Christmas reminds us that true and lasting joy is a gift we receive not a state we achieve. In his webpost ‘How to Find Joy’ (www.tonyrobbins. com/mind-meaning/how-tofind- joy) life coach Anthony Robbins lists nine ways in which we can be more present and feel more joy. Almost all are about what we do – everything from ‘Surround Yourself with Positive People’ to ‘Create Positive Rituals’ to ‘Change Your Physiology’.

How different is the message from the angels to the shepherds the first Christmas, as recorded in Luke’s Gospel Chapter Two Verse Ten: ‘Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.’

Here joy comes to us. Instead of being the possession of a few who are able to master the right techniques this joy is available to all the people without distinction. This joy is good news for us, not good news about us.

And what is that good news? The angel continues: ‘to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’

The birth of any child is good news, but this birth and this child is uniquely good. This child is a Saviour, one who comes to rescue people from sin and death. This child is the Messiah, the long-awaited leader for God’s people. This child is the Lord, the one who deserves our love and honour and service. This child will be named Jesus, and in his life, death and rising he will do all that is needed to bring us back to God. That is great news, and if we receive it and believe it this news is reason to be full of joy.

Christmas can be a time of stress and anxiety, especially if we feel we have to create joy for ourselves and for others. Christmas can instead be a time of peace and gratitude, if we are able to rest in the joy Jesus made for us.

May God bless you and those you love with a joyful and peaceful Christmas, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

~ Bishop Mark Short

To download a pdf of the sermon:

Bishop Genieve Blackwell’s Sermon from the 30th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood, given at St Saviour’s Cathedral in Goulburn on the 5th November 2022. 

Just as faith without works is dead, might values without virtues be empty?

I’ll come back to what I mean by that but first I want to touch on the big sporting news of the past fortnight – not the tragic defeat of the Parramatta Eels but the appointment and subsequent resignation of Andrew Thorburn as CEO of the Essendon Bombers.

I am not privy to all the discussions that led up to these decisions. Nor am I interested in adding to the polarised and passionate commentary around them. I do encourage us, regardless of our views on this matter, to consider the broader implications.

Reading the various commentaries on the Essendon saga I was struck that most, whether ‘conservative’ or ‘progressive’, assumed that religion is on the wane as our culture becomes more secular. However, for most people in the world and many people in Australia faith continues to be a vital part of their identity. This is especially the case for members of our immigrant and multi-cultural communities. These are also people who are over-represented in poorly-paid jobs with insecure employment relationships. That’s why getting faith and the workplace right matters – not primarily for the sake of former CEO’s who will probably land another well-paid and secure job, but for the sake of our culturally-diverse sisters and brothers in the outer suburbs of our big cities. They are ultimately most vulnerable to any situation where leadership in a traditional religious community places a ceiling on economic or organisational advancement.

So what has this to do with the distinction between values and virtues? I understand the former to be what we profess and the latter how we live. We can sign up to a statement of values in an instant, but virtues are formed in us over time. When the Bible lists the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 (love, joy peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), we are being invited into a process of transformation, a Spirit-empowered journey of becoming more like Jesus.

All organisations, including churches and church organisations, have values. Sometimes those values are explicit, sometimes we discover them when we inadvertently transgress them. I believe it’s even better when organisations are able to name the virtues they wished to see expressed in their common life. Doing so has the potential to shift us away from zero-sum debates about competing ideas into more nuanced conversations about what it means to live together well with difference. It allows past and present behaviour to be assessed against some vision of the good life, and reminds us that none of us are yet what we hope to be.

The good news for those in Christ is that such hope will not disappoint. ‘Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is’ (1 John 3:2).

In the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth, I’ve been reflecting on all the changes she encountered during her 70-year reign. The Bible reckons three score and ten to be a good number for an entire human life span; for her it was a term of active service. It encompasses almost one third of Australia’s postcolonial history and stretches back to a time before television, let alone the mobile phone and the internet.

So what can we say about the year 1952? It was a time when Australia, and to a lesser extent Great Britain, were emerging from the rigours of wartime austerity. In the wake of the disruption caused by that conflict and the Great Depression there was an upsurge in collective expressions of community life. Membership of organisations such as trade unions, political parties and service organisations was at an all-time high (at the same time, it is important to acknowledge that many groups were explicitly or tacitly excluded from full participation in these bodies).

For Australian Christians this was a season of opportunity. There is some evidence that voluntary church attendance was the highest it has been at any point in our history. When Billy Graham came to our shores and when Anglican Bishops led Parish missions they could tap in to a reservoir of assumed Christian knowledge. In his work Evangelicals and the End of Christendom Australian historian Hugh Chilton describes how this shaped one particular Christian tradition:

‘As eminent missiologist Andrew Walls argued of the origins of the movement “historic evangelicalism is a religion of protest against a Christian society that is not Christian enough. The evangelical bugbears were less professed infidelity than professed Christianity without the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel.”’

So how might we engage our world 70 years later, when the idea of Australia as a professedly Christian society seems increasingly outdated and irrelevant? Maybe Her Late Majesty can give us some clues.

It has often been remarked that the Queen’s public statements, and her Christmas address in particular, became more explicitly Christian in the later years of her reign. Even as the society she led became more secular and diverse she was willing to nail her colours to the mast. So how did she do it? Here’s one quote from her 2014 address:

‘For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the prince of peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing.’

Her language about faith here is both personal and public. It is personal in that it is spoken in the first person. The Queen doesn’t assume any particular religious understanding on the part of her hearers but speaks for herself. But it is also public language. The Queen tethers her personal convictions to realities that can be accessible to anyone – the life of Jesus Christ, His teaching and actions.

As we seek to engage the world of 2022 with that same good news may we be inspired to do so with the same grace and clarity.

by Bishop Mark Short

Do you ever wake up in the morning to find the latest drama you are dealing with entering your mind as you surface? As you drive to work or engage with your favourite activity, do you start mentally turning things over, looking for a solution? Someone commented at a recent meeting I attended, ‘Why isn’t life more fun?’

Malcolm Fraser once said, ‘Life wasn’t meant to be easy’. He got that right. When we think back through Christian history and the struggles of the church, and the ultimate sacrifice of the martyrs, this is only too evident. Our own life experience will no doubt provide the same evidence.

Why isn’t life more fun? It’s because we’re human. We make mistakes. Human nature is to leave God on the fringe rather than have him at the centre of our lives. This is at the heart of sin. This is why Jesus came to redeem us. His death and resurrection dealt with sin and its consequences, but for the redeemed it still takes time for the physical reality to catch up with the spiritual reality.

I often liken our struggle with sin to our struggle with physical illness. God has designed our human bodies to heal if the right conditions are in place. If we cut ourselves and keep the wound clean, it will heal. If we break a limb and set the bone properly, it will heal. It’s this very principle, programmed by God into every living cell, which allows surgeons to make the difference they do in the lives of the suffering.

And so it is with the things that go awry in our personal circumstances and situations; the conflicts we become embroiled in; the relationships that turn sour; even the things that unravel in the world around us. These things too, can heal, given the right conditions.

What are the right conditions? I am talking to the redeemed here. Those who have been saved; those who belong to God. For those who walk with the Lord, he works with us and in us to bring healing to the fractured circumstances of our lives.

God has given us two simple conditions that promote healing. They’re found in the words of Jesus as he summarised the Ten Commandments: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ In our own difficult situations, healing can happen if we provide these conditions. Conflict and pain and fear can heal, just as our physical bodies can.

Broken relationships can heal if both parties are prepared to practice love for God and for one another, with the kindness, compassion, and forgiveness that characterise it. Broken people can heal. Broken workplaces can heal. Broken parishes and ministry units and schools can heal.

Anything of real value is worth grappling with. It may be difficult to persevere and seek wholeness in the face of things that bring us down, but God continues to heal and restore us as we cooperate with his sanctifying work in our lives. If we follow his commandments in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within, his healing can flow into the darkest corners of our experience.

And then life is certainly more fun!

This may sound simplistic, particularly when conflict and difficulty involves another party who doesn’t get it. However there is great wisdom in focusing on what we can change rather than what we can’t. With God’s help, we can change ourselves, and we can leave the other party to God. Whenever we serve God faithfully, inviting him into the parts of our lives we struggle with, it opens the way for his Holy Spirit to bring forth transformation in us.

As with physical healing, we may not experience final victory until we meet Jesus face to face. In the meantime, Jesus calls us to love God and our neighbour, to rejoice in what healing may come, and to trust him with the rest.

God’s people and God’s world are moving inexorably toward that time when all will be made new. However, we can still experience victory and healing in the here and now, by the power of his redeeming spirit as we partner with him in our sanctification.

by Bishop Carol Wagner

In the month of May our diocese faces two events that have the potential to challenge our unity as God’s people in this diocese – and in fact, in the Anglican Communion in Australia.

The first is an election. All elections tend to bring out our differences, creating the possibility of ill feeling and disunity in the unwary church. This election, perhaps more than others, has the potential to divide us, as we emerge from the pandemic and count the financial cost to our nation. There are vastly differing opinions as to which party will best manage our financial resources and bring us back to stability.

The second is General Synod. From the 8th-13th of May, representatives from Anglican Dioceses across Australia will be gathering for this national synod in the Gold Coast. It is a full and somewhat fraught agenda. Among the agenda items are issues on which there are polarised opinions – such as same sex marriage. These opinions are deeply and passionately held, each side believing they are right and ‘the other side’ is wrong.

This General Synod, more than past synods, does not bode well for the unity of the Anglican Church in Australia. There are murmurings of schism and the murmurings are not unfounded. Parts of the Anglican Communion in the USA, Canada and Africa have already gone in this direction, and the potential for a similar divide hangs like a spectre over the Australian church.

We’re not unique in these oh-so-human struggles. The apostle Paul had to deal with them as well in the early church. The church in Crete was a case in point. Culturally, Cretans were a difficult people – turbulent and quarrelsome and impatient with all authority. In particular, they had a problem with false teachers, which was causing significant disunity amongst the believers.

Titus was leading this difficult church in Crete so Paul wrote to him with advice. There is much in Paul’s letter to Titus which would resonate with the Anglican Church at this time.

In the letter, Paul speaks about holiness in the context of a Christian’s civic responsibility, and then moves on to the particular issue of disunity brought about by false teachers that was plaguing the young church.

Talking about the believers’ action towards the government, Paul says in 3:1, ‘Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work’.

Paul’s strategy was for the believers to set an example of good citizenship, so the young church would not be drawn into political agitation. This would be contrary to the way most Cretans approached life, and would set the Christians apart, allowing their ‘light to shine’.

Then in v2, Paul speaks about the believers’ attitude to the government – so often reflected in conversation. Paul exhorted the believers ‘to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarrelling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone’. They were to reign in any tendency to be slanderous and argumentative over political issues, they were to avoid stirring people up, and to be deliberately courteous and reasonable towards one another – even those they disagreed with.

In an environment where everyone else was arguing about politics, taking sides and being aggressive towards one’s opponents, it would have been a revolutionary concept for these new Christians to realise that Jesus called them to live differently.

This is sound advice for us as we move towards an election which is already looking rather tense.

What about the false teachers? Above all else, these false teachers had the ability to bring out the worst in the believers. They were disagreeing, quarrelling, and dividing over things that didn’t really matter, according to Paul.

Unfortunately, whenever there is conflict over beliefs, it is precisely because people feel their beliefs do matter, that issues become so difficult to deal with.

Interestingly, in this passage, Paul did not concentrate on the rightness or wrongness of the beliefs in question, although he writes often in other places about the importance of holding fast to the truth of the Gospel. His focus in this instance was on the disunity that came about as a result of the conflict.

He says, ‘After a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions, since you know that such a person is perverted and sinful, being self-condemned’.

Disunity in the church has the power to subvert the message of the Gospel more than any other issue. We know so well Jesus’ words on the subject: ‘By this shall everyone know that you are my disciples – that you have love for one another.’

In John 17:22-23, we read Jesus’ prayer that his followers would be one, as he and his Father were one, and the reason was so that ‘the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me’.

• Please pray for the Anglican Church as we approach the election, that we as God’s people will be courteous in listening to one another’s opinions and beliefs, without allowing ill feeling or division to emerge.
• And please pray particularly for members of General Synod as they discuss agenda items which will trigger deeply held beliefs and feelings. Pray for a willingness to listen and really hear each other; pray for a deep respect for the unity of the Church and pray for a revelation of the importance to Jesus of the unity of his church and the power of the church’s witness as we live together in love.

The Anglican Communion has the capacity to be loving and accepting of a wide range of Christian beliefs and practice. May we not allow ourselves to be derailed by our need to be right, but to hold fast to Christ’s plea for unity in his Church.

Psalm 133:1

How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!

As he marks his retirement from his roles as Director of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture and Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Dr Stephen Pickard has been honoured by a prestigious international Anglican Award.

Bishop Stephen was among recipients of the 2022 Lambeth Awards given to 37 people across four continents on 8 March. Bishop Stephen received The Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury stated that the Awards were given to people within the Church of England, the wider Anglican Communion, other Christian churches, as well as to those of other faiths and none. Musicians, activists, clergy, peacemakers and educators are included, alongside people whose quiet dedication to their work hasn’t drawn the public eye. The full list of recipients and the awards they received can be found on the Anglican Communion website. The Cross of St Augustine was presented to Bishop Stephen at his farewell from the ACC&C by the Chair of the Board, Bishop Sarah Macneil.

Bishop Stephen’s citation for the award of The Cross of St Augustine stated:

‘For his significant service to the Anglican Communion as a theologian, teacher and bishop, and in particular in his service of the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission and the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order.

Stephen Pickard’s ministry has encompassed pastoral, theological and teaching work. It has also spread beyond his native Australia, taking him around the world and around the Anglican Communion. He has served in parochial and university appointments in Australia and England and as a bishop in the Diocese of Adelaide.

Latterly he has served as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn alongside his role as a Professor of Theology and Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Charles Sturt University. He has, over many years, been a significant contributor to the theological life of the Anglican Church of Australia, not least in the fields of mission and ecclesiology.

When the theological, doctrinal and ecumenical work of the Anglican Communion was gathered together under the Inter- Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO), the Secretary General turned to Bishop Stephen to be a member of the Commission. He came to this after a term of office (2001-2007) on the Communion’s Theological and Doctrinal Commission (IATDC). He served throughout IASCUFO’s first phase (2009-2020) as Vice-Chair, taking over as Chair in 2018. IASCUFO produced a number of important texts on the identity of Anglicanism, on the nature of the church, on ecumenical relations and on the human person in relation to the creator.

From 2010 he served as a member of the Steering Group of TEAC (Theological Education in the Anglican Communion) being principle drafter of the report on Theological Education to the Anglican Consultative Council in 2012 (ACC15). In 2011 he was installed by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a Six Preacher of Canterbury Cathedral.

His contribution to the development of an understanding of Anglican theology, missiology and ecclesiology, to the theological life of the Communion and to the mission and ministry of the local church in the modern world has been outstanding.’

Bishop Mark Short said the award affirmed the gift of Stephen’s scholarship, both to the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn and to the wider Anglican Communion.

‘I have personally benefitted from Stephen’s deep ecclesial wisdom. In the often tangled landscape of the contemporary church he is able to identify ways forward that are both creative and faithful to our received tradition.’

I’ve always had a soft spot for the corroboree frog, but I never expected I would be compared to one. In a recent article in the Canberra Times it was suggested I have much in common with the tiny yellow and black striped amphibian. Drawing on Census data the writer opined ‘I no longer get as intellectual a buzz from teasing Christians and in any case increasingly think of them as a critically endangered ACT species and so, like the worryingly-endangered northern corroboree frog, deserving of our concerned kindness’. I imagine readers outside the ACT would be invited to substitute their location and endangered species of choice. Anyone up for being compared to a hairy-nosed wombat?

On a more serious note, the issue of how to respond faithfully to a feeling of danger or endangerment is central to the account of the first Easter. In John 20:19-23 we encounter the disciples huddled behind locked doors out of fear. No doubt their fear had two causes. First, there was the threat that the physical violence visited on Jesus might be directed towards them. Second, there was the more vague discomfort that comes from being a minority, perhaps misunderstood and marginalised by the broader society. Such fears can drive us to fight – to strike back, or to flight – to withdraw and hide.

When the Risen Jesus appears in their midst it’s striking what he doesn’t do. He doesn’t challenge the statistics to convince them they really are in the majority or give them a strategy to take back influence and power. Instead he gives them three gifts.

First, there is a word of blessing. ‘Peace be with you.’ Peace with God and with each other is not something for which they or we have to fight. It is something bestowed by Jesus, the fruit of his ministry on our behalf and in our place.

Second, there is a re-assuring sight. He shows them his wounded hands and side. The very marks of human spite are now the means by which He assures them of his risen, bodily glory.

Third, there is a commission and an accompanying promise. ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ He then breathes on them and tells them that through their words and witness sins will be forgiven. Instead of fleeing from the world they are to go into the world, trusting the Father’s provision and direction even as Jesus did.

I said earlier that I’ve always had a soft spot for the corroboree frog. Something about its resilience and persistence has always fascinated me. It seems I’m not the only one. According to the website www. taronga.org.au/animals/corroboree-frog they ‘are Australia’s most iconic amphibian species and amongst the most visually spectacular frogs in the world’ and ‘catching a glimpse of these stunning creatures is a rare and exciting occurrence’.

This Easter may God enable you to show your stripes and so bear witness to the Risen Lord Jesus, God’s ever-stunning icon of grace.

In the first part of this two-part series on parish strategic planning we saw that strategic planning was part of the core business of parish councils. Parish councils in conjunction with their rector/chaplain are called by the Governance of the Diocese Ordinance 2000 to set objectives and strategies for the work of the parish/ministry unit. This may be alarming news to some parish councils but it need not be so! Strategic planning is simply about setting objectives and deciding on strategies to meet those objectives. The following are some tips to help your parish council to plan strategically:

1. Plan to plan – It’s important to set aside special time for parish council to engage in strategic planning. If time is not set aside it usually doesn’t happen. My recommendation is to set aside separate time for a parish council strategic planning day(s).
2. Plan to pray – It’s God’s church, so humbly seeking his guidance and blessing is not just godliness but good manners! Without humble prayer and the recognition of God’s sovereignty strategic planning can become an exercise in hubris (James 4:13-17). With humble prayer it is another act of faith in God’s goodness and the words of the Scriptures that tell us he wants to bless his church (Matthew 16:18). So set aside special time for praying in small groups in your planning sessions and pray before each session and at other times.
3. Look at your own strengths and characteristics first – One of the temptations of strategic planning is to simply import a model of doing church from somewhere else. This doesn’t take into account your parishes real strengths (every parish is good at something otherwise it wouldn’t exist!). It also misses the unique characteristics and situation of your parish that make it special. The danger is that you end up planning to be a pale imitation of somewhere else. Instead, plan to be the best version of your parish, complete with its unique setting, style and people! So, brainstorm what you’re doing well (strengths) and what makes your church special (uniqueness) and build around that.
4. Look at weaknesses too – There may be some things your parish is not doing well at the moment. Looking at these honestly can help you decide how to either fix it or stop doing something you can’t realistically do.
5. Do some research – Look at how other churches in similar settings to you have done things. Be very careful of churches that are in radically different situations either due to different culture, size or settings.
6. Set measurable objectives – The only way to know you have achieved your objectives is to set measurable objectives in the first place. ‘A thriving children’s ministry’ sounds like a great objective but actually isn’t. What does it look like? Can you quantify it somehow?
7. Plan in evaluation – This is the twin to the previous tip. You should set an end point by which you want to have reached all objectives. It’s also helpful to set way points or intermediate objectives as you work towards big objectives. I find it helpful for parish council to evaluate progress each year in October/ November as a minimum. Of course, as your parish completes objectives parish council can tick them off and everyone will feel the progress that you are making.
8. Determine strategies – Once you have set objectives then your strategies are the things you will do to reach those objectives and preferably when you will attempt them. They are the ideas and actions that will ‘get you there’. Sometimes an objective will just require one strategy. At other times it will involve multiple strategies.
9. Dream realistically – Shooting for the stars sounds wonderful but if a dream is too ‘out there’ it will actually discourage the parish. A good strategic plan should involve manageable incremental action and change.
10. Multiple Drafts – Parish strategic planning is ideally something that you do over several sessions. After each session write it up and distribute it so that councillors can pray and think about it some more. Then at the start of the next session allow time to edit the draft objectives and strategies. Only when there is a consensus should you move to final printing and publication.

So, there are some tips for your parish council’s strategic planning. It’s not an exhaustive list but I hope it’s helpful. Under the direction of your rector/chaplain enjoy praying and planning for your parish’s flourishing.

by Reverend Paul Davey

We have all been following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. How could we not? It has been plastered across our media screens since Russia began amassing its forces at the Ukraine border and we have been kept graphically informed ever since.

A few days after Russia invaded Ukraine, I saw footage of a Ukrainian couple who rushed into emergency with their 18-month-old child bundled in a bloody blanket. The child had been injured by shrapnel in the shelling. Although the hospital did everything they could, that little life was lost. The keening of the grieving mother is still etched deeply in my mind.

A nation has been violently subjugated, its freedom stolen. So many innocent lives have been lost; so many homes; so many of the nation’s treasured buildings. There is no food, no water, and no power for heating in the thick of a Slavic winter. Now Russia is even preventing Ukrainians from fleeing – unless of course they flee to Russia. The rest of the world is incensed. Sanctions have been imposed, but nations have stopped short of antagonising Russia to the point where she might deploy her nuclear weapons.

I find myself thinking grimly, ‘He who dares, wins’. It’s not right, to win at such incredible cost. So many of us are feeling angry, aggrieved and completely helpless.

Yet as God’s people, we are not helpless. In Psalm 106, the psalmist recalls the Israelites rebelling while Moses was on Mt Sinai with God. They made a golden calf and worshipped it and God was angry.

v23 Therefore he (God) said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

The Israelites did it again, and worshipped Baal. Again, God was angry, and a plague broke out among the people. But then we read,

v30 Then Phinehas stood up and interceded,
and the plague was stopped.

My point is not that Ukraine has angered God, and that he has sent the Russians to punish them – my point is about the power of intercessory prayer. In the case of Russia and Ukraine, the power of prayer from people willing to ‘stand in the breach’ between the oppressor and the oppressed; people willing to intercede for the nation of Ukraine. My point is that prayer moves the hand of God.

A great story of intercessory prayer is in Acts 12. Peter had been imprisoned and the new church was gathered in prayer for him. An angel miraculously set Peter free.

v12 … he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognised Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, ‘Peter is at the door!’

Jesus encourages us to pray and believe – and we will receive what we pray for (Mat 11:24); Paul tells us to ‘pray without ceasing’ (1 Thess 5:17). Stories of miraculous answers to prayer abound in Christian literature and in our own lives. We know God responds to the impassioned, persistent prayers of his people. (Luke 18:7) Although there is no formula which will enable us to manipulate God to do what we want, we can always be confident that if we pray, God will hear us.

We don’t have to watch the unfolding tragedy in Europe and feel there is nothing we can do. There IS something we can do and it’s more powerful than any threat of nuclear war. We can pray, and trust that our loving, compassionate, and almighty God hears us.

Watchman Nee, author of The Normal Christian Life, once said, ‘Our prayers lay the track down which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails.’

A prayer from the service of Compline – slightly adapted – moved me this evening.

Come, O Spirit of God, and make this world your dwelling place and home.
May its darkness be dispelled by your light,
and its troubles calmed by your peace;
may all evil be redeemed by your love,
all pain transformed through the suffering of Christ,
and all dying glorified by his risen life. Amen

Let us stand in the breach for Ukraine – and pray!