This week Rev. Roger Baker took our service with Holy Communion. Our first hymn – Praise my soul, the King of Heaven – was followed by prayers of penitence and praise appealing to God’s Holy Spirit to inspire us with his presence and love.
Jill Harrison read to us from the New Revised Standard Version of 1 Peter 5. Roger’s text was verse 10 where Peter assures the early Christians that “the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you”. Following hard times of persecution they were scattered among alien cultures. We too suffer bewildering and stressful times but can be assured that God knows and cares. Peter himself betrayed his Lord under pressure and was given the chance to redeem himself when Christ asked three times if he loved him, then commanded him to look after his followers.
Roger looked at the four verbs in verse 10 and their meaning for us today. God restores -he mends what has been broken. He supports setting us upright when challenged by adversity. He strengthens to prevent us from falling apart spiritually, to keep going in faith. He establishes a firm foundation for our faith in his constant presence, all through his grace. After time to reflect on this we were invited to feel God’s presence as we received the holy sacrament.