"...I am the light of the world" (John 9:5).  It's often hard for us to see the stars at night because of all the light pollution.  The Edinburgh Observatory used to be on Calton Hill in the city centre, then it moved out to Blackford Hill on the south-edge, but due to the growth of the city it then moved out to Hawaii!  They didn't have that problem in Jesus' day, when at was night it was completely dark.  You could get lost, injured or attacked in the dark.  Darkness was oppressive and scary, so it's no wonder it became associated with evil.  Jesus met a man who had been born blind, he had only ever known darkness as his world.  But Jesus was to change all that as a sign revealing who He really was and what He had come to do.  In the miracle, Jesus re-enacted the story of creation.  He used his own saliva together with the dry dust to make mud, which He then placed on the man's blind eyes.  This echoes how God first created us out of the dust of the earth.  Jesus then restored the man's sight to show that in Him God was doing a work of new creation, literally regenerating (re-genesis-ing) all that had been broken by evil, bringing light into peoples' darkness.  Jesus today is no longer in the world but is still it's light - the world is not in complete darkness, because He's sent us into the world to be mirrors and reflectors of His light to those in need.  This week we're praying for and working towards seeing God open blind eyes, and do a work of regeneration in peoples' hearts as we share with them the message of light and life in Christ.

Praise God Today: "Light of the World"

Pray Today:

• For the Buckstone Holiday Club this week as 55 children explore how Jesus is the king of the world and wants to be their king.
• For the Families Outreach this week through the Puppet shows in the mornings and afternoons - pray for Andris' team as they perform and share the gospel.
• For the UBM street outreach happening each afternoon on the Royal Mile.
• For Josh Morris and Jonny Scott up in Shetland on the sports camp sharing the gospel with young people.
• For the Latvia team's safe journey home later on Monday.
• For the very first night of Chat65 as all the teams get a feel for how the new programme runs, and that people would begin to come into the event.
• For the Langlands' as they head over to Skye to begin new life and work.