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Who’s at the Door
"Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come and eat with him and he will eat with me." (Rev 3:20) This is the last in a series of texts chosen by Albert Bogle as Moderator for this year. It has been used powerfully over the years as an image of Christ standing at the door of the human heart seeking admission. It has helped thousands to make a personal response of faith to the Risen Christ.
However, the verse sits within the letter of the Risen Christ to the church at Laodicea, the lukewarm church which has become complacent and too comfortable to be effective for Christ. The image is one of Christ being excluded from his own church, standing on the doorstep seeking readmission.
In our prayers for the month, we will develop the theme of doors that stand open or closed. We have drawn on the imagery of the book of Revelation for key texts - with a little bit of poetic licence for the last one.
Daily Prayer
Dear Lord,
You come to the door of our hearts at the beginning of a new week, when the days line up with their agendas and priorities. Sometimes we are faced with the "same old, same old", other times there are some daunting changes ahead.
We think of the church at Laodicea, half blind, complacent and lukewarm, and realise how easy it is to lose the edge. Yet you come to the door of our hearts again with the invitation to receive, to share and to grow, and it makes a difference, as old embers begin to glow again with new possibilities and maybe even excitement.
Daily Reading
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."
Faith Story: Finding My Way Home
Being brought up in a Christian home, the name Jesus was nothing new to me. Church was what I was guilted into doing at Christmas and sometimes Easter, and religion meant putting on a fake smile and becoming a hypocrite to please...
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