Support from around the world

Tonight I received an email from Maggi Dawn at Cambridge University in the UK. Maggi wrote saying:

My College community prayed for you all last night. I preached on Psalm 137 as a Psalm of lament in loss. We prayed using Margaret Rizza's words: 

In the homeless and the hungry,
in the broken and the lonely,
in the grieving of your people,
Creator God, you are there.

In the tears and in the heartache,
in the Love through which we serve you,
in the anguish of the dying,
Creator God, you are there.

 In our hearts and in our thinking,
in the longing and the dreaming,
in the yearning of our heartbeat,
Creator God, you are there.

In the love for one another,
in the sharing of our being
in receiving and forgiving,
Creator God, you are there.

We'll continue to pray for you and for Christchurch. 

Best wishes, Maggi Dawn

And Maggi’s message is not the only one I received today from concerned and praying people around the world. I also received messages from Pennsylvania in the United States, Wollongong in Australia and over the weekend messages from London, Denmark, Norway and central Asia. Many many people are praying for Christchurch and the people of our church and sending their support and care. It is quite heartening the mix of all we are going through to know we are not alone.

We are not crushed

This morning we began our day at the church with the words of encouragement from 2 Corinthians

“ (v 7-9) We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. . . (v6) For God, who said, “let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”

Many of us begin this week with feeling weary, tired, fragile and anxious and all that lies ahead of us seems overwhelming. Empty platitudes won’t cut it but these words of Paul direct us to the source of strength, compassion and hope. And I hope they give you courage. Because God wants to light a candle in your darkness.

There are so many people who are part of our church who are doing amazing and essential work at the moment who need our prayers. I met with someone working with the emergency services today who worked twenty hours straight after the earthquake on Tuesday and has worked every day since. Sometimes putting in big hours. And he is not alone. And the work is very stressful. Please pray for people in these roles today

Go well

Alan