Reflection for Sunday 27th July 2025

The Sixth Sunday After Trinity

Genesis 18.20-32, Colossians 2.6-19, Luke 11.1-13

Sometimes the idea of “doing more” feels impossible. We look at our age, our energy, our dwindling numbers, and think, “What more can we give?” The answer may be: nothing more—but something deeper.

In Colossians, Paul says: “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him.” It’s not about piling on more effort, or ticking more spiritual boxes. It’s about being rooted. Trusting. Holding on.

In our Gospel reading, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. He doesn’t give them a technique. He gives them the Lord’s Prayer—short, simple, profound. And then he tells a story about persistence in asking. Not because God needs nagging—but because trust is built in the asking.

Abraham, in Genesis, dares to ask again and again for mercy. His prayer is bold, but underneath it lies something simple: trust in God’s character.

There’s a lesson here for us. When we feel stretched, uncertain, or powerless to change the bigger picture of the Church, we are not being called to do more. We are being called to trust more. To pray, even if the words are simple. To show up, even when we don’t know what the future holds. To root ourselves—not in plans, or structures—but in Christ.

And here’s the good news: we’re not clinging to a vague hope. Paul reminds us that in Christ “the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” He’s not far off. He’s not waiting for us to get it right. He is here, with us, and we are already made alive in him.

So if you find yourself asking, “What can I do?”—maybe the better question is: “Who am I rooted in?”

Blessings and prayers,

Emma