Church is open for a short service on Sunday at 10am but for those of you worshipping from home find some resources to support you.

Readings: Isaiah 40.1-11; Psalm 85.1-2,8-13; 2 Peter 3.8-15a; Mark 1.1-8

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, o lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen

A Word from Lucy: Isaiah foretells of time when God comforts his people by sending a herald to prepare them for His coming. A time when the way will be prepared for the glory of the Lord to be revealed. A time when God comes to feed his flock, to gather his straying lambs and gently lead the mother sheep. As Christians we believe that this time has been fulfilled because in his gospel Mark tells us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that his cousin John fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy about a messenger who would prepare the way for God’s Messiah. For John called people to turn away from their sins and be baptised as a sign of their forgiveness. John also proclaimed that: ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’ In his letter, Peter forewarns about the day of the lord that we are all waiting for. Peter teaches that time for God is different to ours and that God is patient with us rather than slow. This is because God wants us to turn away from our ungodly lives and become a people of holiness and righteousness who are ready when the day of the lord arrives. For, as we heard in the psalm, God wants his people to be ready by being faithful and at peace with him.

Let us pray: Come, Lord Jesus, without delay; give courage to your people, who trust in your love. So that at your coming, you will raise us to share in the joy of your kingdom. Now, as we look forward to that day; give us the grace to cast away the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, that on the last day, when he shall come again in glorious majesty, to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal. Amen