Parish of Westborough – Guildford

St Francis is a church in the heart of an area of Guildford which is high on need but low on resources. The Church is a central hub for the community yet has recently suffered from a number of incidents of vandalism and most recently a burglary in which the entire sound system was stolen. This diminishes the Church’s ability to provide vital community services and support to local people during this particularly difficult time. These services include a daily Food Share, providing a safe environment for lonely elderly folk to meet, a mother and toddlers group and a community shop to name a few. Being committed to its community, the church wants to remain open for those in need.

The first priority and where any funds will go towards, will be to buy and install modern CCTV cameras to help improve security and deter would be thieves.

Thanks in advance for any donations you can give.

We are also updating our facility’s so we can continue with zoom meetings, so people at home can join in with our congregation when we open and hopefully stream live events .

Please click on the link below to help has on our way to a new future way of services and joining in together.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/brad-day

PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR CRIB SERVICE ON ZOOM

Virtual Services via Zoom link

You are welcome to participate in our weekly live Zoom services.

Click on this zoom link

Enter passcode number 116959

Sundays 10.30 am (time may change keep a lookout)

Please contact Rev Diane Peters on curate@stfrancisstclareguildford.org.uk

Or

Rev S Hodges on rector@stfrancisstclareguildford.org.uk  or 01483 504228

Hi everyone,
Just in case you have missed the information re harvest this year-

This year we will be having a harvest festival on zoom (hopefully including non zoom friends). This year we are asking for donations for water aid. I know some of you have taken up Stefanie’s suggestion to put 5p into a pot every time you use water or boil the kettle or use the loo – but all donations to this very important cause are welcome.

Bring your own food or snacks and drinks to the evening. Eating will be interspersed with a fun quiz. Through the magic of zoom we can put people into groups for the quiz so please do join us, you will not be on your own.

The church can welcome 6 people who do not have access to zoom to join the harvest festival – please let Stefanie or Diane know if you would like to join the group in person – don’t forget to bring your own lunch box and drink.
It would be great if you could include something to eat or drink from another country, could be something little or a complete dish – do I hear a rush to the kebab shop??

Really hope you are able to join the evening, it’s a lovely chance to be together, give thanks for our food and drink and support a very important cause.

With every blessing,

Diane

St Francis Homily for Trinity 13-20, Using Psalm 119.33-40 and Rom 13.8-14

Several months ago, when lockdown started, we learned what was important and what was perhaps less so; trivial even. Toilet rolls were important, Flour amongst other basic food items became the focus of our need to grab what we could. Unfortunately a percentage of the population were so greedy that these essentials were in short supply; sometimes unavailable. We also discovered that we could easily live without those other things that simply enhanced the pleasure of living. Lockdown focused us in a way we perhaps had never been focused.

We also learned about who was essential and discovered that some people (or their skills) were less so; trivial even.

Health care workers became the most essential as too were delivery drivers, shelf stockers, rubbish collectors (the list could stretch far longer). Those whose skills became less essential were beauticians, massage therapists, barbers (this list too could be far longer). We can easily survive without the less essential while sometimes our very lives depended on those essential things and people.

In our psalm set for today King David is asking God to help him focus on what is essential and not on the trivial. In traditional translations we read “Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.” (Psalm 119.35-37 NLT) As I have so often said, The Message Bible seems to put it more pointedly “Guide me down the road of your commandments; I love travelling this freeway! Give me a bent for your words of wisdom, and not for piling up loot. Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets, invigorate me on the pilgrim way.” Toys and trinkets are something we can all equate with I suspect – I can. And while our toys and trinkets can make life more enjoyable they are far from essential. I’m not against having things but when what we have defines who we are then perhaps we are in trouble and have lost focus on what really matters.

St. Paul in that reading from his letter to Rome is also urging people to focus. And the thing Paul wants us to focus on is love for others. He rightly says “Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfils the requirements of God’s law.” (Rom 13.10 NLT) Those lockdown hoarders weren’t showing love.

Paul has good reason for urging us to focus because he honestly thought that Jesus would return pretty soon, probably within his own lifetime. Paul writes “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Rom 13.11 NLT) Paul got it wrong about the timing of Christ’s return but he was right about one thing – it’s nearer now then when we first believed.

How near? God only knows, we can only speculate. We read in the Bible that things will start to go wrong as the end approaches. Is this pandemic a prelude to Christ’s return? It’s happening before his return, so that makes it a prelude, but is it specifically related?

Some speculate that is the case, but that has been the speculation about every major disaster and war; speculation is a waste of time.

What is not a waste of time is focusing on what’s important so that when the time comes, we are ready.

That verse I quoted above (v13) is perhaps clearer in The Message which puts it like this: “make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break.”

During lockdown many of our day-to-day things stopped. We had more time and we were forced to focus on the essentials. Hopefully many of us also focused more on matters of faith. But lockdown is starting to diminish and many of us are starting up our (old but changed) day-to-day routines. My prayer is that we won’t lose focus on essentials as we resume ‘normal’ life.

That warning about not being so absorbed that we lose track of God includes things of the Church too. As churches start to reopen there is so much to do! Everything and anything has to be cleaned and sanitized. Pews/rows need to be roped off. Hand sanitizer needs to be readily available, face masks needs to be worn and obvious (this list too could be far longer). But we need to focus on why we are doing all these things, not just on the things themselves.

This danger of being too absorbed isn’t new. Previously we had to arrange the flowers, change the altar cloth, bake cakes, clean the toilets, pick the hymns etc. All of which were needed, but could make the church the focus rather than focusing on God. Even the church has its toys and trinkets which should be avoided.

Unfortunately life seems to be returning to normal. The news is full of stabbings, robbery, abuse, rape. Have we learned nothing over the past few months? The shops are open and the toys and trinkets sparkle even more brightly. My prayer for each of us combines the two Bible versions “Divert [our] eyes from toys and trinkets, and give [us] life through your word.” Because time really may be short.

AMEN

Good evening everyone

I have been asked for more prayers to encourage you through this time and I am delighted that so many of you have found the previous materials useful.

Please find below prayers put together by the church of England for such a time like this. I have put it in large print and it can either be printed off in booklet form or double sided. which ever print size you find most helpful. there are two sets of prayers and also a section for children.

of course these are just some to help those who find it easier but of course your own free prayer is as important. I have left a couple of blank pages if you wish to write your own.

May God draw ever closer to us and us to him as we dedicate ourselves to prayer. whether it 5 mins a day or 5 hours…..and why not try just sitting still, using no words but jut asking the Lord to speak to us. (you) you might find some very blessed moments as you do.

Paper copies can be available if you have no facilities to print them out,. just let me know.

with love in Christ

Stefanie xx

Click Here to get the prayers booklet

Here is the link for tonight’s quiz night. Doors open 7.15 for a 7.30 start.

So far there are 14 quizzers but you are very welcome to invite friends or neighbours to join on zoom or ( but only if safe and socially distanced) to be with you. I have included the phone numbers in case anyone would like to join by phone,

Sorry – but you will need to have your own snacks and drinks at the ready!!

Thank you Jon and Laura for organising the quiz – see you later.

Diane

Diane Peters is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89277642608?pwd=bFNWM2E1ZEZiR2xvVURTVWUvM05YUT09 Meeting ID: 892 7764 2608 Passcode: 972839 One tap mobile +442034815237,,89277642608#,,,,,,0#,,972839# United Kingdom +442034815240,,89277642608#,,,,,,0#,,972839# United Kingdom Dial by your location         +44 203 481 5237 United Kingdom         +44 203 481 5240 United Kingdom         +44 203 901 7895 United Kingdom         +44 131 460 1196 United Kingdom         +44 203 051 2874 United Kingdom Meeting ID: 892 7764 2608 Passcode: 972839

Include or Exclude?

The phrase all-inclusive is one we usually equate with holidays. You pay one price and everything is included even some things you might not be interested in. The readings set for today are also about inclusiveness – God’s inclusive love for all his creatures; and that includes some that we might not be interested in or would even exclude.

This inclusiveness starts out in the Psalm set for today saying “May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere… may all the nations praise you.” (Psalm 67.2-3 NLT )  King David is asking God to include the whole world in his plan to save so that all nations will praise him. Isaiah joins in and through him God declares “my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.” (Isaiah 56.7-8 NLT)

Jesus himself joins in this inclusive talk saying “I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.” (John 10.16 NLT)

God is inclusive – we humans tend not to be inclusive, we frequently exclude those whom we dislike or those that are different from ourselves. In our gospel reading we see this human trait of excluding others even in Jesus himself. The reading centers around a gentile woman with a demon-possessed daughter begging Jesus to cure her. Jesus first of all totally ignores her, not even speaking to her. Finally he tells her “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.” (Matt 15.24 NLT)

Clearly she is not included.

He even goes so far as to insult her, equating her with a dog “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” (Matt 15.26 NLT) I find a couple of things in the gospels that both upset me and at the same time gladden my heart. I’m upset that Jesus seems to stoop to that level – gladdened insofar as it clearly reveals Jesus’ humanness. Jesus demonstrates a reaction that we would see as very human, human just like you and me.

Back to the gentile woman: far from being offended by being equated with a dog, quick witted and earnestly she counters back instantly using the same image “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.” (Matt 15.27 NLT)

What a response, it must have really touched Jesus, because he praises her great faith and as we know he goes on to heal her daughter;

Jesus’ humanity is put aside and his divinity shines through. Something she recognized in him where the disciples had yet to!

As the account soon reveals even further, the all inclusiveness of God’s love.

As Jesus soon encounters a vast crowd made up of many who “brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.” (Matt 15.30 NLT) And if we needed any more proof of the all inclusive love of God is verse 31 which states “they praised the God of Israel.” This tells me that many of that crowd were gentiles whom Jesus cured and so they praise the God of Israel.

If they were only Jews in Jesus presence, scripture records it different by saying ‘they praise God’ rather than in this case which states ‘They praise the God of Israel. .

so, what you may ask,

this account as with so many others speaks very clearly that faith is inclusive when often religion excludes.

The Jewish religion excluded anybody but a Jew, hence Jesus’ initial reaction to that woman.

Even Christians aren’t immune to excluding others, be judgmental against those who worship others who are claiming faith in the same God, who is Father Son and Holy Spirit. And even individual Christians can be exclusive

I have recently heard of a tragic situation where a young couple in love and planning life together in marriage, one came from a very strict Breatheran ‘denomination and the other a very devoted Christian of an Anglican denomination. The family could not cope with the idea of their son (bretheran marring someone outside ‘their’ group.

And even some of the same denominations can be judgmental and inclusive.

For many years after the reformation, if you weren’t a Catholic you weren’t going to heaven.

And as for other faiths or those of no faith…

Fortunately for us God is bigger than our pettiness.

He tells us “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work. God’s Decree. For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.” (Isaiah 55.8-9 MSG)

One particular well known hymn that speaks about this inclusiveness of God’s love.

There’s A Wideness In God’s Mercy puts it quite plainly telling us

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, Like the wideness of the sea; There’s a kindness in His justice, Which is more than liberty.

There is welcome for the sinner, And more graces for the good; There is mercy with the Saviour; There is healing in His blood.

There is grace enough for thousands Of new worlds as great as this; There is room for fresh creations In that upper home of bliss.

For the love of God is broader Than the measure of our mind; And the heart of the Eternal Is most wonderfully kind.

It is God: His love looks mighty, But is mightier than it seems; ’Tis our Father: and His fondness Goes far out beyond our dreams.

But we make His love too narrow By false limits of our own; And we magnify His strictness With a zeal He will not own.

Was there ever kinder shepherd Half so gentle, half so sweet, As the Saviour who would have us Come and gather at His feet?

We sing it I’m sure, believing in every word, but in reality do our words reach our heart and soul.

Do we recognise the times the love and inclusivity Jesus shows us may not be as open to others

Does our ‘broken’ humanness make his love too narrow by false limits of our own;

and so we magnify his strictness with a zeal he will not own.

We are the gentiles that were once excluded from the ‘fold’

We were the outcast, the outsiders that the disciples would have at one time rejected.

Let’s us be a people of faith and not simply religious,

let’s rejoice that God’s love is inclusive and let’s allow (and even help NLT) him to create that one flock with one shepherd. AMEN

On the surface of it, the readings this morning are mostly about food.

Food is high on the agenda and Distributing the ‘community food share’ is something high on our agenda to as part of our support and outreach at the moment. During this time it has been a privilege to get to know complete strangers from our community and chat with them over this increasingly important need for some – food. It has also been a bit educational and fun hearing the different dishes that people can make out of some of the goods.

What came to mind when praying for some of those individuals and then reflecting on the passages for today along with the fact that so many are struggling financially, was the scene in the orphanage in the musical film, Oliver, where it’s meal time and all the orphans sing the well known song Food, Glorious Food.

You may remember to where in the the song they imagine all sorts of exotic dishes when in reality all they get is gruel. One particular line sums it up saying Why should we be fated to do nothing but brood on food, magical food wonderful food, marvellous Food, glorious food. Food is pretty high up on most people’s agenda, but for those who don’t have enough, it’s always on their mind.

I suspect that hunger was a problem in Isaiah’s day and so he writes this, essentially telling the people that they can have all they want for free: “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.” (Isaiah 55.1-2 NLT) And the people would probably have been familiar with our psalm which proclaims “The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.” (Psalm 145.15-16 NLT)

The psalmist claims that God provides; Isaiah seems to confirm that – and yet hunger has been a constant problem both then and now. And our gospel is the account of Jesus feeding over 5000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. And everybody ate their fill and they collected a dozen baskets of leftovers. Food, glorious food, indeed.

But these readings aren’t just about satisfying our physical hunger. They are actually about spiritual food and spiritual health. In The Message version of that Isaiah reading this is brought out more saying “Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.” (Isaiah 55.3)

To my mind the key words are life-nourishing words. We hear something like that early on in the Book of Deuteronomy which Jesus reaffirms telling Satan “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt 4.4 NLT)

Yes we need bread and all the other physical foods we enjoy, but to experience the full life that Jesus promises we need God’s Word in our lives. Without the one we wither and die physically – without the other we wither and die spiritually. Eventually we will all die physically, so let’s ensure that we stay spiritually alive by consuming healthy portions of God’s Word. Not just reading it as ‘Job done’ for the day and tick the box, but asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what we need to really understand it, understand it that it ‘feeds us’

There are of course alternatives to God’s Word and unfortunately we can become hooked on them. In that reading from Isaiah in The Message we read “Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?” (Isaiah 55.2) We have seen how addicting junk food can be and the spiritual version of junk food can be equally addicting.

What, you may wonder, is spiritual junk food?

There are many varieties including: horoscopes, trashy novels, ‘girlie or adult’ magazines, etc.

But spiritual junk food isn’t just printed matter, it can include TV shows such as Love Island or I’m A Celebrity or Big Brother or some of the trashy so-called comedy shows such as Young Offenders.

I don’t know what the American equivalent is but I’m sure there is one. If we fill our bellies on junk food it changes us and makes us unhealthy – if we fill our minds with spiritual junk food that also changes us in a most unhealthy way. And that can also be the spiritual junk food of focussing on the negative, the critical, all pat of the unhealthy junk food we feed from. Soon Jesus’ command to love goes out the window it becomes all about ME. – we’ve all been there!

We are constantly being reminded about the benefits of a healthy, well-balanced diet and that can even include the occasional decadent pastry. Our spirits also require a well-balanced diet; that should include Bible reading and prayer but it can also include a good novel or biography. It can include Songs of Praise on the TV as well as a good drama or documentary. Avoid the junk at all costs, both printed or visual, because that can be a slippery slope into unknown territory. But how serious are we about the scriptures, do we go to them each day praying for the Holy Spirit to enlighten us on whatever passage we are reading, or do we know them in a way we can turn to them to feed and strengthen us through our darkest time, Jesus through one of his many challenging times faces the devil himself in the desert he had fasted – gone without any physical sustenance for 40 days and satan tests him, ‘if you are the son of god turn these stones into bread’ Jesus even though hungry replies, ‘it is written man shall not live o bread alone (physical) but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (Mtt 4:3-4)Jesus knew where to turn to for his sustenance.

A couple of weeks ago we heard the psalmist proclaim “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119-105) In these dark times we need all the illumination we can get to find our way. Let’s keep our path well lit with good spiritual nourishment instead of stumbling around in the dark because we consume spiritual junk food.

Amen

St Francis What’s next! Trinity 6   Romans 8:12-25

We are back! Praise God, for those who are able or wish to join together in services in Church buildings.

Today’s Psalm speaks so clearly of how we might think at this exciting time. Psalm 86.11 (NLT)
“Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honour you! Amen.
And that is what we do this day. Honour our God.

While our Gospel reading recounts the wonderful parable of the wheat and the weeds, I would like to focus our thinking this m Paul’s letter to the Romans Chp 8

We may not be as familiar with it but most of us I am sure will be familiar with one phrase from this passage.

Paul says
“You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Sprit when he adopted you as his own children, Now we call him, Abba, Father,” (Rom 8.15) (from the NTL New Living Translation)

This whole section of the Letter is talking about life in the Sprit which even some Christians pay small attention to especially when life seems overwhelming, we can neglect the power and the grace that is given to us through God the Holy Spirit. And when things are going well, we too can forget the third person of the almighty Trinity and consciously or not rely on our own strength and wisdom.
So Paul reminds us
“We have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.
So instead of living in our own strength and wisdom that can hove us governed or lead by our basic human nature, which Paul addresses as our ‘sinful nature, we can, and should , be governed by God’s Holy Spirit within us.

It is of course, like most things in life, our choice.
We can choose to let the Holy Spirit guide us through life or we can (and sometimes do) choose to take the path of least resistance, the easy path, and the path of instant pleasure whatever that may be, the path of sin.

A message we don’t often like being reminded of.

If we were to look at the message version of the bible, it is very clear,
“The resurrection life you have received from God is to a timid grave-tending life, it’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike, ‘What’s next papa? (Rom 8:15)
You can hear the excitement, the expectation that God always has something new for us.

Throughout this whole period of the Corona Virus and its effect on us, there must have been many times when people (including us) have heaved a heavy sigh and groaned something like
Oh” God whatever next?
It has just been one thing after another and it seemingly never stopped.

In times of great challenge and difficulty people find all sorts of reasons to blame the current situation on. (And I have even heard some over these months) have put the blame firmly at the foot of God,

While others say it is satan at work and the is held responsible.
While that may be the thinking of some, while I Believe Satan is certainly taking full advantage of this situation to cause as much chaos to people he can, I don’t think we can attribute it to him.

Just as for those who attribute it to God’s doing, I doubt that is God’s punishment on a wayward world as some will claim.

Lockdown will have produced panic, frustration, short tempers, and a whole host of other things that the devil will use to drag people into sin, we all watched as people buying, punched and shoved other in the frantic hurry to grab things they wanted or needed. And the atrocious behaviour of the many whom as lockdown is lifting, we get daily reports of stabbings, of attacks on innocent people, of car rage, of hooliganism, you name it we are hearing of it, and I believe satan is right there laughing with glee.  Be alert and of a sober mind, your enemy the devil Prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8)

So we can’t blame the devil when it was one of us perhaps doing the punching r shoving:

WE chose that course of action very constraint, as I other areas of our lives, computer hacking, free reign on our sexual practices, speaking untruths to get the upper hand, aggressive behaviour to make us feel more powerful or in control of another.

These are all things we chose or refuse.

We chose our course of action over constraint, but I don’t doubt the devil nudges us, sometimes hacking into our weaknesses to make wrong choices.

But while we watched people punching and shoving, and taking advantage of the more vulnerable in our societies,
we also witnessed the exact opposite , People going out of their way to help some get much needed things; often giving up their own items to someone more in need.

You can be sure that the devil cringes when he watches acts of love and kindness, because the person was choosing to be guided by good, by the Holy Spirit, rather in their basic sinful nature.

Whether we groan Oh God, what next?”
Or whether we exclaim excitedly what’s next Lord!” depends entirely on what we let control our lives, is it our Sinful nature or is it the Holy Spirit?

Let’s remember one thing. God never promised that his people would live troubled free lives.
What he does promise the person of faith is that He will be with us when we encounter trouble in our lives.
We hear this through the Prophet Isaiah

When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end – Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savour (Isaiah 43:2 The message version)

Even Jesus alludes to this I his parable of houses built on sand or rock (Mtt7:24-27)
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

People who build their lives on the rock of Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit don’t avoid problems but he anchors them I their problems.
Is worth choosing to let our lives be guided by the Spirit?
According to St Paul it is, reckons so,
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[c] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

It’s all down to our choice, the opening sentence Psalm 86.11 asked God to grant us purity of heart. One of my favourite hymns Purify m heart, let me be as gold and precious silver’ with the chorus that says
My heart’s one desire is to be holy, set apart for you, Lord; I choose to be holy….

We have a choice of serving our sinful nature (death) or serving God though his Holy Spirit (life).
Every day we could ask ourselves,

Which do we choose?
Which do I choose?
Let’s choose a holy life. And then ask What’s next Lord?