Text
of the Week: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, Philippians
2:5
Happy
New Year!
Welcome
to our services on the very first day of the Year! And a special welcome to any
worshipping with us for the first time. Do join us for coffee after the service
and stay on for our bring and share lunch. We are then going to go on a gentle
walk through Sandford Park and Cox’s Meadow. Do join us if you can! Not only is
today the first day of the year, it is also the Sunday after Christmas. So we
are still very much in festive mood and Christmas is still in full swing. After
all the decorations don’t need to come down until Twelfth Night! Maybe the
spirit of Christmas is not just for this season. Maybe it’s for all the year
round. Let’s think again today of all the words we share over Christmas ... and
let’s think what it would be like if we kept those words to the fore of our
minds throughout the year. As the New Year begins let’s put Christ at the
centre of our lives, at the centre of our church life together, and at the
centre of all we do in the world at large. What a difference that would make!
Today’s the day for making New Year’s resolutions. Let’s renew our commitment
to Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives, of our church and of our world.
Welcome
and Call to Worship
85
Good Christians all, rejoice
Prayer
and the Lord’s Prayer
Who
is this Jesus?
Through
Advent as we lit our candles we shared the I am sayings of Jesus in John’s
Gospel. This morning we gave each person in the Congregation one of the I am
Sayings – with an invitation to respond to the invitation in each one of the
sayings to follow Christ.
1. Bread
“I
am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger.” John 6:35
2. Light
“I am the light of the world; he who fallows
Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John
8:12
3. Gate
“I am the gate; if anyone enters through Me,
he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9
4. Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd
lays down His life for His sheep.” John 10:11
5. Resurrection and Life
“I
am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he
dies.” John 11:25
6. Way, Truth, Life
“I
am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but
through Me.” John 14:6
7. True vine
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the
vinedresser.” John 15:1
* The divinity of Jesus Christ is further
illustrated in John 8:58. Jesus
said, “Truly, Truly, I say to you,
before Abraham was born, I am”, which means that Jesus existed before His human
life on earth.
Reading:
Luke 2:36-38
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MTS
15 Meekness and Majesty
Activities
for All Over 3
Renewing
our Commitment
Not
only is today the first day of the year, it is also the Sunday after Christmas.
So we are still very much in festive mood and Christmas is still in full swing.
After all the decorations don’t need to come down until Twelfth Night! Maybe
the spirit of Christmas is not just for this season. Maybe it’s for all the
year round. Let’s think again today of all the words we share over Christmas
... and let’s think what it would be like if we kept those words to the fore of
our minds throughout the year. As the New Year begins let’s put Christ at the
centre of our lives, at the centre of our church life together, and at the
centre of all we do in the world at large. What a difference that would make!
Today’s the day for making New Year’s resolutions. Let’s renew our commitment
to Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives, of our church and of our world.
Philippians
2:1-11 – the Congregation
90
See amid the winter’s snow
What
does it take to put Christ at the Centre of our Church life together? That was a question we explored in the last
of our GIFT course evenings before December’s church meeting: we then shared
those thoughts at that Church Meeting and bring them into church as a marker
today for the year ahead.
But
it’s something not just to hand down – but for all us to take to heart, own and
act on.
Let’s
begin with a statement.
A
Christ-centred church needs Christ-centred lives lived with Jesus’s priorities.
Something
we can put our hands up to.
But
that begs a question: what are Jesus’s priorities? You can answer that in
general terms and you can answer it very specifically of yourself. Think about
it a moment. What are Jesus’s priorities? And what are the priorities you sense
Jesus has for you this coming year?
A
time to share – but without feedback.
1. Focus on
people – accepted as they are and cared for
At
our church meeting that meant – we stressed the importance of Pastoral Care –
caring for one another. We stressed the importance of being welcoming. But we
posed another question – how do people know it is a ‘christ-centred’ welcome
and not a ‘social club welcome’?
The
ministry of ‘cake’ – Value of gatherings we have. Lunch. Café.
2. Focus
on their relationship with God – something organic not organized
The
importance of our own relationship with God. The need to be built around prayer
and grounded in prayer. – Focus on reading the Bible. Reflecting on it
together. Value of prayer. Prayer partner and prayer triplets. Focus for
prayer.
Absorbing
the teaching of Christ – and then acting on it. Taking risks. Rejecting things.
Taking a stand. Putting Christ’s teaching into practice in the church and in
the community.
Talking
about Christ – sharing our experiences our joys our sadnesses in such a way as
to rbing that presence of Christ into other people’s lives.
Being
prepared to talk about our faith – maybe that starts here – if we do it with
each other and find it is something we can do. Then we can do that with others.
What
we have to share is a relationship with God that comes through Christ and is
sustained by that presence of God in the Spirit. That’s something to be able to
share.
Take
the opportunity to share Christ – in messy church, film club, at lunch … maybe
in connection with our café space in some way.
Not
something we can organize.
Christ-centred
relationships within the church – yes, we can differ, but let’s differ in love.
Let’s seek understanding, acceptance, forgiveness of one another.
Christ-centred
relationship with others outside the church. Let’s take action in the community
and have Christ on our lips.
Christ-centred
teaching. This should be a space where we can learn more of Christ so that we
can sense his presence with us and sense his priorities for us.
Let’s
return to share once again …
Now
let’s share with each other – feedback. – What are the priorities Jesus has for
us individually and together as a church as the New Year dawns?
Four thoughts were
shared:
We
should have a concern to respond to the refugee crisis and have a heart of
welcome. That chimed in with much of the message that has come throughout
Christmas this year – the call to be
welcoming of the refugee as the Christ child found a welcome as a refugee. We
have been very much part of Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees in giving practical help
– but there is a need in our conversation, in our thinking and in what we share
with others to have a heart of welcome.
We
should reaffirm the power of prayer in binding up the wounds and divisions that
have come in our society in the wake of the Brexit decision and the divisions
that have arisen since. Our calling is to build bridges and be peace makers in
our own divided society and to reaffirm the power of prayer in healing those
divisions.
We
should tell the gospel story as it is a story that for so many people is not
known – how important not only to have Christ in our hearts but to have Christ on
our lips as we make known that story as much as we can.
We
should make sure we are aware of things that are happening in our town with
regard to the response we can make to the refugee crisis not least the events
that are happening in this current fortnight. https://www.facebook.com/Cheltenham-Welcomes-Refugees-442831152578210/
One
last thing was said at our Church meeting in December – it takes us back to
those seven I am sayings of Jesus.
A
very interesting observation.
Jesus
didn’t bother about what people thought of him.
He
was ‘I am’: we should be ‘we are’ and have the confidence to be ourselves.
Let’s
be ourselves individually – let’s not seek to play a part. Let’s be ourselves.
Open about our faith, but also about our questions, honest about our doubts and
honest about our convictions.
Let’s
be ourselves collectively as a church. This is us. Let’s affirm the people we
are – the strengths we have.
Let’s
affirm
-
the God we believe in as our Father,
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the Jesus we know together through our
teaching and through his risen presence with us,
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let’s realise we cannot do it in our own
strength, but depend entirely on the strength God gives in the Spirit that
bears the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And the gifts God gives us whatever
those gifts are.
Let’s
say with confidence we are God’s people in this place, we are the church Jesus
calls us to be, we are the body of Christ here in this place. And through all
we do, all we say, all we think and all we are let’s make Christ’s presence
known in such a way as to make a difference in our community and in the
individual lives of the people we meet this year.
78
Christians awake
Prayers
of Concern
197
Joy to the world
Words
of Blessing
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