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“If My people would only listen to Me,
if Israel would only follow My ways.”
~ Psalm 81:13

This is another psalm which encourages us to sing to God for joy —
records the history of how He helps us, but laments our lack of thankfulness and prayer.
God removes the burden from our shoulders, yet when it is gone, we so quickly forget Him.
He asks us to open wide our mouths so that He can fill them.
He promises to feed us with ‘the finest of wheat and honey from the rock”.
And all we have to do is listen to Him and follow His ways.
It’s a lesson we continually need to relearn.

“If a child can but say, ‘O father, O mother!’
Though he can say not a word more,
the bowels are touched, there is eloquence enough.
So, when we can lay open the pitiful state of God’s poor church,
what a blessing may we obtain for them.”
~ Sibbes

Petition: Please join with us in praying for:

1. The World — The number of confirmed cases is 76,778,818
(up 4,652,733 from last week — a significant drop).
The number of deaths of people with Covid-19 is 1,692,210 (up 81,400).
The US continues to be the worst affected, with over 3,000 deaths per day.
Germany is heading into lockdown. South Africa is seeing another spike.
Sweden is tightening up restrictions.
Even countries which had seen fewer Covid-19 cases,
such as Denmark and Vietnam, are seeing significant increases.

2. Australia — There have been 28,171 cases in total
(up 140 compared with 66 the week before, with 72 being via community transmission — 0 last week).

There are 26 people in hospital (-11), with 0 in intensive care (0).
10,579,410 tests have been carried out, with 0.3% positive.
There are 120 active cases (+64).
The big news is the Northern Beaches in Sydney.
There were great fears that the outbreak there (now 81 cases)
would spread to the rest of Sydney and NSW — but today’ s news was good.
There were only 15 cases, and all have been traced to the one source.
Pray that the track and trace will work well.

3. Vaccine and Cures — The US has now accepted a second vaccine for use — the Moderna one.
The UK has 350,000 people who have already received the vaccine.
Various political leaders have had the vaccine on TV — with the hope that others will be encouraged to take it because of their example. The roll-out date for Australia is still March.

4. Church — There have been a number of stories in the secular press concerning the issue of transgenderism. Pray for wisdom, grace, love and biblical faithfulness as we face up to continued pressure to compromise the teaching of Christ on this.

5. Personal and Family — Pray for those families who were expecting to be together this Christmas but because of State border closures now won’t be able to.

A Prayer of Repentance:
O Lord God, we confess that we have not listened to You. Forgive us.
We confess that we have allowed other idols to take Your place. Forgive us.
We confess that we have followed the stubborn devices of our own hearts. Forgive us.
Grant us the willingness, ability and strength to listen, love and follow You alone. Amen.

Song:
This week’s song is of course a carol… one good thing about this crisis is that we have learned how to do virtual choirs!

A Prayer of Thanksgiving:
We sing to You, O God, our strength.
We bless You that You have removed the burden from our shoulders.
That You have rescued us. That You speak to us. That You subdue our enemies.
That You fed us with the finest of wheat and honey from the rock.
You are God, our shield, our provider and our Rock. We praise Your name. Amen.