The God of Creation

It’s a special day for us – our 40^th wedding anniversary – and thanks to Helen for those words. And at our Church Meeting on Thursday we shared the news that Felicity and I will be retiring next July and moving to Bridgend. It was good to share in prayer for us and for the church family – and have that sense of going forward together.

In the first service we had here in Highbury I chose All things bright and beautiful and our then Director of Music, Derek, explained why our hymn book had missed out one of the verses – it was so out of date and no longer relevant. It was the one that one of the verses couldn’t be sung anymore as children no longer played in meadows. That really upset Felicity and me because we had just moved from the Shropshire villages of Pontesbury and Minsterley where Dave and Phil would play in the fields right by our house. We felt a bit bad moving when they were 8 and 5 from all their friends.

I guess you always feel bad moving on – and we will too – but that’s the great thing about family and church family too  – that we’re always there for each other – and that’s what counts more than anything else.

But today I didn’t actually choose it for that reason.

In the summer we had a great few days with Lake in a remote farmhouse in the mountains above Bala. On the Saturday Lake was setting off with Dave and Rebecca for Cornwall so we had to be back in good time. We could have chosen the A5 and the motorway but it was going to be incredibly busy and in all likelihood slow. So we took the road over the mountains to Welshpool, Craven Arms, Ludlow and home.

 And the mountains were covered in heather – and were stunning. They really were purple headed mountains.  Breathtaking views that filled you with wonder and awe

So, with the verse our new hymn book also misses out added in …

137 All things bright and beautiful

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

All creatures great and small

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small.

Andrea’s fossil – walking the dogs

And all the creepy crawly things in the garden … not least in my cabbage!

Picking things in the garden – and there are insects – worms, bees, butterflies

Reading: Matthew 18:10-14

“See that you don't despise any of these little ones.

Their angels in heaven, I tell you,

are always in the presence of my Father in heaven.

“What do you think a man does who has 100 sheep

and one of them gets lost?

He will leave the other 99 grazing on the hillside

and go and look for the lost sheep.

When he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep

than over the 99 that did not get lost.

In just the same way your Father in heaven

does not want any of these little ones to be lost.

A Hy-Spirit song

Activities for all over 3

I want you to think of two things – think of a really stunning building that you’ve seen – and think of a really stunning view – the kind of building and the kind of view that makes you say, Wow, that’s amazing!

Pause to share with people around you

I just want you to hold on to those two thoughts.

On Sunday, September 23^rd I was up again fairly early.

How, you might ask, do I know that I was up early on Sunday 23^rd September. Well it was the first time I had done it … and it’s something I have done ever since for special events I have been to and lots of holidays. It’s in my journal.

The first entry was Wednesday 29^th August, 1973.

9-26 Depart Leicester, Arr London St Pancras at 10-55. St Pancras to Victoria, arrived at Victoria 11-30 to find all gates to the station lockd – crowds sitting and lounging on pavements outside station: bomb scare! Good start, but it turned out only to be a hoax. 11-45 gates to station opened, met Paul.

Troubled times in London then.

College friend, Paul, and I were catching the boat train to link up with the Orient Express that was to take us to Istanbul and down the Turkish coast to Kusadasi, back to Izmir and over to  Athens.

It was in Athens, on Sunday, Setpember 23^rd that I was up again fairly early. We had breakfast in a really nice sandwich bar, then to St Paul’s Anglican church for a service with a strange sermon that seemed to go round in circles without really getting anywhere.

Reading a journal is fascinating because you spot things that have been part of you ever since – and I don’t mean preaching sermons that go round in circles without really getting anywhere.

From the service to a square for an orange – Athens has some really nice squares.

I don’t think my journal will ever get published.  But everything really was very nice! Not least the letters I received from Mum and Dad and from my then girlfriend – in the days before texting we used the Post restante at the major post offices – Those really were the days. And lovely to re-read those letters.

From there towards the Acropolis and past to what we thought was the Areopagus, where we read Paul’s sermon to the Athenians.

And this is what we read.

Reading: Acts 17:22-31

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said,

“For we too are his offspring.”

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.’

Back to my Journal.

Reading Paul’s sermon on the top [of the Areopagus] it was easy to imagine the situation with the breath-taking views of mountains [all around Athens] and the sea [glistening in the distance] and then the Parthenon [in all its splendour] on the neighbouring hill.

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands …”

This really is something that has stayed with me.

Seeing the incredible architecture now – in ruins. What it must have been like then!  Nothing to compare with it.

And Paul arriving in Athens has his breath taken away by the incredible architecture. It really is impressive.

But then lift your eyes around and see the stunning beauty of nature – and it’s even more amazing.

The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.

That still amazes me – and draws me to the wonder of the God of creation. I am stirred by magnificent architecture and then think how much more wonderful the God of creation.

Paul draws on the ancient stories that come alive in every generation from the Hebrew Scriptures and the great poets known so well by those Athenians and reflects on the way built into our very being as humans is that search for God, questing after something beyond …

From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said,

That draws me.

I wonder at the awesome nature of God in creation.

For me even as there is an instinct that reaches out and searches for God – this God of creation reaches out to us just where we are, as we are.

Paul goes on to focus on Jesus and the story of Jesus –

For me searching after the God of creation and meaning in  life only gets me so far.

But I want then to focus on Jesus – and all he means too.

And then that takes me further.

Jesus opens up a sense of God as the God of love who asks of us to adopt a lifestyle filled with love for one another, love for our neighbours and love for God.

In the Gospels the message Jesus preached and the message he asked us to share begins

Repent and believe in the good news.

Repent – a word much misunderstood. Not just say sorry for all we have done – much stronger than that. Have a whole new way of thinking.

A way of thinking that builds life on a commitment to love in the way God has loved us through Christ Jesus his son.

That’s a way of life to commit to.

Forty years ago, 17^th September was of course a Saturday.

Interestingly, on Sunday September 18^th 1977 I was up at the crack of dawn (well nearly!) for an excellent breakfast and then out to Ashbourne and to Church.

But maybe the journal I kept of that holiday I’ll keep for another occasion.

What we are going to do is to sing one of our two wedding hymns. Still a hymn that’s a favourite of ours.  And it has made it into the new hymn book we have recently acquired.

497 Almighty Father, of all things that be

1 Almighty Father of all things that be,

our life, our work, we consecrate to Thee,

whose heavens declare Thy glory from above,

whose earth below is witness to Thy love.

2 For well we know this weary soilèd earth

is yet Thine own by right of its new birth,

since that great cross upreared on Calvary

redeemed it from its fault and shame to Thee.

3 Thine still the changeful beauty of the hills,

the purple valleys flecked with silver rills,

the ocean glistening neath the golden rays;

they all are Thine, and voiceless speak Thy praise.

4 Thou dost the strength to worker's arm impart;

from Thee the skilled musician's mystic art,

the grace of poet's pen or painter's hand,

to teach the loveliness of sea and land.

5 Then grant us, Lord, in all things Thee to own,

to dwell within the shadow of Thy throne,

to speak and work, to think, and live, and move,

reflecting Thine own nature, which is love:

6 That so, by Christ redeemed from sin and shame,

and hallowed by Thy Spirit's cleansing flame,

ourselves, our work, and all our powers may be

a sacrifice acceptable to Thee.

Ernest Dugmore (1843–1925)

Prayer and worship with Hy-Spirit

Prayers of Concern

659 Put peace into each other’s hands

The Lord’s Supper

We remain seated to sing as a prayer from a 16^th century book of hours one of those prayers I recall from my childhood, one I often choose to finish communion with  and one that has always meant the world to me – a prayer for each of us.  …

538 God be in my head

God be in my head, and in my understanding;

God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;

God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;

God be in my heart, and in my thinking;

God be at mine end, and at my departing.

Book of Hours (1514)

Words of Blessing

“See that you don't despise any of these little ones.

Their angels in heaven, I tell you,

are always in the presence of my Father in heaven.

“What do you think a man does who has 100 sheep

and one of them gets lost?

He will leave the other 99 grazing on the hillside and go and look for the lost sheep.13When he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep than over the 99 that did not get lost.14In just the same way yourFather in heaven does not want any of these little ones to be lost.

Living a life of prayer

You, Lord, are in this place,

Your presence fills it.

Your presence is peace.

You, Lord, are in my heart,

Your presence fills it.

Your presences is peace.

You, Lord, are in my life,

Your presence fills it.

Your presence is peace.

       Amen.

Morning Worship

Welcome and Call to Worship

189 Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy one is here

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Reading: Matthew 4:23-25

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison,

he went away to Galilee.

He did not stay in Nazareth,

but went to live in Capernaum,

a town by Lake Galilee, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.

This was done to make what the prophet Isaiah had said come true:

“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

on the road to the sea, on the other side of the Jordan,

Galilee, land of the Gentiles!

The people who live in darkness

will see a great light.

On those who live in the dark land of death

the light will shine.”

Jesus went all over Galilee,

teaching in the synagogues,

preaching the Good News about the Kingdom,

and healing people who had all kinds of disease and sickness.

The news about him spread through the whole country of Syria,

so that people brought to him all those who were sick,

suffering from all kinds of diseases and disorders:

people with demons, and epileptics, and paralytics

— and Jesus healed them all.

Large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Ten Towns,

from Jerusalem, Judea, and the land on the other side of the Jordan.

Jesus the healer

You wouldn’t believe it now, but she was living in darkness, she was living in the dark land of death … and then the light shone into that darkness.

Her life was changed … completely … and all because of Jesus’s care and love

There’s nothing I like better than baking.

Baking bread for my family

Baking bread for my friends

Baking bread for people to buy

People smell my baking … and say I do it so well.

You must have been doing it all your life, they say.

But I haven’t.

There was a time when I just wasn’t well enough to do any baking.

That was a time when people didn’t want to have anything to do with me.

Even my family and all but the best of my friends wouldn’t even touch me.

They said I couldn’t belong.

I couldn’t go near the kitchen and they wouldn’t touch anything I’d touch … and they would keep their distance and I had to keep my distance.

It’s the most natural thing in the world … to bleed.

You get a little cut and you bleed – hold it tight and it stops bleeding.

It’s the most natural thing in the world when older girls bleed – it happens each month and then it stops.

It’s the most natural thing in the world.

But what happened to me wasn’t natural.

The bleeding … it just wouldn’t stop.

It kept coming – only a little, but enough.

For twelve long years I had been suffering … and no one could help me.

I had been to the doctors, but no one could help.

Then one day there was a great crowd and a great excitement.

Someone was in town I had heard about and longed to see.

The whisper went round … it’s Jesus.

He wouldn’t see me, I thought, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if he did.

I was careful to wrap myself up in long flowing robes so no one would recognize me.

I was careful not to touch too many people – but that was hard it was such a big crowd.

And then I was next to him.

All I wanted to do was to touch the robes he was wearing.

I did.

And something happened.

The bleeding, it stopped.

I knew something had changed.

I wanted to melt away into the crowd … but I couldn’t.

The crowd had gone quiet.

Jesus had stopped.

Someone has touched me, he said.

I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what to say.

His friends were all telling him everybody had been touching him, the crowd was so big.

But I knew he had been touched … by me.

Someone has touched me, he said, I felt power flow from me.

And then I stood.

I caught his eye. And he didn’t turn away.

He just looked me in the eye.

And then he said those words I will never forget.

No one had called me that for such a long time.

Take heart. – I needed that strength

Daughter, he said as if I belonged.

Your faith has made you well,

That’s all.

I didn’t see him again.

But I was changed. I was better.

I could make friends again – I was part of the family again –

And now …

There’s nothing I like better than baking.

Baking bread for my family

Baking bread for my friends

Baking bread for people to buy

People smell my baking … and say I do it so well.

You must have been doing it all your life, they say.

Not quite, but I’ve been doing it ever since the darkness ended and the light began to shine in that moment I touched Jesus.

What a wonderful story of Jesus the healer who makes things well.

A Hy-Spirit Song

Activities for all over 3

The Beatitudes – the Congregation

It’s easy to think of them as the start of the most powerful teaching in the world, the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.

But the Jesus, Matthew has just introduced us to, is not just Jesus the teacher, he is Jesus the healer. He is Jesus the healer who invites us to share that love he has for people as we bring healing into a hurting world and as we live a life of prayer, prayer that makes a difference.

I want to return to the Beatitudes. As we share in the words of the Beatitudes let’s see in our mind’s eye Jesus bringing the light of his love into the darkness of our world, bringing his healing touch into the hurts that can be so overwhelming.

Sometimes things happen that make it feel dark inside, and the darkness saps the strength we once had. Things weigh heavily deep inside – and we feel poor in spirit. It is for our sake, Jesus said …

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

There is a darkness to loss that can so quickly overwhelm. The darkness saps the strength we once had. Things weigh heavily deep inside … and we mourn. It is for our sake, Jesus said …

 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

There’s a darkness that makes us feel so low, so inadequate. We would love to stand tall, be strong, make a difference … but somehow we can’t. Others do the things that matter … things weigh heavily deep inside … It is for our sake, Jesus said,

 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

There’s a darkness in our world that fills us with rage. The injustice of it all. It’s not fair. – how we long for things to be different, for justice to come. It is for our sake, Jesus said,

 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

There’s a darkness in the spirit that can bring itself to forgive. A rift that opens up never to be filled. And sometimes it’s hard. So hard to have mercy. It is for our said, Jesus said,

‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

There’s a darkness deep within as we know our failings, our weaknesses, our inadequacies. It is to us that Jesus reaches out to restore and renew and for our sake, Jesus said,

 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

There’s a darkness in division that tears people apart, families apart, communities apart, nations apart. How easy it is to forget. It is for our sakes Jesus says,

 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

And sometimes none of it seems to work. The darkness closes in once again – it is the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers who lose everything, and those who take seriously the way of Jesus who face the vilest of persecutions. It is for our sake, Jesus says,

 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The people who live in darkness

will see a great light.

On those who live in the dark land of death

the light will shine.”

448 Lord, the light of your love is shining

Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt.

It’s the things we do all the time that we so easily take for granted.

And yet the things we do all the time are the things that matter most.

It’s when something we take for granted doesn’t work and goes wrong then we start to worry.

If Google’s anything to go by you and I do it roughly 16 times a minute. Put that another way we do it 960 times in an hour, 23,040 times a day, 8,409,600 times a year. I am pretty sure I am up to 538,214,400 … though I have to confess, I haven’t been counting.

Taking a breath is just what you do – all of us. It’s what keeps us going.

And when all is going well we don’t think about it, we just do it.

But if something happens and it doesn’t go well, then we cannot help but think about it.

There’s a wonderful hymn I love that speaks of prayer as if it were breath …

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,

The Christian’s native air,

Our watchword at the gates of death,

We enter heaven with prayer.

A time to share

Can you think of a moment when prayer has made a difference? Or a moment when prayer has been very difficult?

A time to share

I have a feeling Jesus recognized that prayer could sometimes be very difficult. His followers needed to be taught how to pray … and when it came to the crunch not even the closest of those followers could stay awake to pray just for an hour.

Jesus also knew the difference prayer makes … it’s what he did when he went to be alone at the news of his cousin, John’s death. It’s what he did out thee in the garden, it’s what he did on the cross.

And it’s what he wants us to do.

Reading: Matthew 6:5-15

‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites;

for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues

and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

But whenever you pray,

go into your room and shut the door

 and pray to your Father who is in secret;

and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 ‘When you are praying,

do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do;

for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Do not be like them,

for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

 ‘Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,

   hallowed be your name.

   Your kingdom come.

   Your will be done,

     on earth as it is in heaven.

   Give us this day our daily bread.

   And forgive us our debts,

     as we also have forgiven our debtors.

   And do not bring us to the time of trial,

     but rescue us from the evil one.

For if you forgive others their trespasses,

your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

but if you do not forgive others,

neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

It’s my conviction that prayer works and healing happens.

That story of the woman with the issue of blood is a story that to me is very powerful and means the world. The power of the story lies in the touch and in the words of Jesus …

‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’

I don’t have stories to tell of remarkable miracles happening

I don’t have stories to tell of dramatic times of prayer making a difference.

I do bear witness to the fact that prayer works and healing happens.in ways that are beyond our understanding.

It was quite moving to hear Felicity tell the story of Howard Somervell: in the three years before we married she was the dietician at the Walsall Manor Hospital. She went along to a prayer group she found a little frustrating as it had nothing to do with the people she was concerned with. Then she joined another that included a couple of the consultants who prayed for those they were treating … seeing prayer and their practice of medicine as but two sides of the same coin.

At the time I belonged to a Baptist church in Bangor where I was training for the ministry. Most Sundays found me out and about taking services and preaching in churches in Anglesey and Gwynedd so I committed to going to the weekly prayer meeting and Bible study. One of those who belonged was a consultant and each week we prayed for healing: medicine and prayer but two sides of the same coin.

When we married we settled in Harden and it was good to go back a couple of months ago. In the last year we were there we were joined in the village by an Anglican Vicar who introduced us to services where we shared in the anointing of oil and the laying on of hands for healing. We’ve exchanged Christmas cards ever since and he has gone into chaplaincy ministry in the hospitals of Leeds.

We moved to Pontesbury and Minsterley in Shropshire to find that our GP was also a leading figure in our Pontesbury church and again we found ourselves sharing in prayers with the laying on of hands for healing. I found myself working in chaplaincy at Shropshire’s big psychiatric hospital.

In my pastoral ministry such prayer has continued. Such services may not have been a part of my ministry here at Highbury, but such prayer for healing has been.

Something has happened in all that ministry that brings me back to that touch of Jesus and those words he shared with that woman in the crowd.

In chaplaincy in a psychiatric hospital, in those I have in some ways been closest to in my pastoral ministry, in the illnesses that people have had in my close family, I have been aware that for those illnesses there is no simple cure. Indeed, for many of those illnesses there has been no cure.

Sometimes I wonder: is my faith not strong enough, my prayer not sincere enough.

I hear of other churches that speak of prayer that leads to miraculous cure – am I in the wrong place? Do I pray in the wrong way?

Troubling questions at times … but questions I find myself resolving as I come back to that touch of Jesus and those words he shared.

The story is in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Luke, the physician, is the one who notes how the woman had been to see lots of doctors and none had been able to help. Matthew it is, who includes one extra word in what he says finally to the woman.

The NRSV translates that one word with two English words and I cannot think of a single word in English that would do.

Take heart.

It’s a rich word.

Take courage.

Be brave isn’t quite right.

Be strong … maybe.

Draw on that strength you cannot have on your own, that comes from beyond you. Jesus had spoken of the way ‘power’ had gone from him.

It’s strength.

Think of prayer as a shopping list of requests – and it won’t be long before it disappoints.

Think of prayer as the Christian’s vital breath. It is something that connects us with God, that connects us with that strength from beyond ourselves that we need day by day.

Do that, and prayer takes on a power of its own.

Just to come alongside someone, just to be there with them, quietly praying – and sensing a strength from beyond ourselves to see us through. That strength I have seen – that strength I witness to.

Jesus goes on to address this woman who because of her condition has been cast out, has been untouchable, has been an outcast and he says to her ‘daughter’.

That’s the next thing that is so important in these words.

This outsider now belongs. More than that she’s family. It is the closest of those loving bonds that Jesus speaks to her.

There’s something about touch, something going on as we pray that binds us with people that means we belong we are family. And that in itself makes a difference.

Sometimes people may not seem to be aware, maybe they do not seem to know who we are … but that simple presence, that quietening, reassuring calm voice and gentle smile can make all the difference. It says we still belong, we are still family. There is a bond of love that ties us together.

Then come those wonderful words.

Your faith has made you well, the NRSV translates them as.

But the word itself is so much more than that.

It’s the word used simply for preserving someone from harm, for rescuing someone; it’s the word used to bring someone to safety from a life-threatening situation; it’s the word used of salvation with deeply spiritual overtones. And in relation to sickness and disease it speaks of someone who is healed or restored to health. [see Friberg lexicon)

There is a wholeness, a deepdown healing, that can come even when cure does not.

Last week I came to an end reflecting on the kindness of Jesus as a teacher and the call of Jesus to share in acts of kindness. I quoted Amelia Earhart and then came across a fascinating Radio 4 programme on iplayer still …

This morning on the Sunday programme  Catherine Fox, the novelist, spoke of the kindness of Jesus. She was contributing a short Reformation Sound byte, marking the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation. She was speaking of the power of hearing the Bible in your own language for the first time. It still has a remarkable power, she says, something those who have grown up with the Bible can easily forget.

She spoke of a friend of hers who is a convert to Christianbity from Iran, reading the Bible for the first time in Farsi.

Recently, she came to me, Catherine Fox went on, she was very excited. Jesus a very kind man – he cared for women.

And she began to tell a story it took  Catherine Fox a moment to realise it was not the story of a friend of this woman that had happened recently – it was the story of the woman in the crowd! But to this woman from Iran, reading it in her own language for the first time, it was so real. The woman might have been alive today.

Jesus, a very kind man.

And that’s the power of those words of Jesus.

Prayer works.

Healing happens.

And so I pray that that healing touch of Jesus can come to us at that point at which we need that healing most that we may have that wholeness, that peace that blessing, Jesus alone can give.

Such is the prayer we can share with each other.

Such is the prayer to live by.

To lead us into our time of prayer, let’s remain seated and sing …

716 Come and find the quiet centre

Prayers of Concern

716 Christ be beside me

  

Words of Blessing

Retiring Collection

Living a life of grace

Welcome and Call to Worship

Song: Be still

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Jesus – the teacher

Matthew 4:12-17

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went away to Galilee. 13He did not stay in Nazareth, but went to live in Capernaum, a town by Lake Galilee, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14This was done to make what the prophet Isaiah had said come true:

15“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

on the road to the sea, on the other side of the Jordan,

Galilee, land of the Gentiles!

16The people who live in darkness

will see a great light.

On those who live in the dark land of death

the light will shine.”

17From that time Jesus began to preach his message: “Have a whole new way of thinking, because the Kingdom of heaven is near!”

The Fool remembers … the teaching of Jesus

I remember it well – they were dark times and Jesus was the light we needed – the people who live in darkness will see a great light.

The light will shine.

And it really did. It shone in every word he said.

Love God, love each other – make a difference – treat other people the way you would like them to treat you.

Be kind to one another.

Care.

But somehow it’s easier said than done!

I always felt he was getting at me …

I felt I was the fool …

I heard what he said … love God, love each other … but somehow or other I never did it.

I always said the wrong thing … I always did the wrong thing … and it really bugged me.

I never forgot that story he told – it was one day when he was telling everyone just what to do.

So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.25The rain poured down, the rivers overflowed, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.

26“But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.27The rain poured down, the rivers overflowed, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!”

But something made me keep at it … he was such a powerful teacher – it all made sense – but I couldn’t do it.

I felt I let him down.

And when it came to the end I couldn’t stand up for him, I almost couldn’t stick it at the end – but something made me stay there.

He was on the cross … and then it was I heard it.

Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are dong.

He had taught so much about forgiveness … but this was real.

I kept at it ... yet sometimes I still felt as if I was a fool.

And then he said it, and it made such a difference.

He sent me to tell the Good News, and to tell it without using the language of human wisdom, in order to make sure that Christ's death on the cross is not robbed of its power.

22Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom. 2

3As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles; 24but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For what seems to be God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

Wow that’s really amazing.

Song: Lord, let Your light shine through me

Activities for all over 3

The Beatitudes – the Congregation

The people who live in darkness

will see a great light.

On those who live in the dark land of death

the light will shine

Jesus, the light of the world

Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

So much wiser than human wisdom.

Lord Jesus, your blessings do not follow the logic of the world.

The world believes that the rich are blessed,

You say to us

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

the poor in spirit

and the materially poor as well.

We pray for a more just world

in which all have enough and none are left behind.

Though we fear death and avoid its inevitable arrival,

Jesus tells us

‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Help us to experience the truth of this mystery;

bring healing and wholeness to those who are sick;

and comfort those of us who have lost loved ones.

While people covet power,

Jesus blesses the meek;

‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth

instruct us, O God, in the ways of humility;

help us to stand in solidarity with the oppressed and marginalized;

show us your presence in the faces of those the world forgets.

Give us a hunger and thirst for righteousness; a heart of mercy, a vision of glory,

For Jesus said,

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

And so we pray

fill our hearts with love, overflowing with mercy;

make our hearts pure, and give us a vision of your glory.

In a society divided by race, gender, class, ideology, sexual orientation,

and so many other labels we alone have created,

remind us that we are created in your image,

each of us a beautiful reflection of you,

each of us your beloved child.

Help us to treasure the world of your creation …

For Jesus said,

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Help us then to end our conflicts and wars,

help us to be peacemakers and agents of reconciliation.

Help us to stand alongside those who face the brutality of persecution in a world torn apart by hate

For Jesus said,

‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Gracious God,

you have so richly blessed us with life,

with love and joy,

with hope in the midst of despair.

Help us to be the salt of the earth.

Help us to be the light of the world,

sharing with others that which we have received,

boldly proclaiming the good news of your love,

finding the seeds of your kingdom within us

and letting your way grow in our lives and throughout the world.

Hymn: In Christ alone

Living a life of grace!

It’s a word we use so often and like so many words we use so often it’s easy to forget what exactly it means. It’s easy to forgot just how much it tells us and how much it expects of us.

In our house it’s said every day … twice a day … though not at breakfast!

It’s usually said just after I’ve taken my first bite to eat …

“Aren’t you going to say *****?”

And here in church we say it in just about every service we share … and we say it together, all of us.

It comes at the very end of the service. It’s as if it sums up everything we’ve been doing and sums up everything we called to do as we leave.

Let’s say, the ***** together …

And this is what we say …

The ***** of our Lord Jesus Christ.

One word that means so much, is so easy to say, and we so easily take for granted.

It’s a word to celebrate today.

And it’s a word to take with us into each day that comes.

Grace.

Think for a moment of the first line of that little prayer we say at the end of our service.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What do you mean when you say the first line of that prayer we say at the end of our service?

What is ‘the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?’

A time to share

I began by thinking that being a Christian was all about what you do to help other people to make the love of God real in people’s lives. The Parable of the Good Samaritan. The Sermon on the Mount. That’s what caught my imagination. That’s what being a Christian is all about.

My problem is that it’s not so easy. And when it comes to being consistent, it’s very hard indeed. Almost impossible.

That’s when I discovered the little word ‘grace’.

And it made a big impact.

You can’t get away from it in the New Testament.

Every single one of Paul’s letters begins …

Grace and Peace to you …

But by the free gift of God's grace all are put right with him through Christ Jesus, who sets them free  - Romans 3:24

It is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that points me to the love of God, the love of the God who is love.

This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven. 1 John 4:10

God is the God of sheer, unconditional love, the God of grace.

And that means that God is approachable. Even when we are all too conscious of our failings we can approach the God of grace – and it is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that draws us into the presence of the God of love … and as we come into that presence we discover that God has a grace for us to help us in times of need.

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

It’s as we approach the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

That’s interesting – grace is coupled with mercy.

Maybe to understand grace we need to understand mercy … and discover they are like the opposite sides of the same coin.

We’ve got a new hymn book in memory of Dick and Di Adams – and  the family are going to be with us in our evening service to dedicate those hymn books – do join us if you can.

Searching on the word ‘grace’ in an electronic version of the Hymn book I discovered a hymn I didn’t know.  It’s so simple and yet so powerful. It gets to the heart of what grace means and what mercy means and leave you in no doubt – they are the two sides of the same coin!

Hymn 163

1          Grace is when God gives us

            the things we don't deserve.

            Grace is when God gives us

            the things we don't deserve.

            He does it because he loves us,

            he does it because he loves us.

            Grace is when God gives us

            the things we don't deserve.

2          Mercy is when God does not

            give us what we deserve.

            Mercy is when God does not

            give us what we deserve.

            He does it because he loves us,

            he does it because he loves us.

            Mercy is when God does not

            give us what we deserve.

Paul Crouch (born 1963) and David Mudie (born 1961)

© 1989 Daybreak Music Ltd/Administered by CopyCare, PO Box 77, Hailsham, BN27 3EF, UK. music@copycare.com

There’s something more!

I looked up the New Testament word for Grace in a dictionary I have – it’s an interesting dictionary by Johannes Louw and Eugene Nida who were linguists drawn to a philosophy of translation that tries to translate meaning for meaning rather than word for word. In their dictionary of semantic domains they link the word ‘grace’ in the NT with the word ‘kindness’.

A word, itself linked in the Scriptures to mercy. Indeed, the word ‘mercy’ is translated in the AV with a single word ‘lovingkindess’.

It’s as if grace, like mercy, is about loving kindness.

But Louw and Nida go a little further and suggest this …

It is important to note that kindness in English indicates an activity in which an individual is kind to someone; it is essentially an event involving a particular quality. The same is true of [the NT word for grace charis] for this is not a mere gracious disposition, but an expectation of the Lord's showing kindness.

That made me think: I have always valued ‘love’ and not given enough weight to kindness. Born as Hilary and Tensing conquered Everest I have a copy of James Morris’s supplement in Times – I have enjoyed Jan Morris, as she became, writing on Wales and so watched Michael Palin’s account of her life and retirement in Llanystymdwy, near Criccieth where I spent all my childhood holidays. Towards the end she said something that made me think:

"People think love is more important than kindness. Love implies all sorts of demands, and kindness isn't demanding at all.” Jan Morris.

We know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is so real because of the deeds of kindness Jesus did in bringing healing to hurting people … and because of the ultimate deed of kindness in the loving kindness that streams in forgiveness from the cross of Christ.

And that brings us to the invitation in that final prayer we pray.

It’s not just a summing up of all that has happened in our service.

As we say those words,

The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God …

We are summing up what we take with us into the week that lies ahead.

Last week we were joined by Roderick Hewitt from Jamaica in our celebration of 40 years of CWM. This week our readings from Fresh from the Word are by Lesly G Anderson, a minister of the Methodist Chruch and a past President of the United Theological College of the West Indies, Jamaica, and therefore a colleague of Roderick’s.

As we turn once again to more readings from Matthew’s gospel, he invites us today to “live a life of grace which comes from God”.

Each day he invites us to experience the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the blessing it brings as a ‘daily gift of God’.

Be on the look out for acts of kindness that are the doing of God in the grace of our Lord Jesus Chrsit.

We are to show in the living of our lives that kind of love we see in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To say those words is to pledge ourselves to doing acts of kindness that will make the world of difference

Maybe the last word can go to a pioneer of aviation – they thought they had solved the mystery of her death only to find they hadn’t recently – What she said of kindness speaks of the kindness of God in the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ and of the kindness we are called up on to share as followers of Jesus …

No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves.

-          Amelia Earhart

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all each day and every day and forevermore, Amen.

555 Amazing grace

Prayers of Concern

Praise and Worship with Hy-Spirit

Words of Blessing

Retiring Collection