Here is the
church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people. Richie used this simple children's rhyme to introduce
the ways people have thought about the church.
Hymn TIS 132 "Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty" This hymn is
a favourite of mine. Some insightful person has given us the words we need to
praise our God with full hearts.
Prayers of
Adoration and Confession
Richie reflected on
our need to praise God and confess our sins to him so as to accept forgiveness.
We need to acknowledge our part in this fallen humanity. We may not actually do
individual evil things but we support a system where real evil happens even if
we do not intend it.
Together: Merciful God, we have sinned in what we have thought and said,
in the wrong
we have done, and in the good we have not done.
We have
sinned in ignorance; we have sinned in weakness;
we have
sinned through our own deliberate fault. We repent and turn to you.
Forgive us,
for our Saviour Christ’s sake, and renew our lives to the glory of your name. Amen.
Assurance of
forgiveness
…hear then Christ’s word of grace to us: “Your sins are
forgiven” Thanks be to God.
Even having taken
part in this part of the service, how hard is it to accept forgiveness? That
thought is worth looking at. Have we not truly repented? Or do we think we are
so bad that we can't be forgiven? If the latter, then be reminded that
forgiveness is not earned, it is a free gift.
Hymn TIS 217 "Love divine
all loves excelling" A plea for God
to come down; to enter our lives and bless us; changing us into the people we
can be.
Bible
Readings Mark 9:38-50: The disciples were upset because people unknown to
them were performing miracles in Christ's name. Jesus' reply, "whoever is
not against us is for us" is a simple lesson in tolerance and perhaps an
acknowledgement that even people who do not profess faith in God can do his
work. Further, Jesus makes it very clear that we should be very careful of putting
impediments before others for any reason.
Ephesians
4:1-16. Another lesson in tolerance -
"be humble, gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love...keep
unity...bond of peace." We have been given the gifts to operate in this
way so we should take hold of these gifts so that God's kingdom will flourish.
Sermon: All
for one, one for all Richie began by
speaking again about the children's rhyme with the elements of church, steeple
and people. As church buildings grew from being merely functional to be an
ornate tribute to God and his people, they became larger. Height was added
using a steeple, making some cathedrals the tallest man-made structures in
existence...until the construction of the Eiffel Tower. However, more recently
the focus is on the people. We, the congregation are the church. Further, the model
of church is changing. Meetings in schools, pubs, cafes are all ways of being
church.
Which groups can we
think of as church: our local congregation? Our denomination?
Denominations with
similar theology? The 'universal church'? Richie's take was: "All who
follow Jesus, all around the world. Yes we're the church together." But
"following" is just not "having an interest in".
"Another way we typically look at the church is to say that it is the body
of Christ." Christ is the foundation....the cornerstone...Christ is the
head of the Church. In Ephesians "Paul begins by urging the Ephesians to
live a life worthy of the calling they have received". We need to act in
humble, gentle and patient ways.
But Paul said more:
"There is one body and one spirit...one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one
God and Father of all."
But we need to be
careful how we act as one. Richie spoke about gifts but then nailed it:
"And it is by love that Christians are to be known." (John 13:
34 - 35).
There was more but
because of space, I think this is a fine note to stop on.
Hymn TIS 457 "The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord" We are
the church. Through divisions, uncertainty, heresies and all the rest, we are
God's church and he will continue to guide us and bless us.
Musical
meditation We considered our own need to
turn to God.
Prayers of
Intercession
A meditation on
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, and how God is present in all the phases of our lives. This
reading speaks of there being a time for all things and within our little community
here at Marsden Road, at the moment, we are experiencing many of those. Richie
prayed for each of the people who were named by members of the Congregation as
well as lifting up those in the community not known to us personally.
…Father, hear our prayer
Through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
…who lives and
reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, and who taught us to pray: we then joined in the Lord's Prayer.
Hymn: Onward, Christian
soldiers Not so much in the martial sense but
in the sense of being one unit, striving for a cause that's beyond anyone of
us.
Benediction
As God has called
us, let us live up to our calling. Let us be humble always and gentle and
patient too. Let us be forbearing with one another and charitable. Let us spare
no effort to make fast with bonds of peace the unity which the Spirit gives.
There is one body
and one Spirit, as there is also one hope held out in God’s call to us; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one
God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
And know that we go
out from here, into the world and into the week, with the blessing of God
almighty: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Threefold Amen
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