Thomas Hemerford was an English Reformation martyr. A native of Dorset, he was educated at Oxford and then studied for the priesthood at English College in Rome. He was ordained in Rome in 1583, and returned to England, where he was swiftly arrested. Condemned for being a priest, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at […]
URC Daily Devotion 11th February
At all times I will bless the LORD;I’ll praise him with my voice.Because I glory in the LORD,let troubled souls rejoice. Together let us praise the LORD;exalt his name with me.I sought the LORD; his answer came:rom fears he set me free. They look to him and shine with joy;they are not put to shame.This […]
URC Daily Devotion 10th February
Then the remnant of Jacob,surrounded by many peoples,shall be like dew from the Lord,like showers on the grass,which do not depend upon peopleor wait for any mortal.And among the nations, the remnant of Jacob,surrounded by many peoples,shall be like a lion among the animals of the forest,like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,which, […]
URC Daily Devotion 9th February
Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pangs have seized you like a woman in labour? Writhe and groan, O daughter Zion, like a woman in labour; for now you shall go forth from the city and camp in the open country; you shall go […]
URC Daily Devotion 8th February
In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, and many nations shall come and say:‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God […]
URC Daily Devotion 7th February
Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel,who abhor justice and pervert all equity,who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong!Its rulers give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for a price, its prophets give oracles for money;yet they lean upon the Lord and say, “Surely the Lord is with us! No […]
URC Daily Devotion 6th February
Almost fifty years after Francis Xavier had arrived in Japan as its first Christian apostle, the presence of several thousand baptised Christians in the land became a subject of suspicion to the ruler Hideyoshi, who soon began a period of persecution. Twenty-six men and women, monastic and lay, were first mutilated then crucified near Nagasaki […]
URC Daily Devotion 5th February
Things had been going so well until now; decades of a sort of peace had been marked by dizzingly rising living standards for some and escalating celebrity status for a small number of well-known persons. But now, external threats are darkening the horizon and the internal contradictions and complacencies of the society are being exposed […]
URC Daily Devotion 4th February
Joyfully sing to the LORD, all you righteous;for it is good that the upright give praise.With harp and lyre praise the LORD and make music;with shouts of joy, a new song to him raise. Righteous and true is the word God has spoken;all the LORD’s actions his faithfulness prove.He loves true righteousness, judgment and justice;all […]
URC Daily Devotion 3rd February
And I said:Listen, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel!Should you not know justice?— you who hate the good and love the evil,who tear the skin off my people, and the flesh off their bones;who eat the flesh of my people, flay their skin off them,break their bones in pieces, and chop them up like meat […]