Richie
led the Call to Worship, declaring:
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
By his
great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope
through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Hallelujah! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.
Richie
then welcomed us as one people, in unity with Christians the world over,
to hear the good news.
Hymn
TIS 155 "How
great thou art" When we think on how great the blessings are that have
been bestowed upon us, our only response can be: How great thou art!
Prayer
of Adoration and Confession
In
this prayer, Richie spoke of God's amazing creation and of us, as not only as
his creation but as the first fruits of his new creation, asking that we will
rejoice in this new day.
To the
God of all majesty, and beyond any estimation of value, Richie offered
blessing, glory, honour and power.
He
then led us in our confession of our sin:
"We
are truly sorry and we humbly repent. And for the sake of your Son Jesus
Christ, We ask that you will have mercy on us, and forgive us; that we may
delight in your will and walk humbly with you, to the glory of your name.
Amen."
Assurance
"Hear
then Christ's word of grace to us: 'Your sins are forgiven.'"
Thanks
be to God.
Hymn
TIS 217 "Love
divine, all loves excelling" A prayer to God to dwell within us, thereby
making us whole, never leaving us.
Bible
Readings
John
20: 19-31 The disciples were hiding away when Jesus appeared among them,
showing them his wounds. But Thomas wasn't there and so wouldn't believe their
story about Jesus’ visit. But when Jesus
visited again, Thomas did believe: "My Lord and my God."
1 John
1:1-2:2 Referring to the risen Jesus, John says: that God is light and in him
there is no darkness at all. He continues to warn his readers that we must
confess our sins and that when we do that we have an advocate with the Father.
Sermon
Richie
began by speaking about the original 12 disciples and speculating about who was
the best known. Judas comes to mind as the traitor and Peter was famous for
many things but the man that who came to be synonymous with doubt was Thomas.
The
modern church welcomes doubt, welcomes questions, but not all questions will be
answered so the only solution is to step out in faith. Faith in Jesus, trust in
Jesus.
We are
not talking about trusting in what we hear about Jesus. This is trust or faith
IN Jesus.
The
appearances were not just to establish that he had risen. They were to
establish who he was.
The
church grew because people who never saw Jesus believed in him, trusted in him.
"Because
you have seen me, you have found faith. Happy are they who never saw me and yet
have found faith." v.29
"Why
have these people believed?" "Why doesn't someone today need the
same evidence that Thomas and the others needed? …the difference, I think, is that the subsequent generations
of Christians have had the Holy Spirit working in their hearts." Otherwise
we would all be dumbfounded.
"It
does seem to be though, that it is the action of the Holy Spirit within
us that enables us to take the leap from hearing the message, knowing things
about Jesus, to believing in him.”
This
can happen in many ways: John Wesley, on hearing Martin Luther's preface to the
Epistle to the Romans related that "I felt my heart strangely
warmed." He had known the story of Jesus for some time but it was only
then that he realised God's grace.
From
our reception of grace comes responsibilities. Richie made the point that
Christians should be forgiving sins. When we are confronted with evil - in the
myriad of forms it takes in this earth, our task is to forgive.
The
bible offers more, much more about Jesus but to return to the subject of doubt:
"Today, our doubts are put to rest by the presence of the Holy Spirit, if
we will only open our hearts to the Spirit's presence."
Hymn
TIS 315 "Mine
eyes have seen the glory." A stirring declaration that the lyricist can
see God's glory and God's triumph approaching. His triumph which is in our
hands. Maybe not the type of triumph some would hope for but the triumph of his
spirit,
The
Offering was
received and dedicated to the work of God's kingdom.
Prayers
of Intercession
"Almighty
and Eternal God, whose goodness and grace overflowed when you raised Jesus from
the dead, Let your goodness and grace continue to flow upon your people."
Richie
prayed for the stone to be figuratively rolled away for those whose path to new
life is blocked; for those in despair and for those in ill-health.
Thanks
was then given for the life of Luke Shambrook.
In the
light of the resurrection, Richie prayed for the world: for areas of hostility
and violence: areas of famine and disease: for the family of Stephanie Scott
and the family of the three children drowned in the lake.
Richie,
on our behalf, prayed for the church world-wide and at Marsden Road that wise
and sensitive leadership be given. We then prayed for those people associated
with Marsden Road who are ill or in other need, joining together for The
Lord's Prayer.
Hymn
TIS 380 "Yours
be the glory" This hymn reminds us that God's victory is forever. It is
the victory that supports us in every part of our life and in every area of our
inner being, bringing us new life.
Benediction
"God
has loved us with an everlasting love, and even when we were far off, he met us
in his son Jesus and brought us home. We come to know Jesus today through the
scriptures, through the witness of faithful Christians of all the ages, and
through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
As we
have been reminded today: blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.
And as
we go out, let us be assured of that blessing - the blessing of God Almighty:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
Amen.
Amen. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment