Each time I reflect on a
service I try to give emphasis to a different part because the restriction in
the length means I can't pay proper attention to every part every time.
The Secret
Call
to Worship (B. J. Beu, Abingdon Worship Annual 2017)
Rev.
John began by drawing our attention to God’s support for us in everything we do
or in which we are involved. Life throws up many obstacles, sometimes one after
another, and it is only with God’s help that we can continue.
Hymn
TIS 123 “Be
still my soul: The Lord is on your side”. With this hymn the theme continued.
However, it speaks of keeping our hope in dark times, as though they are a
contradiction in a faithful life. But life happens, whether we walk with God or
not. But if we keep our hand in God’s hand, the dark times will be easier to
live through.
Opening
prayer
Gracious
God, we come this day, to present our minds and bodies to you as a holy and
living
sacrifice. This was the first sentence
of the prayer. But is seems to me that when we
give
our lives wholly to God, we get a much better deal than if we try to keep
control of all or part of it ourselves.
A
Prayer of Confession
merciful
God, wash away the injuries we have inflicted upon one another.
When
we have made lives bitter through word or deed, forgive us in your mercy.
When
we have ignored the plight of others through ignorance or wilful neglect,
reclaim us in your grace. Restore us to your path of love and compassion,
that we may bathe in the waters of your compassion and love. Amen.
Declaration
of Forgiveness
If
it had not been the Lord who was on our side, the weight of the world would
have crushed us by now. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, the weight
of our lives would have drowned us by now. Thanks be to God who is on our side,
and who rescues us from forces that seek our undoing. In Christ Jesus, we are
set free and made whole again.
Thanks,
be to God!
Having
made our peace with God, we offered the sign of peace to each other.
Offering
It
always interests me that we label this part of the service “the offering” when
many people offer much more to the building of God’s kingdom in other ways than
they do through the collection plate. Our all. That's all God is asking for.
Hymn
TIS 467: “I am
the church! You are the church!” It's good to remember this. It prevents that
“They should” mentality.
The Service of the Word
Carolyn
began this section of the service with readings from Exodus 1:8-2:10; Romans
12:1-8; and Matthew16: 13-20.
Exodus
1:8 The
first reading is the well known story of how Moses survived a purge of Hebrew baby
boys and came to be treated as the son of the Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses’ mother
trusted God to protect her and her son.
Romans
12:
“I
appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to
present your
bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
This
first sentence really covered all that followed. Let God steer. It's safer and
more sensible.
Matthew
16: 13-20.
‘But who do you say that I am?’ Time to
show where we stand.
Preaching
of the Word
The
Secret - Matthew 16: 13-20
I have selected a few sentences out of John’s sermon. Today
he delivered a very complex theological message about why Jesus would want to
keep his identity a secret, but I have
chosen just one thought that stood out for me.
Peter
is the first disciple to recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the first
to discover that this man he knows so well is the one anointed by God. In this
moment Peter stands
for the whole church again.
With
the outcome that we too shine as the light of Christ and we will not keep the
Messiah a secret. Why! Because the world where we spend our days, still waits
for him and that world is dying to meet him – and they will meet him through
us.
Remember
the thoughts from the beginning of the
service that Life is tough and we can only get through it with God by our side.
Hymn
TIS 440: “Christ
from whom all blessings flow” The blessings aren't just a way of making it
through life. We become more like Christ; We become part of his body. We become what we were
created to be.
Music
to lead us to prayer while we thought our own thoughts.
Intercessory
Prayers led by Wendy Wendy
addressed Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, asking that our prayers be
heard. She called for safety and security everywhere but particularly for those
people living in the midst of war. She asked that God change leaders who seek
to dominate that they will embrace love; that people everywhere will
acknowledge Jesus Christ as Saviour and proclaim his gospel. She asked that the
Spirit will lead us in love for God and
each other. We joined in the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn
TIS 446:
“Glorious things of you are spoken” This hymn summed up all the thoughts we had
had so far.
Benediction
Blessed
are you who resist the forces of death and destruction. Blessed are you who
respond to the cries of the weak and the helpless. Blessed are you who build
the kingdom of God with your love and compassion. Blessed are you who seek
first what is right and honourable and true. And the blessing of God almighty,
Creator, Redeemer and Giver of life be with you always Amen
Hymn
779:
“May the feet of God walk with you,”
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