The Call
to Worship Our service
today was led by Hugh, with Grahame and Mavis playing the organ and piano,
respectively.
Hymn TiS 93 “Praise the
Lord – Ye Heavens adore Him””
Praise the Lord from the heavens,
praise Him in the heights above. Psalm 148:1
These
words are from: Psalms, Hymns, and Anthems of the Foundling Hospital London ’s
Foundling Hospital
Announcements:
Prayer of Adoration and Confession: Hugh asked us to
adore, praise and rejoice in our God of Power and Glory; our provider and our
source of comfort, who is always with us, our God who never abandons us, our
God who takes care of us, our God who protects us and watches over us.
From
beginning to end you are our God — our God who knows us, our God to whom our
lives belong, our God to whom we all go home.
We confessed all our sins. Hugh confirmed the good news that our sins
are forgiven – we are loved and accepted and welcomed home again and
again. We were told to; “Receive this good news and live in peace –
thanks be to God, Amen.”
Offering / Prayer: Our offering was gathered by Val & Pat
with help from Charlie and Calliope and we thanked God for everything. Hugh blessed the gifts and the givers.
Men’s Choir: “Seeking the Lost”
William Augustine Ogden wrote this beautiful harmonious hymn. Perhaps his own male choir, organized during
his army service in the American Civil War, may have sounded nearly as good as
our “boys”, .Malcolm, Grahame, Stephen and Hugh who were accompanied by Mavis
on the piano.
A Prayer for the Teachers and
children was offered by
Hugh before they went to Sunday Kids.
Hymn TiS 526 "Lord Jesus Christ, You have come to us"
All your commands we know are true; your many gifts will make us new;
into our lives your power
breaks through, living Lord. I just love this positive empowering hymn and
the way it has a lilting swing and makes us feel like we are much better
singers than we are.
Bible Reading
Matthew
14:13-21 (page 738)
Read for us by May. “The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
forbearing, and constant in his Love.
The Lord is good to all men, and his tender care rests upon all his
creatures.” These two verses from
Psalm 145 are more than enough to give us a feeling of peace and love.
The prelude to the story of the feeding of the 5,000 was the news of the
death of John the Baptist being brought to Jesus and his need expressed in
verse 13, to withdraw “privately by boat
to a lonely place.” It is easy to understand
the deep sorrow of Jesus, but in a demonstration of the constant love of God,
Jesus unselfishly responded to the crowds who came seeking him. He showed nothing but care and compassion –
even insisting they should be fed and not sent away for food as it became
late. I have never before noticed the
part of this story that reads: “Some
5,000 men shared in the meal, to say nothing of the women and children.” Interesting!
Reflection:
“The
Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes”
We could discuss the miracle in
general. We could talk about why such crowds would want to hang around the
remote countryside after Jesus. We could simply focus on the generosity of the
little boy who had given up his own meal for other people; Hugh
said.
It was natural at that time that
most of the people would carry with them a little pouch containing food and
water. If God had wanted to miraculously
multiply fishes and bread, that’s wonderful. If God had opened up people’s
hearts to share with one another, that’s great, too. But the point that I’m going to focus on
today is…. ‘how did it all start?’
People were fed. Everyone had
plenty to eat, and baskets full of food were still left over. And everyone was
happy. But how did the incident all begin in the first place?
I’d like to say this morning that
our confidence and our possibility come from Jesus and his presence only. If we only focus on ourselves and what we’ve
got in our hands, then we will always end up doing things that only our hands
are capable of. If we focus, however, on Jesus and his hands, anything is
possible. Nothing is impossible in his hands.
Our Faith journey is about being
sure of the things that we cannot see. It is about being certain of the things
that others say are impossible. Our
Christian life is to keep focusing on Jesus and take the road. That Jesus, who
had fed those five thousand people with the handful of loaves of bread, is
still with you in your ordinary life. That
same Jesus who had said to the disciples, “You give them something to eat” still
expects you to do the same thing.
And I still believe… if we are
willing to give up our small things from our lives for the sake of Jesus and
His ministry, and his church, it will always turn out to be something
miraculous and we’ll be blessed to be blessings for many people.
Someone wrote a few years back: “A
basketball in my hands is worth about $15. A basketball in Michael Jordan’s
hands is worth about $30 million. It depends whose hands it’s in.
Jesus’ hands transformed everything
he touched. The question is…. Do you really want to experience it? Then
take the road!
Thanks Hugh – these are meaningful excerpts from this often told and much
pondered “miracle.”
Prayers of the People: May also led our prayers for the people this
morning, with many thoughts for the places in the world where tragedy and wars
are causing grief and fear. She spoke of
the people who give their time and help for those in need and prayed for the
people we know who are sick or in trouble of any kind. “Let the peace and quiet of
Your presence take rest in us. We await
Your peace and healing.” Then we all
joined together in the Lord’s Prayer.
Communion:
We Shared the Peace then
with the table prepared we shared the Communion meal of bread and wine together
at the sanctuary rail with Pat and
Colin helping Hugh.
Therefore
with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify your glorious name,
evermore praising you and saying:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven
and earth are full of your glory. Glory be to you, O Lord most high.
Christ
has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again – We will be transformed to
be Your Kingdom People.
Hymn "The Summons"
John Lamberton Bell
is a member of the Iona Community and a Church of Scotland minister and his
“Summons” hymn delivers a challenge so clear and simple in its message; we
really do want to say YES and follow the road - when the Lord calls us by name.
Will you come and follow me if I but call your
name? Will you go where you don’t know
and never be the same? Will you let my
love be shown, will you let my name be known, will you let my life be grown in
you and you in me?
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