Sunday Service
Marsden Road
The Gathering of God’s People:
Fom river to ocean, from campfire to hearth, May
the First People who have cared for this Land be blessed.
From breath to song, from step to dance, May
those who follow Your Song lines guide us on the journey of living honourable
in this place. From greeting to
Amen, from silence to chorus,
Call to Worship (Abingdon Services 2018)
Centred
in this house of worship, sing God’s praises. Centred in the seat of your soul,
delight in God’s splendour. Centred in the silence of the ages, pray and
meditate on the goodness of our God.
Come!
Dwell in God’s courts forever. Happy
are those who live and pray in God’s house.
In
God alone our hearts sing for joy. In
God alone do we find strength.
O
Lord of hosts, how lovely is your dwelling place. We have come in prayer to worship the
Lord.
The theme of the Service today was “Thin
Places – Where this world meets the Eternal world”
Hymn
TiS 44 “How lovely is
your dwelling place” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHxisf6FmHM
This hymn is based on the Scottish Psalter 1650. (Psalm 84: 1-7, 10 -12)
There followed a prayer to stir and
inspire us: “God of signs and wonders, who is your equal in heaven or on earth?
Walk with us in faithful love, that we
may know your ways and walk in the paths of righteousness. Clothe us with the belt of truth and the
breastplate of justice that our words may be true, and our actions may be just.
Protect us with the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is
your holy word, that we may spread your word of peace. Fill our lives with your
presence, as you filled Solomon’s temple with
your glory and power, that we may stand our ground during the time of trial.” Amen
The
Prayers of Confession and the Declaration
of Forgiveness were followed by the Passing of “The Peace” where we exchanged greetings of Peace
with the worshipers around us.
Children’s Message:
John talked about the
challenges of young children as they learn to walk and navigate obstacles and
hazards, like furniture and hot things.
He used these thoughts to explain how the writer of Ephesians is “teaching us how to stand firm and how to
move through life without being harmed by powers we cannot see but which can
create damage not only in our own lives but in the lives of others. Powers such
as cruelty, selfishness, abuse, jealousy, greed, etc.” In Ephesians, the image of armour is used to represent a
battle between good and evil.
Offering &
Dedication:
Hymn TiS 449 “Stand up and bless the Lord”
It was fitting to sing
this hymn by James Montgomery (1771-1854) after looking at the difficulties of
learning to stand and walk. The poet, James
Montgomery is one of my favourite hymn writers.
He gave lectures in poetry in Sheffield and at the Royal Institution, London Sheffield .
He was a great advocate for Foreign Missions and the Bible Society.
In the reading from Kings,
we heard that; “Solomon stood before the
altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel Israel
The reading from John’s
Gospel finds Jesus teaching in the
synagogue at Capernaum
Reflection: (1 Kings 8:22-30, 41-43) “Thin Places”
John introduced his theme of “Thin Places” by talking of
the “Da Vinci Code” in which Scotland
John went on; “I do
not know what to believe except that people are drawn to thin places—to places
where they can sense the supernatural. That is what Solomon’s temple was
intended to be. Ironically, that is what a Christian church is supposed to be.
That is what our Church buildings are meant to be. People need for churches to
be thin places where they can come and feel the presence of God. Maybe that is
why it is so disheartening to come to church hoping to encounter a living God
and find only a dead congregation in a lifeless worship service. A church can
be an awfully thick place.”
“There were
lots of houses for lots of gods in the ancient world. The thing that made
Solomon’s temple different was that on the day they dedicated this house of
God, God actually showed up and moved in.”
“When the
priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house . . .’ for the
glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord’. This cloud of the Lord is seen throughout
scripture. It hovered over Mount Sinai when
Moses met with God. It led the children of Israel
How I enjoyed John’s beautifully linked thoughts and all
I can do here is give you some of the highlights that had me nodding my head in
agreement. “Solomon knew that no human-made structure could house God, but he felt
divinely compelled to build a dwelling place for God. It was not that God needed a place like that.
It was that God’s people needed a place like that.”
“A church is meant to be one of those
places. There are some churches where God’s presence is so strong you can feel
it. There are other churches where God’s presence is seemingly absent. You can
feel that, too. If there is such a thing
as the presence of God in a church, there is also such a thing as the absence
of God in a church.”
As I listened to John I remembered some special places
that my husband and I have visited. Places like Whitby Abbey and St. Alban's church where I was strangely moved and inspired. If I study my travel diaries I should perhaps
go back and call some of them “thin places”.
I remember thinking as we left the huge and magnificent church of St.
Alban with the shrine on the spot where the saint was martyred for his Faith in the 3rd
Century that he would have been quite satisfied to see “his” church so alive
with hundreds of excited children and their families on a week-day after school.
We were welcomed and pressed to stay to see and hear the children present a concert. However even
with all the commotion going on at the end of the concert, I felt a “shiver” as I knelt at the simple shrine - and a “veil” lifted for me.
I liked John’s thoughts that “We cannot conjure up God’s presence with emotional hype. We can no
more control God’s movement than a farmer can control weather patterns. Preachers
are like farmers in that regard. But perhaps farmers can teach us a few things
about relating to the cloud(s) and to God. There is more life and more that
points to God on most farms than in many churches. Farmers have learned to work
hard at preparing the soil and leaving the clouds to God. The farmer must
prepare the surfaces, so the soil can receive the moisture.”
“If we want our
churches to be thin places, we must deal with our hard places. If we want God
to make himself at home in the houses we have built, we need to prepare those
houses for God’s comfort, not our own. Some of the things that make a church
appealing and inviting to God are apt to make us uncomfortable.”
“Jesus
promised that the “pure in heart . . . will see God,” and that those who
“hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . will be filled”. There is apparently
something about an earnest desire for God that attracts God. I guess even God
likes to feel wanted. David wanted to experience God’s presence so much that
his soul panted like a deer for the water. Solomon wanted it so much that he
spent seven and a half years preparing a dwelling place for God.”
“All the
preparation and desire paid off the day the cloud of the Lord came and filled
the house of the Lord. God moved in and made himself at home among his people.
Heaven and Earth overlapped a little. All God’s people knew they were in a
mighty thin place.”
Hymn TiS 376 “I
know that my Redeemer lives”
This hymn was written by Samuel
Medley (1738 – 1799), who joined the Royal Navy but was severely wounded in a
battle with the French Fleet in 1759. He
had to retire from active service, and was converted when his grandfather read
a sermon of Dr. Watts and he joined the Baptist
Church in, London Baptist Church
at Watford .
Prayers of the People: Val led the prayers of Intercession today and
we finished these special prayers for those people whose needs we know; in our
church, in our country and all over the world - by sharing in the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn TiS 456 “Your hand, O God, has guided”
Edward Hayes Plumptre
(1821-1891), whose impressive theological career began at King's College, London , and University
College , Oxford Lincoln 's Inn; Select Preacher at Oxford and Professor of Pastoral Theology at King's
College, London
Blessing:
Draw strength from God’s
power. We will put on the full
armour of God.
Stand boldly in God’s
truth. We will wear the belt of
truth and put on the breastplate of justice.
Put on the shield of
faith and pray with the saints. We will wear the helmet of salvation and
proclaim the gospel of peace.
Go as ambassadors of the
living God, in the name of that same God, Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life. We will wear the helmet of salvation
and proclaim the gospel of peace.
Go as ambassadors of the living God, in the name of that same God, Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life.
Go as ambassadors of the living God, in the name of that same God, Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life.
Hymn: TiS 778 "Shalom to you now"
shalom, my friends. May God’s full mercies bless you my friends. In all your living and through your loving, Christ be your shalom, Christ be your shalom.”
shalom, my friends. May God’s full mercies bless you my friends. In all your living and through your loving, Christ be your shalom, Christ be your shalom.”
No comments:
Post a Comment