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.
Previous Posts
Praying Together December 7th 2025
By your grace we have the gift of the Scriptures. With the help your grace, may we listen deeply to what you want to say to each one of us. May we know your gifts of endurance, encouragement and hope, so that not only our lips but also our lives may be a song in praise of your mercy.
Praying Together November 30th November 2025
The significance of the Themes and Candles we light during the Advent Season.
Praying Together 23rd November 2025
We celebrate the beginning of the story in Advent – but before we do, it is equally important to celebrate the final act of Coronation. The Gospel proclaims that Jesus is King.
Praying Together 16th November 2025
In ways, the Christian Journey is like a race – a Marathon, not a sprint. The key is endurance, Jesus says. There will be mountains to climb, tears and heartache in the depths of your soul, and it will sometimes feel like it’s impossible to carry on. But the world will continue, and end only in God’s good time.
Praying Together 9th November 2025
Every selfless act honours our Christ. In Him, we are one. Whoever we are. We are all His family, and violence against each other is violence against Him.
Praying Together 2nd November 2025
A Reflection for Sunday 2nd November 2025provided by Reverend Barbara Irrgang-BuckleyJesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.Hymn Put all your trust in God...
Praying Together 19th October 2025
There are so many who have been alongside us in our Christian Journey, Paul only being one of them.
Praying Together 12th October 2025
We live in comfort, in safety, in freedom, accepted in our community. I wonder how often we send a Thank you to the One who sets us free?
Praying Together 5th October 2025
In community we can support each other in love and fellowship and build one another up. And plough on. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
Praying Together 28th September 2025
I hope and pray that I shall leave the world in a better place than I entered it, otherwise I shall have wasted the opportunity to live in freedom of body and soul as a disciple of Christ.
Praying Together 21st September 2025
‘…make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes…’
Praying Together 14th September 2025
It didn’t matter what you had been, said or done – like Paul, you were given the chance to repent.