A Prayer for Candlemas (2 February)


Lord God, you are the source of everlasting light.
Your son, our beloved Lord Jesus
was presented in the temple 40 days after his birth.
He was recognised by Simeon and Anna,
and welcomed as the promised Messiah.
May we like them, behold the glory of the Lord Jesus.
Grant that we may stand before you
with hearts cleansed by your forgiving love.
May we serve you all our days
and make your name known
as we worship you as our Lord.
So may we come by your grace
to eternal life. Amen. 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflection: The Son is the Radiance of God’s Glory

Image
"The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and - the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." -  Hebrews, chapter 1 I’d like to try and paint three pictures in your mind, without PowerPoint, if possible! Please do bear with me.  The first starts with a question!  Have you ever seen a partial eclipse of the sun? You know, when the moon moves across the sun and it looks like someone’s taken a bite out of the sun itself. It’s usually a big thing, predicted for weeks ahead with lots of publicity and TV coverage. If the weather is good and it’s a clear day, you can see the passage of the moon really well. I remember looking at several over my life, one in Cornwall in mid-summer, which was quite amazing, one in the back garden here on the Wirral, six or seven years ago, and one when I was at school.  The thing I recall most about that one was that the teachers distributed black plastic photographic film. We had to hold the film up against the sun
Read more

"I Feel Like a Lump of Coal"

Image
I was recently in a Zoom meeting when someone said “I feel like a lump of coal”.  We were discussing the current world crisis and its effect on the church and ourselves as individuals.  The person who said this was feeling very low due to her own personal circumstances and I began to think about the meaning of what she said.  A dirty piece of coal does not look attractive and seems quite useless.  In fact, unless it is in a fire burning with other coals, it will not do what it is meant to do.  If a single coal is taken out of the fire, it no longer burns - it dies.  We are like coals and we need fellowship with others as part of spiritual growth.  This is very difficult in the present situation when we can’t meet together in groups and it is easy to feel alone and isolated.    Coal is made of carbon and we can learn a lot from exploring the various kinds of carbon.  We are all equal in the eyes of God.  We are one but we have different characters, even changing at different times.  L
Read more

A Prayer for Ascension Day

Image
Dear God, like the first disciples, after they witnessed Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, we are continually praising you. We thank you for all the joy you have given us as we strive to follow the example of your Son, Jesus Christ. We rejoice that, although we may not see him with our earthly eyes, Jesus is with us every day, always on hand to help us and support us, to guide us and to admonish us when we do not follow his teaching. We are sorry that we do not always manage to do what we should to play our small part in bringing your kingdom to our community and neighbours. We thank you for all the opportunities you give us to offer your love and kindness to all those we encounter in our daily lives. Help us to see the face of Jesus in all the people we meet today, and treat all of them as you beloved children. Grant us, too, the patience to wait for you to clothe us with the power that your Holy Spirit offers to those who listen to your still, small voice, and may we turn t
Read more