{"id":15096,"date":"2020-10-17T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotionsaturday-17th-october-2020"},"modified":"2020-10-17T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-10-17T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-saturday-17th-october-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-saturday-17th-october-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion\u00a0Saturday 17th October 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday 17th October 2020 – 1 Thessalonians – Closing Prayer and Farewell<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Thessalonians 5: 23 – 28<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. Beloved, pray for us. Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss.  I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Paul’s warm tone shows how much he loves and appreciates the Thessalonian Christians.  He prays that God will help them remain holy until Christ returns again. \u2018Observe the affection of the teacher\u2019 says St John Chrysostom of Paul\u2019s benediction to this letter.<\/span><\/p>\n

The blessing might well remind folk of Paul\u2019s leading the church\u2019s worship in person: for words such as these seem characteristic of Paul\u2019s farewell greetings.  However this is not an \u2018all purpose\u2019 blessing.  We find it is directed specifically to the needs of the church.<\/span>
\u2018The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ\u2019 troubled church members in Thessaly.  At least some were agonizing about their state of readiness to be judged by Christ, with this anxiety colouring their whole lives.  Paul took time to reassure the church; and here we find Paul\u2019s calming words echoing in his benediction.  It is the God of peace to whom they have already dedicated themselves, who will complete their sanctification.  Their being made holy is both a gift and a goal. God\u2019s promises to them in Christ remain true.  It is a reassurance that echoes down the centuries to all who are worried about the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Paul urges the church to pray for him, we get a glimpse of his need for support. He is aware of the great responsibility laid upon him in bringing the Gospel to many people.  I wonder how many in the church regularly pray for their leaders in all aspects of our church life?  Such support is needed more than ever in these days of affliction by a global pandemic.  The \u2018holy kiss\u2019, one to the other, enjoined by Paul, must perforce be a virtual one these days, but no less valued.  
 <\/span>
To this very day we commend each other to Christ\u2019s favour and kindness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Count your blessings name them one by one\u2026\u2019<\/span>
How much we need blessing, gracious God,<\/span>
and how quickly we forget your generosity.<\/span>
May your Spirit\u2019s reassuring presence today<\/span>
gather us together in praise of your goodness.<\/span>
In the life of faith in Jesus Christ may our lives<\/span>
flourish as you have promised.<\/span>
Never forget us, and walk life\u2019s way with us,<\/span>
for that is blessing indeed. Amen<\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saturday 17th October 2020 – 1 Thessalonians – Closing Prayer and Farewell 1 Thessalonians 5: 23 – 28 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “URC Daily Devotion\u00a0Saturday 17th October 2020”<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15096\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}