Foundation

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If One Part Suffers

“If One part Suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.
1 Corinthians 12 v. 26

Using the Compline evening service liturgy we remembered Christians living in contexts where they are disadvantaged or in danger because of their faith in Jesus.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5 v. 10-12

We heard descriptions of life for some Christians in Egypt, Burma and Iraq, and then prayed for specific examples in the time of silent prayer and lighting of candles.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” 1 John 3 v. 16

We shared Communion together, remembering our unity as believers in salvation through Jesus Christ.

The information on Christians in difficult contexts used in this service was provided by
The Barnabas Fund
and Christian Solidarity Worldwide

“But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence
before him!” (Habakkuk 2:20)

The service started with a prayer of confession, and ended with the
Lord’s Prayer. In between was a time of silence, around 25 minutes long,
during which people could pray and meditate as they saw fit. Following
the service, we remained in silence until we had left the church.

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John Hoyland

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I give you a new commandment, that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another.

Watch this video

If you are wondering why “Thou Shalt Always Kill”

Becky and Marc

Foundation is hosting a service at 8pm in the New Forms Cafe at Greenbelt tonight (Friday). The service is called Unknowing God, and is an adapted version of the service we ran in March this year. The service explores how experience of ordinary life erodes our fixed or inherited ideas about God. How can faith be reborn on the other side of weariness and doubt?

We hope to see you at the service this evening. Whether or not you make it to the service, if you are Greenbelt and want to meet up, text Tim on 07754 501649.

This image is by Giaquinto, painted 1759-60, and is held in the Museo del Prado, Madrid

Justice and Peace

Tonight we prayed for peace and justice using a liturgy devised by the Iona community. We spent time reflecting on the readings for today - Psalm 85 and Luke 11: 1-13

O God, lead us from death to life,
From falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope,
From fear to trust.
Lead us from hate to love,
From war to peace.
Let peace fill our hearts,
Our world, our universe.
Amen.

(The Universal Prayer for Peace)

Please go to Amnesty International and Iona for information about what you can do to work for justice and peace.

Ellen Loudon

Tonight we focused on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in order to reflect on how Christian living should be. The letter has been referred to as ‘the Gospel of the Church’, a blueprint for ‘God’s new society’. The focus of the service was Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

I tried to draw out the five key words:
· Strength
· Love
· Knowledge
· Fullness
· Power

Strength
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith

This part of the prayer serves both as a reminder of our status as the people of God, but it also acts as a call for more strength, more power through his spirit. It reminds us that we should not remain complacent but need to be pressing on, moving deeper into our faith.

Love
rooted and grounded in love.

The purpose of this strengthening is not to simply to prepare us for bad stuff or to protect us from evil. In this prayer it is to root and ground us in love. Love for each other and love for God. The two metaphors being combined here – the one of gardening and the other architectural – serve to demonstrate that the unseen cause of our stability will be the same: LOVE. Our love is to be both radical and a fundamental nature of our experience.

Knowledge
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge

The writer now shifts from our love (in which we are to be rooted and is our foundation) to Christ’s love (which he prays we may know). Indeed he acknowledges that we need strength or power for both – strength to love and power to comprehend Christ’s love. What is significant here is that this knowledge is only accessible ‘with all the saints’. Alone, we can know something of the love of Jesus. But the grasp of it is bound to be limited to our own experience. It takes the whole people of God to understand the whole love of God. Even then there is mystery in the phrase ‘know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge’ – it seems that this love is beyond the breadth and length and height and depth for all the saints combined to comprehend and know. This unknowable love is what keeps us exploring the riches of Gods grace!

Fullness
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

This is one of those phrases that appear to be in the continuous present. That is, in order for us to be full we need to be continuously filled up – filled up by the Spirit with strength, love and knowledge. We can’t sit back and rest on past spiritual experiences we need to be constantly sitting under Gods spiritual tap – being filled up day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute.

Power
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

Just a couple of words of warning before we end: firstly, if we pray like this (with strength, love and knowledge) things will happen, because this is powerful stuff. It’s not the power of government and kings, the rich and famous, or leaders, teachers or those who are clever. This is Gods power that is at work within us - it is for everyone, no matter what our status is. We all can pray this prayer for each other.

Secondly, don’t be limited by what you can imagine will happen or by what you have the desire to ask for. If you shift beyond this you will accomplish abundantly far more. Don’t limit yourself to your own capacity.

Third warning: This is not just for you or me or us. This prayer is forever. This is for glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. We are important, we are significant but we are only part of the picture. We are called to be visionaries. Seers. Prophets.

Can you pray this prayer? Lets say it together and see what happens…

I had made some paper people - with the names of each of the members of Foundation on them. So, we all took a few of the paper people and prayed the prayer for the Ephesians for these people. Silently we thought of each person. We lingered on this time of prayer for a while and lit candles for each other and the Foundation community. Everyone at the service took some of the paper people home to continue to pray for them throughout the week.

Ellen Loudon

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

Relax, imagine the things you associate with comfort. What makes you comfortable?

Can you be too comfortable?

Comfortably Numb: Pink Floyd

Hello,
Is there anybody in there
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone at home
Come on now
I hear you’re feeling down
I can ease your pain
And get you on your feet again
Relax
I’ll need some information first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts

There is no pain, you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying
When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I’ve got that feeling once again
I can’t explain, you would not understand
This is not how I am
I have become comfortably numb

O.K.
Just a little pin prick
There’ll be no more aaaaaaaah!
But you may feel a little sick
Can you stand up?
I do believe it’s working, good
That’ll keep you going through the show
Come on it’s time to go.

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone
And I have become
Comfortably numb.

Maybe we need God to discomfort us at times. To push us beyond our comfort zone. To unsettle us and prompt us to action.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7.
God’s comfort in the bible often seems associated with comforting the suffering, not providing a comfortable life to the well-off. God’s comfort comes in the midst of hardship or suffering. Peace in spite of the turmoil around us. Stillness in the eye of the storm.

If you are troubled or suffering tonight, may God comfort you. If you are comfortable tonight, may God unsettle you, and lead you into fullness of life.

May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people
so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in the world
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done
to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

(A traditional Franciscan blessing.)

Simon Wintle