15th October 2020
Good morning, everybody! It’s Mr Catchpole here today.
May the Lord be with you.
We are Bishop Ridley, we are:
One Community, Learning & Growing Together, Sharing the Love of God.
Our song for today is:
Our Bible passage for today is James 2:14-17
'What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.'
What do you think we can learn from this Bible passage? What is it encouraging us to do?
On Monday, Mr Keep told us a Bible story about how Jesus showed compassion for the hungry. Are people still hungry in the world today? Is this a problem that affects people here in the UK as well?
Last week, footballer Marcus Rashford was added to the Queen’s birthday honours list because of the compassion he showed during lockdown. Does anyone know what he did?
Marcus Rashford knew what it was like to be hungry as a child and wanted to do something to prevent this from happening to other children in the UK.
In England, about 1.3million children are entitled to free school meals to make sure they do not go hungry. The government wanted to stop these meals over the summer holidays this year, but Marcus Rashford led a passionate campaign in which he urged the Prime Minister to reconsider his decision. His actions led to the government ensuring that all children who were entitled to free school meals continued to get these over the summer holidays.
Watch this short video, in which Marcus Rashford talks about his own experiences of growing up in poverty.
How do you think Marcus Rashford showed compassion?
How could we show compassion to those living in poverty in the local area?
I took this photograph in Tesco on Welling High Street this morning. They are encouraging people to donate one item of food to their food bank. By donating a small amount of food, we could all help those who are living in poverty.
Time to reflect
How will show compassion to others today?
You might not be in a position to donate food at the moment; how else could you help those in need?
Our prayer for today:
Dear God,
Today we pray for those living in poverty and we ask that you watch over them and keep them safe during difficult times.
Help us to be aware of those in need. Let us show compassion to those who are not as fortunate as we are and help us to remember how lucky we are in our own lives.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.