Sunday, November 20, 2016

One with all God's people - especially in Syria and Iraq

Text of the Week: Then afterwards I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  Joel 2:28

Welcome to our services today and a special welcome to any worshipping with us for the first time. This morning is a Sunday Special. That means our children and young people are going to meet together in the first part of the service and then come through to church. In that first part of the service we will all of us, young and old alike, be preparing for our time of communion. In prayer and praise, in Bible reading and reflection, in preparing the table and in baking the bread we will be preparing to share in something that goes right back to Jesus and that night of his betrayal when he shared the Passover with his closest friends. The Passover meal is a family occasion in which the youngest member of the family has one of the most significant parts to play. As we gather around the table our younger members have something to give for all of us to receive. We invite all who love the Lord Jesus Christ to share with us in breaking bread and sharing the cup. Today is also a day when we join with Open Doors in praying for persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq. Please sign the petition that is available at church.


Morning Worship
Welcome and Call to Worship
STL 40 Lord we have come
Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Welcome to our services today and a special welcome to any worshipping with us for the first time. This morning is a Sunday Special. That means our children and young people are going to meet together in the first part of the service and then come through to church. In that first part of the service we will all of us, young and old alike, be preparing for our time of communion. In prayer and praise, in Bible reading and reflection, in preparing the table and in baking the bread we will be preparing to share in something that goes right back to Jesus and that night of his betrayal when he shared the Passover with his closest friends. The Passover meal is a family occasion in which the youngest member of the family has one of the most significant parts to play. As we gather around the table our younger members have something to give for all of us to receive. We invite all who love the Lord Jesus Christ to share with us in breaking bread and sharing the cup.

As we come together in a service that comes to its climax in the sharing of bread and the taking of the cup the first part of our service is a time of preparation – our children and young people are sharing in a time of preparation and then in the spirit of that family gathering they are going to share with us around the table.

Our preparation begins in praise of God.

The glory of God in creation. Think of one of those wonderful moments when there is that wonderful sense of the glory of God in creation. Maybe a mountop, maybe a coastal place, maybe the beauty of a flower, maybe the setting sun, caught here by Cynthia on Priory Terrace overlooking the church.

And glory in the God of creation.

There is much to praise God for.

It is this God who cares for each one of us, in this moment, here and now. As Jane Gonzalez reminded us in yesterday’s readings from Fresh from the Word, God holds us in his hands and cares for us. Julian of Norwich lived in the time of the plague, the black death, at a time of wawr and yet ~”she had utter faith in God’s loving providence. God loves us as a mother does her child, totally, completely, without string. God made us, he loves us and therefore he keeps us – treasured, safe, held in his loving hands.”

Julian of Norwich invites us to take a hazelnut and hold it in the palm of our hands – imagine you are holding something such as that.

And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazel nut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, 'What may this be?' And it was answered generally thus, 'It is all that is made.' I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.

In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it. But what is this to me? Truly, the Creator, the Keeper, the Lover.

It is in Jesus that that love becomes most real – God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

In this is love not that we lovd God but that he loved us and gave his son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.

God is love.

It is that love of God, that love that will not let us go that is in the words of a Psalm that was one of the great Psalms of Praise used at Passover – the great hallelujah Psalm. As we read these words, let’s make them our own.

O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD;
HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER!

Let Israel say,
   ‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
Let the house of Aaron say,
   ‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
Let those who fear the Lord say,
   ‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’

O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD;
HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER!

Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
   the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
   What can mortals do to me?
The Lord is on my side to help me;
   I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
   than to put confidence in mortals.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
   than to put confidence in princes.

O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD;
HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER!

I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
   but the Lord helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my might;
   he has become my salvation.

O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD;
HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER!

There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
‘The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
   the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
   the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.’
I shall not die, but I shall live,
   and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
   but he did not give me over to death.

O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD;
HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER!

Open to me the gates of righteousness,
   that I may enter through them
   and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord;
   the righteous shall enter through it.

O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD;
HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER!

I thank you that you have answered me
   and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
   it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
   let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
   O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD;
HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
   We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
   and he has given us light.

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
   you are my God, I will extol you.

O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD;
HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER!

Let’s join in celebrating the wonder of the God who loves us with a love that will not let us go, the God who is Creator, Lover, Keeper.

A Hy-Spirit song

So much is involved in what we share aroiund the Table – modern theorists remind us that we take things in and learn by hearing, by seeing, and by doing. Jesus knew that instinctively.

Here at the table we hear words of promise from Jesus.

Come to me all you that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

I am with you always to the end of the age.

Let’s hear those words and treasure them in our hearts.

We see – a table as it is being prepared for us, bread broken, a coup that has been poured out – and in our mind’s eye we see the body of Christ broken for us, the blood of Christ shed for us.  We look to the cross and see the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, that takes away the sin of each one of us and forgives and renews.

We see the bread cupped in our hands we see the fruit of the vine in the cup as we take it in our hands. As I hold the cup I see the beat of my pulse in the liquid in the glass – maybe that’s just me.

Then I do – I take the break, I drink the cup – and I sense this is real – just as the bread and the fruit of the vine is real so too the love of God in Christ is real – made real by the presence of God with us as we meet in the power and the strength of the Holy Spirit.

As we have heard and seen and done … so too then there is an invitation to put into action the things that we have heard and seen and done in the living of our lives.

Reading: John 13:3-5,12-15, 34-35

And during supper 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? 13You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.
34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

STL 29 Jesu, Jesu

One more thing is real to me as we gather here together.  It is that gathering together that is all important. It is not something we do on our own. It is the meeting together – people around us.

Jesus speaks of a new covenant in his blood. A Covenant is a partnership, a commitment, an agreement, a relationship – the story of the Bible is the story of God’s partnership, God’s commitment God’s relationship with all creation, with his people, with each of us.

The covenant with Noah is a Covenant of Peace with All Creation
(Genesis 9:8-17) that reminds us of God’s care for all creation and our responsibility to care for all creation.

The covenant with Abraham is a Covenant of Blessing for all Peoples
(Genesis 15:1-6) that reminds us that our relationship with God is built on faith and for the good of others

The covenant with Moses is a Covenant of Commitment sealed in blood (Exodus 24:1-11) and reminds us of God’s way for us to follow in the world and our commitment to follow the way of life he maps out for us.

The covenant with David is a a Covenant of Commitment to God’s Way (II Samuel 7:1-17) that is expected by God of those in power and gives them a responsibility to work for righteousness and justice.

The tragedy of the Old Testament is the tragedy of history and in a sense the tragedy of humanity: it’s the failure of people to keep their part of the covenant relationship. It is at the moment of greatest collapse that there is a vision shared by the pophets of that time.

They look to a new covenant that is written not on stone tablets but written in the heart.  (Jeremiah 31:31-34). It is a wonderful vision.

It’s that new covenant that is sealed by Jesus around the table in that supper – that new covenant that is written in our hearts as we are drawn into the closest of relationships with God in Jesus Christ by the unseen and yet so real power of the Holy Spirit.

To take the bread and drink of the cup is to re-commit ourselves to the partnership, the relationship, the covenant with God that is written in our hearts – that’s

·         a covenant of Peace with all creation
·         a covenant of Blessing for all peoples
·         a covenant of Commitment sealed in Christ’s blood
·         a covenant of Commitment to the God’s Way, Christ’s way of justice, peace and love.

That new covenant relationship binds us with each other.  We do not break bread and take the cup in isolation, on our own, in our own place. We come together with those we share a commitment to, those we know, those we are in that covenant partnership with.

It binds us together with all God’s people wherever they may be. A sense of togetherness in Christ.

Earlier in the year we had a time when we focused on the persecuted church and thought especially of our brothers and sisters in Christ facing persecution. Churches up and down the country and across the world are today especially remembering the Christians of Iraq and Syria with Open Doors.

PRAY AS NEVER BEFORE

Islamic extremists are intent on eradicating the church in the Middle East, but many courageous Christians are determined to stay and serve their communities. They're crying out to us - their global church family - for support.

"We need prayer, every day," says a church leader, speaking on behalf of displaced families in Iraq. "When we see pictures of IS (Islamic State) on the television, we're afraid. When we hear that IS has been driven back, we regain hope. Every day our feelings change. So please pray for us every day."

Christians in Iraq and Syria need our prayers and support more than ever before – and Sunday 20 November, the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church - provides a great opportunity to bring them hope.


Two things to take with us from this service – that little nut to remind us that we are in God’s hands, Created, Loved, Kept by God.

And a prayer by a Syrian Christian – and photos of Christians in Iraq and Syria. These are the people we are in that covenant with as we break bread and take of the cup.

Prayer by a Syrian Christian – Open Doors

Thank you, Lord,
For all that you have done and are still doing.
I trust your will is always good and finally
you will turn evil to good.
I know you are not silent, but patient…
But how long will it take, Lord?
I am looking forward to a new beginning
amongst my people.
My own desire is that evil will stop
and that we see your glory shine again in
the darkness.
I’m longing for healing, for restoration.
I cry out to you, Lord.
I’m longing for a new generation to take
their place in your kingdom,
To be the light and salt of this nation.
Help me to see my role in this
transformation.
Protect me and be with me.
Carry me, day by day.

And something for us to do





The powerfully moving words at the end of that prayer

Protect me and be with me.
Carry me, day by day.  Amen.

That love knows no limits.

It was most moving on Thursday to join in the University with people from other faith communities in Cheltenham where across the faith communities we share in a commitment to bring help and care and love to people whose lives are being damaged by those same extremists of all faiths in that region. Most moving to hear a refugee from Syria speaking of how much she treasured the wrlcome given here in Cheltenham to her family.

481 Love is his word

Prayers of Concern

480 Lord God your love has called us here

We share in communion

Communion Offering & Dedication

Praise and worship with Hy-Spirit

Words of Blessing

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