know its chemical formula in order to do so. There is much more to life than hard facts, and in them, truth will exist in spirit.
What is important is that we perceive, accept and believe ‘truths’ in order to frame our decisions and actions. We base our lives on what we believe to be truth, and for us as Christians, Jesus’ word is all the truth we need to live in Him and act as His body on Earth. His truth is simple – it is Love. Love of God and Love of neighbour.
‘My word is truth’, said Jesus in John 17: 17. Pilate was afraid of the consequences of belief. Thankfully, we need not be.
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Praying Together 14th July 2024
If there is no laughter, Jesus has gone somewhere else. If there is no joy and freedom, it is not a church.
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Praying Together 30th June 2024
Jesus’ healing is a signpost pointing to the culmination of His divine mission, that encompasses His suffering and torture, His death, His triumph over sin through His cross, and the defeat of evil in His resurrection.
Praying Together 23rd June 2024
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The stories used by Jesus to explain the Kingdom of heaven – the ‘parables’ – offer understandable truth to all of them whoever they may be– and through many generations, to us.
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If we just give in and believe that there is nothing we can do to bring about such a change, the dream will never come true. So let’s not.