40 Days Blog - Paul's Letters From Prison

Welcome to our ‘40 Days of Prayer’ for 2026

In the last two years we have read through Mark’s Gospel, a short and punchy account of the life of Jesus and also Luke’s detailed record of the fledgling Church in the book of Acts. We have seen Jesus reveal himself as God’s Son and our Saviour, and followed the early Christians as they proclaimed this Gospel in Judea and onwards through the Roman Empire. (The readings and daily blog for 2024 and 2025 Days of Prayer, are still available on the Church website). This year we pick up the continuing effect and personal impact of this Gospel. We will explore how it affects our way of life, our thinking and our relationship with others.

Paul's Letters From Prison - An Introduction

We are taking a look at Paul’s writings while he was a prisoner. We know that Paul was imprisoned for at least four years. Following his arrest in Jerusalem he spent two years in Caesarea while awaiting a legal hearing and then transportation to Rome. He finally completed his journey to Rome under guard only to be held under house arrest for a further two years. Here, however, he was able to preach to any who came to his quarters “boldly and without hindrance” (see Acts 28).

The books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon are held to be those written from his captivity, most likely when in Rome. During imprisonment Paul had time to think, pray and write. He made good use of his time. But there is an urgency about his writing. He needs to get across some of the profoundest truths about God. He needs to correct wrong thinking. He needs to encourage. He needs to explain. He needs to do it knowing that his own future and safety remain uncertain.

Paul already had close personal links with the churches in Ephesus and Philippi.

He had been the unintentional trigger for a riot in Ephesus when he preached about Jesus. Certainly, the Ephesian church was always close to his heart. We read in Acts 20 of how he wept with their elders on his last journey to Jerusalem.

In Philippi he had been beaten and imprisoned after healing a possessed girl - only to be miraculously freed in an earthquake. Still, a church was established.

We have no account of Paul ever visiting Colossae but he was clearly very tenderly disposed towards them. He writes:

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people…" Colossians 1:3-4

Paul gives solid practical advice to this group about the way they should behave in their society. His words echo down the years to us as relevant and challenging as ever. How wholehearted are we really about living for Christ and witnessing for Him in our world today?

Philemon is a personal letter to an acquaintance of Paul pleading for a fair reconciliation with an estranged slave. Here Paul addresses some of the practicalities of being a Christian in an imperfect society.

We should approach these writings with a sensitivity to the impact the Gospel has on our way of thinking and living.

As we consider Paul’s priorities, emotions and the opportunities he had while in prison, we will also reflect and pray for those who suffer captivity for their faith in the Lord today.

This year we have six different ‘voices’ writing the blog and six different readers from the congregation reading it for you should you wish to listen in. There will be six weeks of six readings with no specific reading on the Sundays. We hope that we can take the Sundays to look back (or catch up) on the week’s reading, and also meditate and pray about what these have said to us.

Enjoy!

During the 40 Days, we’ll be offering a number of opportunities for people to come together and reflect on these readings. Avendale & Drumclog Home Study Groups will be meeting on Wednesdays and Thursdays to discuss the readings and you would be welcome to join these. Please check out ‘In The Loop’ or the ‘What’s On’ website tab for dates and locations. You can also get in touch via the website Contact Us page.

We also encourage 40 Days readers to make their own arrangements to discuss their thoughts and reflections. We’re calling these Share Shapes- here’s a few suggestions below but feel free to make your own Shape to share coffee & biscuits, friendship and fellowship as you reflect on Paul’s Prison Letters.

Share Lines- Two people

Share Triangles -Three people

Share Squares- Four people

Let’s get started!

40 Days Blog - Day 16

Philippians 1:1-11 - When Plans Are Chained

Corrie ten Boom planned a quiet, ordinary life. She worked in her family’s watch shop in the Netherlands and expected to live and die there. However, World War II changed everything. After being caught hiding Jews, Corrie was arrested and sent to a concentration camp with her sister Betsie. There she lost her freedom and her sister, but she didn’t lose her faith!

In her suffering Corrie turned to prayer, read her Bible and gathered other prisoners together for worship. What looked like a life interrupted became a life poured out. After the war, God used Corrie’s testimony to bring countless people to faith and the book ‘The Hiding Place’ has been read all over the world.

As Paul writes this letter, he too finds himself chained. He is under guard, uncertain of his future, and unable to carry out his missionary plans. Yet this letter is not marked by bitterness, fear, or frustration; instead it overflows with gratitude and joy as Paul knows God is at work in the darkness.

Paul writes to a church he planted around eleven years earlier. Philippi was not an easy place to follow Jesus. It was a major Roman city on the Ignatian Way, shaped by fierce loyalty to the empire and emperor worship. Pagan temples dominated the city, and there was not even a synagogue. Nevertheless, the gospel took root and flourished. The church was strong but not perfect and subtle cracks were appearing. Disunity threatened to distract and divide them, so the Apostle was compelled to write.

Despite his chains and the church’s growing tensions, Paul’s focus was not on himself. The letter begins with a greeting and then we see a very clear focus on prayer!

Paul prays with thankfulness, praising God for the Philippians believers. He prays with joy, rooted not in comfort or freedom but in confidence that God is at work. He prays for others, not himself—there is no request for release or relief, only concern for their spiritual health. He prays with confidence, trusting that the God who began a good work will bring it to completion. Finally, he prays for spiritual growth and God’s glory, not ease or success.

The big lesson today is that our circumstances do not have to become the control centre of our lives. Paul does not blame God, rage against Rome, or sink into self-pity. He chooses prayer and as a result, this letter carries a surprising, defiant theme—joy. A joy anchored in an unchanging God who is always present in the mountain highs and valley lows of life.

So when your plans are disrupted, when doors close and the chains of life tighten, the real question is not, Why is this happening? But, Who will I trust? Paul shows us that the best response is prayer and that joy is still possible, even when plans are chained.

A Prayer

Lord, help me trust Your purposes when my plans are foiled. Teach me to take hold of prayer, that in my suffering I might be used as a blessing to others.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 15

Ephesians 6:18-24 - All Kinds of Prayer

“I'll grant you the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done.”
“And the roads.”
“Well, yeah. Obviously, the roads. I mean, the roads go without saying, don't they? But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the roads …”

From the Monty Python film, ‘The Life of Brian’

The Romans understood the importance of having good roads. At the end of our last reading, we were left with an image of a Roman soldier in full armour, taking up his helmet and his sword and heading out to do his duty. That might have been crowd control, quelling an uprising, border duty or defending the empire against a foreign power. Getting to where he needed to go would have required a good road network, particularly when a war was being waged. Supply lines to the battle front are hugely important in warfare; both Napoleon and Hitler came undone in Russia, due in large part to overstretched supply lines. Getting adequate support to those at the battle front is essential.

Paul concludes his piece about spiritual warfare with an exhortation to pray, “Through all prayer and entreaty…” (v18). It might be of interest that the word for ‘through’ in the original Greek is dia, which is equivalent to via in Latin, meaning road. So, prayer may be understood as a pathway which fast tracks us to the battle front. Just as it was said that ‘All roads lead to Rome’, so all prayer is directed to God. It could equally be said that all roads lead away from Rome: prayer is the pathway that enables us to stand by all our brothers and sisters in their hour of need, whether they are across the street or halfway round the world. Paul has prayed twice for the Ephesians in this letter from his prison home in Rome, and he asks them to pray for him.

Prayer in itself is a spiritual battle; unlike in the Monty Python sketch above, it does not simply ‘Go without saying.’ In any war, supply lines become prime targets for the enemy and robust measures are needed to defend them and keep them open; Paul says “…look to it with all perseverance and entreaty for all the saints” (v18). The adversary has many ploys in his armoury to keep us from praying.

We might be tempted to think that prayer is superfluous when we have an all-knowing, all-seeing and all-powerful God. So, when we become apathetic, it’s worth reminding ourselves that when the children of Israel were fighting the Amalek, the sworn enemy of Israel, as long as Moses held his hands up, Israel prevailed, but when he let them drop, Amalek prevailed (Exodus 17:8-13).

Prayer is not the only means by which we can stand alongside our brothers and sisters; a personal visit might be appropriate, and if that’s not possible, as in Paul’s case, a letter is another option. In our generation we have so many channels of communication open to us, including a blog!

A Prayer

Lord Jesus, You offered strong prayers to God in Your time of need. Help me to pray with and for my brothers and sisters in the faith in their time of need. Teach me how to pray all prayer, on all occasions, for all Your people with all perseverance. Just as You now ever live to make intercession.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 14

There is no specific reading for today. We suggest you spend time today looking back over this week’s readings and blogs.

If you can, note down some thoughts that would summarise what you have learned.

•   What have you learned or maybe understood for the first time?

•   What have you been reminded of?

•   What has puzzled you and about which you’d like to find out more?

Praying for the Persecuted Church

Today throughout the World thousands of Christians suffer extreme persecution. Some are imprisoned, tortured and even killed. Following Jesus is a costly thing to do.

Here are two organisations that help us to pray for the Persecuted Church.

Open Doors

Release International

Please take some time today to pray for our brothers and sisters suffering in this way.

Please also pray for continued freedom for Christians in this country to share the Gospel. Pray that those who hear us will be given open hearts and minds to respond to the Good News... if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)

40 Days Blog - Day 13

Ephesians 6:10-17 - The Armour of God

It’s remarkable that Paul uses the imagery of a Roman soldier in his piece about spiritual warfare. After all, at the time of writing, he was under house arrest in Rome; presumably under the guard of Roman soldiers; and at the mercy of the emperor. The Romans are not generally known for lavishing the milk of human kindness on those who resisted them, but the current emperor was a beast.

Emperor Nero’s persecution of Christians is well documented; many modern scholars consider him as the man whose number is 666 (Revelation 13:18, where letters of a name are replaced with their numerical value in Hebrew). But more sinister is the statement that the beast received his authority from the dragon, “Who is called the devil, or Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (Revelation 12:9); “We do not fight against flesh and blood…” (Ephesians 6:12).

The devil wears many masks to hide his true identity, and some may be particularly grotesque, but many are quite the opposite. The devil can portray himself as very attractive to human beings who are enthralled by power and wealth. Recall how the devil tempted Jesus! (Matthew 4:1-11) Satan is at his most dangerous when he comes quoting scripture.

I’m sure there were many people who thought the Roman Empire would stand forever; it was almost at the zenith of its geopolitical power when Paul was in Rome. But it did eventually fall, due to some very current factors; climate change, migration, and financial and political crisis which lead to the inability to sustain an army big enough to resist its enemies. If we want to ‘stand’ and continue to stand as Christians, we must take defence seriously.

The devil is out to deceive us, that is why it’s of first importance to ‘gird’ ourselves with truth (Ephesians 6:14). Historically we were told that our supreme rule of life and faith is the Bible (equated with the ‘truth’), but actually it is Jesus; He is the truth, just as He is the way and the life. Get to know the Bible by all means, it’ll do you no harm, but it’ll do you no good unless you get to know Jesus through the teaching of the Bible.

It is perhaps best to think of righteousness (v14) in terms of relationship; being in a right relationship with God. Righteousness is the consequence of believing in and knowing Jesus as our Teacher, Saviour and risen Lord; as the Word of God and Son of God; as well as friend and confidant.

As important as head protection is (particularly in these days of social media and concern for mental health), intellectual assent is not faith. Faith has feet (Ephesians 6:15), it takes us places, sometimes where we’d rather not go (John 21:18). Taking up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit is a statement of intent; we are going out to join battle; no point in having a shield if we’re not enlisted.

A Prayer

Eternal Father strong to save, in the face of so many perils and dangers we look to You. I thank You that Jesus came to expose the works of darkness and overcome them. Give me courage to be faithful and true in the defence of the Gospel, and to stand firm against all the devices of the devil.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 12

Ephesians 6:1-9 - More Instructions for Christian Households

Promises, promises! Marriage vows can, perhaps, be summed up in three compound words, company, compassion and compromise. Company literally means ‘with bread’ but has come to mean togetherness (the inference of sharing meals together should not be lost). Compassion literally means ‘with suffering’, married couples commit to each other for better or for worse. And compromise literally means, you guessed it, ‘with promise’. Marriage is a covenant based on promises, which will inevitably involve compromise. Of course, there is no promise that children will be forthcoming, but in today’s reading here they are.

Paul refers to the Fifth Commandment (“Honour your father and mother….”) as the first commandment with promise; the promise being that life will be good and long. That’s some promise; is it possible to think of someone for whom this was not the case?

The account in Luke 2:41-52 is a case in point: the twelve-year-old Jesus shows little regard for the feelings of His parents (though the identity of His ‘father’ is the real issue) as He takes His leave of them to spend three days in the Temple. We then read that He was submissive to them after this episode. Yet the promise of the Fifth Commandment appears not to have been fulfilled in His life, which did not last long and did not go well for Him. Of course, it should be said that the promise of Heaven is a better promise than long life on earth.

Nevertheless, the importance of Paul’s instruction to children is seen in the placing of the Fifth Commandment before murder and adultery: when love and respect are not on display and where there is lack of discipline in the home, society in general starts to degrade rapidly.

God made humankind straightforward, but he has devised many schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Faith may be seen as a journey back into childhood, learning to become dependent and trusting; a journey from duplicity to simplicity, from complicity to purity (Matthew 18:3). Faithfulness, however, is about growing up, becoming trustworthy and dependable, which brings us to Paul’s instruction to ‘slaves’.

At the time Paul was writing, slaves were part of the household in a way which we would find unacceptable today, so it is perhaps best to think ‘workplace’ when we read these verses.

Yesterday (at the time of writing), Robert Jenrick defected to Reform, which coincided with the eighth episode of Traitors airing on the TV; enough said! The fourth series of Traitors has not been lacking in duplicity, deceit and people pretending to be what they are not, which is of course the general idea. Paul warns against ‘eyeservice’ (v6), being respectful and diligent when under the watchful eye of the master, but at other times being a slacker; or in a word, ‘duplicitous.’ He commends sincerity (what you see is what you get! (v5)), not as people-pleasers, but out of a desire to please the Lord; His eye is upon us.

A Prayer

Faithful God, Your promises are like the layers of pitch on Noah’s ark, making it watertight. As a child of God, help me to become more trusting and respectful; as a servant of God, help me become more faithful and trustworthy. Remind me every day that Your loving eyes are upon me.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 11

Ephesians 5:21-33 - Instructions for Christian Households

Dictionaries are among the most useful reference books to have in the home, along with cookery books and DIY manuals. They make concise and scholarly information readily accessible, and cover a whole range of subject matter. There are over thirty in this household. But they would be entirely useless if it were not for the fact they are compiled in alphabetical order, so that it only takes a few seconds to find what you’re looking for.

Order is important! Without it, chaos rules. In the creation story of the Bible, God establishes order out of chaos. The religious conviction that creation is ordered gave birth to modern science. The Ten Commandments lay out, in order, the principles that govern the order and wellbeing of human society; order leads to harmony (think Morecambe and Wise, “I’m playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order!”).

Therefore, it’s not surprising to find the Bible advocating order and harmony in the home. There is nothing new in what Paul insists about men being the head of the household (the Hebrew scriptures are unashamedly patriarchal). What is novel is the way he reinterprets this relationship in Christian terms: wives should be subject (the original word has in it the idea of order) to their husbands, “As to the Lord”; Husbands should love their wives, “As Christ loves the Church”.

In the 19th century novels of Thomas Hardy and Mary Evans (writing under the name of George Eliot), there is an infatuation with romantic infatuation; the psychology of sexual love between men and women is explored incessantly. Though Mary Evans had respect for religious tradition and its ability to instilled social order, she abandoned her faith at an early age and aligned herself with certain European philosophers who taught that God was a human construct. Among other things it was also held that the Christian god was immoral because he couldn’t experience sexual love. Evans’s rather tedious exploration of sexual love in her novels is perhaps a result of her believing that sexual love is the highest and purest form of love. Christians would beg to differ with her on that point.

When Paul tells the married Christian men in Ephesus to love their wives, he clearly isn’t talking about sexual love; he uses the verb agapaw (from which comes agapé, see previous blog), which is the unselfish and sacrificial love that God has for His people, which Jesus displayed on the cross, and which we are asked to imitate in our relationships.

In Paul’s mind the marriage covenant is a reflection of God’s new covenant sealed by the blood of Christ, and dependent on faith as opposed to works. Christ’s goal is to present His bride, the church, holy and blameless, without spot or wrinkle. That’s a beautiful thing to aim for in Christian marriage; for each to work for the purity and fidelity of the other, for each to strive for their mutual sanctification. Perhaps that is a definition we should add to the dictionary!

A Prayer

Almighty God, I marvel at the order and harmony of creation, and that there is a time and a season for everything. I thank you for the bonds of romantic love that bring new life into the world, and I pray that marriage and family life might be guided by the kind of love Jesus has for the church.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 10

Ephesians 5:1-20 - More Instructions for Christian Living

According to current scientific thinking, there are four fundamental forces at work in the universe: gravity, electromagnetism and the ‘weak force’ and the ‘strong force’. Gravity and electromagnetism are readily observed in daily life. The ‘weak force’ and the ‘strong force’ work at the sub-atomic level.

The Bible bears witness to two fundamental forces that govern human interactions: fear and love. Fear could be thought of as a ‘weak force’ and love a ‘strong force’. Fear is not a strong motivator for obedience: not long after the fear of God was struck into the hearts of the Israelites at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law, they were breaking the First Commandment by casting and worshipping a golden calf. Law relies on fear as motivation for obedience, whereas the Gospel relies on love; Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

We are saved by faith because it is through the channel of faith that the love of God flows. Faith is like the branch wood of a vine, worthless of itself; vines are grown for grapes, not wood, which is the point the prophet is making in Ezekiel 15:1-5.

Love is not only the strongest motivator for doing God’s will, it is God’s will: Paul tells the Christians in Ephesus to walk in Love (v2). But the very power of love means it must come with warnings. Not for nothing does Paul, in the next verse, warn about sexual immorality, and greed. Both are distortions of love.

In our everyday language, love has a broad range of meaning. In the language original language of the New Testament there were four words for love, which could be translated; sexual love (eros), unselfish/sacrificial love (agapé), friendship love (philia) and familial love (storgé, this word is not used in the New Testament). The second and third words were somewhat interchangeable (see John 15:13). When Paul writes about sexual immorality, he’s referring to the full range of illicit sexual acts, detailed in the Law of Moses, but widely practised in Greek society of the time. In progressive western society, much of what Paul would label as sexual immorality, is seen as acceptable and even desirable, and an expression of love.

If that’s not problematic enough, there’s worse to come. The word Paul uses for greed could be literally translated as ‘having greater’, having more than we need to live off. How many pairs of shoes, coats, cars, homes do we need? Here we encounter another perversion of love; the love of wealth and possessions, actively encouraged in western society, and indeed one of its pillars.

The question is then, how should Christians navigate a world awash with eros and greed? The answer is with extreme care (v15). God is pure light and Christians should walk in the light; God is pure love (agapé) and Christians should walk in pure love, as imitators of God. If we truly love God, we will naturally gravitate towards Him, and the gravitational pull of the world will lose its grip on us.

A Prayer

Loving God, You made all things and sustain all things, and it is in Your hand to give strength to all. You have drawn me close by the power of Your love, but I still feel the draw of this present world with all its temptations; I am weak but You are strong, help me in my struggle against sin.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 9

Ephesians 4:17-32 - Instructions for Christian Living

It has been said that all sin is some kind of robbery: theft is obviously robbery; murder is robbing someone of their life; lying is robbing someone of the truth; failure to honour parents robs them of due respect; adultery is having someone who doesn’t belong to us; and idolatry robs God of His glory, as of course, does all sin. Then we come to the Fourth Commandment, sabbath rest. By breaking this Commandment, and requiring others to do so, we rob ourselves and others of something given for our own wellbeing. The Sabbath day (a day without beginning and without end, unlike the other six days in the creation story, Genesis 1:3-2:3) is a pointer to heaven and eternal rest. Ultimately, all sin robs us of our eternal rest, because it alienates us from God.

Drawing from Genesis again, it is helpful to think of Noah’s Ark as an analogy for the church: every creature in the Ark is saved from the judgement of God, all outwith it are lost. Of course, the cramped living conditions caused difficulties, particularly when it is considered that in the Ark were both clean and unclean beasts. In the church at Ephesus there were those who saw themselves as ritually clean (the Jews), and those who were seen as ritually unclean (Gentiles). Paul is adamant (the reason he’s in prison) that it is not necessary for Gentile Christians to become Jews and be beholden to the rituals commanded by Moses.

However, he clearly expects them to keep the Ten Commandments, which are universal; written into creation itself (Exodus 24:12).

However, as every Christian knows, the war against sin is long and hard. None of us would consider going out in the morning without washing and dressing, taking off our night clothes and putting on our day clothes. Paul instructs Christians to ‘put off’ the old man with his works of darkness, and ‘put on’ the new man with his works of light. This is not just a once in a lifetime act, it needs to be part of our daily routine. And if we stop at putting off the old man without putting on the new man, we leave ourselves very vulnerable (Luke 11:24-26). We need to get active with ‘works of light.’

At the time of writing the temperature outside is well below freezing; to venture outside requires putting on many underlayers. The underlayers for the Christian include humility, kindness, gentleness and a readiness to forgive. Without these the heart is in danger of growing cold, bitterness and malice can take hold, and in their embrace the spiritual life can be squeezed out of us.

In the previous podcast, attention was drawn to the Lord’s Prayer and the words, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. These words apply to us as individuals and not just to the world around us. Christ’s kingdom extends only as far as we subject ourselves to His reign in our hearts.

A Prayer

Dear Father in heaven, You are pure light, in You there are no shades of darkness. I want to be a child of the light; help me to cast off bitterness, anger and slander, and teach me how to clothe myself in humility, gentleness and kindness; and how to forgive as I have been forgiven.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 8

Ephesians 4:1-16 - Unity and Maturity in Christ

Here’s one for all the old rockers out there, ‘Us and Them’! Which is second track on side two of ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ by Pink Floyd. The song is about divisiveness, driven by greed and privilege. Paul is writing to the Ephesians primarily to address an ‘us and them’ issue, which has its roots in historic privilege.

As in most, if not all, first century churches, the congregation was made up of Jews and Gentiles, and they didn’t mix well; there was an ‘us and them’ thing going on. The first chapter of Ephesians is so full of grand statements that we almost miss the most significant two words, Verse eleven, ‘YOU ALSO.’ The significance of this is spelt out over the next two chapters. Shock, horror! the Gospel gives Gentiles open access to a covenant relationship with God on an equal footing with Jews; unthinkable fifty years previously. Loss of privilege is difficult to stomach.

The first three chapters of Ephesians have been working towards the statement in Ephesians 4:1-6 (the importance of the statement is marked by Paul referencing himself “a prisoner for the Lord”). The phrase “In the heavenly places” occurs no less than four times in the first three chapters, but from the beginning of chapter 4, the focus turns to the day-by-day life of the church on earth. The doctrine of calling and election of chapter 1 now comes into play; Christians are elected by God to represent His interests on earth, in much the same way as we elect MPs to represent our interests.

The Lord’s Prayer contains the words, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”; the church exists to model on earth the peace and unity of heaven. After all, God is one, and His people are one with Him and each other. This is a spiritual reality, but it also needs to become a physical reality.

There is no shortage of divisive issues in the church of our time for Christians to pick a side with. Humans are tribal by nature (think football!), driven by a need for belonging. Faith is a journey into spiritual maturity; Christians need to abandon childish games of cowboys and Indians and grow up. Denominations have no place in heaven, and they should have no place on earth.

Going back to Pink Floyd, at one point the song moves from the ‘Us and Them’ language to the more personal ‘Me and You.’ ‘Us and Them’ speaks about difference, whereas ‘Me and You’, has an altogether different feel, togetherness. We are in it together, there is only ‘us’. According to Paul, each one of us has a part to play in working for the peace and unity of the local church. That doesn’t mean everyone inevitably agrees with everyone else, rather that there is a commitment to hold different views in tension; just as a body is held together by its ligaments.

A Prayer

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I worship and adore you as one God. I thank You for my church family; please help me to work for peace and unity among my brothers and sisters, so that I might truly be called a child of God.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 7

Praying for the Persecuted Church

40 Days Blog - Day 6

Ephesians 3:14-21 - A Prayer for the Ephesians

While Neil Armstrong was taking his ‘one small step for man’ on the moon surface, with the whole world and his colleague Buzz Aldrin looking on, their third crewmate, Michael Collins, was left orbiting the moon all alone. As Collins passed to the far side and out of contact with flight control at Houston, he was suddenly utterly alone with only the vastness of the universe before him. He wrote:

I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life. I am it. If a count were taken, the score would be three billion plus two over on the other side of the Moon, and one plus God knows what on this side.

Indeed! Only God knows the extent of His creation.

How big is your mind? Not how intelligent or bright are you, but just how much can you grasp?

Having encouraged the Ephesians with the truth of their full welcome into God’s family Paul turns again to an outpouring of prayer for the them. In his earlier prayer (Ephesians 1:15-23 - Blog Day 2) he prayed that the Ephesians would know God better and grow in wisdom and understanding. This prayer is more of an outpouring of worship. He asks us to stand back and ponder the vastness of God’s love for us.

Take time to read the passage through slowly and think of Paul “kneeling in prayer” and praying this earnestly for his friends.

The passage seems to revolve round the phrase “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (v17). It is a picture of Jesus making His home in our hearts. When Jesus takes up residence there and calls it home His love for others is established.

We should challenge ourselves today to think on whether Jesus is a welcome tenant in our hearts. Are we open to Him and His guidance? Do we experience and pass His love on to others? This might show its expression in being practically supportive of others, or even just praying for them. Turning our hearts outward to look at the needs of neighbours, friends, workmates and especially those we find it hard to like. Prayer is always a good place to start.

We learn this truth in the Bible – “that we love because God first loved us” (see 1 John 4:19). Christ has shown us what true love is. We are to have lives “….rooted and established in love” (v17) and, Paul says, this is only possible in the power of the Spirit.

When my father was teaching me DIY he always said, “Measure twice, cut once”. It was important to get the measure of the job right or it would all go wonky or result in another trip to the wood store. Here Paul is saying ‘get the measure of God’s love’. Then he goes on to explain that we can never actually get the extent of it because it is beyond measure in every dimension and generous beyond understanding.

Today give thanks for this and pray in particular for friends, family and acquaintances that they may truly come to experience God’s love for them.

A Prayer

Father God, as I wonder at Your creation, I thank You that You that Jesus lives in my heart. I ask that today You will help His love to grow in me and direct me. I pray for…………. (Name your friends etc.). You know their needs but help me show Your love to them.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 5

Ephesians 3:1-13 - God's Marvelous Plan

Rising pressure in a contained space leads to explosion. It’s a simple fact of physics.

As a young Christian, I was challenged by the story of Sergei Kourdakov. Kourdakov was a KGB officer who tortured Christians he arrested in communist Russia. One of his victims was a young woman called Natasha, who he dragged out of a church meeting. Despite his brutality, she faced Kourdakov and said, “I forgive you”. These words haunted the man who had to find out more. Finally, he gave in to Jesus. Fleeing Russia to exile in Canada as a Christian convert, he was able to speak out about the Gospel in the years that followed.

There are many examples over the last two thousand years of the persecution of Christians hastening rather than hindering the advance and spread of the Gospel. John Bunyan, Terry Waite, Corrie ten Boom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Richard Wurmbrand were all imprisoned for their faith, and their testimony had a dramatic effect on those around them. They all had unusual and unexpected opportunities to share their faith.

In the same way Paul sees his imprisonment as positive, being “for the sake of you Gentiles.”

The theme of imprisonment advancing the Gospel is one that we will return to in our 40 Day journey. Paul talks of it several times. He values it. At the very least, he’s going to make the most of it.

We, too, need to consider how we approach the challenges we receive because of our faith. Do we complain and grump too readily? Do we clam up and change the subject? Do we quietly hurt and do nothing?

Paul also wants the Ephesians to understand that he is suffering because he is determined to see the Gospel advance among Gentiles. He has put his neck on the line for them. He is only in captivity because trouble was stirred up for him by Jews in Jerusalem (see Acts 23). And now he is in Rome to defend himself before the emperor. This standpoint has already given him the unusual opportunity to explain the gospel to rulers, kings and politicians as he has worked his way through his legal appeal to Rome (v10).

Paul recognises that he has been given a particular understanding and insight into the position of the Gentiles in God’s plan. The mystery he talks of is that they are part of God’s plan – “heirs together…sharers of the body of Christ” (v6). That was a controversial position when considered from the orthodox viewpoint! But Paul sees it clearly and will do his utmost to share it.

In all of this Paul feels that he is the least of all men. He can never shake off the image of his own persecution of Christians and the mercy and forgiveness he received from Christ.

So do not be discouraged when you hear of persecution, dumbing down, false stories. Realise that it is the challenge of the Gospel that brings these to the fore. Pray for yourself and others - that the Gospel might spread because of it.

A Prayer

Lord today I pray for those in prison because of their faith in You. I ask Lord that You will comfort them, encourage them and challenge those who persecute them by their faith. Lord, I pray that You will work in hearts and situations to bring their release. Help me, Lord, to view the criticism, antagonism or troubles I get because of my faith to use these to work for You. Thank You that you are with me at all times and in all things.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 4

Ephesians 2:11-22 - Reconciled in Christ

When our family go on holiday we always try and find a church to go to on Sunday. We have ended up in some unusual places, but what we find is that no matter where we are, we still have an immediate understanding and connection together. Though we are strangers we all have the same father. We understand each other. We may be very different but we have the main thing in common.

We read in Acts that when Paul arrived in a new place or city he invariably went first to the synagogue. It was important to him to connect with those who as Jews were awaiting the Messiah. He had good news to tell them. The Messiah had come. But as we know his message was often rejected. Some Jews believed, some vehemently rejected him and hounded him out of town.

On his arrival In Ephesus there appeared to be a fledgling church already there with around twelve men (see Acts 19). Paul preached in the synagogue over a period of three months but was then forced out. There followed two years of teaching in a public lecture hall so that “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the Province of Asia heard the word of God” (Acts 19:10). *

One circumstance within the early church was the collision of two different root cultures. Law following Jews and those from outside Judaism. Both found it hard at times to be comfortable with each other’s history. Some of the Jews harked back to circumcision as being an incontrovertibly important act of faith. Some of the non-Jews still dallied with their roots in idol worshipping religions. It caused division and cast a shadow across their fellowship.

The Ephesian Christians were well taught in the faith but every day they lived in the culture of a lucrative idol-worshipping city with the great Temple of Artemis towering over it.

In today’s passage it seems that Paul is addressing some of the tension he perceives in this church he knew so well. The Gentile believers are reminded that they were previously excluded from God’s benefit and were without hope (vs11-12).

The bottom line is that both groups are separated from God. Some were near, some were far off. God’s move to bring them back to Him unifies rather than separates believers (v17). We all depend equally on Jesus.

Finally, Paul concludes with an object lesson of how these two come together only in Jesus. His picture is of a large, impressive kind of building that would have been familiar to the people of Ephesus. A temple.

First, we require good foundations. The Apostles and Prophets with their teaching are these foundations.

Next, the walls are built. In Paul’s analogy, these are the separate walls of Jews and Gentiles.

But it is the cornerstone that locks it all together. The cornerstone is the first, foundational stone set in place, right at the intersection of two walls. It forms the critical point for the entire structure, orientation, and stability. It takes the weight and holds the whole together. This, of course, is Jesus.

Paul’s encouragement is to look beyond the things that divide and to realise that, in Jesus, we are all fellow citizens. What a privilege it is to be built together in Jesus!

* You may also remember Calum’s recent teaching on the Seven Churches of Revelation. Jesus commended the Ephesian church for its knowledge and good theology, but challenged it on its hard-heartedness. They had a good head-knowledge. But they also seemed to lack compassion and care- these were the qualities that would encourage them to do the acts of good work that we heard of in yesterday’s reading.

A Prayer

Mighty God, thank You for accepting me into your family. Thank You for the fellowship and encouragement that I know through my brothers and sisters in the church. I pray that You will build us closer together as a church as we all draw closer to You.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 3

Ephesians 2:1-10 - Made Alive In Christ

The day was 10th March 1748 and a terrific gale battered a small trading ship three hundred miles off the coast of Ireland. The crew were fighting desperately in the dark to keep her afloat. The hold was filling rapidly. The men were bailing constantly and had cut the rigging free. When the ship plunged down into the trough of the sea, they never expected her to come up again. On board was a young slave trader. He was unpopular with his crew mates. Notorious for his foul language, hard living and surly nature, he had even been abandoned by a previous captain to languish in a slave colony in Africa. His name was John Newton. As he hurried to his place at the pumps he said to the captain, “If this will not do, the Lord have mercy upon us!” His own words startled him. “Mercy!” he said to himself in astonishment. “Mercy! What mercy can there be for me?” He had not uttered the name of God except as a swear word since he was a child.

Newton later wrote of this incident:

About six in the evening, the hold was free from water, and then came a gleam of hope. I thought I saw the hand of God displayed in our favour. I began to pray. I could not utter the prayer of faith. I could not draw near to a reconciled God and call him Father. My prayer for mercy was like the cry of the ravens, which yet the Lord does not disdain to hear.

Years later while reflecting on this life changing moment, he wrote these words:

Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretched like me!
I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.

Grace and Mercy - the two doorposts at the entrance of our home with God.

Newton realised he deserved nothing but condemnation for his life. His only hope was undeserved forgiveness from a generously gracious and mercy-full God.

And that’s the point of today’s reading. No matter who we are, or how good or bad a life we have lived, we have all failed spectacularly to live up to God’s perfect pattern for us.

The amazing thing is that, though we deserve nothing, we can now receive everything from a God who is willing to look at us through the lens of his Son and forget our sin completely.

He does not need to do this. This is grace.
He does not demand justice from us. This is mercy.

Perhaps the Ephesians were beginning to forget this truth. Or maybe Paul just wanted to get the point down on paper.

He makes it clear that we can’t earn forgiveness. We are not made right by good works, or turning up at church regularly, or giving generously of time or money to good causes. No! As we learned yesterday, spending time reading our Bibles and listening to preaching enriches our lives with wisdom and understanding. Good works turn out to be the merely the fruit of a life that is lived wanting to please God because of what he has already done for us. It is not the way to earn approval from God.

My son is quite a useful guy. He can turn his hand to most things. Recently I had to admire his latest handiwork. He’d manufactured a nifty solution to fill an awkward space with shelves and storage. It wasn’t just useful, it was a thing of beauty.

When Paul tells the Ephesians (and therefore us) that they are God’s handiwork (v10) he is reminding them that the change in them is all down to God. But they are to be useful to Him, and are to undertake good tasks prepared for them.

Because God has shown us grace and mercy, we must now be open to God’s promptings and to be ready to undertake good works.

A Prayer

Merciful Father, thank You for sending Jesus to be my Saviour. Gracious God, thank You for loving me despite all my failings. Loving God help me today to respond to by being alert to Your promptings to help others and live my life for You.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 2

Ephesians 1:15-23 - Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Ephesians

On 18th November 1991 Terry Waite, special envoy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, was released after being held as a hostage for nearly five years by extremists in Beirut. He had gone there to negotiate the release of hostages in what was a dangerous and volatile international atmosphere. Within a few days he was seized. For the next four years he was held underground, entirely alone, blindfolded and shackled in chains. His living space was barely bigger than his massive 6ft 7inch frame. On the day of his release, he spoke eloquently about freedom and injustice…and he shared with the world’s press an amazing story of hope. At one point, out of the blue, his guards handed him a postcard with a picture of a stained-glass window in a Bedford church, depicting John Bunyan, in prison, writing. On the other side was a brief message from a lady called Joy Brodier, whom Waite did not know. Compelled to support Waite even though there was no certainty he was alive, she put a 22p stamp on the card, addressed it to ‘Terry Waite ℅ Hezbollah, Lebanon’ and stuck it in the local letterbox. Against the odds it arrived! Waite read her words, the first comfort he had received in his suffering. “We remember, we shall not forget, we shall continue to pray for you and to work for all people who are detained around the world.”

What power there is in prayer! What encouragement in sharing that with others. In these prison letters we will revisit Paul’s persistence in prayer for others time and again. We can certainly imagine the Ephesian Church, who knew Paul well, being faithful and earnest in their prayers for him in his suffering. But how encouraged they must have been in turn by this expression of his prayers for them.

We really need to go back to the end of yesterday’s reading to see from where Paul’s joy about the Ephesians comes. While we can never really understand why some people come to faith and some do not, the first step of coming to faith seems to be hearing (v13) and by being open to what the Gospel says and claims. People need to be put in the path of the Gospel and this encourages us to keep it on our lips and in our lives for the sake of others.

Paul reassures them that being included with Christ changes everything. We are God’s people, signed, sealed, delivered.

What Paul sees in his Ephesian friends is a community following Christ in a challenging and morally derelict society. So, Paul shares his encouragement about hearing of their life and growth as a Christian community with them. How would the Ephesians feel about the fact he has not stopped giving thanks (for them) (v16)? How would we as a church feel if these words were written to us?

His prayer for them is a longing that they would grow closer to Jesus and grow in wisdom and understanding. But all this is underpinned by the fact that heaven is on our side. Yesterday we read that all spiritual blessing in heaven is ours. Today we read that the same power that raised Jesus from death is for us who believe! (and that’s no small thing!)

So the opening of this letter to a church, just as we are a church, says this:

Christians are completely adopted and included in God’s good will and family. We have all the benefits of the family. A father who watches over us, a brother who has rescued us and the power that reversed death in us.

But with the benefits of the family comes responsibility to the family. And we’ll be turning there soon.

A Prayer

Gracious Father, I cannot understand why You could be so generous to me. Thank You for this reading and what it teaches me about Your compassion and care for me. Lord, I long to know You better and to grow in understanding and wisdom. I pray, Lord for those suffering in captivity for Your name throughout the World today. And I pray Lord that there will be more openness to hearing Your word in this community and among those I know.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

40 Days Blog - Day 1

Ephesians 1:1-14 - Spiritual Blessings in Christ

It’s 1672 and after twelve years in prison for unauthorised preaching, John Bunyan is finally released. He had viewed incarceration as a trial that deepened his faith. Despite severe hardship and separation from his family, he firmly believed his confinement was God's purpose for him. He even refused release if it meant he would have to cease preaching! In this time, he meditated, worshipped and prayed. He also wrote the masterpiece Pilgrim’s Progress among other writings such as the less well-known Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.

It is very difficult to imagine what this time was like for Bunyan- it’s outwith our experience. It is equally hard to understand how Paul felt while being unjustly held captive for years on end. But like Bunyan, he used his time to further the Gospel, to write, pray and meditate. The readings we are exploring in the next 40 Days really come from the heart and we can hear them with the urgency and love that Paul has for his readers. He writes with deep concern for their spiritual welfare. Yet the writings are also for us, the “Faithful in Jesus Christ” (v1)

We could probe today’s passage for the next 40 days! But today let’s focus on the lavish goodness of God who gives the very best to us.

Ephesus was an influential trading hub, home to the world’s largest amphitheater, and boasted the great temple of Artemis. Paul lived here for over two years, holding daily public lectures. (see Acts 19). The Christians he was addressing were well taught and the “whole province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10).

Paul first affirms the Ephesians about their faithfulness. They are committed Christians living in a challenging secular environment. That feels familiar!

Look at the verbs in today’s reading:

God - Has blessed us (with every spiritual blessing)
God - Chose us                      (to be holy and blameless in His sight)
God - Adopted us                  (as His sons)
God - Has freely given us    (His glorious grace)
God - Has made known        (the mystery of his will)

And...
We - Have redemption and forgiveness of sins
We - Are included with Christ
We - Are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

This is an affirmation of God’s rescue plan for mankind. The perfect world He created, spoiled by sin, needs a Saviour. Christ has come and as God determined beforehand there is redemption for us. In Christ alone, He looks on us as blameless.

What is amazing is to consider that God is holding nothing back. Every blessing intended for us is NOW ours (v3). We are included NOW.

This is the message Paul was teaching in the lecture hall, on the streets and in homes. Now from his prison he is reminding the Ephesians (and us) of the lavish love of God. And how He purposed all this for us.

Both Paul and John Bunyan worshipped God in their cells as they reflected on these truths.

Let us do that now in our freedom.

A Prayer

Gracious God, thank You for Your love for me. A love so undeserved, but so willingly given. Though I cannot ever understand Your plans, I know that You care for me, and have done everything so that I might be counted as one of the faithful in Your presence. Thank You that You have lavished grace upon me and have given me forgiveness though I know I do not deserve it. I pray that in these readings You will draw me near to You.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...


Rev Calum Stark - Minister		David Moreland - Session Clerk

40 Days Blog - Paul's Letters From Prison

Paul's Letters From Prison - An Introduction

Share Lines- Two people

Share Triangles -Three people

Share Squares- Four people

40 Days Blog - Day 16

Philippians 1:1-11 - When Plans Are Chained

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 15

Ephesians 6:18-24 - All Kinds of Prayer

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 14

Praying for the Persecuted Church

40 Days Blog - Day 13

Ephesians 6:10-17 - The Armour of God

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 12

Ephesians 6:1-9 - More Instructions for Christian Households

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 11

Ephesians 5:21-33 - Instructions for Christian Households

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 10

Ephesians 5:1-20 - More Instructions for Christian Living

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 9

Ephesians 4:17-32 - Instructions for Christian Living

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 8

Ephesians 4:1-16 - Unity and Maturity in Christ

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 7

Praying for the Persecuted Church

40 Days Blog - Day 6

Ephesians 3:14-21 - A Prayer for the Ephesians

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 5

Ephesians 3:1-13 - God's Marvelous Plan

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 4

Ephesians 2:11-22 - Reconciled in Christ

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 3

Ephesians 2:1-10 - Made Alive In Christ

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 2

Ephesians 1:15-23 - Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Ephesians

A Prayer

40 Days Blog - Day 1

Ephesians 1:1-14 - Spiritual Blessings in Christ

A Prayer

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