The sky’s not the limit

Jo Penn February 06, 2026 1 0

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Psalm 24: 7-10 (NIV-UK)

7 Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord strong and mighty,
    the Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory?
    The Lord Almighty –
    he is the King of glory.

It is not by accident that churches are built with high ceilings, and tall spires – inviting us to lift up our eyes to heaven. These tall buildings remind us of our smallness and God’s greatness.

Scargill Chapel also has a tall ceiling – its roof in the shape of praying hands, with two large triangular windows on each side reaching up to the apex of the roof. My eyes are daily attracted to look up away from the interior to see the sky revealed over Knipe Scar – to seek the light, watch the birds in flight and get a new perspective on the day within this place that holds both prayer and the real-life challenges and joys of the people who come within its walls.

The foundation stone of Scargill Chapel has verses from Psalm 121 on it:

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

Each day we trust for the inspiration, perseverance and resources to tackle the jobs to hand. Help will often come from unexpected volunteers turning up, or guests offering particular skills or contacts, or the right person being available at the right time. We know our fragility, and trust God to provide what we need.

Our dependence on God is modelled by our rhythm of prayer – even in the middle of a work shift we go up to Chapel and pray for fifteen minutes, trying to put Jesus at the centre of our day rather than make our worries centre stage.

Prayer:

Look up! See the birds that fly freely, fed by God’s hand.

Look up! Watch the seasons in the landscape, mirrored by the seasons of our lives.

Look up! For Jesus gave everything, his broken body lifted up as means of our healing.

Look up! The Risen Christ speaks peace to his followers, enters into that locked room.

Look up! Christ ascends to his Father, seated in heaven, where he now prays for us.

Look out! The Holy Spirit is here. We are not alone.