Act Justly and Pray for COP30 in Belém/Bethlehem

Learn - God's mišpāṭ

We read this verse from Micah chapter 6 verse 8:

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God."

We made a list (on the left in the picture below) of what we think of when we hear the word justice or justly.

(Note the chocolate biscuits of justice holding our sheet of paper in place)

The word "justly" is translated from the Hebrew word מִשׁפָּט (mišpāṭ); we read the following Bible verses where the same word occurs and then expanded our list to include what Micah thought of when he said "act justly" (on the right in the picture above):

• Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 1: “These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess”
  
  
• Deuteronomy chapter 10 verses 17-18: “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” 
  
  
• Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 3-5: “This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head. You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord’s name always”
  
  
• Isaiah chapter 42 verse 1: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations."
  
  
• Jeremiah chapter 8 verse 7: "Even the stork in the sky, knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know     the requirements of the Lord

CONCLUSIONS:

• God's justice is good news for the oppressed, the poor and the whole of creation.
• Remember we are not only to act justly but also to love mercy and to walk humbly.

Share - Otters and ROCK

Some of us had recent been on holiday and seen otters swimming in the sea near Holy Island.

The recent session on creation and creation care at Farfield Primary Christian after school club (a.k.a. ROCK club!) went well; below you can see a picture of the children's prayers for the world:

Pray - COP30 and Bowling Park Community Orchard

7 facts about COP30 in Brazil:

1. Every year, 26 million people are pushed into poverty by extreme weather events and natural disasters.
2. The Amazon rainforest has about 3 million species of plants and animals, as well as 1 million indigenous people. Yet, up to 47% of the Amazon Rainforest is at risk of collapse by 2050.
3. Agriculture and food systems emit 37% of greenhouse gases. Even if fossil fuel emissions stopped totally, these food emissions would push us beyond 1.5°C of global warming.
4. At least 146 land and environmental defenders were killed or disappeared globally in 2024, about 82% in Latin America.
5. The climate crisis is expected to increase inequality within every single country around the world.
6. In the first six months of 2025, the world’s wind and solar farms generated more electricity than coal plans for the first time.
7. The host city for COP30, Belém, has been nicknamed the ‘Gateway to the Amazon River’ and the word Belém is the Portuguese word for Bethlehem.

Prayers that we said (even though COP has now finished you can still pray some of these!)

1. That the beauty of the Amazon rainforest will be both an inspiration and a motivation to take urgent action, for all those meeting in its shadow.
2. For local churches, youth activists and indigenous groups from Tearfund and other organisations to speak up and be heard.
3. For governments to raise ambition on climate finance so that poorer communities can adapt to the impacts of climate change.
4. For countries to set their emissions targets with boldness, accountability and integrity.

Bowling Park Community Orchard 

The Orchard is run on 9 allotment plots by Bradford Environmental Education Service (BEES). Their allotment plots are rented from the Council. Please pray that the Council will commit to creating a bespoke contract for the orchard, recognising its value as a community asset for food growing, biodiversity and education.

We also ate the chocolate biscuits of justice (recipe available on request to our Facebook page 😊). 

Please keep on praying for these things; COP30 is over but now we can pray for governments to take action on the commitments they have made.

We will meet again on Wednesday 17th December at 7:30pm, Shipley Baptist Church (https://fb.me/e/5hPXR160P).