About 20 years ago on Remembrance Day I was speaking at a small Baptist Church in south Essex. As part of the prayers of intercession, we reflected on the many wars and humanitarian crises which were happening around the world.  At the end of each section of the prayers I used this phrase.

‘If ever the world needed Jesus, it needs Him now.’

As I write, a week has passed since a brutal Hamas attack which originated from northern Gaza, resulted in thousands of Israeli dead. Women. Children. Entire families. Killed in their own homes. This attack was a massacre. This attack was brutal and inexcusable. The attack grows from a shameful history of deprivation and suppression of the Palestinian people.

Tonight, 2 million Palestinian people are living under siege.  They are being denied access to the basic needs of food, water and medicine.  Israel is bombing residential areas of Gaza, including places where displaced refugees are seeking refuge.  They are being shelled and killed in their own homes by armaments fired by the Israeli Defence Force. Civilians are being maimed and killed in their thousands. They are victims of a massacre. Women. Children. Entire families. There is no safe place in Gaza. The people of Gaza have nowhere to hide. They have nowhere to go.

As I write, the world is holding its breath in horror.

As I write, the world is watching.

‘If ever the world needed the love, the healing, the peace and the grace of Jesus Christ, it needs it now.’

Today, more than ever, keep praying.