Your Kingdom Come

Welcome to our services today and a special welcome to any who are worshiping with us for the first time. Today is Sunday Special. This morning our children and young people are meeting first for breakfast and then to explore the faith together before joining us for the last part of our service as we share in the Lord’s Supper together. 

For forty days the risen Jesus appeared to his followers on different occasions and then came the moment when that brief time came to an end. Jesus parting words to his disciples were a promise and a challenge: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 

Then followed ten days of waiting. Or was it ten days of preparation? Whatever it was Luke leaves us in no doubt, they were ten days of prayer. 

Then on the fiftieth day after the day of resurrection it happened. They received power as the Holy  Spirit came upon them. The promise was fulfilled. And the disciples rose to the challenge and from that day on their story is the story of the way they bore witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ and the transformation it brings into people’s lives. 

We are invited to a special period of prayer for the ten days from the Day of Ascension on Thursday to the Day of Pentecost on 4^th June. The prayer is inspired by the Lord’s Prayer and that passage in Acts 1. Thy Kingdom Come. 

Almighty God, your ascended Son has sent us into the world 

to preach the good news of your kingdom:

inspire us with your Spirit 

and fill our hearts with the fire of your love, 

that all who hear your Word may be drawn to you, 

through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Welcome and Call to Worship

Praise and Worship with Hy-Spirit

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

In Praise of God

Psalm 46 – the Congregation

God is our refuge and strength,

   a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,

   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

though its waters roar and foam,

   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

   the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;

   God will help it when the morning dawns.

The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;

   he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

   the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord;

   see what desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;

   he burns the shields with fire.

‘Be still, and know that I am God!

   I am exalted among the nations,

   I am exalted in the earth.’

The Lord of hosts is with us;

   the God of Jacob is our refuge.

It’s so very easy just to say those words … let’s pause and think what is we have just shared in reading …

a Psalm

It’s Praise

It’s Prayer

It’s Poetry

What is poetry?

Poetry has a way of saying things that ordinary everyday language cannot quite achieve.

I’ve got a wonderful collection of modern poems called staying alive – it starts with a section of quotations headed Poets on Poetry.

This is what poetry is …

Coleridge: Poetry, the best words in the best order.

Yeats: Poetry is truth seen with passion.

Wordsworth: Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge … Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility …’

Christopher Logue – Poetry cannot be defined, only experienced.

The Book of Psalms is the poetry collection of the Bible – though by no means the only place in the Bible where poetry is found.

It helps to get the idea of how the poetry of the Bible works. It’s not built on rhyme. Instead there is an echo – the meaning of one line is echoed in the next line. The ideas of one line are paralleled in the next line. There’s a rhythm of ideas.

So this time those on the left facing the front will read the first idea … and then those on the right facing the front will be the echo …

And when it comes to THE most important  thought expressed in these words we will all say it together.

Let’s think of these words as

·         the breath and spirit of all knowledge

·         as truth seen with passion

·         as the BEST words in the best order

·         as something that cannot be defined … only experienced.

Psalm 46 – the Congregation

God is our refuge and strength,

   a very present help in trouble.

 Therefore we will not fear,

though the earth should change,

   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

though its waters roar and foam,

   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

   the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;

   God will help it when the morning dawns.

The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;

   he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

   the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord;

   see what desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;

   he burns the shields with fire.

‘Be still, and know that I am God!

   I am exalted among the nations,

   I am exalted in the earth.’

The Lord of hosts is with us;

   the God of Jacob is our refuge.

God is our refuge and strength,

   a very present help in trouble.

 Therefore we will not fear,

It cannot be defined … only experienced.

MTS 2 Be still for the presence of the Lord

How good are you at counting?

Sometimes we count the years – it’s the year of our Lord, 2017

This is the point when I will ask everyone to get up and we will all meet in the entrance to the church. Something very special greeted you – a host of golden … not daffodils but tulips and roses – because John and Trish are counting 50 years since they got married.

Yesterday was a day of celebrations at Highbury! And we’ve got the flowers to prove it. Here in the church, the wedding flowers. Claire, who has led Beavers and now Cubs for the last six years or so felt so much part of our extended church family that she chose Highbury for her wedding – Claire and Chris are therefore counting the days – and they are now into day 1

And as you arrived and as you leave in the porch flowers with a golden hue. If Chris and Claire are counting the days, John and Trish are counting the years – yesterday was their golden wedding anniversary.

So, counting the years this year is the Year of Our Lord, 2017.

What’s today for those who like counting the days?

A bit of a trick question!

It’s day 36 … and counting … since Easter. It’s very easy to think of Easter just as the weekend around two bank holidays. But Easter stretches further than that. It’s still the Easter period – when the risen Jesus shared much with his disciples. It’s fascinating to reflect what was it that the risen Jesus shared with his disciples in this period of resurrection. At the heart of the Christian Arts festival the Mark Drama. Nikki Seville is talking of commissioning a play around the resurrection appearances of Jesus.

Reading: Acts 1:1-3

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

What comes into your mind when Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God? What is ‘the kingdom of God’?

A time to share with each other in 2’s and 3’s

then some feedback

The clue for me lies in the Lord’s prayer.

Our Father who art in heaven, - heaven, not so much the place where you go when you die, but heaven, God’s realm, it’s where God’s way of doing things prevails.

Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come,

thy will be done.

The way Hebrew poetry works the idea is express – and then there’s the echo –

We’ve said it once … Let’s try saying the prayer in a different kind of way.

So this time those on the left facing the front will read the first idea … and then those on the right facing the front will be the echo …

And when it comes to THE most important  thought expressed in these words we will all say it together.

Let’s think of these words as

·         the breath and spirit of all knowledge

·         as truth seen with passion

·         as the BEST words in the best order

·         as something that cannot be defined … only experienced.

Our Father who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done

On earth

As it is in heaven.

Give us this day

our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory

forever and ever, Amen.

What is the kingdom?

It’s where God’s will is done

Where’s that – our prayer every day is that it is on earth as it is in heaven.

What is the kingdom?

It’s not our way of doing things – it’s God’s way of doing things

It may feel like a way of weakness – loving God, loving your neighbor, loving your enemy.

But make no mistake it is a way of strength and of power and of glory

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory

Forever and ever.

So it’s the power we need …

Reading: Acts 1:4-

4While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’

Jesus sets us a task.

It’s not just about coming together – it’s not just about – doing our best

It’s about witnessing to this Jesus – it’s about doing God’s will on earth as it is done in heaven – it’s about bringing that kingdom into people’s lives to make a difference in their lives.

Some mark it religiously. I never have. But this year I have been thinking of it.

If today is day 36 what is Thursday? Day 40.

It’s Ascension day.

It’s that rounding off of the life and teaching, the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Before the power of the risen Lord is let loose into the world in resurrection.

Notice what happens next

Reading Acts 1:9-14

 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

The come together for prayer.

It’s the betwixt and between time.

Count the days – it’s 10 days.

And that’s the invitation for us … to commit to pray.

And what is the prayer?

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

That God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Think specifically – how does that work out for you … how does that work out for each person in your family – how does that work out for the people you know – how does that work out in what’s going on in our nation at the moment – in the election – in the day to day living people experience around us – how does that work out in the face of the refugee crisis – how does that work out – maybe something each day … but from all of those can you think of one person you would pray for and one situation you woujld pray for through those ten days.

That thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

The prayer that is being shared …

Almighty God, your ascended Son has sent us into the world to preach the good news of your kingdom: inspire us with your Spirit and fill our hearts with the fire of your love, that all who hear your Word may be drawn to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Make real the kingdom

Video clip of your kingdom come by the Rend Collective

Prayer for those things – and for one in particular.

 Songs of Worship

Dedication of Christian Aid gifts

This year is the 60th Christian Aid collection and in a moment we are going to receive the gifts that have been collected ... Christian Aid was the British churches' response to the  refugee crisis after the second world war. By the time of the first street collection that was still a major crisis. As we face another refugee crisis in Europe it is still as important as ever.

Intercessions (based on John 14:1-10)

Lord, who spoke the words of comfort,

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’,

we come to you with troubled hearts.

Troubled for those in Syria,

still enduring the suffering of war.

Troubled for those in Afghanistan,

enduring the trauma of torture.

Troubled for those in Yemen,

enduring famine and conflict.

Troubled for those in South Sudan,

enduring displacement once again.

Troubled for those in Haiti,

having to rebuild their lives and hopes.

Troubled for those in Bangladesh,

living in fear of the river rising.

Troubled for those in Greece,

stuck in the trauma of refugee camps.

And with our troubled hearts we turn to you,

believing in you and in your promise

that if we ask for anything, you will do it.

We ask that those dwelling places,

those many rooms you spoke of,

would not just be for the few, then,

but also for the many, here and now.

We still believe in life before death

and so we pray for life abundant

for those who have been refused hospitality

by those who have many rooms.

Help us to change the story

from rejection to refuge

from displacement to

a safe place to call home

for all this Christian Aid Week.

So help us God,

Amen

Dedication of Christian Aid gifts

Hy-Spirit song

The children and young people returned to lead us in

The Lord’s Supper

Communion Offering & Dedication

Praise and Worship

My lighthouse

Words of Blessing

Retiring Collection

I bore you on eagles' wings

Evening Praise

Welcome and Call to Worship

408 I come with joy

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Exodus 19:1-9

At the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.’

 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. The people all answered as one: ‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.’

Psalm 103 – the Congregation

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

   and all that is within me,

   bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

   and do not forget all his benefits—

who forgives all your iniquity,

   who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the Pit,

   who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good as long as you live

   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

   and all that is within me,

   bless his holy name.

The Lord works vindication

   and justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,

   his acts to the people of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

   and all that is within me,

   bless his holy name.

He will not always accuse,

   nor will he keep his anger for ever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

   nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

   so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

   so far he removes our transgressions from us.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

   and all that is within me,

   bless his holy name.

As a father has compassion for his children,

   so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.

For he knows how we were made;

   he remembers that we are dust.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

   and all that is within me,

   bless his holy name.

As for mortals, their days are like grass;

   they flourish like a flower of the field;

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

   and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

   on those who fear him,

   and his righteousness to children’s children,

to those who keep his covenant

   and remember to do his commandments.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

   and all that is within me,

   bless his holy name.

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

   and his kingdom rules over all.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

   you mighty ones who do his bidding,

   obedient to his spoken word.

Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

   his ministers that do his will.

Bless the Lord, all his works,

   in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul

   and all that is within me,

   bless his holy name.

1 Peter 1:3-9 and 2:9-10

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,

kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God

through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice,

even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials,

so that the genuineness of your faith

—being more precious than gold that, though perishable,

is tested by fire—

may be found to result in praise and glory and honour

when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Although you have not seen him, you love him;

and even though you do not see him now,

you believe in him

and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,

for you are receiving the outcome of your faith,

the salvation of your souls.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

God’s own people,

in order that you may proclaim

the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness

into his marvellous light.

Once you were not a people,

   but now you are God’s people;

once you had not received mercy,

   but now you have received mercy.

38 Praise my soul the king of heaven

I bore you on eagles’ wings

It’s been great to share our art exhibition again this year. If you haven’t been round to look at the pictures already then do make sure you don’t miss the opportunity!

In the corridors the U3A class have shared paintings on the theme of wings. I was talking to one of the ladies about her picture only this week. It’s a small painting in a box frame to the left as you start the exhibition in the cross corridor.

It’s actually a painting of a painting.

She explained that she belongs to St Nicholas’ church and each year someone from the church family is invited to paint a design on the paschal candle. Lit for the first time on Easter Sunday it then stands in the church for the rest of the year and is lit at services and on special occasions.

This year she had painted the candle – hard to paint on a cylinder and on wax. You have to wipe it down with white spirit she explained and then you can paint on it with Acrylics.

She had chosen to paint a very simple dove of peace and then to paint the letters of the word Peace down the candle.

Having completed the candle that is now in use through the year she then painted a painting of the painting.

And that is in our corridor.

Peace – a simple message as the light of the risen Christ comes into our world.

We took the opportunity on election day to open the doors of the church as Jacqui who has shared her pictures in church with us sat in church to look after them. It was great to see people having a look into the church.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could have someone in church through the day on the day of the election – welcoming people into church, and simply being in church in quiet prayer.

With the work the youngsters have done, an eagle in flight that Judi has shared from Moffatt, my eye has fallen again and again on the installation the youngsters did with Mary.

If you haven’t already, have a look at some of those wonderful texts that speak of wings. You are invited to reflect on those verses and then put your name on a feather and add it to the painting under the wings if you feel in need of the shelter of the God who cares for us ceaselessly or on the rising wing if you feel you are rising up with eagles.

Is it an invitation or a statement.

I want to pick out four thoughts from Exodus 19 – a reading that sets the scene for some of the readings this week from Fresh from the Word.

I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

40 years ago when we moved to Harden just outside Bradford we got to know the Dales Minister who was based in Grassington but toured the Congregational Churches of the Yorkshire Dales. George Curry was a wonderful character who had in his younger days served in mission work among the Inuit peoples of Canada. He had a love of the wild and rugged places and especiall the wild and rugged places of the Isle of Skey. He would go there each year with his camera in the days before digital photography and take the most wonderful black and white photographs of eagles.

The most majestic of birds they soar high above the most rugged and wildest terrain and have a strength that has moved countless generations.

This is not an invitation.

This is not a promise for the future.

This is a reminder of the God who has been in our lives to restore and to refresh and to renew.

I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

Our gathering around the Lord’s Table to share in the Lord’s Supper is a time of remembering. What is it we remember? The night on which Jesus was betrayed – yes indeed and his body broken for us and his blood shed for us.

But more than that let us remember the way God has been in our lives in the past that is behind us. Those moments when God bore us on eagles’ wings and brought us to himself.

May be a time of recovery after illness, a time of comfort after sorrow, a time of peace after distress.

Let’s bring to mind those moments when God bore us on eagles’ wings and brought us to himself.

God brings us to himself for a purpose – he gives us care and love and peace and blessing not just for ourselves but so that that can make a difference to other people.

That leads me to my second phrase – that we need to hold on to here in this place around this table as we gather together in his name.

you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.

What should I call you? It’s a question people often ask.  And it was asked of me again this week. They call me ‘the minister’ of the church, I said, but I answer to lots of other things as well, most of them polite!

Are you a priest? Is a question I am also asked. And this time I am a bit more careful.  It would be easy to say, no I am not a priest: we don’t set people aside to be priests in our way of being church. Our way of being church is rooted in the Bible and in the New Testament the word ‘priest’ is not used of a particular role in the church.

Instead Peter picks up on this verse from Exodus and he reminds us that we are all, everyone of us who follows in the footsteps of Jesus, we are all called to be a priestly kingdom.  It’s often described as the priesthood of all believers.

A priest is a bridge builder – who brings God’s presence into people’s lives and brings people into God’s presence – a priest brings the blessing of God’s forgiving love from God to people and brings people into the presence of God in his wonderfully rich forgiving love.

And that’s our task. Each one of us

We are be a priestly kingdom – we seek to bring the good of God into the life of the world around us.

In small ways, in big ways, in all that we do.

Some task!

That takes some commitment.

And that’s what we mark here at this table as well.

What binds us together is the new covenant that is in Christ’s blood. This is a covenant meal, a celebration in which we delight in the covenant God makes with us.

A covenant is a two way thing – it is an agreement, a partnership, a relationship between us and between God and us too.

So this is the commitment we are called upon to make – the commitment the people of God made long ago.

The third of the phrases that caught my eye in this passage.

The people all answered as one: ‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’

That’s our commitment – what is it the Lord has spoken? Read on to Exodus 20 and you come to the 10 commandments.

They are summed up by Jesus in the two great commandments.

This is what God has spoken, this is what we are called to do.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 

 You shall love your neighbour as yourself

It was at the table that Jesus shared a new commandment

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

That’s the word God has spoken. That’s what we must do. In pastoral care through our church family, at work, at home, with family, with neighbours – with those it’s hard to get on with.

This is what God has spoken. This is what we are called to do.

I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.

‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’

Do you find things scary?

I do!

Though over the years I have forced myself to go on the ghost train in a fun fair.

Do you thind things scary?

The future is a scary place.

There are so many uncertainties in our world.

There are so many uncertainties in our own personal lives.

There are so many uncertainties.

So what is certain?

When he came into Jerusalem the fine buildings of the city looked certain – but Jesus knew not a stone would be left on another.

What is certain?

Heaven and earth will pass away …

Here around the table we are together in the presence of Christ remembering his body broken his blood shed for us. But we are also very much in the present – living now – in the presence of the Christ who is with us.

But we also look forward.

We look to a heavenly banquet – there are those words that I quote so often from the archaic language of the AV

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

²⁶ For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

It hangs in the air and has a mystery about it.

But one thing is sure Christ Jesus will come to take us to be with him in the glory of God’s presence.

It was at the table he said those most wonderful of words.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Believe in God, believe also in me. 

In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places.

If it were not so,

would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again and will take you to myself,

so that where I am, there you may be also. 

That’s the promise in the final set of words from Exodus 16 I want to share this evening.

I am going to come to you

That’s the certainty we hold on to!

Let’s look back and give thanks

I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

Let’s share the blessing of God’s forgiving love with all around us

you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.

Let’s commit ourselves to love God, to love our neighbor

‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’

And let’s be sure as we hear again the word of God in the words of Jesus

I am going to come to you

… to restore and renew to be with you forever.

504 Church of God

Prayers of Concern

Offering and Dedication

399 Come, risen Lord

The Lord’s Supper

Communion Offering &

Dedication

611 Lord, now let your servant

Words of Blessing