THURSDAY 15th DECEMBER

                                         'Not sure that should be an A major chord, mind'...
                                             Bill Kingston busking: church hall 14.12.16

  (Bill and friends can be found singing seasonal music in the Bold Dragoon tonight from 8 p.m.)


Heavenly Father,
As streets fill with shoppers,
Bright lights and tempting offers,
Christmas songs and children's laughter,
You lead us along a different path
To a desert river and a Prophetic voice:
A call to repentance:
A call to service:
A call to immerse ourselves
In living water that will never run dry:
A call to prepare a way in our own lives
For the Saviour of the world to enter in:
To know the touch of tender mercy
And rest in your forgiving love.

For your faithful prophets
And your Living Word,
We give you thanks.
Amen.

This week's Prayer Space

As last week, the Prayer Space provides three focuses for the visitor's thoughts. An audio reflection offers the opportunity for the listener to think about the slights and injustices they've experienced in their lives, and to decide whether to let them go. Of course, forgiving those who we think may have wronged us leads to thinking about how we may have hurt others. The Love Heart Prayer gives us a chance to pray for those close to us: our friends and family. And the final activity takes us from darkness into light.

The Exceedingly Strange Case of Zechariah the Priest Part III

The baby yelled
And yelled.
Everyone laughed.
Like father, like son!
Then stopped in their tracks.
Zechariah, after all,
Was still mute.
Perhaps the priestly eloquence
Had gone for good.

People assumed.
The boy would be called
After his dad.
Obstinate, square Elizabeth
Glared.
His name is John.
The neighbours murmured.
What were they missing here?
Looked quizzically
At Zechariah.
Expected what?
An argument?
A scene?
He beckoned.
Inscribed in the wax
One word.
John.

Clutched at his throat.
Coughed and spat.
Held his head in both hands.
Coughed and spat a second time.
They thought he was a gonner.
But like a dam bursting,
A flood of foam-flecked words,
Emotional, prophetic, rejoicing,
Burst over their heads,
Engulfing them.

From a distance,
Gabriel watched
And smiled.

                             Vince Cross