Greater love

Jo Penn May 17, 2023 1 0

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Romans 16: 3-4

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, 4 and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’ John 15: 13.

Jesus’ words to his disciples at the meal on the night before he died speak of his own loving actions to come. He also calls them to do likewise – to be guided by the love of friendship, forged through working with one another and doing life together as they seek to follow Jesus.

Paul values his friends Priscilla and Aquila, mentioning here how they have risked much, given much, endured much on behalf of their friends and fellow followers of Jesus, reaching across the Jewish/Gentile divide. Did they realise that their names would be acknowledged for thousands of centuries as they day by day followed the call of God on their lives?

In 1999, I went to Turkey on an organised tour of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation. Our local tour guide was Gurkhan, who had a tremendous testimony of how Jesus spoke to him when he prayed. He decided to follow Jesus, despite the challenge of this within the Turkish social context. Leading alongside Gurkhan was someone who helped to provide Bible study material in Turkish, for the Christians in that country. All this at a time when church gatherings were being raided.   

In the present day, we have been listening to Pakistani Christians that visit our community at Scargill, who experience the very real risk of violence because they follow Jesus. Hearing their stories, we are all the more thankful for the freedom of gathering and worship we enjoy in our country and pray for our brothers and sisters around the world for whom this is not the case.

PRAYER:

Lord Jesus,

Hear our prayer for the persecuted church.

May there be a fresh move of the Spirit of God across our world, to bring many to you.

May Your Kingdom come in power –

Your light to defeat the darkness,

Your truth to defeat the lies,

Your love to defeat the hate,

Your generosity to defeat the greed,

Your humility to defeat the pride.

Amen.