24th July 2026

On Wednesday 11th March 2026, President Donald Trump told supporters in Hebron, Kentucky, that the conflict with Iran was effectively over almost as soon as it began. “Let me say we’ve won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. We won, in the first hour it was over, but we won,” the president said. Last night was the thirteenth night in succession that the USA had attacked Iran. The wave of attacks lasted more ⁠than two ​hours, according to ​the ​US Central ​Command. Explosions were reported along the strait of Hormuz in Qeshm and Bandar Abbas, and to the north-west near Andimeshk and Omidiyeh. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned that the Middle East is being pushed to the “edge of the unimaginable” amid mounting fears over the direction of the conflict. “The situation is getting out of control. It is teetering on the edge of the unimaginable. The region is being pulled into an ever-widening circle of confrontation. One crisis feeds another. One escalation triggers the next,” Guterres told a security council meeting. “As this dynamic spreads, the political objectives are becoming increasingly obscured by the confrontation itself.”

Loving God, we pray for our neighbours across the Middle Est and aks your protection for them. May the hatred and animosity that exist between the USA and Iran be dissipated so that constructive conversations can take place to bring this conlict to an end. We ask your loving care for all who mourn and your healing for all who are injured. Help us to find ways to resolve difference which are non violent. Forgive us when we resort to killing nad destruction as a means of exerting power over others and forcing our will upon them. In the name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.  

Today's Good News is an amazing story of survival from the International Committee of the Red Cross. Sergey lives in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk. He reinforced his own basement with concrete slabs and makeshift beds, anticipating what was coming. When the shelling intensified, he moved his wife and adult son underground. Both are blind from birth and entirely dependent on him. He became their eyes, fetching water and food, baking flatbread when there was no more bread to be found. When a young man in the village lost his home, Sergey took him in too. That decision saved his life. Two and a half months later, a drone struck the basement directly. Blinded by blood and smoke, unable to move, Sergey was carried out by the same young man he had sheltered, who then went back for his wife and again for his son. Everyone survived. Sergey's home did not. Communities like his continue to receive support from the ICRC and its operational partner, which works to reach people in the most isolated and heavily damaged areas. Today, Sergey's dream is modest and specific: a small house near his home area, some poultry, a garden, "a few rows of radishes... like everyone else."

Creator God, you who love us more than we can know,

Who chose us from the very beginning to be family ,

We praise your holy name.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Word become flesh,

who dwelt among us and was sacrificed for us,

We praise your holy name.

 Holy Spirit, present and power in our lives,

from the moment that we first believed,

we praise your holy name.

For the joy of your presence

Changing and renewing us day by day,

We offer you our praise.

For the blessing you bring us,

The outpouring of your love, day by day,

We offer you our praise.

For peace beyond understanding,

blesséd assurance, day by day

We offer you our praise.

For the Word that endures,

teaches and challenges,

generation to generation,

we offer you our praise.

Praise and glory, be to you, one eternal God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.