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Spreading Love & Hope...
Welcome to this week's devotion. These resources have been gathered for your use at home during these days of physical social distancing and virtual social connection. May this devotion and the links provided help you stay connected to God and the wider community.
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Thanks to Fiona C for the song suggestion and to everyone for the harvest photos. The sunflower is from our garden!
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If you have items to share -- a prayer, song, Bible verse, reflection, photo, link -- please send it, so we can share them with everyone.
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Please share these devotions with friends.
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Blessings & peace, Ana & Tod
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Here is a Harvest poem that Salisbury Junior Church wrote a few years ago.
Harvest is here, the combines hum in the fields,
All the crops are gathered in bountiful supply.
Red apples, green beans, yellow corn and purple plums,
Vegetables, grains and fruits fill the barns, promising plenty to
Each and everyone. As the seasons roll on, we thank God for
Sun and rain and willing hands to cultivate the land.
Thank you God for your gifts and guiding hand.
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A Harvest Prayer
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Eternal Creator, in this Harvest Season,
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we pray for our world, created in peace and abundance.
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We marvel at its splendour and wonder,
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its resources and riches.
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Indeed this creation is good.
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Yet there are many things not so good in our world.
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There are people and animals lacking the food they need.
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Open the ears of those in power to hear the cries of the hungry,
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and open their hearts to share from the abundance of their nations, including our own.
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We lift up countries in conflict, praying for a harvest of peace.
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May your kin-dom come on earth,
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and the seeds of your peace and justice
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be planted and grow in every land.
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We lift up our schools, the students and teachers,
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praying for a harvest of wisdom and opportunity.
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We lift up our hospitals, the nurses and doctors,
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praying for a harvest of care and healing of body and mind.
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praying that it may continue to reap a harvest of faithfulness
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and be a beacon of Christian witness.
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We pray for those we love.
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Grant them a harvest of your grace.
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A Prayer from the United Reformed Church
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
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As so much is re-shaped by Coronavirus Covid 19,
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people left unwell, beckoned by death or bereaved.
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people providing professional health care and advice,
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looking after loved ones at home
or working to create treatments and cures.
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people shaping the response of nations and neighbourhoods,
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of commerce and industry,
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of service & voluntary organisations and of communities of faith.
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people who are anxious or afraid, alone or isolated.
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Living, loving God, we praise you,
and through times of peril we lean into you,
for in Jesus Christ.
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You have trodden paths as difficult as ours,
revealing there a love that nothing defeats,
a love that bears us through.
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Even as we strive to behave responsibly,
and to care reliably,
so we feel after you
that in these uncertain times
we might trust you are with us,
our refuge and strength,
and our faith, hope and love might be renewed,
through Jesus Christ, Amen.
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Find a comfortable place to sit and listen to these musical selections.
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"Lean on me", says God.
lyrics by Lucy Berry
A new copyright-free song and video written in Covid-19 lockdown to offer comfort for times of trouble. This song has been suggested by Fiona C.
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1. It seems as though our world is at a halt:
sickness in the air, but no-one’s fault.
Lord, how did this happen overnight?
We are in the dark and there’s so little light….
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And God said: “Lean on me, lean on me.
I AM here right now, so you can lean on me!
I have been here all along, I will be the One who’s strong,
this is when you lean on me”.
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2. Dear God, we’re in a Wilderness for sure,
in a place we’ve never seen before:
lost, and poor in heart and weak of soul!
How is it that we could lose so much control?
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And God said: “Lean on me, lean on me.
I AM here right now, so you can lean on me!
I have been here all along, I will be the One who’s strong,
this is when you lean on me”.
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3. In fear of flood, or flames, or Lion’s Den
That’s when we remember God again.
That’s when we begin to hear God say
“I am with you always. And that means today!
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So children: Lean on me, lean on me.
I AM here right now, so you can lean on me!
I have been here all along, I will be the One who’s strong,
this is when you lean on me”.
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4. God, what a lonely time this is to bear!
Staying in, and thinking no-one’s there.
Lord, You’re always here through all alarms.
How did we forget to climb into Your arms?
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And God said: “Lean on me, lean on me.
I AM here right now, so you can lean on me!
I have been here all along, I will be the One who’s strong,
this is when you lean on me”.
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And God said: “Lean on me, lean on me.
I AM here right now, so you can lean on me!
I have been here all along, I will be the One who’s strong,
this is when you lean on me”..
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Send in your favourite music links to share.
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Sunday Worship online and on-the-phone 10:30
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Join in through your computer or using your landline telephone. If you would like to learn more so that you can join us in worship and communion, contact your Church Secretary or the Ministers or reply to this email:
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Andover, Broad Chalke & Salisbury congregations
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of the United Reformed Church gather on Zoom for united worship service.
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Click on the blue button above to visit Worship Words for prayers and reflections related to the Season of Creation.
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Reminder - Tuesday's Corona Christ Care Zoom Group
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14:30-16:00 for fellowship, Bible study and prayer.
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Everyone is welcome. Bring your Bible and a cup of tea.
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Readings prepare us for Sunday worship.
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(Zoom Meeting ID: 852 5929 3409)
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Here's the Zoom link to copy into your browser: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85259293409
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In case you missed it...
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Yesterdays' Daily Home Devotions
Missed a Daily Devotion? Find it here.
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Subscribe to these Home Devotions
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Salisbury URC church copyright license CCL License B 430662
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As this is an email newsletter, and not a publication or post on a website, the one-off use of certain items is allowed, as for a Sunday service sheet.
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Contact us by email and visit (and join) Salisbury United Reformed Church on Facebook and our website.
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