Heaven and Earth and Creation Care

We held our third meeting on 16th July at Shipley Baptist Church.

Heaven and Earth

We watched this video from The Bible Project about Heaven and Earth and talked about what it meant for us and our care of creation: Learn where Heaven and Earth overlap.  Our notes below will become clearer if you watch the video. If that isn't convenient for you right now, here's a quick summary of the video:

1. In the Bible "Heaven" refers to God's space and "Earth" to our space (the space of the humans and plants and creatures).
2. Heaven and Earth were once completely united in the garden of Eden but have become separated.
3. Heaven and Earth can overlap in special places like Israel's temple, but only if the space is purified appropriately.
4. Jesus on earth is the new temple: wherever he is he takes Heaven with him.
5. Jesus' death allows spaces on earth to be purified and completely united with heaven.

How does this affect Creation Care?

We said that:

1. Jesus has put us right so that we can put everything else right, and by everything we mean EVERYTHING; the Bible says that all things are being brought together under Jesus, so Christians need to be involved in everything, which includes creation care.
2. We can only do this with the Holy Spirit (notice the excellent picture of a dove in the "Earth" side of the diagram).
3. Each of us has a different part to play in this: in a harmony there are many different notes.

We were reminded of this verse from an old Christian hymn:

All things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small

All things wise and wonderful

The Lord God made them all 

Some Good News

(Again, I forgot to write notes at this point, apologies for the lack of detail)

On Wednesday 9th July around 5000 people came from all over the country to talk to their MPs in London about climate and nature concerns, organised by the Climate Coalition. 

(the picture above shows the "prayer tree" in the QEII centre near the Houses of Parliament)

Several of us had been for holidays recently where we were delighted by the strength and variety of the wildlife, whether Sand Martins in Galloway or deer and ladybirds in Norfolk.

Pray

We used this prayer from the Episcopal Church which was shared on the Ecological Disciple blog:

Holy God, your mercy is over all your works, and in the

web of life each creature has its role and place.

We praise you for ocelot and owl, cactus and kelp, lichen

and whale; we honor you for whirlwind and lava, tide and topsoil,

cliff and marsh.

Give us hearts and minds eager to care for your planet,

humility to recognize all creatures as your beloved ones,

justice to share the resources of the earth with all its

inhabitants, and love not limited by our ignorance.

This we pray in the name of Jesus,

who unifies what is far off and what is near,

and in whom, by grace and the working of your Holy Spirit,

all things hold together. Amen.

We prayed for the following things:

1. Against climate change denial in the USA and the UK
   
   
2. UK Government:
1. For hearts of MPs to be gripped by the things they heard at the Mass Lobby on 9th July.
2. For parliament to make time to ratify the High Seas Treaty; when 60 countries have ratified, 30% of international waters will be protected.
   
   
3. Peace
1. In the Middle East: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Iran.
2. In Ukraine
3. In West Africa, especially in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire, as the region faces political transitions and electoral processes. May God guide leaders with wisdom and protect communities from violence or unrest.
   
   
4. Monsoon season in India, Bangladesh and Nepal (between now and September)
1. There is flooding in Nepal, and hospitals are also reporting an influx of dengue cases. In the worst case scenario, over 60,000 could get infected. Pray for protection against dengue, and for minimal flooding and landslide occurrences during this monsoon season
   
   
5. Heatwaves in Pakistan
1. Since April 2025, several areas in Pakistan have been experiencing drought exacerbated by heatwaves. The conditions have increased water scarcity, food and income insecurity. Tearfund is taking action in Sindh to serve communities before the disaster peaks.
2. NOTE: since preparing to pray for the above, monsoon has arrived in Pakistan: sudden, exceptionally heavy monsoon rains this week, exacerbated by glacial melt from the very warm temperatures recently, have caused intense flooding. Pray for the communities, staff and partners affected by these heavy monsoon rains across Pakistan. Since the onset of the monsoon, 116 lives have been lost and 253 people have been injured in rain-related incidents and flash floods.
   


6. Bradford - please pray for more people to volunteer as climate ambassadors.
   
   
7. COP30 in November in Brazil
1. Countries to submit bold NDCs (emission targets); so far only 22(?)/197 countries have submitted targets.
2. Agreement on the Tropical Forest Forever Fund (pay countries to conserve their rainforest)

Please keep praying for these things!

Our next meeting is Wednesday 20th August, 7:30pm at Shipley Baptist Church.