{"id":17934,"date":"2021-10-09T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-09T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotionoctober-9-2021"},"modified":"2021-10-09T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-09T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-october-9-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-october-9-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion\u00a0October 9 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-d9c98981-7fff-aed6-db45-3f9648468fcb\"><strong>Saturday 9th October 2021<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<div readability=\"50\"><strong><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">Hebrews 10:23-25<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.&nbsp; And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,&nbsp; not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">Reflection<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">If any of you have ever had the task of applying for a grant you will no doubt have been asked to describe the needs of the area and how you (the church) intend to meet them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">Most Christian service begins with meeting the needs that are seen in others.&nbsp; This could be a project that works with carers and toddlers, asylum seekers, homeless people, young people, those with addictions &#8211; the list goes on.&nbsp; Some who have been involved in such projects would argue that the key to their success is the listening to and building of meaningful relationships with people to discover what their real issues are.&nbsp; In fact, some would say that the relationships are an end in themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">When I was asked at the beginning of a particular ministry what services we wanted to deliver, I responded that we were not in the business of providing services.&nbsp; Rather we were wanting to create a space where we could connect with others as human beings \u2013 human beings who were equal to us.&nbsp; Then as we get to know each other,&nbsp; and as our confidence grows, we can encourage each other and with the help of the Holy Spirit try and discover solutions to the problems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">To quote the words of Deacon Eunice Attwood, the Methodist Church\u2019s Church at the Margins Officer:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">STOP<\/span> Stop believing we know the answers to other people\u2019s needs.<br \/><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">LOOK<\/span> Find out what others are doing to challenge injustice and join in.<br \/><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">LISTEN<\/span> Connect to people and listen to the voices and wisdom of our communities.<br \/><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">LEARN<\/span> Be willing to be taught by others, recognising the gifts within the community.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">Prayer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">Caring Jesus<\/span><br \/><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">Help us to listen to those we are wanting to help,<\/span><br \/><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">To those who feel excluded and separated from their communities.<\/span><br \/><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">Remind us that they are your voice and words for us today.<\/span><br \/><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-2fb0bcbe-7fff-5f94-d085-f409b0e0b7d0\">Amen<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saturday 9th October 2021 Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.&nbsp; And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,&nbsp; not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and &hellip; <\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-october-9-2021\/\" class=\"button more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;URC Daily Devotion\u00a0October 9 2021&#8221;<\/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-17934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17934","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=17934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}