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13/01/2021
A reflection and prayer to start the day with The Rt Revd Dr David Bruce, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Last on
Wed 13 Jan 2021
05:43
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
PRAYER FOR THE DAY - Script - 13th January 2021
Good morning. Families tell our story. These days many of us send away a sample of our DNA to learn more about our ancestryβ¦itβs quite the fashion. When I was researching my fatherβs story for his 90th birthday, it was fascinating to uncover the long line of generations from the past, each of which helped to a complete a chapter in the growing narrative, which of course became my own story too.Β
The Bible β and especially the Old Testament β includes a selection of family stories, and tells how God interacted with each one. These stories are not sanitised. They include moments of honour and triumph alongside times of shame and deep disgrace. Thatβs what most families are like. But in the New Testament, the understanding of family as a continuous blood-line of physical relatives, changes to become something radically different. The Church is, in Christ, members of the one family, not because of heritage or ethnicity, but because we have been adopted. Adoption speaks of welcome, of a change of status, of belonging, of inclusion. The church is made up of people who belong together as the family of God because they have been adopted into it. βYou areβ, says Paul, βmembers of the household of God.β God says to us in Christ, βI will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me.β
Itβs as if we have two families β one defined by our parents and those who went before, the other defined by God himself who has lovingly welcomed us into his family, and called us his own.Β
Lord God, in these days of great uncertainty, may we know who we are, because of whose we are, in Christ. Amen.
The Bible β and especially the Old Testament β includes a selection of family stories, and tells how God interacted with each one. These stories are not sanitised. They include moments of honour and triumph alongside times of shame and deep disgrace. Thatβs what most families are like. But in the New Testament, the understanding of family as a continuous blood-line of physical relatives, changes to become something radically different. The Church is, in Christ, members of the one family, not because of heritage or ethnicity, but because we have been adopted. Adoption speaks of welcome, of a change of status, of belonging, of inclusion. The church is made up of people who belong together as the family of God because they have been adopted into it. βYou areβ, says Paul, βmembers of the household of God.β God says to us in Christ, βI will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me.β
Itβs as if we have two families β one defined by our parents and those who went before, the other defined by God himself who has lovingly welcomed us into his family, and called us his own.Β
Lord God, in these days of great uncertainty, may we know who we are, because of whose we are, in Christ. Amen.
Broadcast
- Wed 13 Jan 2021 05:43ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
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