Welcome: –

Passing the Peace: –

As we gather for worship let us remember that we are one people in Christ Jesus.  We are all welcomed by God into His presence and graced by His mercy.  Let us, then, be united in our worship of God and in our fellowship together, and uplift our hands to greet those both here and those in their homes with these words:

May the peace of God be with you.

And also with you.

Call to Worship 

(Psalm 130: 1 to 8) 

From the depths of my despair I call to you Lord.

Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help!

Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned? 

But you offer forgiveness so that we might learn to stand in awe of you.

I wait eagerly for the Lord’s help, and in His word I will trust.

I wait for the Lord more eagerly than watchmen wait for the dawn.

People of God, trust in the LORD,

because His love is constant.

In Him you will find redemption overflowing.

For the LORD will save His people from all of their sins.

(English Standard Version, Good News Bible, New International Version, New Living Translation)

Comment on Psalm 130

Artur Weiser in his Commentary on this Psalm notes that the writer of this Psalm expresses a belief, on the one hand, in the holiness of God, to whom we are wholly subject in every aspect of our lives, and a belief, on the other hand, in the mercy of God, on which we are utterly dependant for the forgiveness of our sins and as the source of life.  (Artur Weiser in The Psalms p774) 

  In our worship today may we have this dual focus; to proclaim our adoration for our Creator God and to express our thankfulness for the undeserving grace and mercy that He freely offers to us.

Prayer of Praise  

(from A Year of Prayer p68, p69,p116, p117 ) 

God of Heaven and Earth, we come as People who marvel at your creative power, who marvel at the way things have been made and the way they function, who marvel at the way animal and plant interact, who marvel at the cycles of life that provide the oxygen and water that is necessary for life.  We come as People who are ourselves created beings, yet we experience the closeness with you that you have sought from us from the beginning of Time.

  Holy and righteous God, we come as People who are easily tempted and prone to wander, yet we are thankful that you are faithful to your promise to forgive those who truly repent of their sins.  We are thankful that you embrace us with your love and grace, and transform our hearts.  We are thankful that you are the light for our life’s path, illuminating a way for us that is safe and reassuring.

  Caring and compassionate God, we come as People who stumble and fall, who face trials and troubles in daily life, who are challenged by World events beyond our comprehension, far less our control, who are utterly helpless to manage things that can’t be seen by our eyes nor held in our hands.  Yet, we are truly thankful that you promise to be the strength to get us through each day, to support us in the hard times, to carry us when all seems too hard to handle. 

  Almighty God, we come to offer you our praise and adoration, for you are our God, our God who gives wisdom to our mind, renewal to our heart, and life to our spirit.  We come trusting in your power over the forces of darkness to bring about Your Kingdom in Heaven and on Earth, we come as obedient servants, who seek to live out your will for their lives.

  We come today, acknowledging you as Lord of our life, and humbling ourselves before your greatness and majesty.  To your glory and honour we pray.  Amen.

You are invited to listen, or sing along to 2 Songs

The first song is: ‘Glorify your name’ (Scripture in Song volume 2 number 451)

Donna Adkins

The 2^nd song is ‘Change my heart O God’ (Scripture in Song volume 3 number 482)

Eddie Espinosa

Prayer of Confession   

Merciful God, you know our hearts and our thoughts, our motives and our actions.  You know them better than we know them ourselves.

We come before you merciful God, knowing that we have not obeyed your Word, and that we have not sought after your will for our lives.

Merciful God, we confess that we tend to judge others by outward appearances and by what is deemed to be socially acceptable.

In humbleness we seek your forgiveness.

Merciful God, we are too prone to live for the moment, to let our passions and emotions rule our lives, rather than bring these things into wholeness under your control.

In humbleness we seek your forgiveness.

Merciful God, often we are overtaken by events and sink into despair.  Rather than cry out to you, we prefer silence and self-pity.

In humbleness we seek your forgiveness.

Merciful God, our priority, many times, is for a comfortable existence, but one where we are slow to see opportunities to witness or are indifferent to the needs of others.

In humbleness we seek your forgiveness.  Breathe new life into your Church that meets in this place, and give us a renewed sense of purpose and hope so as to be a voice that proclaims Jesus Christ as the resurrection and the life.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness  (from Psalm 130: 4a) 

The Psalmist declares their trust and confidence in God, by saying, “but you, God, forgive us”.  Having confessed our sins before God, let us share with the Psalmist the hope that was theirs in the grace and mercy of God, that God has heard our prayers, and that our sins have been forgiven.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer of illumination 

(from Uniting in Worship Book 1 number 13 & 14 p599) 

  Prepare our hearts, O Lord, to be guided by your Word and the Holy Spirit, that in your light we may perceive your mercy and grace, that in your truth we may find freedom, and that in your will we may discover peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Bible Readings

Ezekiel 37:

.1  The Prophet Ezekiel related:

I felt the powerful presence of the LORD, and His spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones.  2  He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there very many bones and that they were very dry.  3  He said to me,

“Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”

I replied,

“Sovereign LORD, only you can answer that!”

4  He said,

“Prophesy to the bones.  Tell these dry bones to listen to the Word of the LORD.  5  Tell them that I, the sovereign LORD, am saying to them:

‘I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life.  6  I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin.  I will put breath into you and bring you back to life.  Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

7  So I prophesied as I had been told.  While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together.  8  While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin.  But there was no breath in the bodies.

9  God said to me,

“Mortal man, prophesy to the wind.  Tell the wind that the Sovereign LORD commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies and to bring them back to life.”

10  So I prophesied as I had been told.  Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up.  There were enough of them to form an army.

11  God said to me,

“Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones.  They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future.  12  So prophesy to my people Israel and tell them that I, the Sovereign LORD, an going to open their graves.  I am going to take them out and bring them back to the Land of Israel.  13  when I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the LORD.  14  I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land.  Then they will know that I am the LORD.  I have promised that I would do this – and I will.  I, the LORD, have spoken.”

Romans 8:

5  Paul writes,

Those who live as their Human nature tells them to, have their minds controlled by that Human nature wants.  Those who live as the Spirit tells them to, have their minds controlled by what the spirit wants.  6  To be controlled by Human nature results in death; to be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace.  7  And, so, a person becomes an enemy of God when they are controlled by their Human nature; for they do not obey God’s Law, and, in fact, they cannot obey it.  8  Those who obey their Human nature cannot please God.

9  But you do not live as your Human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells

you to – if, in fact, God’s Spirit lives in you.  Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 

10  But if Christ lives in you, the spirit is life for you because you have been put right with God, even though your bodies are going to die because4 of sin.  11  If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, live in you, then He who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of His Spirit in you.

[Today’s English Version]

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

John 10:

7  So Jesus said again,

“I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep.  8  All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  9  I am the gate.  Whoever comes in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture.  The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy.  I have come in order that you might have life – life in all its fulness.

14  I am the good shepherd.  As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me.  And I am willing to die for them.  16  There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen.  I must bring them, too, they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

17  The Father love me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again.  18  No one takes my life away from me.  I give it up of my own free will.  I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back.  This is what my Father has commanded me to do.”

[Today’s English Version]

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

You are invited to listen or sing along to the Hymn ‘I know that my Redeemer lives’  (MHB565  Wesley’s Hymns number 384}

 [This YouTube clip is for another hymn but is used here for the tune, so disregard the words].  The words of ‘I know that my Redeemer lives are printed below.

Verse 1 of 5

I know that my Redeemer lives

And ever prays for me,

A token of his love he gives,

A pledge of liberty.

Verse 2 of 5

I find him lifting up mt head,

He brings salvation near,

His presence makes me free indeed,

And he will soon appear.

Verse 3 of 5

He wills that I should holy be;

What can withstand his will?

The counsel of his grace in me

He surely shall fulfill.

Verse 4 of 5

Jesus, I hang upon your Word,

I steadfastly believe

You will return and claim me, Lord,

And to yourself receive.

Verse 5 of 5

When God is mine, and I am His,

Of Paradise possessed,

I taste unutterable bliss,

And everlasting rest.

Charles Wesley

Sermon

 I don’t know about you but why is it that many people today feel a need to have a ‘Life Coach’?  The Website of the Life Coaching Institute of Australia states:

“Life Coaching is more than an occupation.  Coaching is an empowering and fulfilling journey that encourages self-discovery, self-awareness and self-responsibility.”

  (https://www.lcia.com.au/about#what-exactly-is-life-coaching) 

  Life coaches see their involvement in people’s lives as ‘transformational’, enabling people

to attain a greater level of personal fulfilment, or to lead a more stress-free family life. 

Screen 1

Miss Piggy

(https://media.istockphoto.com/id/171247331/photo/usa-miss-piggy-postage-stamp.jpg)

  Miss Piggy, a well-known and recognised figure of television shows Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, published a book in 1981 titled “Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life”  (as told to Henry Beard).  Included in the lifestyle advice contained in this book is this gem:

“Never eat more than you can lift.”

  (Reader’s Digest Quotable Quotes p151) 

  All three of today’s passages from Scripture talk of life, but, unlike the intended role of a life coach, and unlike what is written in “Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life”, these passages do not give advice as to how you can transform your life, they guide us as to how God can transform your life.

  Ezekiel lived with the people of Israel during their time of exile in Babylon  (Ezekiel 1: 1)  .  God gave him a vision of a valley covered with dry bones.  Peter Craigie, in his Commentary on the Book of Ezekiel, writes that “the scene is one of death, (with) the valley full of Human bones scattered haphazardly over the desert floor, the bones extremely dry as if they had baked in the Sun for many months”.  (Peter Craigie in Ezekiel p260)  Those to whom Ezekiel was writing would have been all too familiar with journeying through deserts and all too familiar with such sights of dried bones lying by the roadside.  The description one would give to such a sight is being one of dismal decay and desecration. 

Screen 2

“a valley where the ground was covered with bones”  Ezekiel 37: 1

(https://media.istockphoto.com/id/185324647/vector/valley-of-dry-bones-wood-engraving-published-1877.jpg)

  If that is so, how odd then for God to ask Ezekiel,

“Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”  (Ezekiel 37: 3a) 

  How could life come back to bones that are brittle and broken, emptied of bone marrow, with no means to restore life to them nor to sustain any life?  Ezekiel himself acknowledges that such a thing is beyond his understanding.  But it is here that God reveals who can bring life back to the bones and how it can be done.

  “God said,

“Tell these dry bones to listen to the Word of the LORD.”  (Ezekiel 37: 4) 

  This is reminiscent of Genesis 1, when we read of God creating by His Word.

“Then God commanded” we read.  (Genesis 1: 3a, 6a, 9a, 11a, 14a, 20a, 24a) 

  It is reminiscent of the commencement to John’s Gospel, where we read,

“From the very beginning the Word was with God.  Through him God made all things.  The Word was the source of life.”  (John 1: 2, 3a, 4a) 

  If God can create all things by His Word, He can recreate by His Word as well, for we read God saying to the bones,

“I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin.  I will put breath into you and bring you back to life.”  (Ezekiel 37: 6) 

Screen 3

“While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin.”  Ezekiel 37: 8

“Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up.”  Ezekiel 37: 10

(https://media.istockphoto.com/id/172799492/vector/valley-of-dry-bones.jpg)

  And that is exactly what Ezekiel saw, and he writes,

“While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin.”  (Ezekiel 37: 8)  ,

“Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up.”  (Ezekiel 37: 10) 

  We need to clarify what Ezekiel saw.

We see God making a promise; “I am going to”, “I will”.

We see God fulfilling this promise; “while I watched”.

We see God demonstrating His creative authority and power, which is His alone to exercise.

We see God fulfilling something that is beyond Human capacity to accomplish and beyond Human capacity to understand.

We see God fulfilling His will and purpose in real Time and Space and History.

We see God demonstrating His everlasting lovingkindness towards people.

  But this portion of Ezekiel’s account is only of a vision, a picture of God doing something extraordinary.  To what could it all be pointing? 

Screen 4

“we wept when we remembered Zion”  Psalm 137: 1

(https://media.istockphoto.com/id/172788173/vector/people-mourning-over-the-ruins-of-jerusalem.jpg)

  God answers just such a question that would have been in the mind of Ezekiel, when He says,

“Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones.  They say that they are dried up, without hope and with no future.”  (Ezekiel 37: 11) 

  And this brings to mind these very sentiments of the people of Israel expressed in Psalm 137,

“By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion.

On the willows near by we hung up our harps. .. How can we sing a song to the LORD in a foreign land?”  (Psalm 137: 1, 2, 4) 

  Artur Weiser, in his Commentary on Psalm 137, writes of this Psalm’s “great poetical power and forcefulness” in the way that it “reveals the sufferings and sentiments of people who experienced at first hand the grievous days of the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem in 587BC, and who shared the burden of Babylonian captivity.”, of their ”indignation at the arrogant mockery” of their overlords, of their “melancholy homesickness and physical separation from their homeland”, but, essentially, of the lament of their being physically unable to enter into the Temple in Jerusalem so as to be in the very  presence of God and to offer their worship of God.”  (Artur Weiser in The Psalms p794 & 795) 

  Thus we see the truth in God’s words, for the people of Israel, in their living in exile, saw themselves as dried up (like bones lying in the desert), without hope and with no future.”  (Ezekiel 37: 11) 

Screen 5

“I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land.”  Ezekiel 1: 14

(https://media.istockphoto.com/id/508942176/vector/return-of-the-israelites-from-the-babylonian-captivity.jpg)

  But that is not the vision of God, nor of His will and purpose for the people of Israel, for God states to Ezekiel,

“Mortal man, say to my people Israel that I am going to take them out and bring them back to the Land of Israel.”  (Ezekiel 37: 11 & 12) 

  What Ezekiel saw God doing to the dried bones in his vision, God will do for the people of Israel in the future, for God said,

“I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land.”  (Ezekiel 1: 14) 

  God will do the seemingly impossible, for it would not be the will and purpose of the rulers of Babylon to allow their captives to return to the land of Israel, they will do whatever it takes to retain them in exile.  But their will and purpose has been made in the absence of any consideration of the God of the people of Israel.  When Cyrus, Emperor of Persia, defeated the Nation of Babylon in 539BC, he issued this command to the people of Israel,

“now, all of you who are God’s people, go back to Jerusalem in Judah, and may the LORD your God be with you.”  (2 Chronicles 36: 23b) 

  In the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah we read of the exiles who returned to Judah from Babylon, (Ezra 2: 1 – 67, 8: 1 – 20, Nehemiah 7: 4 – 73)  , of the people who settled in or near Jerusalem, or who “settled in the towns where their ancestors had lived”  (Ezra 2: 70b)  , and of the joy associated with the commencement of the rebuilding of the Temple and the recommencement of the sacrificial worship  (Ezra3: 3, 11)  .

  Thus, what God had said to Ezekiel that He would do, was accomplished.

  We see in God’s intent the very things we saw in Ezekiel’s vision.

We see God making a promise; “I am going to”, “I will”.

We see God fulfilling this promise.

We see God demonstrating His authority and power, which is His alone to exercise.

We see God fulfilling something that is beyond Human capacity to accomplish and beyond Human capacity to understand.

We see God fulfilling His will and purpose in real Time and Space and History.

We see God demonstrating His everlasting lovingkindness towards people.

  But, again, we left with a question.  Is that it?  Is that the extent to which God seeks to work in the World?  Or is there more that God seeks to do?

  The World had to wait another 530 odd years to see that this wasn’t the end of God’s involvement in Time and Space and History, it wasn’t the end of God’s involvement in the life of Humanity.  There was more that God sought to accomplish in the World.

Screen 6

Jesus said, ”I am the gate for the sheep … I am the good shepherd”  John 10: 7 & 11) 

(https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1177522943/vector/shepherd-corralling-sheep-into-a-sheepfold.jpg)

  The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Church in Rome, says of the World of Humanity,

“God’s anger is revealed from Heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.  God punishes them, because what is known about God is plain to them, for God Himself made it plain.”  (Romans 1: 18 & 19) 

“They know God, but they do not give Him the honour that belongs to Him, nor do they thank Him.  Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness.”  (Romans 1: 21 & 22) 

“And, so, God has given these people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire,  ..  They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator Himself.”  (Romans 1: 24a & 25a) 

“Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, He has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do.  They are filled with all kinds of wickedness, evil, greed, and vice; they are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, deceit, and malice.”  (Romans 1: 28 & 29) 

“And, so, a person becomes an enemy of God when they are controlled by their Human nature; for they do not obey God’s Law, and, in fact, they cannot obey it.  Those who obey their Human nature cannot please God.”  (Romans 8: 7 & 8) 

  Elsewhere, Paul says,

“At one time you were far away from God and were His enemies because of the evil things you did and thought.”  (Colossians 1: 21) 

  There was, thus, in the lives of people in the time of Paul, a parallel with that of those in exile in Babylon, “far away from God”, having “empty minds filled with darkness”, refusing to keep in mind “the true knowledge about God”, but giving themselves over to what is corrupt and evil and degrading.  And you only need to look at the daily news of today and to read today’s daily newspapers to realise that the World of today is no different; without God, without hope, without peace of mind and soul, without life.

  Dr Nelson Bell was a medical missionary in northern China in the early to mid 20^th century.  You can read a biography written John Pollock about his time spent in China, which in our library.  It is titled “A Foreign Devil in China”.  In it Nelson Bell relates a favourite story of a Chinese pastor of a church located near the hospital at which he served.  It is a tale of a man who falls into a deep muddy hole.  A Confucian comes along, sees the man in the hole, and says to him, “If you had listened to me, you would not have fallen into that hole.”, and walks off.  A Buddhist comes along, sees the man in the hole, and says to him, “Come out of that hole and I can help you.”  Jesus Christ comes along, sees the man in the hole, jumps into the hole and lifts the man out.”  (Dr Nelson Bell as related to John Pollock in A Foreign Devil in China) 

  Only in Jesus is there hope for release from our current state of sinfulness and separation from God.

  Jesus uses the common imagery of sheep and the sheepfold to explain our relationship with God.  We are the sheep.  The sheepfold is where we need to be, that is, in fellowship and worship of God.  Jesus makes the stark claim that he is “the gatekeeper” to the sheepfold, the one on whom the sheep trust and can rely to grant them access to the sheepfold.  All others, Jesus is stating, who claim to know how to be in a right relationship with God, apart from the way being offered by Jesus, “are deceivers, spiritual charlatans depriving people of salvation that might otherwise be their”, as Randolph Tasker writes.  (Randolph Tasker in John  An Introduction and Commentary p128) 

  And what is the way being offered by Jesus?

  “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus states, “who is willing to die for the sheep.  No one takes my life away from me.  I give it up of my own free will.  This is what my Father commanded me to do.”  (John 10: 11, 18  a & c) 

  The good shepherd, as everyone at that time knew from their knowledge of local village life, would be asked to put their life on the line every time they took their sheep out to pasture on the hillsides, because it was their purpose to safeguard the life of the sheep, to ensure that the sheep enjoyed abundant life, and to bring them all back safely to the sheepfold at the end of the day.

  Such was the role Jesus chose to take upon himself.

Screen 7

“I give up my life of my own free will, as my Father commanded me to do.”  John 10: 18

  The Apostle Paul writes,

“For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time God chose.  ..  God has shown how much He loves us – it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5: 6 & 8) 

  Alan Catchpoole writes,

“Because we are ‘weak’, it was necessary that Christ die for us.  (Romans 5: 6)  .  The situation was so desperate that God had to take such drastic action as this!  What is more, it was also necessary that God reach out and touch the hearts of people that they might be saved.  Regeneration is indispensable  (John 3: 3)  .  Because of our condition, people stand in need of the intervention of “the exceeding greatness of God’s power”  ( Ephesians 1: 19)  .

  (Alan Catchpoole in The Wisdom that founded the Earth p116) 

  The Apostle Paul continues,

“By the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ we are now put right with God,  …  We were God’s enemies, but He has made us His friends through the death of His Son.”  (Romans 5: 9a & 10a) 

  To the Church is Ephesus, Paul writes,

“you, who used to be far away from God, have been brought near to God by the sacrificial death of Jesus.”  (Ephesians 2: 13) 

  The Apostle John writes,

“the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from every sin.  ..  Jesus Christ himself is the means by which our sins are forgiven.”  (1 John 1: 7, 2: 2a) 

  We see in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross the greatest fulfillment of the things about God which we saw in Ezekiel’s vision.

We see God making a promise.

We see God fulfilling this promise.

We see God demonstrating His authority and power, which is His alone to exercise.

We see God fulfilling something that is beyond Human capacity to accomplish and beyond Human capacity to understand.

We see God fulfilling His will and purpose in real Time and Space and History.

We see God demonstrating His everlasting lovingkindness towards people.

  It is with this understanding that the author of Psalm 130 writes,

“People of God, trust in the LORD, because His love is constant.  In Him you will find redemption overflowing.  For the LORD will save His people from all of their sins.”  (Psalm 130: 7 & 8)  For it is in this way that we see God’s transformational power, transforming people who once were God’s enemies to becoming God’s friends.

  William Barclay writes,

“When we walk with Jesus, when we seek to know who he is and what he means, there comes a new vitality, a superabundance of life.  It is only when we live with Christ that life becomes really worth living and we begin to live in the real sense of the word.”  (William Barclay in The Gospel of John volume 2 p60) 

  William Rigg, in his Commentary on the Gospel of John, writes,

“Eternal life is a present fact which the believer may have here and now, and has not to wait till after death.  This eternal life is inseparably connected with Christ.  No life worthy of the name can be considered apart from him.  He comes into the soul and impart to it the fulness of his life, his holiness  (John 17: 19)  , his peace  (John 14: 27)  , his joy  (John 15: 11, 17: 13)  , and, above all, his glory and oneness with the Father  (John 17: 21 to 23)  .  All these gifts are mediated through Christ’s presence in the believer’s own life: Christ live in him, and he in Christ.”  (William Rigg in The Fourth Gospel p239) 

  Thus, we have no need for an Earthly life coach, for we have one in Heaven, who experienced mortal life as we know it yet remained faithful to God, who yielded his mortal life for us so that we can know him as our Lord and Saviour, who promises abundant life for us now so that we can relish in the fellowship we have with him, and who promises abundant life for us for eternity in the very presence of God. 

  Frances Cox translated a hymn written by Johann Schultz which commences with these words,

“Sing praise to God who reigns above,

The God of all Creation,

The God of power, the God of love,

The God of our salvation.”

  (MHB415  AHB27  TiS110) 

  May this be our response to God’s lovingkindness and grace towards us.  Amen.

You are invited to listen or join in singing the Hymn  ‘All for Jesus!  All for Jesus!’  Hymns and songs number 1

The words are printed below:

Verse 1 of 5

All for Jesus!  All for Jesus!

This our song shall ever be;

You, our only hope, our Saviour,

Yours the love that sets us free.

Verse 2 of 5

All for Jesus, you will give us

Strength to serve you hour by hour;

None can move us from your presence

While we trust your grace and power.

Verse 3 of 5

All for Jesus, you have loved us,

All for Jesus, you have died,

All for Jesus, you are with us,

All for Jesus crucified.

Verse 4 of 5

All for Jesus, all for Jesus,

All our talents and our powers,

All our thoughts and words and actions,

All our passing days and hours.

Verse 5 of 5

All for Jesus!  All for Jesus!

This the Church’s song shall be

Till at last her children gather

One in him eternally.

William Sparrow-Simpson

Offering

Offering Prayer    

“For the life that you have given”  TiS774 

 [This YouTube clip is for another hymn but is used here for the tune, so disregard the words – only the one verse is needed.]

For the life that you have given,

For the love in Christ made known,

With these fruits of time and labour,

With these gifts that are your own:

Here we offer, Lord, our praises;

Heart and mind and strength we bring;

Give us grace to love and serve you,

Living what we pray and sing.

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Prayers for Others

Loving God, knowing of your love for all of Humanity, especially of your compassion for the needy, we come to you with our cares and our concerns.

We bring to you our prayers for the World around us and for people individually.

Holy Father in Heaven, we pray for the sick and the infirm, for those who feel abandoned or despondent, and for the hungry and the needy.  We pray for those with troubled minds or despairing with concerns and cares. 

Please give to them the peace of mind and soul that only you can provide.  Comfort those who mourn, please console them with your divine comfort.  Please renew the spirits of those who are broken with sorrow.

Caring God, bless and protect all programs that seek to bring aid to famine-stricken lands or that seek to aid those in our neighbourhoods who are unable to feed and clothe their family. 

Please encourage them with the knowledge that in serving others they are serving you.

God of all, you have ordered us to live lives as loving neighbours.  Though we are scattered over the Earth in different lands, speak different languages and are from different races, give us a loving concern for all people. 

May greed, war and a lust for power be curbed, and may all people desire to enter into a loving community, under your guidance and teaching.

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed, kindle in the hearts of all people the true love of peace.  Please guide with your wisdom the leaders of nations, so that they may agree and settle disputes peacefully, and use their knowledge and resources for the advancement of all and the elimination of need. 

Protect them from false accusations and the assassin’s attack.  Give to them patience and resilience in the face of abuse and provocation.

Merciful God, breathe new life into your Church.  Break through our sloth and indifference, giving us power to proclaim Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life for which all people are to seek. 

Free your Church from being shackled to the limited truths of political systems and secular philosophies.

(from Amish prayers p 59, Uniting in Worship Red Book p627 no. 12 and p628 no. 15, Raymond chapman in Leading Intercessions p17, Prayers for the Seasons of God’s People Year A p82)

  God of justice and peace, may we be your justice makers and your peacemakers, feeding the hungry, tending the sick, planting goodwill and sowing justice.  May your words give nourishment to the roots of our faith so that in our words and actions we can give nourishment to those in the Community in which we live and move.

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 the Hymn ‘Nothing but the blood of Jesus’  (Alexander’s Hymns No. 3 number 171)

Robert Lowry

Benediction    

‘Bounty’ by Elsie Campbell

“Lord, when I look around and see

The wonders of Your hand,

The glory and the majesty

Of sky and sea and land.

I am amazed that I should dare

To come to You and bring

My smallest doubts and fears, and ask

Your help in everything.

Yet, when I see each small flower’s face,

Fashioned with love divine,

I know Your bounty can embrace

A humble life like mine.”

[31^st Day in Sunlit Ways]

And may the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you always.  Amen.

Benediction Song

‘By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered’  TiS617

[This clip is for another hymn but is used here for the tune (Finlandia).  The words are printed below. Only the one verse is to be sung.]

Verse 1 of 1

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,

And confidently waiting come what may,

We know that God is with us night and morning

And never fails to greet us each new day.

We shall remember, all the days we live through,

All of our life before our God we lay.

Dietrich Bonhoffer

Translated by Frederick Pratt Green  (adapted)