{"id":22970,"date":"2024-12-28T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-28-december-2024"},"modified":"2024-12-28T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T06:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-28-december-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-28-december-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion 28 December 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Luke 2: 39 – 40<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

There\u2019s a moment near the end of the 2009 Star Trek \u201creboot\u201d when the Starship Enterprise swoops in to save the day that always makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The swell of the choir, the flash of the special effects, and the film reaches its dramatic conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reboots have become big business for Hollywood. From director JJ Abrams\u2019 Star Trek and Star Wars projects through to Daniel Craig\u2019s James Bond origin stories, producers have enticed audiences into cinemas by resetting their storylines to offer fresh takes on familiar characters.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Christians, we\u2019re witnesses to perhaps the greatest \u201creboot\u201d ever. Jesus died on the Cross to wash away our sins and rose from the grave to give us a \u201creboot\u201d, a fresh start, an opportunity for a one-on-one relationship with God.<\/span><\/p>\n

We access that reboot day-by-day in our personal prayers and week-by-week when we come to pray together as part of our worship. At the same time, we pray for help to forgive others for their sins against us, helping them to find that fresh start, that reboot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hogmanay is approaching. For many of us, it\u2019s a time for reflection, often tinged with melancholy, as the dark evenings and long nights remind us of all we\u2019ve lost and how we\u2019ve failed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet Hogmanay can also be a fresh start, a reboot, a new beginning. Even though it may simply be the turn of a page in the arbitrary way we measure time, the new year brings with it a new potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

That potential leaps out from today\u2019s passage in Luke\u2019s Gospel. Jesus as a child is brimming with potential, growing and strengthening, gaining wisdom and favour from God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage mirrors Luke 1:80 as Jesus\u2019s cousin, John the Baptist, grows and becomes strong in strength and spirit as well. It\u2019s a timely reminder of how we as followers of Jesus are brimming with potential too.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

God of the reboot,<\/span>
thank you for your never-ending, overflowing, grace <\/span>
which allows us to say sorry and to start again.<\/span>
As we approach Hogmanay, <\/span>
help us to grow in faith and in number.<\/span>
Strengthen us for service; fill us with your wisdom.<\/span>
And pour out your favour upon us, <\/span>
so that we can love our neighbour and, <\/span>
in doing so, love you more deeply.<\/span>
In Jesus\u2019s name we pray. Amen.<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Luke 2: 39 – 40 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him. Reflection There\u2019s a moment near the end of the 2009 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “URC Daily Devotion 28 December 2024”<\/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-22970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22970","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=22970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}