Welcome: –
Call to Worship: –
Psalm 95:1-7
Come, let us praise the Lord!
Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us!
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and sing joyful songs of praise.
For the Lord is a mighty God,
a mighty king over all the gods.
He rules over the whole earth,
from the deepest caves to the highest hills.
He rules over the sea, which he made;
the land also, which he himself formed.
Come, let us bow down and worship him;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
He is our God;
we are the people he cares for, the flock for which he provides.
You are invited to join in singing ‘Jesus People Come Together’ – Carol and Jimmy Owens. The words are printed below:
Come together, come together,
Come together, in Jesu’s name.
1. JESUS people come together, let your light shine;
Share your love with one another, let your light shine;
Let no difference show within you, let your light shine;
Let His Spirit flow between you, let your light shine.
Well, let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
Well let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
2. JESUS people come together, let your light shine;
Come and worship your Redeemer, let your light shine;
Sing for joy, shout for gladness, let your light shine;
Come and praise Him for His goodness, let your light shine.
Well, let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
Well let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
3. JESUS people come together, let your light shine;
Tell the world about your Saviour, let your light shine;
Preach the Gospel of Salvation, let your light shine;
Spread the news to every nation, let your light shine.
Well, let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
Well let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
Come together, come together,
Come together, in Jesu’s name.
Introduction –
Gifts Of Grace To Live Grace Filled Lives
It is time to stop and consider the Amazing Gift of Grace God extends to us and then
Try to understand how we in turn can take that Gift of Grace and extend that towards those we meet along the way.
Paul says
‘Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends.’
The Samaritan woman at the well rejoiced then raced off to tell all who would listen she had met the Messiah … and…
Many more believed because of his message, and they told the woman, “We believe now, not because of what you said, but because we ourselves have heard him, and we know that he really is the Saviour of the world.”
Prayer of Approach
Lord, we are drawn to your well
to seek the water of eternal life.
Refresh us with your Word.
Surround us with your Love.
And fill us to overflowing with your Spirit,
the water of life,
that we may never be thirsty.
Amen.
You are invited to listen or join in singing: ‘Gifts of Grace’ ( from Altogether for Good No 528)
(words and music Leigh Newton) The words are printed below:
1. Gifts of grace tumbling down,
Gifts of hope all around,
Such is love, could almost drown,
Yet the Spirit is but one.
2. Words of life sneaking in,
Words of joy creeping in,
Words of hope again and again,
And the Spirit is but one.
Chorus
One in Christ we all agree,
One in Spirit, one in Father,
One in life, that we can see
One as we grow into love.
3. Many songs, many rhymes
Many singers, many lines,
Many prayers, so many times,
Yet the Spirit is but one.
4. Many workers, many fields
Such a harvest, such a yield,
Many hands that labour until,
Yet the Spirit is but one.
Chorus
One in Christ we all agree,
One in Spirit, one in Father,
One in life, that we can see
One as we grow into love.
5 .Many wars, many lives,
Many Empires, many lies,
Each one forsaking, wondering why,
For the Spirit is but one.
6. Many Churches, many creeds,
Different things we believe,
Many times we disagree
Please Jesus make us one.
Chorus
One in Christ we all agree,
One in Spirit, one in Father,
One in life, that we can see
One as we grow into love.
7. Gifts of grace tumbling down,
Gifts of hope all around,
Such is love, could almost drown,
Yet the Spirit is but one.
words and music Leigh Newton
Prayer of Confession
Let us open our hearts to the Lord and pray
The woman at the well knew Jesus knew her, warts and all.
We come before you now, Jesus,
and sit at the well expectantly,
hearts open, ready to acknowledge our wrongdoing.
Lord, please forgive us for the times we have failed you –
unintentionally, or sometimes deliberately,
for thinking we can fool you
about the less public parts of our lives,
about the state of our heart.
Help us to humbly acknowledge that:
you know everything we have ever done;
you know when we exclude people;
you know when we don’t recognise you.
Fill our hearts with your forgiveness, Lord,
and make us ready to move forward with you.
Amen.
Assurance of Forgiveness
Our eyes are closed – we sit at that well where the
spring of water wells up to eternal life.
Knowing that as they were for the Samaritan woman,
God’s love and forgiveness are freely there for the taking.
As we are being bathed in the water of life, we remember that….
Jesus knows us. Jesus loves us.
Jesus forgives us. Jesus restores us.
Hallelujah!
Prayer for Illumination
It is time to open God’s living word for us and as we read and hear may we be alert to His prompting and inspiration.
We pray together,
Holy One, Open our hearts and minds
by the power of your Holy Spirit
That as the scripture are read and proclaimed
we may hear your word with joy
Amen
Bible Readings:
Romans 5:1-11
Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boastof the hope we have of sharing God’s glory!
We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance brings God’s approval, and his approval creates hope. This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.
For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!
By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God’s anger! We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends.
Your word, O God, brings the good news of our salvation.
Thank you, Lord. for your amazing gift of grace.
John 4:5-42
In Samaria he came to a town named Sychar, which was not far from the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by the trip, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw some water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” (His disciples had gone into town to buy food.)
The woman answered, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan—so how can you ask me for a drink?” (Jews will not use the same cups and bowls that Samaritans use.)
Jesus answered, “If you only knew what God gives and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would ask him, and he would give you life-giving water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where would you get that life-giving water? It was our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well; he and his children and his flocks all drank from it. You don’t claim to be greater than Jacob, do you?”
Jesus answered, “Those who drink this water will get thirsty again, but those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “give me that water! Then I will never be thirsty again, nor will I have to come here to draw water.”
“Go and call your husband,” Jesus told her, “and come back.”
“I don’t have a husband,” she answered.
Jesus replied, “You are right when you say you don’t have a husband. You have been married to five men, and the man you live with now is not really your husband. You have told me the truth.”
“I see you are a prophet, sir,” the woman said. “My Samaritan ancestors worshiped God on this mountain, but you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where we should worship God.”
Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the time will come when people will not worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem.You Samaritans do not really know whom you worship; but we Jews know whom we worship, because it is from the Jews that salvation comes. But the time is coming and is already here, when by the power of God’s Spirit people will worship the Father as he really is, offering him the true worship that he wants.God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is.”
The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah will come, and when he comes, he will tell us everything.”
Jesus answered, “I am he, I who am talking with you.”
At that moment Jesus’ disciples returned, and they were greatly surprised to find him talking with a woman. But none of them said to her, “What do you want?” or asked him, “Why are you talking with her?”
Then the woman left her water jar, went back to the town, and said to the people there,“Come and see the man who told me everything I have ever done. Could he be the Messiah?” So, they left the town and went to Jesus.
In the meantime, the disciples were begging Jesus, “Teacher, have something to eat!”
But he answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
So, the disciples started asking among themselves, “Could somebody have brought him food?”
“My food,” Jesus said to them, “is to obey the will of the one who sent me and to finish the work he gave me to do. You have a saying, ‘Four more months and then the harvest.’ But I tell you, take a good look at the fields; the crops are now ripe and ready to be harvested! The one who reaps the harvest is being paid and gathers the crops for eternal life; so the one who plants and the one who reaps will be glad together. 37 For the saying is true, ‘Someone plants, someone else reaps.’I have sent you to reap a harvest in a field where you did not work; others worked there, and you profit from their work.”
Many of the Samaritans in that town believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them, and Jesus stayed there two days.
Many more believed because of his message, and they told the woman, “We believe now, not because of what you said, but because we ourselves have heard him, and we know that he really is the Saviour of the world.”
May your word live in us
And bear much fruit to your glory
Message
Gifts of Grace – Agents of Grace
Alf Bowden, a friend of Liz and mine, passed away not so long ago. He was a lay preacher at Woombye. Remembered for his devotion and love of the Lord and his work among young people, he sticks in my mind leading the congregation in prayer, commencing with the words “Let us come before the Throne of Grace”. For me along with some special people at Woombye, he acknowledged the true source of Gifts of Grace and became Agents of Grace.
Rev. Norm Lawless preached often and with passion from the Book of Romans. The message was straight down the line an encapsulated within about 10 minutes. As well as his no time to breathe sermons, he had us all sporting AMAZING GRACE stickers on the back windows of our cars. A thankful recipient of the Gift of Grace and in turn being an Agent of Grace.
Philip Yancy – an author who writes with piercing depth, primarily about spiritual issues – wrote ‘What’s so Amazing About Grace.’
Here are few quotes from that book.
“God loves people because of who God is, not because of who we are.”
“Grace is free only because the giver himself has borne the cost.”
“I would far rather convey grace than explain it.”
“Grace means that God already loves us as much as an infinite God can possibly love.”
He claims that Grace is one of the few uncorrupted words in our language, and to act with Grace is counter-cultural and Grace shines brightly like a beacon in a troubled world.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans we learn that God is the true source of grace .
“Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we havepeace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boastof the hope we have of sharing God’s glory!
it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!
By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God’s anger! We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son.
Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends.”
That is amazing grace!
To go back to the idea of being an Agent of Grace:
Let’s ask the question: Who are the people who have had a great influence in your life.
I am confident that these are the ones who have shown you grace, kindness and care, sometimes quite unexpectedly, and in doing so you they have created the space for grace to manifest itself in your life.
Lately, I have been remembering some of the many people in my life who have made a difference in my life by sharing brief moments with me.
For me, one of many was JTCR. John Richmond, a well respected retired surveyor and Scout Master. He was a simple humble man of God. A single man who lived with his sister. Always taking cold showers and sometimes content to camp out in his back yard for extended times. In his retirement, on the weekends, he took many a young person out to check and clear trig stations and check on their accuracy. He would pile boys in the back of his Rover 90 and secure them with leather straps around the pillars of the doors. He was a mentor to many young boys.
I remember his shed. An Aladdin’s cave of tools and cigarette tins all numbered and catalogued with nails, screws and a variety of bits and pieces. In the shed I made a leather pouch for my hatchet. I fired an air rifle in his backyard at an improvised target, and got to feel the weight of a Martini Henry rifle. These things I remember but not only that…. through his gentleness shone the Grace of God’s Spirit. For me, on reflection, he was an Agent of Grace. That Grace which has the power to change lives.
We need to recognise that we have had the privilege of meeting with Jesus through those that have created and shared a space where God’s Gift of Grace can thrive and come alive in us. In receiving the Gift of Grace, we become Agents of Grace.
The narrative of the Samaritan woman at the well follows Jesus answering the question of “how many times should one forgive?” and the parable of the unforgiving servant is told. (Matthew 18). The servant had been forgiven all, and he then should have forgiven all. In like manner, a child of God by faith through Christ has had all sins forgiven. Therefore, when someone offends or sins against us we should be willing to forgive him from a heart of gratitude for the grace which we ourselves have received.
We have received grace and are called upon to live out and show grace. It’s not hard. We are given the Holy Spirit who enables and equips us to do that, even when an occasion jumps out at us unexpectedly.
Where? Anywhere; most unlikely places; at home, at the supermarket, at work, in our streets, in our community groups, on the end of a phone call, on Facebook.
When? Anytime! Morning noon and night. At times you least expect. The times when you are busy. The times when you would rather be alone having time out. Times of annoying interruption.
With whom? Anyone – most unlikely people, those you meet face to face in the course of the day. Those you meet on the phone.
We are called to be agents of grace. We are called to live in a space of grace and we are called to share that grace.
As God is creator, we are Called to create that space.
Jesus, our authority our confidence, our joy, enables us to do just that.
Jesus’ followers embody that same grace in their lives and relationships.
Grace provides a space to stop, take a breath, review our motivations and attitudes, and build a closer relationship with the Lord. In doing so, we allow the living Lord breathe his life and love through us.
We live in the Space of Grace and in doing so become Agents of Grace. Grace that flows out to those who become part of our day.
It doesn’t take a theological, intellectual brain to do that.
Our reading today of the Woman at the Well shows that.
The place? – a community well (Jacob’s Well) in a Samaritan town Sychar.
The time? – in the heat of the midday sun
Who? Jesus and a Samaritan woman.
What? An unexpected conversation which leads the woman to great excitement and unexpected joy; so much so that she races off to share her good news with all who would listen.
Listen to the retelling of that event from her point of view:
Please! You need to listen to me!
I know what you’re thinking. I know what you whisper behind my back. I’ve seen your sidelong glances. You think I’m a prostitute … no … worse than a prostitute.
Five husbands. Living now in sin.
I admit it. I confess! How can I do otherwise? I know my shame. My guilt. I mean, everyone in the village watches me as I go in the heat of the day to draw water for my home.
I’m a sinner. I know this. And I know you know this.
You have no reason to listen to me. I’ve brought it all on myself.
But please listen!
I met a man today. No, not that kind of man nor that kind of meeting.
His name is Jesus. He’s a Jew, and He asked me to draw Him water. He asked me. An outcast. An adulteress … A sinner.
But when He looked at me, I didn’t see any condemnation … like what I see in your eyes. He spoke to me gently. Kindly. Lovingly.
He told me things … things that I’d done. Things that I do now.
Even when He described the travesty that is my life, His voice was filled with compassion.
I’ve never felt such love.
He told me about something He called “living water,” something that would cleanse me and give me eternal life.
I thought He must be a prophet to know all He did, but then He said:
“ … a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth.”
I said, “I know that the Messiah will come. He is the one we call Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
And then He said the most amazing thing: “I am that one … and I am speaking to you now” (CEV, John 4:23-26).
So, please! No matter what you think of me. Please come and meet the Messiah!
Jesus, God’s Agent of Grace brings healing and wholeness to the woman, who then becomes God’s Agent of Grace to her community. Jesus, God’s Agent of Grace brings healing and wholeness to that remote town, likewise meets with us through his words recorded and through the Holy Spirit and we receive the Gift of Grace and become God’s Agent of Grace as he calls us to “Love one another as I have loved you”
In her prayer,St. Teresa of Ávila (14th Century) writes
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Amen to that!
Reflection
Let us reflect on the message of this song which is sung to a haunting Scottish folk tune:
‘Christ’s is the world in which we move’. (TIS 677)
©1989 WGRG, Iona Community, Govan, Glasgow G51 3UU, Scotland
Offering
Dedication Prayer:
Take our gifts, Lord Jesus
They are thine alone;
We can only bring thee
What was first your own
When we have but little
These we bring to thee
When our gifts are larger
May they all be free.
Take our hearts we offer
Take our willing hands;
May our feet be waiting
For thy blest commands.
Take our happy praises
Hear our earnest prayer
Take our gifts we bring thee
Make our lives thy care.
Take them blessed master
Though so few and small
Use the gifts, we pray thee
We would bring our all.
Prayers of Intercession:
We pray for places around the world where there is no fresh water;
for places that suffer constant drought,
or where people have to walk miles to the nearest well.
Water of life, quench us with your life-giving Spirit
and bring hope.
We pray for those on the margins of society
because of their status, age, disability, background or race;
those who seem to have no voice.
Help us to hear their cries, to listen to their pleas.
Help us to open our eyes and our ears.
Water of life, quench us with your life-giving Spirit
and bring hope.
The Samaritan woman took a risk speaking to Jesus.
We pray for all who take risks on a daily basis –
in their jobs, for mere survival, to get food and water for their families;
and for children involved in risky situations all over the world, trying to survive.
Water of life, quench us with your life-giving Spirit
and bring hope.
We pray for those in our communities who need your water of life;
those who are lonely, bereaved, sad, or have lost all hope.
Bring them your comfort, joy and peace.
Water of life, quench us with your life-giving Spirit
and bring hope.
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil,
For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
Now and forever. Amen
You are invited to listen or join in singing ‘Jesus People Come Together’ again as a reprise.
The words are printed below:
Come together, come together,
Come together, in Jesu’s name.
1. JESUS people come together, let your light shine;
Share your love with one another, let your light shine;
Let no difference show within you, let your light shine;
Let His Spirit flow between you, let your light shine.
Well, let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
Well let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
2. JESUS people come together, let your light shine;
Come and worship your redeemer, let your light shine;
Sing for joy, shout for gladness, let your light shine;
Come and praise Him for His goodness, let your light shine.
Well, let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
Well let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
3. JESUS people come together, let your light shine;
Tell the world about your saviour, let your light shine;
Preach the Gospel of Salvation, let your light shine;
Spread the news to every nation, let your light shine.
Well, let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
Well let it. Shine, shine, shine. Come on and let your light shine
Come together, come together,
Come together, in Jesu’s name.
Carol and Jimmy Owens
Prayer for Going Out:
Sometimes we think we know our place.
Exactly just so.
And everybody else should know theirs.
Exactly just so.
As we go into a new week,
help us to realise that life isn’t actually
‘exactly just so’.
It can be expanded beyond our wildest dreams.
Lord, this week we want to be astonished,
to accept everyone in your love.
We want people to believe because of our testimony.
For people to hear it for themselves, through our lives.
Thank you for giving us our best life in you.
Thank you that we are accepted.
Thank you that we belong.
Thank you that you give us the water of life to drink.
Help us to be accepting of others,
and invite them to drink your water too.
Amen.
Benediction
May the Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make His face to shine upon you,
And be gracious unto you
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you
And give you peace.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God
And the communion of the Holy Spirit
Be with us all evermore.
Amen
Service for Sunday 11th December 2022, which was conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Sunday 2nd April 2023, which included Communion, and was conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Easter Sunday 31st March, which was conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Sunday 18th July 2021 – Geoffrey Webber 
