There are three parts to our liturgy: the daily readings, reflective exercises and prayers.
The reflective exercises and prayers, known as Praying Our Values, are accessible from the front page of our website. Each day's section is available on the correct day of the month. Alternatively, the reflective exercises and prayers for the whole month can be downloaded below.
The daily readings can also be accessed below. However, the most helpful way to read them might be alongside the reflective exercises and prayers. So, on each day that you access the liturgy, you will find the daily reading displayed alongside in the right-hand column.
There are two cycles of reading to choose from: The Peace Cycle or The City Cycle. If you are a registered user of the site then you can choose which cycle displays in the side-bar, by editing your settings here, under 'Block configuration'.
The liturgy gives space for open prayer, but also includes the Lord's Prayer each day.
Hard copies of the liturgy as a booklet can be purchased at a cost of £4.00: please contact
‘Praying our Values’ is a 28-day cycle of prayers, readings and exercises based around the core values and commitments of Urban Expression. It can be used in various ways:
• For personal prayer or prayer in small groups
• Regularly or occasionally
• During one calendar month or for any 28-day period
There are two cycles of readings – the City Cycle and the Peace Cycle – that can be used as part of this daily liturgy. These focus on biblical texts that explore these themes, ranging from Genesis to Revelation (using for freshness The Message version).
Those who use ‘Praying our Values’ daily during a calendar month will, of course, find that most months have additional days 29, 30 and/or 31. Additional material is provided for those days.
We welcome feedback on this material. If you notice any errors or have suggestions that might enhance it, please let us know. If you are interested in developing a further cycle of readings, please contact us to discuss this.
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Relationship
Call to mind where you live.
Imagine that you’re in a balloon floating over the roofs and parks, people and traffic, houses and flats.
Hear the sounds of where you live; breathe its air; feel its life and stay with this for as long as you like.
This is where God has invited you to live.
Notice what part of the neighbourhood is uppermost in your mind.
What’s calling out for transformation today? Silently offer that to God.
God
we come before you just as we are
with all our frailties and vulnerabilities
our baggage and prejudices
our hopes and dreams
our life and love
and we offer it all to you.
Take all we are and hope to be.
Use us here where you’ve brought us
and help us to be like Jesus.
Use our hands, our eyes, our ears,
our words, our silences,
our work, our rest
our hearts and minds,
and let your kingdom come
in the lives of all who live
next door and round about,
in this street and square
in the whole neighbourhood.
Confirm in us your invitation
to be your people here.
Deepen our commitment to it.
In our experience of the
heights and depths of life here
help us to know your surging and renewing love.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Relationship
Call to mind the relationships in your life that you carry in your heart today - family, friends, neighbours, your church community - and as you focus on each of them, imagine God's arms surrounding and holding them.
Are any particular relationships calling for your attention?
Offer your thoughts and feelings about them to God, or simply pray, 'Lord, have mercy,' confident
in the loving work of the God who knows you and the relationships in a way which does not demand
words of explanation.
God
thank you for all those that you’ve placed in our paths
for the sorted and the centred
for the muddled and bemused
for the broken and the fractured
for the searching and confused
In all our relationships
let the piercing light of your love
infuse us and flow through us
challenging the depths of the darkness
offering the hope of new beginnings
providing warmth where hearts are cold
giving strength where wills are weak
In us and through us
let all those we meet today
be touched by your Spirit,
and may we see your presence
reflected in the faces of
friends and strangers
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Relationship
Reflect on all those in your life today.
Where are they on their faith journey?
What do they struggle with?
What do you struggle with?
What have they taught you of God?
Where has God been present in your interactions?
Hold them quietly in your heart and imagine what life would be like for them if God was more fully in their lives. What prayer does that image call from you? Offer it to God.
Now reflect on your faith at the moment. What would change for you if God was more fully present to you and in you? Is that a change that you desire? Offer your response to God.
Our God
we are a part of that great crowd of people
who are learning what it means to abide in your love.
We thank you that we are not alone in our journey,
but from the beginning of human experience,
right through Scripture,
right through the stories of faithful people
you have invited us to travel with you
in this journey of salvation.
We recognise the journey takes us
through desert landscapes
sometimes dotted with oases
sometimes arid, dry and forbidding
as far as the eye can see;
through beautiful landscapes
filled with water, trees, sky and hills
where all creation cries Alleluia!;
through urban landscapes
noisy with change yet a place
where nothing really changes.
We offer you our journey and pray
that, while you lead us to where we
need to go,
you’ll help us to be fully present today
to your Spirit,
ever beckoning,
ever calling,
ever inviting
to life in all its fullness.
And we offer to you the faith journey
of those we know
praying for them your peace and hope,
and an ever deepening awareness
of your love and life.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Relationship
Who are the most despised in your neighbourhood?
What label does the rest of the neighbourhood give to them?
In your work, recall the faces of individuals from that group who you’ve spoken with or spent time with.
What are their names?
Created uniquely by God in God’s holy image, what has this person, or group of people, taught you about Jesus?
Imagine what their life would look like if they knew good news and the one who brought it?
What action does this reflection call from you? Offer that to God.
God
we pray for all Christians in this place
that, as yeast in the dough, you will
use us to be a transforming presence.
We confess our own labelling of those
who are not like us;
our standing apart from strangers
as we surround ourselves with friends.
We are sorry for the ways in which
we scaffold up the walls that divide us
and pray that you’ll give us a vision
of this community fully reconciled, redeemed
with the rubble of walls building
places of meeting and eating together.
We pray for all those who are
most neglected and most unloved;
those used as scapegoats for the
deeper sin which besets us all.
Help us to challenge wrong attitudes
and destructive behaviours
and in our churches to create
communities which are truly inclusive,
filled with justice and peace
and flowing with life-giving love.
And God,
where the old ways of introducing
people to Jesus seem to have lost
their power,
ignite our imaginations and give us courage
to share his life in ways that truly connect,
truly empower, truly transform.
We ask for this, because we have
no-one else to turn to.
You are our God
and we are your people.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Relationship
Write a psalm of lament for the reasons why Christians move out of cities and then a psalm of hope for the inner city, celebrating its unique gift and challenge, affirming God’s presence in all that it holds.
God our hope,
you have called your people
to live lives of fullness
throughout the world.
We pray today for brothers and sisters
who find it hard to live that calling
in the inner cities and who,
wearied or frightened,
crowded out or isolated,
have clashing aspirations
and seek what they don’t have
somewhere else.
We pray for those facing questions today
of whether to stay or go
and ask that you guide them in their discerning,
fill them with your love
and give them a vision
for your city redeemed.
Let your people come here and grow here
and may we be the community they need
for them to flourish and fulfil the potential
that you have given each of them.
Let your church grow!
Let your people be free!
Let your kingdom come!
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Relationship
Reflect on an idea you’ve had for the wider community. Hold it before God.
Think about the people or groups of people in the neighbourhood who share the vision for a healed community.
Are there any groups calling for our special attention today? Groups we could work with creatively? Groups we could work in partnership with that could make a new idea flourish? Groups that we’ve never worked with before? Groups that we know well?
Offer the potential for synergy to God.
God our shaper
thank you for calling us into community
in this community.
Thank you for its colour and vibrancy,
its texture and life.
Thank you that we can’t do all that you’ve asked of us on our own.
But it’s together with all the people here
that we’re asked to build your commonwealth
of justice, peace and fullness of life.
We offer to you our hopes for this community
and name them before you now.
(pause)
We pray for partners in this community
with whom those hopes could be made real and
name them before you now.
(pause)
We pray that you will take from us any pride,
any assumption that we know best,
and that you will give hearts open to
receive your word and life
from the friend and stranger we will meet today.
In all our work, keep us humble,
conscious that without you we are nothing
and without our neighbours we are a clique.
Bless our partnerships and our dreams
and let your kingdom come!
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Relationship
Are there situations you’re facing, or questions in your mind that could be helped by sharing them with the team today? What’s the core issue that you’re concerned about? How are you feeling about it? How will you phrase it?
Are there things other team members are facing that you want to hold before God today? Is there something you can do to encourage them or help them? How can working together and mutual accountability be made real today?
Thank you God
for bringing us together,
working as a team,
held by a vision,
committed to a way
of living and working
in which Jesus is known.
We readily confess our need
of support and encouragement,
of honest listening and talking,
of friendship and laughter,
of each other.
Bless each of our relationships,
and help them to reflect
the depth of relating
known in the holy Trinity -
mutual,
flowing,
life-giving,
abundant,
free.
God, we’re human enough to know
that sometimes relationships become strained.
Wherever this is true for us,
may your reconciling Spirit
work among us,
repairing and deepening
our mutual understanding,
respect and love.
God thank you for this team!
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Creativity
Hold in your heart something that’s difficult for you today.
What risks are you invited to take with this situation?
What are the possible outcomes?
What would the situation look like if the best outcome happened?
God does not demand that we are successful, but that we are faithful and real.
Let us own again the glorious permission to fail!
Acknowledge the difficult situation and how you feel about it before God.
God our encourager,
you know the many things in which we’re involved.
We offer to you
our frailty and fragility,
our fears and inadequacies,
and pray that you’ll use them all
to build up your church and world
Sometimes we retreat onto safe ground,
keeping our borders well defended,
our protocols and policies in sharp relief.
And in doing that,
we forget the tender hearts
of the people around us
and their need of your presence in us.
Whatever we’re facing today,
give us courage to be creative,
and take the risk of
opening our hearts and minds
to your pioneering Spirit,
recognising that you might call us
to do something new for you
and this neighbourhood.
Help us know that
no defence mechanism
however secure
can protect us from
danger and failure here.
But assure us in our deepest places
that we walk into today
with you before us, beside us and behind us.
And you, our God, are all we need.
Thank you God.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Creativity
Reflect on the patterns of living expressed in your church community.
How typical are they of patterns lived out in the wider community?
What are the differences?
What can you celebrate?
What is calling a question from you?
Name one new thing that would help your church to become a truer community of God’s people
So much, Lord, so much!
Talents, gifts, personalities, temperaments;
Histories, stories, influences, backgrounds;
All here in this neighbourhood,
this street,
this church.
So much to hold that it weighs us down;
So much to unlock that its potential is overwhelming;
So much to discover that it knows no boundary.
God,
help us to receive this diverse community as your gift to us;
your creativity to celebrate
your people to love
your kingdom come
And help us to see it as you do,
attentive to the parts that need mending
the signs of your coming
the glimpses of redemption
And help us to say ‘Yes!’ at the tops of our voices
to all that you ask us to be and to do.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Creativity
Note down the questions that have been raised for you in the last month.
Offer them to God in prayer
Is any one demanding your attention over the others?
What’s God’s invitation to you in the question?
Are there steps that you need to take as a result of it?
As you share this process and reflect with others in your church and team – are there implications for your common life?
Our God
you call us to a cycle of life
that involves growth, pruning, renewal and new growth.
As we engage our minds with your calling of us
we meet people and situations, issues and questions
that disturb us, provoke us, challenge us, deepen us.
Sometimes the questions can scare us
as they rattle our cages and raise anxieties.
Sometimes the questions can thrill us
as they make possible new things, new directions.
Lord in your mercy,
hold the questions we’re living with today.
Infuse us with your peace
and help us to work with them
so that we become more truly yours, more truly ourselves
and more truly followers of Jesus.
Thank you for the people who help us to reflect well,
and those who give us the courage to deal with the consequences.
Thank you for our fragile communities
in whom you live
and grace with your hope.
Jesus invited us to a full and overflowing life.
Today we again gladly accept that invitation.
Grow us, prune us, whatever it takes
for your commonwealth of love to be known.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Creativity
Where have you been moved by creation recently?
Where was it? What were the distinctive shapes, scents and colours there?
Is there an act of human creativity that has inspired you?
What was it that touched your heart?
Simply hold the delight of these before God in prayer.
God we are alive and we thank you!
Your creative heart beats around us
in colour and sound, sight and scent.
We are blown away by your vision,
awed by your imagination,
which is so much bigger than we could dream of.
But you have planted in us
an imagination that can soar to the highest places
and release in us gifts well hidden and under-used.
Our God,
let your Spirit unlock in us new ways
of thinking, of being,
of behaving, of creating,
and give us the eyes to see potential
in ourselves,
in others,
in our neighbourhood,
in our families.
And use us all to make the world
more beautiful,
more whole,
more integrated,
more centred,
more lovely,
just as Jesus did.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Creativity
Visualise people in your church community
Which of them have been catalysts for community growth?
Who has been influential in recent decisions?
How is leadership being exercised?
Think of one thing that’s happened involving others in the church for which you can give thanks.
Loving Lord
you built your church with a mixed bag of people
gentle, impulsive, schooled and uneducated
men, women, young and old
and somehow through it all
you formed a community
charged with loving the enemy
welcoming the stranger
living with values
that others laugh at,
and all this so that the world might be redeemed.
We are part of that mixed bag
and while we struggle with its clashes
we rejoice in its diversity
and we’re committed to it
because we’ve seen you at work
doing impossible things
in this crucible of love.
Help us to be attentive to those around us
who can be
holders of hope
makers of peace
catalysts for change
who can help shape our future life in good ways.
And help us, Lord,
to help them be all that you call them to be.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Creativity
Reflect on the times of prayer that you’ve experienced recently.
What has moved you?
What has made you react negatively? Why?
Where has God been in the experience?
Is today the day for changing your pattern of prayer to something different?
• A day held in silence
• A day for a prayer walk
• A day for being attentive to God in the strangers we meet
• A day for praying with music
• A day for journaling/painting/composing/dancing
• A day for ………………(feel free to fill in the gap)
God of the city
You are here in
the lives of the people
the bricks of the buildings
the pavements we walk on
the scrub ground we pass by
the trees in the park
the voices in the market
the hopes and dreams
of all our neighbours.
We thank you for that.
Give us the eyes to see you at work
and minds that can quickly glimpse
your growing kingdom.
And when we see it,
help us to sing an Alleluia!
A jazzed up, street sourced Alleluia!
A grating, soaring, garage Alleluia!
A rap, urban, Bangra Alleluia!
You are the beginning and end of our worship
and we want to worship you honestly and boldly.
Help us to work out ways of worship and prayer
that aren’t borrowed ways
but ways that our community
our environment
our churches
are aching to express.
Give us eyes to see and ears to hear.
Alleluia!
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Creativity
Where have you known the Spirit’s movement recently?
Is there any aspect of your work which calls for more time from you?
Where’s the spark in what you do?
Is that God saying ‘be more attentive to this in your life’?
What aspect of your work is life-denying?
Is God inviting you to move on from it?
Hold all this before God in prayer.
Living God
thank you that you don’t leave us simply maintaining
ways of worshipping
ways of meeting
ways of being your people
but that your invitation is to an abundant, overflowing life.
Help us to see our lives in seasons
when there is a time
to sow and reap
to plant and establish
to harvest and enjoy
to prune and wait.
What we do is all yours.
You are our guide, our leader,
our protector, our nourisher.
You build up and you tear down.
Help us not be so attached to what we do
that we miss your voice saying
‘Enough!’ or ‘Move on’.
But in all that we do,
and in your mercy Lord,
help us to hear your voice saying
‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’
Because when times are hard
we need to know that this matters to you.
And it’s only because all these people
and all their situations matter to you
that we are here at all.
Bless us Lord, we pray.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Humility
Bring to mind all that God has done in your life recently.
What's your response?
Who has been praying for you?
Bless them with a prayer.
Rest in God's presence for a while
Our brother Jesus
without you we are nothing
we can do nothing
create nothing
You are the vine
we are the branches.
And you call us your friends
and invite us to dwell in your love.
When life gets busy
and the demands never-ending
we find that hard.
It's hard to be still
and to stop our minds from whirring,
and thinking about the next
thing that needs doing.
But we say again that
we need you
we yearn to be closer to you
we long to deepen our understanding
and our following.
In spite of the noise in our lives
hear the quiet convictions of our hearts
and lead us on.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Humility
Call to mind people you've met this week.
Picture their faces.
Remember the conversations you held with them
Or the impressions they left on you.
And hold them before God.
Holy God
the Bible is filled with stories
of you working through
the unlikely,
the despised,
the stranger,
the enemy,
and you constantly shocked
those who were called your own
and offended their sensibilities.
And for that we thank you!
When we get precious about
who's in and who's out
remind us again of our role models:
Abraham and Sarah, the travellers
Shiphrah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives
Ruth and Boaz, the boundary breakers
Cyrus and Darius, the faithful outsiders
and all those restored by Jesus
to their full humanity,
and all those in the history of your people
who have defied convention
in subversive ways.
In Jesus you showed us how to love
those who are not like us
but who are adored by you.
Help us to love our neighbours too
and to see you reflected in their faces.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Humility
Call to mind colleagues and partners in the work in your area.
Are any calling for special attention for prayer today?
What have they taught you about God and about yourself?
Who are the saints who have gone before you?
Do any give you real inspiration for what you're doing now?
Celebrate them before God!
Risen Lord
thank you for the inner city
with its clashing needs and hopes.
It's here that we find you
constantly working to make broken lives whole.
Thank you for calling us to be partners in your work
and thank you for those who work alongside us.
Deepen our friendships;
let our vulnerabilities be shared;
envision us with a fiery passion;
we are your body, one body, and we thank you.
We thank you, too, for all those
who pioneered kingdom building here
for Muriel Lester, Ken Leech,
Catherine Booth, Colin Marchant ..... (fill in names)
who lived prophetic lives
that truly transformed the neighbourhood.
Help us to be like them.
Use us to speak and act prophetically,
and to live lovingly.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Humility
Where have experiences been shared recently?
What have you taken from that sharing?
What have you contributed to it?
Is there something else that needs to be shared your with church, your team?
Living God
thank you for never leaving us alone
in the work you call us to do.
We thank you for Urban Expression
and everyone who works within it.
Thank you for the richness of experience
the diversity of gifting
the depth of hope
the quality of commitment
all held here.
We pray that our relationships
will be honest, open and true;
that we will never fear vulnerability with each other
but help to build each other up;
through sharing our experiences
reflecting on your presence in them
discovering who we really are
and working out what we should do.
Help us to listen well to each other
to speak words wisely
to hold silences sensitively
to be as willing to learn as to teach
so that in all things
you are glorified.
Let your kingdom come!
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Humility
Picture the other churches in the area.
Is one calling for your attention today?
Dream a dream: what could this church be?
Hold the present and potential before God
Living God
your story of our salvation
began with your world's beginning;
and we thank you that you've
invited us to be part of that story today.
Disciples have come before us
and will come after us
and you choose to use us all
in loving the world.
We thank you for brothers and sisters
in other communities around here;
people with hope and vision
people with questions and concerns
people searching for truth
people longing for healing.
In all that we do
keep us attentive to their needs,
their aspirations,
their boundaries
so that we never call from them
something they just can't give
or do
or be
but help us in all our relating
to deepen friendship
and welcome strangers
as we journey on together.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Humility
Is there anything consuming your mind at the moment?
Is it a gift to be held or a distraction to be let go?
As a sign of commitment to today's value, pass something onto a neighbour, throw something out, or have a good holy tidying session!
God
all that we are and all that we have comes from you.
Our possessions, our money,
our breath, our life,
all comes from you.
Where we get tied to stuff
and obsess about acquiring more;
where we fall into thinking
that retail therapy is good for us;
where were find our attitudes
shaped by the advertising we see
rather than the gospel we know;
forgive us - and turn us round again
to see the wonder of your gifts
the generosity of your heart
the magnitude of your love
and bring us to our senses!
Preserve us from consumerism;
help us to live more simply;
keep reminding us what you've called us to be;
and in that we will find our joy and our freedom.
Thanks be to God!
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Humility
Have there been any occasions when we've been a bit prickly, or self-absorbed, or just a bit too intense recently?
Anything we need to say sorry for?
Let's offer our confession to God and words of regret to each other.
Then, get out some old and new photographs - enjoy the friendships celebrated, the events attended, the signs of God's presence they represent - and give thanks for God's perspective on us!
Lord
you've called us to be pioneers
and we have gladly responded
even if some days are hard.
We know that we're looked to
by those searching for more
cutting edge ways of being church
and we carry that responsibility
because we want others to
get the vision.
Sometimes, though,
this adventuring heart
can get a bit full of itself
and we take greater pride
in what we do
rather than who you are.
God save us from
our own self-absorption
our own puffed-upness
and bring us down to earth,
gently if possible.
We know that we are just
a part of your work in the world
and that your Spirit is
healing and transforming
in places we haven't heard of.
But we thank you for this
place, where you've put us now,
knowing that it's as wonderful
and valuable to you
as the whole universe.
Thank you God.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Commitment
During the past month, where have you experienced powerlessness and weakness, either in yourself or others?
Where was God in it?
What did you learn of the kingdom through it?
Did it leave you with a sense of pain?
Of hope?
Of a decision to be made?
Gently offer it to God in prayer
Lord of the universe,
Lord of the smallest particle of dust,
we meet you in the broken and the despairing
we know you in the unlikely and the unimagined.
We live alongside the bent and bruised
and we see you there
We worship with the damaged and deranged
and we see you there
We work with the oppressed and yearning
and we see you there
and we meet our own fragmentation there too.
In encountering powerlessness
we see Jesus;
In our weakness
we meet Jesus;
In living in the gaps
we follow Jesus;
who is our power,
who is our strength,
who is our Lord,
and who leads us on.
You are working to make all things new,
to help us to embody that hope,
to express that vision,
and to work for its coming.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Commitment
What have we noticed in our reading of the Bible recently?
What verse, story, image, person has impacted on us?
Have we met something new in Jesus?
What is God's invitation to us in our noticing?
Creator God,
we thank you for giving the Word
flesh and bones
in Jesus, our friend and brother.
In him we find our life,
we find our hope,
we find our joy.
In him we find out what it means
to be fully human.
We thank you for his centre
a life completely grounded in you.
We thank you for his compassion
which welled up uncontrollably
when he met brokenness.
We thank you for his vulnerability,
being fully alive in the hard places
with no protection, no defence.
We thank you for his playfulness
enjoying parties, good food and fine wine.
We thank you for his tenderness
in dealing with men and women.
We thank you for his vision
of lives, the neighbourhood,
the country and the world
healed and whole,
filled with peace and justice.
We thank you for his sacrifice
that carried all the ugliness,
the bruised and battered stuff,
on a cross.
We thank you for raising him to life,
giving us a brand new place of standing
and through him a whole new future
Lord, we long to be like Jesus.
Keep converting us,
and help us to be like Jesus
and walk with Jesus
through today
and this coming season.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Commitment
The Bible gives wonderful images of the kingdom - yeast in dough, salt, light.
When you think about the signs of the kingdom in your neighbourhood, what images come to mind?
Write them down.
Today, do something to symbolise the coming kingdom in your area - shake a packet of wild flower seeds over waste land; have a blitz on litter in one area; brighten something up with a lick of paint; go and stand and pray somewhere which has known pain and sorrow recently .... feel free to add your own initiative here .....
Lord you surprise us in so many ways!
A smile from a person we hadn't even noticed;
A flower defying the ugliness around it;
A laugh heard from an open window;
The scent of a curry floating down the road;
The glory of a sunset lighting up the flats.
You are God!
You care for each person living here.
You love us overwhelmingly
and passionately.
You have invited us to be your people
of salt and light
and smiles and beauty
and joy and fragrance
a people who reflect your glory.
And you have invited us to work together
with people like us and people not like us.
Lord, show us what your
kingdom shaped communities
can look like here;
encourage us in the building of them,
and lead us into deeper ways
of faithful and risky living.
In our yes to you,
keep our eye on the ball
on your love and purpose
on your touch and word
on your life and energy
for that is all we have
and all we need.
Thank you Jesus.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Commitment
Hold before God the people and situations known to you who are crying out for justice and peace and the destruction of all that makes them less than human.
Name them, cup your hands and lift them to God.
What shape of justice is needed?
What tenor of peace?
How can their full humanity be restored?
In lifting and offering your cupped hands to God, imagine that a vision for each person or situation named is being poured into your hands as God's gift to you.
What does that call from you?
Lord, we know that you intend for us
a world filled with shalom,
your gift of complete well-being
to all people, the whole of humanity,
all who you've created in your image,
who hold holiness and hope
and love and laughter
and peace and purpose
and justice and joy
deep inside their hearts.
But we see too much of
lives held down by
systems and sin
oppression and hate
domination and darkness
and we are angry!
So much potential!
Jesus you hold us in your prayer;
you know what life could be for us;
you see how things could change;
you move to drench us in your
transforming love and life.
Help us to see the
possibilities and purposes
in the most broken
of people and places.
Help us to feel your
justice and peace
and your
shalom-filled
creation.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Commitment
Where has life become cluttered, unfocussed, or dislocated recently?
What gifts are needed in the local church, the local community at the moment?
Jesus asked blind Bartimaeus, ‘What do you want me to do for you?'
How do you answer Jesus?
Jesus, preserve us
from the trappings of church life,
from endless discussions
about things that have no weight
or relevance in your kingdom.
Jesus, protect us
from distractions and trinkets
that blur your vision in us.
Jesus, deepen in us
a love for the rhythms
that surround us;
the cultural joys of
our streets
and parks
and homes
and places of refuge.
Raise up among us
men and women
young people and children
with the gifts needed
to build your kingdom here.
Give us the sight to spot
the gifts already here that
need to be encouraged,
and given oxygen, light,
compost - whatever it takes
for these gifts to grow!
Make us muck-loving
gardeners in your kingdom!
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Commitment
Think back to what you offered of yourself at the beginning of your journey with Urban Expression.
What were your hopes?
What were your fears?
Has anything changed in you now?
Is there anything that needs to be offered to God that blocks a full ‘yes' to the season ahead?
Spend time in silence with open hands before God.
Lord you have given us everything.
There is nothing we have
that doesn't come from you,
a holy gift of divine grace.
You gave us your life
and every breath that we breathe
reminds us of that.
We come to you in humility and hope
offering ourselves to you again
knowing our own frailty.
You know the demons that lurk
within us
of weaknesses and compulsions
addictions and obsessions;
of lack of confidence
and self limitations.
Lord, you are much more generous
to us than we are to ourselves
and you see us for who we are,
with our confused motives
and clashing hopes and fears.
But we want to be your people here
who point to your coming kingdom
and your sacrificial love.
So in our fragility
take us,
make us,
and use us.
We are yours.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Commitment
Recall recent conversations with people of other faiths and none.
Where has God been present to you in them?
Is there a stranger around whose name you want to know?
Is there someone who needs to become a friend?
Is there a situation of manipulation or oppression which needs addressing?
Is there a call here for you, your church or the wider team?
Jesus you have placed us in a
place of such difference!
We offer to you our neighbours,
Muslim, Hindu, Sikh,
Jew, Buddhist,
and those of confused faith
or no faith at all.
Help us to see you in their eyes,
celebrate you in our relating,
embrace new truths of you
that we learn in our common life,
and may our words and actions
be filled with gentleness and respect.
You call us to be a people of dissent
where prevailing culture and ways
deny a voice to the voiceless;
and we pray for strength and courage
to speak out and act up
when basic human rights are trampled on.
And in so doing, help us to address
the manipulative tendencies in our
own hearts that damage others
and limit ourselves.
You are Lord!
And we will live in freedom!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
After praying the values during the past 28 days, spend time today reflecting again on the first set of core values (with biblical texts for further reflection):
We believe that, in Jesus, God is revealed locally, and that we should be committed to our local community or relational network and active members of it.
(John 1:14, 1 John 1:1)
We believe that the gospel works through relationships and that serving God consists largely in building life-giving relationships with others.
(1 Thessalonians 2:8)
We recognise that Christian faith is a journey and we are committed to helping people move forward, wherever they are at present.
(1 Corinthians 3:1-2)
We focus on under-churched areas and neglected people, trying to find ways of communicating Jesus appropriately to those most frequently marginalised, condemned and abused by society.
(James 1:27)
We challenge the trend of some Christians moving out of the cities and encourage Christians to relocate to the inner cities.
(Matthew 9:9-12)
We believe in doing things with and not just for communities, sharing our lives with others and learning from others who share their lives with us.
(1 Thessalonians 1:5-6)
We see teamwork, networking and mutual accountability as vital, recognising that individuals and churches need each other.
(Ephesians 4:11-13; Acts 2:42-46)
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
After praying the values during the past 28 days, spend time today reflecting again on the second set of core values (with biblical texts for further reflection):
Creativity
We recognise the importance of taking risks and the demands of mission in the inner city, and we believe that it is acceptable to fail.
(Hebrews 11:32-40)
We value courage, creativity and diversity as we try to discover relevant ways of being church in different contexts.
(Joshua 1:6-9)
We believe that questions and theological reflection are important as we learn together and so discern the way forward.
(Jude 17-23, 1 Peter 3:15)
We aim to be catalysts, encouraging and releasing creativity in both church and community as we seek and share God in the inner city.
(Mark 4:26-29)
We believe in discouraging dependency and developing indigenous leadership within maturing churches that will have the capacity to sustain and reproduce themselves.
(Acts 14:23)
We are excited that God can be discovered in the heart of the city and commit ourselves to explore various forms of prayer and worship that are appropriate here.
(Hebrews 10:19-25; Revelation 21:1-4)
We realise that God's Spirit blows freely and so we will not assume our work should continue indefinitely.
(John 3:7-8)
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
After praying the values during the past 28 days, spend time today reflecting again on the third set of core values (with biblical texts for further reflection):
Humility
We acknowledge our dependence on God and affirm our continual need of prayer and God's empowering Spirit.
(Proverbs 3:5; Mark 10:14-15; Ephesians 5:18)
We believe that all people are loved by God, regardless of age, gender, education, race or class, and that God works through all believers - and others besides.
(Galatians 3:28)
We respect others working alongside us in the inner city and are grateful for the foundations laid by the many who have gone before us.
(1 Corinthians 3:5-9, 1 Corinthians 16:15-18)
We want to learn from others, seeking to shape what we do in light of the experiences, discoveries, successes and mistakes of fellow-workers.
(Ecclesiastes 12:11; Romans 15:14; Colossians 3:16)
We are careful not to drain other local churches of their often limited resources, but hope to be an encouragement and support to them.
(Hebrews 10:25, 1 Corinthians 14:12)
We realise the importance of living uncluttered lives, holding possessions lightly and recognising that all we have is to be at God's disposal.
(Luke 12:32-34)
We know we are not indispensable and what we attempt to do is part of a much bigger picture, so will try to keep ourselves in perspective.
(Romans 12:3-5)
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!
We offer here an additional resource: two sets of notes on biblical passages dealing with the city and urban mission. Each set contains six reflections on designated Bible texts, which could be used from Monday to Saturday in consecutive weeks.
The city is not only a highly significant feature of human history and contemporary life. It is also a major biblical theme with around 1400 references to specific cities or to the city as a social, political, economic and spiritual entity from the early chapters of Genesis to the final chapters of Revelation. In fact, the biblical narrative has been described as a journey from a garden to a city, from Eden to New Jerusalem.
Our world is increasingly urban, with over 50% of humanity now living in cities for the first time in history. In some parts of the world mega-cities are developing, with an infrastructure inadequate to cope with their exponential growth. In other areas city centres are emptying of residents but urban sprawl ensures urban culture is ever more influential. The city, as the focus of power and nexus of communication networks, has always dominated society and shaped its surroundings.
The early church was largely an urban movement with missionaries moving from city to city and urban churches reaching out into the pagan countryside (‘pagan’ originally meant someone living in the countryside). But during the Middle Ages the church was more at home in the countryside and it has struggled to adjust to an industrialising and urbanising society.
Today the church is strongest in the suburbs and the market towns and weakest in the inner cities and urban housing estates. But the city is crucial if we are to incarnate the gospel of Jesus Christ in areas of greatest social and spiritual need.
The first set of notes explores different aspects of the Bible’s story of the city. The second set explores God's mission to the city and God's invitation to us to get involved in this.
Despite its origins in rebellious self-sufficiency and its frequent implication in oppression and harmful activities, its future is glorious as God redeems and transforms it. Throughout the Bible God is found moving towards the city rather than away from it; even when the theme is judgement there are signs of hope and promises of redemption.
The notes explore diverse ways in which the people of God are invited to share God’s love for the city and participate in God’s persistent urban mission. This invitation has often gone unheeded as, over many years, Christians have moved away from the city into the suburbs or beyond. Rural imagery has dominated our liturgy and hymnody, and growth in spirituality is often associated with rural retreats.
But God is constantly reaching out and calling to the city, according to the prophets, even if the people of God, like Jonah, are often looking the other way.
Read Genesis 4:10-17; 11:1-8
Cain built a city, the first mention of cities in the Bible. Not content with an invisible mark of security, he built a visible stronghold. Refusing to accept his punishment and rejecting God’s offer of security, his city was a potent symbol of self-sufficiency and independence. Built away from the presence of the Lord, the city was named after Cain’s son: his family and future were bound up in the city he had built.
This is not a promising start. The city represents humanity’s alternative to fellowship with God, an attempt to feel secure and significant. Conceived in sin and defiance, it is birthed away from God’s presence as if to exclude him. It is a concrete expression of self-reliance, but a symbol also of alien¬ation. Alienated from the ground, we create a new environment for ourselves; alienated from other human beings, we build walls around ourselves; alienated from God we create a little world to rule. The city is our kingdom, our pride and joy, our greatest achievement – and yet the place we are least secure and most alienated.
The most famous of early cities was Babel. We learn about the motivation behind its construction and we discover some¬thing of God’s response to city-building. Do you notice the similarity to Cain’s motives – to make a name and avoid being wanderers? The famous tower proclaimed: ‘Who needs a god if we can build our way to heaven?’
The builders’ enthusiasm is evident, but their work was doomed. God intervened and the very thing they feared came to pass. Their language was confused, their unity and security were shattered and they were dispersed. Why did God intervene? Maybe the builders’ pride was offensive, or maybe this intervention was merciful, slowing down the speed of human achievement, limiting our capacity to harm ourselves and our environment.
Unfinished Babel is symbolic: no city has ever been completed. The city is always a goal rather than an achievement. It can never replace the lost presence of God, prevent wandering and insecurity, or satisfy human aspirations. Only the city of God can do this. But that lies much further down the road.
Read Joshua 20:1-9
The city may represent human self-sufficiency and the rejection of God’s protection, but God does not reject the city. Instead, he uses it wherever possible for gracious and caring purposes. God, it seems, loves cities. Scattered through the Old Testament are many indications of this. God’s love for Jerusalem is well-¬known but Damascus also is called ‘the city in which I delight’ (Jeremiah 49:25), and Jonah is rebuked for not sharing God’s concern for Nineveh.
The ministry of the prophets demonstrates this. ‘Listen’, cries Micah (6:9), ‘the Lord is calling to the city.’ Although often this call warned of judgment, God cared enough for the city to send it messengers. Several prophets received thrilling revelations of urban life as it could be under the rule of God. The city of God is the heart of the Old Testament vision of a restored land, an unwalled but secure city.
And God uses the city to bless humanity. Psalm 107 celebrates city life, contrasting it with life in the desert and hostile countryside. Cities are products of human creativ¬ity, skill and industry. They are warped and corrupted but retain vitality and potential for good. The Old Testament writers celebrate their beauty, architecture and culture. The order and security they provide are welcome. In spite of their rebellious origins, God adopts the cities and graciously uses them rescue the needy.
Designating ‘cities of refuge’ in the Promised Land is a wonderful example of God’s willingness to engage with the city. He not only deigns to use the city, he even uses it in a way that recalls and redeems its inauspicious origins. Cain built a city as a refuge. Now God is establishing refuges – but with the significant difference that they were not safe havens for murderers, but only for inadvertent killers. Cain himself would not have found refuge in them.
This is truly redemptive – making use of the city in a way that recalls the motivation behind it, but without endorsing its sinfulness. The city is not transformed beyond all recognition: its unrighteous features are removed, but all that is positive and life-giving about is affirmed.
Read Zephaniah 2:15-3:13
The prophets highlight many urban sins. Each city has its own story – the militarism of Nineveh, the sexual perversion and injustice of Sodom, the gross affluence of Tyre. But five urban sins especially revolt the prophets:
Oppression. The rich oppress the poor, the strong oppress the weak and rulers oppress their subjects. Through violence, bribery, slander and extortion, oppressors dominate the cities. ‘Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled’, cries Zephaniah.
Idolatry. The countryside was also full of idols, but several prophets castigate urban idolatry. Jeremiah imagines people walking past ruined Jerusalem asking, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ Because the city `worshipped and served other gods’ (Jeremiah 22:8-9).
Bloodshed. Cities are places of violence where innocent blood is shed. Ezekiel says, ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed’ and declares that ‘the blood shed is in her midst: she poured it on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground, where the dust would cover it’ (Ezekiel 24:6-9). Do we hear echoes of Abel’s blood crying out from the ground against the first city-builder?
Sexual Immorality. Sodom and Gomorrah are infamous but many cities were centres of vice. However, Sodom and other cities were condemned for both injustice and sexual immorality (see Ezekiel 16). Many Christians emphasise one or the other, but sexual purity and social justice are both vital for healthy cities.
Pride. The arrogance and stubbornness of the city hinder it from responding to God. Zephaniah critiques this perversion of civic pride: ‘This is the carefree city that lived in safety. She said to herself, I am, and there is none besides me’. This is the language of divinity and overweening pride.
So do we despair of the city? We surely cannot assume our cities are healthier. Cities are still where the poor and powerless are victimised, centres of sexual ‘freedom’ and exploitation, dominated by temples to Mammon, plagued by violence and yet proud of their self-sufficiency. The good news is that God has not turned away from the city. In fact, God is on a mission towards the city.
Read Psalms 48 and 87
The centrepiece of God’s urban redemption plan in the Old Testament was Jerusalem. God’s response to the development of cities was not to retreat to the countryside but to establish his own holy city. Jerusalem, the city of God, was intended to be a radical alternative, a city set on a hill, to show what a city could be like. What Israel was to be at a national level (a light to the nations), Jerusalem was to be at an urban level, a model of justice, joy, peace and renown for other cities to emulate.
Israel had not been a city-building nation. Apart from the enforced construction of grain cities in Egypt, they had not started building their own cities until the time of Solomon. They had inherited their earlier cities from the Canaanites. God had in a remarkable way protected them from the lure of city-building. It was only when other things started going wrong, specifically when Solomon married many foreign wives and embraced their gods, that Israel copied the surrounding nations and developed their own city-building programme.
Jerusalem was not built by the Israelites. Indeed, it was one of the last cities in Canaan to be captured by Israel. Hardly a worthy history for a capital city! But perhaps that was the point. God chose for his holy city a place that had no history, a city that could give Israel no reason to take pride in their achievements. The crucial thing about this city was not its glorious history but its glorious destiny.
Several psalms speak of Jerusalem in glowing terms. In Psalm 48 this city is the joy of the whole earth, a place of true and lasting security, a city to take delight in and be proud of in a way that does not diminish the glory of God. Psalm 87 shows us people clamouring to be admitted as citizens of this joyful city of God, a place of fountains and celebration. Jerusalem was a concrete sign that God had not rejected the city, a working model of the New Jerusalem that was coming. The eventual fall of Jerusalem and the deportation of its citizens to Babylon is one of the great tragedies of the Old Testament.
Read Matthew 11:1-6; 20-24
Jesus’ ministry embraced many cities. We often associate his miracles with rural settings, but most of his miracles occurred in the cities, including Korazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum – signs of God’s kingdom coming to the cities and demonstrations of God’s love for them. Jesus embodies God’s persistent mission to the city.
But the cities refused to repent and welcome him – not least Jerusalem, over which Jesus wept because it had forsaken its true calling and was facing judgement. Note that Jesus addressed cities, not just individuals, treating them as corporate entities capable of repentance. Individuals in the cities had responded to him but the cities had rejected him. So Jesus remonstrated with them, pronouncing a ‘woe’ on the cities, a solemn denunciation not used lightly in the Bible but normally aimed at those who rely on security other than God. Jesus agreed with the prophets that the city is under judgment.
Jesus then added to the Old Testament list of urban sins yet another sin – the failure to recognise God’s Son. His miracles were signs that pointed to him but they had been ignored. Elsewhere (Matthew 12:41) Jesus compared his own generation with the city of Nineveh: that city had repented at Jonah’s preaching but the first-century cities had rebuffed one who was greater than Jonah. Here he compared Korazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum with Tyre, Sidon and Sodom, which would have repented if they had seen his miracles.
Jesus’ comparison of ancient and contemporary cities warns us not to relegate what the Bible teaches about the city to ancient history. Our cities are characterised by the same sins and worse. Whatever improvements modern cities might claim, the biblical perspective is that cities tend towards greater wickedness and degeneracy – except where the kingdom of God breaks in.
But there is a word of hope hidden in this otherwise solemn passage: ‘if the miracles that were perfor¬med in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day’. Sodom could have been saved! There is hope for wicked cities when the power of God is manifested.
Read Revelation 18:1-10; 21:1-5
The Bible’s final chapters are a ‘tale of two cities’. Babylon the Great is the ultimate manifestation of the city as the place of sin, rebellion and demonic activity. But New Jerusalem, the city of God, beautiful beyond description and full of God’s glory, will replace it and last for ever.
Babylon exhibits the worst features of all the cities – Nineveh’s aggression, Sodom’s sexual sin, Tyre’s affluence, Old Testament Babylon’s occult practices. Babylon is a haunted city, an urban nightmare, ripe for judgment. But it is still a city like any other. Music and culture, weddings and celebrations continue to the end. Most people are unaware of its degenerate state. Babylon is our city – at the point of destruction. The first time ‘Hallelujah’ appears in the New Testament is when Babylon falls: the end of this city ushers in judgement and a new creation.
No attempt to analyse the breath-taking vision of the New Jerusalem will do it justice. God has taken something so debased and corrupted and transformed it into something so glorious. The story of the city is one of the most wonderful demonstrations of grace in the Bible. For New Jerusalem is recognisably a city, with walls, gates, foundations and at least one main street. For centuries we have tried to build a city that will meet our needs, but now the perfect city of God descends from heaven as a gift.
Our wandering is over. The city has finally been liberated from the spiritual forces that oppressed it and is now a true home for humanity, filled with the presence of God in a way not experienced since God walked with Adam in the garden in the cool of the day. New Jerusalem is a garden city, a beautiful harmony of urban and rural. We will not return to some rural paradise; we look forward to a city, but the tree of life and the water of life are there too.
It was with this urban vision that the early church infil¬trated the cities of the Roman Empire. Realistic about the city’s sins, refusing to be fully identified with it because of their heavenly citizenship, they were nevertheless deeply committed to reaching the cities with the gospel. They were known as people who had turned the world upside down – and it was in the cities, and among the poor in those cities, that this revolution began.
Read Genesis 18:16-33
Abraham did not live in a city. He was a nomadic herdsman who lived in a tent. His only connection with a city was that his nephew, Lot, lived in Sodom. But he did have an urban vision: he was looking forward to the city of God (Hebrews 11:10).
A message from angelic visitors that Sodom and Gomorrah faced judgment spurred Abraham to pray. Abraham had personal reasons for wanting the city spared, but Lot and his family are not named in his prayer. Abraham’s prayer is for the city, pleading that it will not be destroyed if there are a handful of righteous citizens there.
His prayer has been called a ‘prayer of negotiation’. From fifty down to ten Abraham reduces the number needed. There he stops and goes home satisfied God has heard his prayer and will act justly. Abraham had fulfilled his responsibility and God promises to show mercy if there were just ten righteous people in the city.
In fact, the cities were not spared. But Abraham’s prayer was answered in the rescue of Lot and his family. The angels told Lot they could not destroy Sodom until he left, so firmly was God committed to his promise to Abraham.
What will stir us today to pray for the city? Perhaps, like Abraham, one particular city will provoke our compassion, a city where we have connections or about which God speaks to us. Nehemiah was stirred to pray for Jeru¬salem by a report from his relatives (Nehemiah 1:1-4). Daniel was moved by what he read in Scripture to pray, ‘Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name’ (Daniel 9:18). For Jesus, the sight of Jerusalem in the distance caused him to weep over it (Luke 19:41).
Abraham’s prayer for Sodom can be a model for us as we pray for our cities. We are to remind God that there are righteous people in the city; we can pray that God will spare the city for the sake of what is good in it; we can plead that the innocent are not swept away in indiscriminate judgment. Cities can be spared – if they have righteous inhabitants and the people of God pray for mercy.
Read Jeremiah 29:1-7
The exiles were confused and homesick. The unthinkable had happened; Jerusalem had fallen and they had been deported to Babylon. Why had God allowed his city to be destroyed? Was God still with them in this alien city?
Jeremiah’s advice was clear: God has placed you in Babylon; don’t expect to escape in the near future; settle down and make your home in the city; get involved in its life and activities; raise families and build community there; get rid of negative attitudes and seek the city’s good.
What relevance does this have to contemporary urban mission? Few Christians are in the city as war captives; most have the option of moving out. But it is as true now as when Jeremiah wrote, and when Abraham prayed, that the presence of God’s people in the city can make a difference. Prayer for the city can be offered from a distance, but many answers depend on us getting personally involved.
The church in the city has been weakened by the small number of Christians moving into the city and the large number moving out. Suburban churches are growing at the expense of inner-city churches. Two strategic changes are needed if we are to share in God’s urban mission – many Christians living in the city need to stay there and many Christians elsewhere need to move in.
It was not enough for the exiles to live in Babylon. Jeremiah urges them to get fully involved in its economic and social life; to raise families there and to plan for future generations still living in the city. They were also to pray for the city – not against it – aware their destiny was caught up with Babylon’s. Their goal was the shalom of the city.
Shalom is a rich concept that requires commitment to the total well-being of the com¬munity. Seeking shalom in the city means caring ministry towards the many hurting, lonely, marginalised people who live there. It means working for structural changes that will increase peace and justice in the city. And it means praying for its prosperity – a just distribution of opportunities and resources for the good of all.
Read Jonah 3:1-10
Why was Jonah reluctant to go to Nineveh? Prophesying to this hostile imperial city was enough to make anyone quail and his message was uncompromising. But he was also afraid the city would be spared. Jonah agreed with God that Nineveh was wicked, but he did not want it saved. God loves the city but many of us have written it off – ready to condemn its wickedness and not convinced it is worth sparing.
Jonah’s message is blunt and totally negative. Was this God’s word to Nineveh? We know God longed to have mercy on the city, but Jonah speaks only of destruction. Indeed, we imagine him rubbing his hands together in anticipation! This is not false prophecy, for Jonah’s message is accurate, but he has not communicated God’s heart toward the city. He has expressed God’s anger about the city’s sin but has omitted his desire to spare it.
Despite Jonah’s bad attitude, despite his inadequate message, Nineveh repented and was spared. The overwhelming response is unparalleled in the Old Testament. God’s grace is such that the brusque message of this grumpy prophet produced a city-wide response.
The response began among ordinary people. The king’s decree was important in that it represented the official reaction of the city authorities, but it was largely redundant: the citizens were already doing what was decreed. The anticipated outcome – Jonah’s imprisonment or execution and suppression of popu¬lar discontent – never happened. Revival came to Nineveh.
What does it mean to prophesy to the city? What is it about our city that concerns God? Jonah addresses the city as a whole but speaks only about ‘wickedness’; Nahum later condemns Nineveh for violence, arrogant militarism and economic oppression. What might God put his finger on in our city?
The church in the city is called to be a sign, a prophetic community. The day of the isolated prophet is over: ever since the incarnation made the word flesh, the prophetic ministry has needed a community to speak out from, a community with a shape, ethos and lifestyle that gives integrity to the message of its prophets. The building of such communities, fully part of their localities yet radically distinct, is a primary task of urban mission.
Read Nehemiah 2:11-20
If any biblical book can be described as a manual for urban ministry, it is the diary of Nehemiah. Jerusalem lay in ruins. Many years had passed since Nebuch¬adnezzar had devastated it; some of the exiles had returned and there was an attempt at community life. But life was tough, resources were scarce and an air of despondency hung over the city.
Far away in imperial Susa, a report reached Nehemiah: ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire’ (Nehemiah 1:3).
For four months Nehemiah fasted and prayed for the city before receiving permission to go to Jerusalem. Three days after his arrival he began to prepare for the task ahead. He thoroughly inspected the walls to see what needed to be done and was left with no illusions about the size of the challenge. He encountered opposition. Sanballat and his friends were offended by his arrival, accused him of empire-building and ridiculed his hopes. Finally, knowing he could accomplish little alone, he assessed the work-force. He had a list in his mind of who would do the work – even priests and nobles would be asked to work – but he said nothing yet. The success of his mission depended on willing volunteers who caught his vision or a city rebuilt.
There are lessons here for anyone contemplating urban mission. Don’t rush in with preconceived ideas; don’t alienate local people or take them for granted; don’t be surprised by opposition. Humility, discernment and patient preparation are needed. In urban communities trust needs to be won and hopes rekindled: they may have lived with ruined walls for a long time. And we must count the cost of urban mission: the city is a centre of opposition to the purposes of God. Time spent listening, looking and learning will not be wasted.
When we have done this, we may be ready to declare to the powers that dominate the city: ‘you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it’. The powers have usurped the city, but they have no right to it. In the name of Christ we have come to rebuild and restore.
Read Acts 19:1-41
The city, in the Bible and throughout human history, represents power. Cities are the places where powerful people live, influential movements operate and conflicts occur between those wanting to exercise power over others. So urban mission often involves power encounters, as the kingdom of God clashes with the powers at work in the city – political, ideological, religious and economic.
Ephesus had many competing religions and philosophies – the Jewish synagogue, a Greek debating hall, occult practitioners, self-styled exorcists, the cult of Artemis, as well as disciples of Jesus. Spiritual power (good and evil) was close to the surface –sorcery, demons, healings, exorcisms as well as tongues, prophecy, and ‘extraordinary miracles’. Economic interests were entwined with religious practices and politicians had to engage with both.
Western commentators since the Enlightenment have struggled with passages like this but our cities are increasingly hotbeds of inter-connected spiritual, economic, social and political power struggles. In our cities, as in Ephesus, competing interests will vie for attention and mission must be flexible and holistic.
Here we have half-converted disciples with defective theology needing to receive the Holy Spirit and be baptised in Jesus’ name; three months evangelising in the Jewish community, provoking mixed reactions and public hostility; a change of strategy and change of venue, two years of public debate with both Jews and Greeks; extraordinary miracles, power-imbued handkerchiefs, healing and exorcisms; a self-appointed Jewish priest and his exorcist sons using Jesus and Paul as magic names and finding that this attempt to manipulate spiritual forces caused problems; a massive bonfire of expensive occult textbooks prompted by fear of the Lord whom Paul proclaimed; and a riot and anti-Christian demonstration.
What a mixture of planned and unplanned mission; of careful long-term work and sudden explosions of activity; of arguing persuasively and simply watching God at work; of scepticism, fear, joy, conviction, opposition, imitation and the unexpected!
And what a wonderfully understated conclusion: ‘in this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power’! Urban mission is messy, exciting and often conflicted. Are we daunted by the challenges or excited by the opportunities?
Read Revelation 3:7-13
Urban mission will not be accomplished over¬night. It will not be achieved by hit-and-run projects, by ministers ‘doing a stint’ in the inner city before graduating to more prosperous and congenial locations, or by initiatives that spring up suddenly and die equally quickly, like the plant which sheltered Jonah as he waited for God to zap Nineveh (Jonah 4:5-7).
Writing to seven city churches, John calls himself ‘your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus’ (Revelation 1:9). He invites them to embrace all three realities.
Urban mission is tough and requires patient endurance. God’s kingdom has broken in through the death and resurrection of Jesus, but other kingdoms are resisting this. The powers, including the power behind the city, have been conquered and disarmed, but they are still at large. Our task is to point towards what God’s tomorrow will be like. Doing this in the cities is vital, because of what the city represents – the rejection of God’s plans and humanity’s attempt to build its own tomorrow.
Patient endurance is one of the main themes of Revelation. The phrase ‘him who overcomes’ which is repeated many times can be translated ‘him who endures to the end’. Victory in the New Testament is not triumphalism. It is the ability to stand firm patiently.
There is work to be done; there are opportunities for service. In Philadelphia the city church is shown a wide open door – the church may feel weak and weary, as many urban churches do, but the day of opportunity is still present. The reward for faithful service is a share in the coming city of God. If we want a share in that city, we have work to do in ours.
Revelation begins with a vision of Jesus and ends with a vision of the New Jerusalem. The city of God is still future, a hope which inspires urban mission and enables us to endure, but Jesus is already enthroned and at work. In him the kingdom has already arrived. City churches, like all others, are living in the in-between time, testifying to the kingdom of God and praying for its consummation.
Some final reflections as you come to the end of these Bible reading notes...
The Bible is neither anti-urban nor naïve about the capacity of the city for evil. Cities can be alienating and dehumanising; they can also be places of justice, community and creativity. Many Christians and churches are in the suburbs, semi-detached from the cities on which they depend for employment, entertainment and resources. Maybe a deeper understanding of the biblical story of the city will inspire us to a new level of engagement with our city.
Here are some ways you might pray for the city:
• Celebrate the remarkable grace of God that takes a symbol of human rebellion and transforms it into the home of redeemed humanity.
• Ask for insight into the city where you live or work – signs of God’s presence in the city and signs of brokenness and bondage.
• Reflect on your response to the double vision in Revelation: what will it mean for you to live in the light of these alternative urban futures?
• If you do not live a city, pray for urban churches and mission agencies, that they may be good news in the cities.
The cities of our urbanising world now represent the primary mission frontier for the church. If we do not discover how to incarnate the gospel in the cities, no amount of church growth in the market towns, suburbs and villages will prevent the church from becoming a marginal influence in contemporary society.
It is in the cities especially that Christians are encountering the challenges of injustice and poverty, ethnic tension and relations with other faith communities, and evidence of the end of Christendom and the influence of secularism and post-modernity.
The call to urban mission is for all followers of Jesus who look forward to the coming of the city of God. Some may need to stay in the city rather than moving out; others may need to move in and seek shalom in the city. Some may pray for God’s mercy on the city nearest to them and for God’s kingdom to come in power and grace.
Ponder quietly the challenge of the urban mission context.
What is God calling you to do?
What will it cost you to respond?
What resources will you need?
Who can you talk to about this?
Where will you start, and when?
The City Cycle of daily readings can be downloaded from the attachment, or accessed day-by-day below.
Genesis 4:8-17
Cain had words with his brother. They were out in the field; Cain came at Abel his brother and killed him. GOD said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ He said, ‘How should I know? Am I his babysitter?’ GOD said, ‘What have you done! The voice of your brother’s blood is calling to me from the ground. From now on you’ll get nothing but curses from this ground; you’ll be driven from this ground that has opened its arms to receive the blood of your murdered brother. You’ll farm this ground, but it will no longer give you its best. You’ll be a homeless wanderer on Earth.’
Cain said to GOD, ‘My punishment is too much. I can’t take it! You’ve thrown me off the land and I can never again face you. I’m a homeless wanderer on Earth and whoever finds me will kill me.’ GOD told him, ‘No. Anyone who kills Cain will pay for it seven times over.’ GOD put a mark on Cain to protect him so that no one who met him would kill him. Cain left the presence of GOD and lived in No-Man’s-Land, east of Eden. Cain slept with his wife. She conceived and had Enoch. He then built a city and named it after his son, Enoch.
Genesis 11:1-9
At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that, as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down. They said to one another, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and fire them well.’ They used brick for stone and tar for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t be scattered here and there across the Earth.’ GOD came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built. GOD took one look and said, ‘One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they’ll come up with next – they’ll stop at nothing! Come, we’ll go down and garble their speech so they won’t understand each other.’ Then GOD scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That’s how it came to be called Babel, because there GOD turned their language into ‘babble’. From there GOD scattered them all over the world.
Genesis 18:17-33
Then GOD said, ‘Shall I keep back from Abraham what I’m about to do? Abraham is going to become a large and strong nation; all the nations of the world are going to find themselves blessed through him. Yes, I’ve settled on him as the one to train his children and future family to observe GOD’s way of life, live kindly and generously and fairly, so that GOD can complete in Abraham what he promised him.’ GOD continued, ‘The cries of the victims in Sodom and Gomorrah are deafening; the sin of those cities is immense. I’m going down to see for myself, see if what they’re doing is as bad as it sounds. Then I'll know.’ The men set out for Sodom, but Abraham stood in GOD’s path, blocking his way.
Abraham confronted him, ‘Are you serious? Are you planning on getting rid of the good people right along with the bad? What if there are fifty decent people left in the city; will you lump the good with the bad and get rid of the lot? Wouldn’t you spare the city for the sake of those fifty innocents? I can’t believe you’d do that, kill off the good and the bad alike as if there were no difference between them. Doesn’t the Judge of all the Earth judge with justice?’ GOD said, ‘If I find fifty decent people in the city of Sodom, I’ll spare the place just for them.’
Abraham came back, ‘Do I, a mere mortal made from a handful of dirt, dare open my mouth again to my Master? What if the fifty fall short by five – would you destroy the city because of those missing five?’ He said, ‘I won’t destroy it if there are forty-five.’ Abraham spoke up again, ‘What if you only find forty?’ ‘Neither will I destroy it if for forty.’ He said, ‘Master, don’t be irritated with me, but what if only thirty are found?’ ‘No, I won’t do it if I find thirty.’ He pushed on, ‘I know I’m trying your patience, Master, but how about for twenty?’ ‘I won’t destroy it for twenty.’ He wouldn’t quit, ‘Don’t get angry, Master – this is the last time. What if you only come up with ten?’ ‘For the sake of only ten, I won’t destroy the city.’
When GOD finished talking with Abraham, he left. And Abraham went home.
Numbers 35: 9-28
GOD spoke to Moses: ‘Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you cross the River Jordan into the country of Canaan, designate your asylum-cities, towns to which a person who accidentally kills someone can flee for asylum. They will be places of refuge from the avenger so that the alleged murderer won’t be killed until he can appear before the community in court. Provide six asylum-cities. Designate three of the towns to the east side of the Jordan, the other three in Canaan proper – asylum-cities for the People of Israel, for the foreigner, and for any occasional visitors or guests – six asylum-cities to run to for anyone who accidentally kills another.
‘But if the killer has used an iron object, that’s just plain murder; he’s obviously a murderer and must be put to death. Or if he has a rock in his hand big enough to kill and the man dies, that’s murder; he’s a murderer and must be put to death. Or if he’s carrying a wooden club heavy enough to kill and the man dies, that’s murder; he’s a murderer and must be put to death. In such cases the avenger has a right to kill the murderer when he meets him – he can kill him on the spot. And if out of sheer hatred a man pushes another or from ambush throws something at him and he dies, or angrily hits him with his fist and kills him, that’s murder – he must be put to death. The avenger has a right to kill him when he gets him.
‘If, however, he impulsively pushes someone and there is no history of hard feelings, or he impetuously picks up something and throws it, or he accidentally drops a stone tool – a maul or hammer, say – and it hits and kills someone he didn’t even know was there, and there’s no suspicion that there was bad blood between them, the community is to judge between the killer and the avenger following these guidelines. It’s the task of the community to save the killer from the hand of the avenger – the community is to return him to his asylum-city to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the High Priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
'But if the murderer leaves the asylum-city to which he has fled, and the avenger finds him outside the borders of his asylum-city, the avenger has a right to kill the murderer. And he’s not considered guilty of murder. So it’s important that he stay in his asylum-city until the death of the High Priest. After the death of the High Priest he is free to return to his own place.’
Joshua 6: 1-16
Jericho was shut up tight as a drum because of the People of Israel: no one going in, no one coming out.
GOD spoke to Joshua, ‘Look sharp now. I’ve already given Jericho to you, along with its king and its crack troops. Here’s what you are to do: March around the city, all your soldiers. Circle the city once. Repeat this for six days. Have seven priests carry seven ram’s horn trumpets in front of the Chest. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, the priests blowing away on the trumpets. And then, a long blast on the ram’s horn – when you hear that, all the people are to shout at the top of their lungs. The city wall will collapse at once. All the people are to enter, every man straight on in.’
So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and told them, ‘Take up the Chest of the Covenant. Seven priests are to carry seven ram’s horn trumpets leading GOD’s Chest.’ Then he told the people, ‘Set out! March around the city. Have the armed guard march before the Chest of GOD.’
And it happened. Joshua spoke, the people moved: Seven priests with their seven ram’s horn trumpets set out before GOD. They blew the trumpets, leading GOD’s Chest of the Covenant. The armed guard marched ahead of the trumpet-blowing priests; the rear guard was marching after the Chest, marching and blowing their trumpets.
Joshua had given orders to the people, ‘Don’t shout. In fact, don’t even speak – not so much as a whisper until you hear me say, ‘Shout!’ – then shout away!’ He sent the Chest of GOD on its way around the city. It circled once, came back to camp, and stayed for the night. Joshua was up early the next morning and the priests took up the Chest of GOD. The seven priests carrying the seven ram’s horn trumpets marched before the Chest of GOD, marching and blowing the trumpets, with the armed guard marching before and the rear guard marching after. Marching and blowing of trumpets!
On the second day they again circled the city once and returned to camp. They did this six days. When the seventh day came, they got up early and marched around the city this same way but seven times – yes, this day they circled the city seven times. On the seventh time around the priests blew the trumpets and Joshua signalled the people, ‘Shout! – GOD has given you the city!’
Nehemiah 2: 1-6, 11-20
It was the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king. At the hour for serving wine I brought it in and gave it to the king. I had never been hangdog in his presence before, so he asked me, ‘Why the long face? You’re not sick are you? Or are you depressed?’
That made me all the more agitated. I said, ‘Long live the king! And why shouldn’t I be depressed when the city, the city where all my family is buried, is in ruins and the city gates have been reduced to cinders?’ The king then asked me, ‘So what do you want?’
Praying under my breath to the God of Heaven, I said, ‘If it please the king, and if the king thinks well of me, send me to Judah, to the city where my family is buried, so that I can rebuild it.’ The king, with the queen sitting alongside him, said, ‘How long will your work take and when would you expect to return?’ I gave him a time, and the king gave his approval to send me.
And so I arrived in Jerusalem. After I had been there three days, I got up in the middle of the night, I and a few men who were with me. I hadn’t told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with us was the one I was riding. Under cover of night I went past the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Fountain to the Dung Gate looking over the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken through and whose gates had been burned up. I then crossed to the Fountain Gate and headed for the King’s Pool but there wasn’t enough room for the donkey I was riding to get through. So I went up the valley in the dark continuing my inspection of the wall. I came back in through the Valley Gate.
The local officials had no idea where I’d gone or what I was doing – I hadn’t breathed a word to the Jews, priests, nobles, local officials, or anyone else who would be working on the job.
Then I gave them my report: ‘Face it: we’re in a bad way here. Jerusalem is a wreck; its gates are burned up. Come – let’s build the wall of Jerusalem and not live with this disgrace any longer.’ I told them how God was supporting me and how the king was backing me up. They said, ‘We’re with you. Let’s get started.’ They rolled up their sleeves, ready for the good work.
When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they laughed at us, mocking, ‘Ha! What do you think you’re doing? Do you think you can cross the king?’ I shot back, ‘The God of Heaven will make sure we succeed. We’re his servants and we’re going to work, rebuilding. You can keep your nose out of it. You get no say in this – Jerusalem’s none of your business!’
Psalm 24
GOD claims Earth and everything in it, God claims World and all who live on it. He built it on Ocean foundations, laid it out on River girders.
Who can climb Mount GOD? Who can scale the holy north-face? Only the clean-handed, only the pure-hearted; men who won’t cheat, women who won’t seduce.
GOD is at their side; with GOD’s help they make it. This, Jacob, is what happens to God-seekers, God-questers.
Wake up, you sleepyhead city! Wake up, you sleepyhead people! King-Glory is ready to enter. Who is this King-Glory? GOD, armed and battle-ready.
Wake up, you sleepyhead city! Wake up, you sleepyhead people! King-Glory is ready to enter. Who is this King-Glory? GOD of the angel armies: he is King-Glory.
Psalm 46: 1-6
God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in sea storm and earthquake, before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains.
Jacob-wrestling God fights for us; GOD of angel armies protects us.
River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city, this sacred haunt of the Most High. God lives here, the streets are safe, God at your service from crack of dawn. Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten, but Earth does anything he says.
Psalm 48
GOD majestic, praise abounds in our God-city!
His sacred mountain, breathtaking in its heights – earth’s joy.
Zion Mountain looms in the North, city of the world-King.
God in his citadel peaks impregnable.
The kings got together, they united and came.
They took one look and shook their heads, they scattered and ran away.
They doubled up in pain like a woman having a baby.
You smashed the ships of Tarshish with a storm out of the East.
We heard about it, then we saw it with our eyes –
In GOD’s city of angel armies, in the city our God
Set on firm foundations, firm forever.
We pondered your love-in-action, God, waiting in your temple:
Your name, God, evokes a train of Hallelujahs wherever
It is spoken, near and far; your arms are heaped with goodness-in-action.
Be glad, Zion Mountain; Dance, Judah’s daughters!
He does what he said he’d do!
Circle Zion, take her measure, count her fortress peaks,
Gaze long at her sloping bulwark, climb her citadel heights.
Then you can tell the next generation detail by detail the story of God,
Our God forever, who guides us till the end of time.
Psalm 122
And now we’re here, O Jerusalem, inside Jerusalem’s walls!
Jerusalem, well-built city, built as a place for worship!
The city to which the tribes ascend, all GOD’s tribes go up to worship,
To give thanks to the name of GOD – this is what it means to be Israel.
Thrones for righteous judgment are set there, famous David-thrones.
Pray for Jerusalem’s peace! Prosperity to all you Jerusalem-lovers!
Friendly insiders, get along! Hostile outsiders, keep your distance!
For the sake of my family and friends, I say it again: live in peace!
For the sake of the house of our God, GOD, I’ll do my very best for you.
Isaiah 1: 21-27
Oh! Can you believe it? The chaste city has become a whore! She was once all justice, everyone living as good neighbours, and now they’re all at one another’s throats. Your coins are all counterfeits. Your wine is watered down. Your leaders are turncoats who keep company with crooks. They sell themselves to the highest bidder and grab anything not nailed down. They never stand up for the homeless, never stick up for the defenceless.
This Decree, therefore, of the Master, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, the Strong One of Israel: ‘This is it! I’ll get my oppressors off my back. I’ll get back at my enemies. I’ll give you the back of my hand, purge the junk from your life, clean you up. I’ll set honest judges and wise counsellors among you just like it was back in the beginning. Then you’ll be renamed City-That-Treats-People-Right, the True-Blue City.’ GOD’s right ways will put Zion right again. GOD’s right actions will restore her penitents.
Isaiah 61: 1-11
The Spirit of GOD, the Master, is on me because GOD anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners. GOD sent me to announce the year of his grace – a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies – and to comfort all who mourn, to care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes, messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them ‘Oaks of Righteousness’ planted by GOD to display his glory. They’ll rebuild the old ruins, raise a new city out of the wreckage. They’ll start over on the ruined cities, take the rubble left behind and make it new. You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks and foreigners to work your fields, but you’ll have the title ‘Priests of GOD’, honoured as ministers of our God. You’ll feast on the bounty of nations, you’ll bask in their glory. Because you got a double dose of trouble and more than your share of contempt, your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy go on forever.
‘Because I, GOD, love fair dealing and hate thievery and crime, I’ll pay your wages on time and in full, and establish my eternal covenant with you. Your descendants will become well-known all over. Your children in foreign countries will be recognised at once as the people I have blessed.’
I will sing for joy in GOD, explode in praise from deep in my soul! He dressed me up in a suit of salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jewelled tiara. For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, so the Master, GOD, brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations.
Isaiah 65: 17-25
‘Pay close attention now: I’m creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy. Anticipate what I’m creating: I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy, create my people as pure delight. I’ll take joy in Jerusalem, take delight in my people: no more sounds of weeping in the city, no cries of anguish; no more babies dying in the cradle, or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime; one-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal – anything less will seem like a cheat.
They’ll build houses and move in. They’ll plant fields and eat what they grow. No more building a house that some outsider takes over, no more planting fields that some enemy confiscates, for my people will be as long-lived as trees, my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work. They won’t work and have nothing come of it, they won’t have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by GOD, with their children and grandchildren likewise GOD-blessed. Before they call out, I’ll answer. Before they’ve finished speaking, I’ll have heard. Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow, lion and ox eat straw from the same trough, but snakes – they’ll get a diet of dirt! Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill anywhere on my Holy Mountain,’ says GOD.
Jeremiah 19: 1-15
GOD said to me, ‘Go, buy a clay pot. Then get a few leaders from the people and a few of the leading priests and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, just outside the Potsherd Gate, and preach there what I tell you.
‘Say, “Listen to GOD’s Word, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem! This is the Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. I’m about to bring doom crashing down on this place. Oh, and will ears ever ring! Doom – because they’ve walked off and left me, and made this place strange by worshiping strange gods, gods never heard of by them, their parents, or the old kings of Judah. Doom – because they have massacred innocent people. Doom – because they’ve built altars to that no-god Baal, and burned their own children alive in the fire as offerings to Baal, an atrocity I never ordered, never so much as hinted at!
“And so it’s pay day, and soon – GOD’s Decree! – this place will no longer be known as Topheth or Valley of Ben-hinnom, but Massacre Meadows. I’m cancelling all the plans Judah and Jerusalem had for this place, and I’ll have them killed by their enemies. I’ll stack their dead bodies to be eaten by carrion crows and wild dogs. I’ll turn this city into such a museum of atrocities that anyone coming near will be shocked speechless by the savage brutality. The people will turn into cannibals. Dehumanised by the pressure of the enemy siege, they’ll eat their own children! Yes, they’ll eat one another, family and friends alike.”
’Say all this, and then smash the pot in front of the men who have come with you. Then say, “This is what GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says: I’ll smash this people and this city like a man who smashes a clay pot into so many pieces it can never be put together again. They’ll bury bodies here in Topheth until there’s no more room. And the whole city will become a Topheth. The city will be turned by people and kings alike into a centre for worshiping the star gods and goddesses, turned into an open grave, the whole city an open grave, stinking like a sewer, like Topheth.”’
Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where GOD had sent him to preach the sermon, and took his stand in the court of GOD’s Temple and said to the people, ‘This is the Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies to you: “Warning! Danger! I’m bringing down on this city and all the surrounding towns the doom that I have pronounced. They’re set in their ways and won’t budge. They refuse to do a thing I say.”’
Jeremiah 33: 4-11
This is what GOD, the God of Israel, has to say about what’s going on in this city, about the homes of both people and kings that have been demolished, about all the ravages of war and the killing by the Chaldeans, and about the streets littered with the dead bodies of those killed because of my raging anger – about all that’s happened because the evil actions in this city have turned my stomach in disgust.
‘But now take another look. I’m going to give this city a thorough renovation, working a true healing inside and out. I’m going to show them life whole, life brimming with blessings. I’ll restore everything that was lost to Judah and Jerusalem. I’ll build everything back as good as new. I’ll scrub them clean from the dirt they’ve done against me. I’ll forgive everything they’ve done wrong, forgive all their rebellions. And Jerusalem will be a centre of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on earth. They’ll get reports on all the good I’m doing for her. They’ll be in awe of the blessings I am pouring on her.’
Yes, GOD’s message: ‘You’re going to look at this place, these empty and desolate towns of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, and say, “A wasteland. Unliveable. Not even a dog could live here.”
‘But the time is coming when you’re going to hear laughter and celebration, marriage festivities, people exclaiming, “Thank GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies. He’s so good! His love never quits,” as they bring thank offerings into GOD’s Temple. I’ll restore everything that was lost in this land. I’ll make everything as good as new. I, GOD, say so.’
Ezekiel 22: 1-16, 27-31
GOD’s Message came to me: ‘Son of man, are you going to judge this bloody city or not? Come now, are you going to judge her? Do it! Face her with all her outrageous obscenities. Tell her, “This is what GOD, the Master, says: You’re a city murderous at the core, just asking for punishment. You’re a city obsessed with no-god idols, making yourself filthy. In all your killing, you’ve piled up guilt. In all your idol-making, you’ve become filthy. You’ve forced a premature end to your existence. I’ll put you on exhibit as the scarecrow of the nations, the world’s worst joke. From far and near they’ll deride you as infamous in filth, notorious for chaos. Your leaders, the princes of Israel among you, compete in crime. You’re a community that’s insolent to parents, abusive to outsiders, oppressive against orphans and widows. You treat my holy things with contempt and desecrate my Sabbaths. You have people spreading lies and spilling blood, flocking to the hills to the sex shrines and fornicating unrestrained. Incest is common. Men force themselves on women regardless of whether they’re ready or willing. Sex is now anarchy. Anyone is fair game: neighbour, daughter-in-law, sister. Murder is for hire, usury is rampant, extortion is commonplace. And you’ve forgotten me. Decree of GOD, the Master.
Now look! I’ve clapped my hands, calling everyone’s attention to your rapacious greed and your bloody brutalities. Can you stick with it? Will you be able to keep at this once I start dealing with you? I, GOD, have spoken. I’ll put an end to this. I’ll throw you to the four winds. I’ll scatter you all over the world. I’ll put a full stop to your filthy living. You will be defiled, spattered with your own mud in the eyes of the nations. And you’ll recognise that I am GOD.
Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want. Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations. They say, ‘This is what GOD, the Master, says…’ when GOD hasn’t said so much as one word. Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice.”
“I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defences of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. I couldn’t find anyone. Not one. So I’ll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they’ve done. Decree of GOD, the Master.”’
Daniel 9: 15-19
‘Master, you are our God, for you delivered your people from the land of Egypt in a show of power – people are still talking about it! We confess that we have sinned, that we have lived bad lives. Following the lines of what you have always done in setting things right, setting people right, please stop being so angry with Jerusalem, your very own city, your holy mountain. We know it’s our fault that this has happened, all because of our sins and our parents’ sins, and now we’re an embarrassment to everyone around us. We’re a blot on the neighbourhood. So listen, God, to this determined prayer of your servant. Have mercy on your ruined Sanctuary. Act out of who you are, not out of what we are. Turn your ears our way, God, and listen. Open your eyes and take a long look at our ruined city, this city named after you. We know that we don’t deserve a hearing from you. Our appeal is to your compassion. This prayer is our last and only hope:
’Master, listen to us!
Master, forgive us!
Master, look at us and do something!
Master, don’t put us off!
Your city and your people are named after you: you have a stake in us!’
Jonah 4: 1-11
Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at GOD, ‘GOD! I knew it – when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness! So, GOD, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!’
GOD said, ‘What do you have to be angry about?’ But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city. GOD arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up. But then God sent a worm. By dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun came up and God sent a hot, blistering wind from the east. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: ‘I’m better off dead!’
Then God said to Jonah, ‘What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?’ Jonah said, ‘Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die!’ GOD said, ‘What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than a hundred and twenty thousand childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?’
Zechariah 2: 1-13
I looked up and was surprised to see a man holding a tape measure in his hand. I said, ‘What are you up to?’ ‘I’m on my way,’ he said, ‘to survey Jerusalem, to measure its width and length.’ Just then the Messenger-Angel on his way out met another angel coming in and said, ‘Run! Tell the Surveyor, “Jerusalem will burst its walls – bursting with people, bursting with animals. And I’ll be right there with her” – GOD’s Decree – “a wall of fire around unwalled Jerusalem and a radiant presence within.”’
‘Up on your feet! Get out of there – and now!’ GOD says so. ‘Return from your far exile. I scattered you to the four winds.’ GOD’s Decree. ‘Escape from Babylon, Zion, and come home – now!’
GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, the One of Glory who sent me on my mission, commenting on the godless nations who stripped you and left you homeless, said, ‘Anyone who hits you, hits me – bloodies my nose, blackens my eye. Yes, and at the right time I’ll give the signal and they’ll be stripped and thrown out by their own servants.’ Then you’ll know for sure that GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission.
‘Shout and celebrate, Daughter of Zion! I’m on my way. I’m moving into your neighbourhood!’ GOD’s Decree.
Many godless nations will be linked up with GOD at that time. (‘They will become my family! I’ll live in their homes!’) And then you’ll know for sure that GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission. GOD will reclaim his Judah inheritance in the Holy Land. He’ll again make clear that Jerusalem is his choice. Quiet, everyone! Shh! Silence before GOD. Something’s afoot in his holy house. He’s on the move!
Luke 2: 1-11
About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s city, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.
There were shepherds camping in the neighbourhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, ‘Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: a Saviour has just been born in David’s city, a Saviour who is Messiah and Master.’
Matthew 5: 13-15
Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand.
Luke 19: 28-44
After saying these things, Jesus headed straight up to Jerusalem. When he got near Bethphage and Bethany at the mountain called Olives, he sent off two of the disciples with instructions: ‘Go to the village across from you. As soon as you enter, you’ll find a colt tethered, one that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says anything, or asks, “What are you doing?” say, “His Master needs him.”’ The two left and found it just as he said. As they were untying the colt, its owners said, ‘What are you doing untying the colt?’ They said, ‘His Master needs him.’ They brought the colt to Jesus. Then, throwing their coats on its back, they helped Jesus get on. As he rode, the people gave him a grand welcome, throwing their coats on the street. Right at the crest, where Mount Olives begins its descent, the whole crowd of disciples burst into enthusiastic praise over all the mighty works they had witnessed: ‘Blessed is he who comes, the king in God’s name! All’s well in heaven! Glory in the high places!’
Some Pharisees from the crowd told him, ‘Teacher, get your disciples under control!’ But he said, ‘If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise.’ When the city came into view, he wept over it. ‘If you had only recognised this day, and everything that was good for you! But now it’s too late. In the days ahead your enemies are going to bring up their heavy artillery and surround you, pressing in from every side. They’ll smash you and your babies on the pavement. Not one stone will be left intact. All this because you didn’t recognise and welcome God’s personal visit.’
Luke 24: 44-49; Acts 2: 1-7
Then he said, ‘Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: all the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled.’ He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. He said, ‘You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations – starting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high.’
When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force – no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them. There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, ‘Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?’
Acts 16: 9-12, 16-31, 35-40
That night Paul had a dream: a Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us!’ The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans. Putting out from the harbour at Troas, we made a straight run for Samothrace. The next day we tied up at New City and walked from there to Philippi, the main city in that part of Macedonia and, even more importantly, a Roman colony. We lingered there several days…
One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling everyone’s attention to us by yelling out, ‘These men are working for the Most High God. They’re laying out the road of salvation for you!’ She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, ‘Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!’ And it was gone, just like that. When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, ‘These men are disturbing the peace – dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.’ By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood. The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas’ clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black and blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jail keeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that – threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.
Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose. Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: ‘don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!’ The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, ‘Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?’ They said, ‘Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live – and everyone in your house included!’
At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, ‘Release these men.’ The jailer gave Paul the message, ‘The judges sent word that you’re free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!’ But Paul wouldn’t budge. He told the officers, ‘They beat us up in public and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight.’ When the officers reported this, the judges panicked. They had no idea that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They hurried over and apologised, personally escorted them from the jail, and then asked them if they wouldn’t please leave the city. Walking out of the jail, Paul and Silas went straight to Lydia’s house, saw their friends again, encouraged them in the faith, and only then went on their way.
Hebrews 11: 8-16
By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations – the City designed and built by God. By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That’s how it happened that from one man’s dead and shrivelled loins there are now people numbering into the millions. Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that – heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.
Hebrews 12: 18-24; 13:11-14
Unlike your ancestors, you didn’t come to Mount Sinai – all that volcanic blaze and earthshaking rumble – to hear God speak. The ear-splitting words and soul-shaking message terrified them and they begged him to stop. When they heard the words – ‘if an animal touches the Mountain, it’s as good as dead’ – they were afraid to move. Even Moses was terrified. No, that’s not your experience at all. You’ve come to Mount Zion, the city where the living God resides. The invisible Jerusalem is populated by throngs of festive angels and Christian citizens. It is the city where God is Judge, with judgments that make us just. You’ve come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God. He is the Mediator of this covenant. The murder of Jesus, unlike Abel’s – a homicide that cried out for vengeance – became a proclamation of grace…
In the old system, the animals are killed and the bodies disposed of outside the camp. The blood is then brought inside to the altar as a sacrifice for sin. It’s the same with Jesus. He was crucified outside the city gates – that is where he poured out the sacrificial blood that was brought to God’s altar to cleanse his people. So let’s go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is – not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This ‘insider world’ is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come.
Revelation 18: 1-24
Following this I saw another Angel descend from Heaven. His authority was immense, his glory flooded earth with brightness, his voice thunderous: ’Ruined, ruined, Great Babylon, ruined! A ghost town for demons is all that’s left! A garrison of carrion spirits, garrison of loathsome, carrion birds. All nations drank the wild wine of her whoring; kings of the earth went whoring with her; entrepreneurs made millions exploiting her.’
Just then I heard another shout out of Heaven: ‘Get out, my people, as fast as you can, so you don’t get mixed up in her sins, so you don’t get caught in her doom. Her sins stink to high Heaven; God has remembered every evil she’s done. Give her back what she’s given, double what she’s doubled in her works, double the recipe in the cup she mixed; bring her flaunting and wild ways to torment and tears.’ Because she gloated, ‘I’m queen over all, and no widow, never a tear on my face’, in one day, disasters will crush her – death, heartbreak, and famine – then she’ll be burned by fire, because God, the Strong God who judges her, has had enough. The kings of the earth will see the smoke of her burning, and they’ll cry and carry on, the kings who went night after night to her brothel. They’ll keep their distance for fear they’ll get burned, and they'll cry their lament: ‘Doom, doom, the great city doomed! City of Babylon, strong city! In one hour it’s over, your judgment come!’
The traders will cry and carry on because the bottom dropped out of business, no more market for their goods: gold, silver, precious gems, pearls; fabrics of fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet; perfumed wood and vessels of ivory, precious woods, bronze, iron, and marble; cinnamon and spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine and oil, flour and wheat; cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots. And slaves – their terrible traffic in human lives. Everything you’ve lived for, gone! All delicate and delectable luxury, lost! Not a scrap, not a thread to be found! The traders who made millions off her kept their distance for fear of getting burned, and cried and carried on all the more: ‘Doom, doom, the great city doomed! Dressed in the latest fashions, adorned with the finest jewels, in one hour such wealth wiped out!
All the ship captains and travellers by sea, sailors and toilers of the sea, stood off at a distance and cried their lament when they saw the smoke from her burning: ‘Oh, what a city! There was never a city like her!’ They threw dust on their heads and cried as if the world had come to an end: ‘Doom, doom, the great city doomed! All who owned ships or did business by sea got rich on her getting and spending. And now it's over – wiped out in one hour!
O Heaven, celebrate! And join in, saints, apostles, and prophets! God has judged her; every wrong you suffered from her has been judged.
A strong Angel reached for a boulder – huge, like a millstone – and heaved it into the sea, saying: ‘Heaved and sunk, the great city Babylon, sunk in the sea, not a sign of her ever again. Silent the music of harpists and singers – you’ll never hear flutes and trumpets again. Artisans of every kind – gone; you’ll never see their likes again. The voice of a millstone grinding falls dumb; you’ll never hear that sound again. The light from lamps, never again; never again laughter of bride and groom. Her traders robbed the whole earth blind, and by black-magic arts deceived the nations. The only thing left of Babylon is blood – the blood of saints and prophets, the murdered and the martyred.
Revelation 21: 9-27; 22: 1-5
One of the Seven Angels who had carried the bowls filled with the seven final disasters spoke to me: ‘Come here. I’ll show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.’ He took me away in the Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God, resplendent in the bright glory of God.
The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them.
The Angel speaking with me had a gold measuring stick to measure the City, its gates, and its wall. The City was laid out in a perfect square. He measured the City with the measuring stick: twelve thousand stadia, its length, width, and height all equal. Using the standard measure, the Angel measured the thickness of its wall: 144 cubits. The wall was jasper, the colour of Glory, and the City was pure gold, translucent as glass.
The foundations of the City walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl. The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass.
But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God – the Sovereign-Strong – and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn’t need sun or moon for light. God’s Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth’s kings bring in their splendour. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won’t be any night. They’ll bring the glory and honour of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in.
Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb, right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations. Never again will anything be cursed. The Throne of God and of the Lamb is at the centre. His servants will offer God service – worshipping, they’ll look on his face, their foreheads mirroring God. Never again will there be any night. No one will need lamplight or sunlight. The shining of God, the Master, is all the light anyone needs. And they will rule with him age after age after age.
The Peace cycle is downloadable below.
Leviticus 3:1-11
If your offering is a Peace-Offering and you present an animal from the herd, either male or female, it must be an animal without any defect. Lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s sons, the priests, will throw the blood on all sides of the Altar. As a Fire-Gift to GOD from the Peace-Offering, present all the fat that covers or is connected to the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat around them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver that is removed along with the kidneys. Aaron and his sons will burn it on the Altar along with the Whole-Burnt-Offering that is on the wood prepared for the fire: a Fire-Gift, a pleasing fragrance to GOD.
If your Peace-Offering to GOD comes from the flock, bring a male or female without defect. If you offer a lamb, offer it to GOD. Lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the Tent of Meeting. The sons of Aaron will throw its blood on all sides of the Altar. As a Fire-Gift to GOD from the Peace-Offering, present its fat, the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, all the fat on and connected to the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat around them on the loins, and the lobe of the liver which is removed along with the kidneys. The priest will burn it on the Altar: a meal, a Fire-Gift to GOD.
Deuteronomy 20:10-19
When you come up against a city to attack it, call out, ‘Peace?’ If they answer, ‘Yes, peace!’ and open the city to you, then everyone found there will be conscripted as forced labourers and work for you. But if they don’t settle for peace and insist on war, then go ahead and attack. GOD, your God, will give them to you. Kill all the men with your swords. But don’t kill the women and children and animals. Everything inside the town you can take as plunder for you to use and eat – GOD, your God, gives it to you. This is the way you deal with the distant towns, the towns that don’t belong to the nations at hand.
But with the towns of the people that GOD, your God, is giving you as an inheritance, it’s different: don’t leave anyone alive. Consign them to holy destruction: the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, obeying the command of GOD, your God. This is so there won’t be any of them left to teach you to practise the abominations that they engage in with their gods and you end up sinning against GOD, your God.
When you mount an attack on a town and the siege goes on a long time, don’t start cutting down the trees, swinging your axes against them. Those trees are your future food; don’t cut them down. Are trees soldiers who come against you with weapons? The exception can be those trees which don’t produce food; you can chop them down and use the timbers to build siege engines against the town that is resisting you until it falls.
1 Samuel 1:10-17
Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to GOD and cried and cried inconsolably. Then she made a vow: ‘Oh, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, if you’ll take a good, hard look at my pain, if you’ll quit neglecting me and go into action for me by giving me a son, I’ll give him completely, unreservedly to you. I’ll set him apart for a life of holy discipline.’
It so happened that as she continued in prayer before GOD, Eli was watching her closely. Hannah was praying in her heart, silently. Her lips moved, but no sound was heard. Eli jumped to the conclusion that she was drunk. He approached her and said, ‘You’re drunk! How long do you plan to keep this up? Sober up, woman!’ Hannah said, ‘Oh no, sir – please! I’m a woman hard used. I haven’t been drinking. Not a drop of wine or beer. The only thing I’ve been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to GOD. Don’t for a minute think I’m a bad woman. It’s because I’m so desperately unhappy and in such pain that I’ve stayed here so long.’
Eli answered her, ‘Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him.’
1 Kings 8:54-63
Having finished praying to GOD – all these bold and passionate prayers –Solomon stood up before GOD’s Altar where he had been kneeling all this time, his arms stretched upward to heaven. Standing, he blessed the whole congregation of Israel, blessing them at the top of his lungs:
‘Blessed be GOD, who has given peace to his people Israel just as he said he’d do. Not one of all those good and wonderful words that he spoke through Moses has misfired. May GOD, our very own God, continue to be with us just as he was with our ancestors – may he never give up and walk out on us. May he keep us centred and devoted to him, following the life path he has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors.
‘And let these words that I’ve prayed in the presence of GOD be always right there before him, day and night, so that he’ll do what is right for me, to guarantee justice for his people Israel day after day after day. Then all the people on earth will know GOD is the true God; there is no other God. And you, your lives must be totally obedient to GOD, our personal God, following the life path he has cleared, alert and attentive to everything he has made plain this day.’
The king and all Israel with him then worshiped, offering sacrifices to GOD. Solomon offered Peace-Offerings, sacrificing to GOD twenty-two thousand cattle, a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. This is how the king and all Israel dedicated The Temple of GOD.
1 Chronicles 22:7-13
David said to Solomon, ‘I wanted in the worst way to build a sanctuary to honour my GOD. But GOD prevented me, saying, “You’ve killed too many people, fought too many wars. You are not the one to honour me by building a sanctuary – you’ve been responsible for too much killing, too much bloodshed. But you are going to have a son and he will be a quiet and peaceful man, and I will calm his enemies down on all sides. His very name will speak peace – that is, Solomon, which means Peace – and I’ll give peace and rest under his rule. He will be the one to build a sanctuary in my honour. He’ll be my royal adopted son and I’ll be his father; and I’ll make sure that the authority of his kingdom over Israel lasts forever.”
‘So now, son, GOD be with you. GOD-speed as you build the sanctuary for your GOD, the job God has given you. And may GOD also give you discernment and understanding when he puts you in charge of Israel so that you will rule in reverent obedience under GOD’s revelation. That’s what will make you successful, following the directions and doing the things that GOD commanded Moses for Israel. Courage! Take charge! Don’t be timid; don’t hold back.
2 Chronicles 14:1-7
Abijah died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Asa became the next king. For ten years into Asa’s reign the country was at peace. Asa was a good king. He did things right in GOD’s eyes. He cleaned house: got rid of the pagan altars and shrines, smashed the sacred stone pillars, and chopped down the sex-and-religion groves (Asherim). He told Judah to centre their lives in GOD, the God of their fathers, to do what the law said, and to follow the commandments.
Because he got rid of all the pagan shrines and altars in the cities of Judah, his kingdom was at peace. Because the land was quiet and there was no war, he was able to build up a good defence system in Judah. GOD kept the peace.
Asa said to his people, ‘While we have the chance and the land is quiet, let’s build a solid defence system, fortifying our cities with walls, towers, gates, and bars. We have this peaceful land because we sought GOD; he has given us rest from all troubles.’ So they built and enjoyed prosperity.
Isaiah 32:1-20
But look! A king will rule in the right way, and his leaders will carry out justice. Each one will stand as a shelter from high winds, provide safe cover in stormy weather. Each will be cool running water in parched land, a huge granite outcrop giving shade in the desert. Anyone who looks will see, anyone who listens will hear. The impulsive will make sound decisions, the tongue-tied will speak with eloquence. No more will fools become celebrities, nor crooks be rewarded with fame.
For fools are fools and that’s that, thinking up new ways to do mischief. They leave a wake of wrecked lives and lies about GOD, turning their backs on the homeless hungry, ignoring those dying of thirst in the streets. And the crooks? Underhanded sneaks they are, inventive in sin and scandal, exploiting the poor with scams and lies, unmoved by the victimized poor.
But those who are noble make noble plans, and stand for what is noble. Take your stand, indolent women! Listen to me! Indulgent, indolent women, listen closely to what I have to say. In just a little over a year from now, you’ll be shaken out of your lazy lives. The grape harvest will fail, and there’ll be no fruit on the trees. Oh tremble, you indolent women. Get serious, you pampered dolls! Strip down and discard your silk fineries. Put on funeral clothes. Shed honest tears for the lost harvest, the failed vintage. Weep for my people’s gardens and farms that grow nothing but thistles and thorn bushes. Cry tears, real tears, for the happy homes no longer happy, the merry city no longer merry. The royal palace is deserted, the bustling city quiet as a morgue, the emptied parks and playgrounds taken over by wild animals, delighted with their new home.
Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured down on us from above and the badlands desert grows crops and the fertile fields become forests. Justice will move into the badlands desert. Right will build a home in the fertile field. And where there’s Right, there’ll be Peace and the progeny of Right: quiet lives and endless trust. My people will live in a peaceful neighbourhood – in safe houses, in quiet gardens. The forest of your pride will be clear-cut, the city showing off your power levelled. But you will enjoy a blessed life, planting well-watered fields and gardens, with your farm animals grazing freely.
Isaiah 57:15-21
A Message from the high and towering God, who lives in Eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I live in the high and holy places, but also with the low-spirited, the spirit--crushed, and what I do is put new spirit in them, get them up and on their feet again. For I’m not going to haul people into court endlessly, I’m not going to be angry forever. Otherwise, people would lose heart. These souls I created would tire out and give up. I was angry, good and angry, because of Israel’s sins. I struck him hard and turned away in anger, while he kept at his stubborn, wilful ways. When I looked again and saw what he was doing, I decided to heal him, lead him, and comfort him, creating a new language of praise for the mourners.
‘Peace to the far-off, peace to the near-at-hand,’ says GOD – ‘and yes, I will heal them. But the wicked are storm-battered seas that can’t quiet down. The waves stir up garbage and mud. There’s no peace,’ God says, ‘for the wicked.’
Jeremiah 32:36-43
But there is also this Message from me, the GOD of Israel, to this city of which you have said, ‘In killing and starvation and disease this city will be delivered up to the king of Babylon’:
‘Watch for this! I will collect them from all the countries to which I will have driven them in my anger and rage and indignation. Yes, I’ll bring them all back to this place and let them live here in peace. They will be my people, I will be their God. I’ll make them of one mind and heart, always honouring me, so that they can live good and whole lives, they and their children after them.
‘What’s more, I’ll make a covenant with them that will last forever, a covenant to stick with them no matter what, and work for their good. I’ll fill their hearts with a deep respect for me so they’ll not even think of turning away from me. Oh how I’ll rejoice in them! Oh how I’ll delight in doing good things for them! Heart and soul, I’ll plant them in this country and keep them here!’
Yes, this is GOD’s Message: ‘I will certainly bring this huge catastrophe on this people, but I will also usher in a wonderful life of prosperity. I promise. Fields are going to be bought here again, yes, in this very country that you assume is going to end up desolate – gone to the dogs, unliveable, wrecked by the Babylonians. Yes, people will buy farms again, and legally, with deeds of purchase, sealed documents, proper witnesses – and right here in the territory of Benjamin, and in the area around Jerusalem, around the villages of Judah and the hill country, the Shephelah and the Negev. I will restore everything that was lost.’
Micah 5:2-4
But you, Bethlehem, David’s country, the runt of the litter – from you will come the leader who will shepherd-rule Israel. He’ll be no upstart, no pretender. His family tree is ancient and distinguished. Meanwhile, Israel will be in foster homes until the birth pangs are over and the child is born, and the scattered brothers come back home to the family of Israel. He will stand tall in his shepherd-rule by GOD’s strength, centred in the majesty of GOD-Revealed. And the people will have a good and safe home, for the whole world will hold him in respect – Peacemaker of the world!
Zechariah 9:9-12
Shout and cheer, Daughter Zion! Raise the roof, Daughter Jerusalem! Your king is coming! A good king who makes all things right, a humble king riding a donkey, a mere colt of a donkey.
I’ve had it with war – no more chariots in Ephraim, no more war horses in Jerusalem, no more swords and spears, bows and arrows. He will offer peace to the nations, a peaceful rule worldwide, from the four winds to the seven seas.
And you, because of my blood covenant with you, I’ll release your prisoners from their hopeless cells. Come home, hope-filled prisoners! This very day I’m declaring a double bonus – everything you lost returned twice-over!
Matthew 5:1-10
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’
Matthew 10:34-42
‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in- law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.
Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.’
Luke 1:67-79
Then Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,
‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he came and set his people free. He set the power of salvation in the centre of our lives, and in the very house of David his servant, just as he promised long ago through the preaching of his holy prophets: deliverance from our enemies and every hateful hand; mercy to our fathers, as he remembers to do what he said he’d do, what he swore to our father Abraham – a clean rescue from the enemy camp, so we can worship him without a care in the world, made holy before him as long as we live.
‘And you, my child, “Prophet of the Highest”, will go ahead of the Master to prepare his ways, present the offer of salvation to his people, the forgiveness of their sins. Through the heartfelt mercies of our God, God’s sunrise will break in upon us, shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace.’
Luke 2:8-14
There were sheepherders camping in the neighbourhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, ‘Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: a Saviour has just been born in David’s town, a Saviour who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.’
At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises: ‘Glory to God in the heavenly heights, peace to all men and women on earth who please him.’
Luke 2:25-32
In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:
‘God, you can now release your servant; release me in peace as you promised. With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation; it’s now out in the open for everyone to see: a God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, and of glory for your people Israel.’
Luke 10:1-6
Later the Master selected seventy and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go. He gave them this charge: ‘What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands. On your way! But be careful – this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack. Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage. Don’t loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way. When you enter a home, greet the family, “Peace”. If your greeting is received, then it’s a good place to stay. But if it’s not received, take it back and get out. Don’t impose yourself.’
John 14:25-31
I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left – feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life. '’e told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I’ll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don’t worry – he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father’s instructions right down to the last detail.
John 16:23-33
‘This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks! I’ve used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I’ll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I’ve revealed to you. I won’t continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won’t need to. Because you’ve gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father.’
His disciples said, ‘Finally! You’re giving it to us straight, in plain talk – no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything – it all comes together in you. You won’t have to put up with our questions anymore. We’re convinced you came from God.’
Jesus answered them, ‘Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it – saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.’
John 20:19-29
Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, ‘Peace to you.’ Then he showed them his hands and side. The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated his greeting: ‘Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.’ Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. ‘Receive the Holy Spirit,’ he said. ‘If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?’
But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, ‘We saw the Master.’ But he said, ‘Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.’
Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, ‘Peace to you.’ Then he focused his attention on Thomas. ‘Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.’ Thomas said, ‘My Master! My God!’
Jesus said, ‘So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.’
Acts 10:34-43
Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts those from every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Romans 5:1-8
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 12:9-21; 14:13-19
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practise hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good…
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother or sister’s way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother or sister for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
Ephesians 2:14-22
The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.
Christ brought us together through his death on the Cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.
That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all – irrespective of how we got here – in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day – a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
Philippians 4:4-9
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Colossians 2:12-17
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offence. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives – words, actions, whatever – be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
James 3:13-18
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.