Worship at Home
Worship for the week beginning 27th June 2021
Bible Month 4
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Sunday 27th June
Deacon Richard Beckett has prepared this week’s message
This short act of worship is for use from home. Please use this service whenever you like during the week.
Pause to settle yourself in God’s presence, knowing that other people are sharing in worship with you.
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© ROOTS for Churches Ltd www.rootsontheweb.com. Reproduced with permission.
A gathering prayer:
God in Christ, we acknowledge your work in our lives; in our churches and in our communities. In all these places, help us to be open to the movement of your Spirit as we gather to worship you. Amen
StF 353 – Jesus is Lord
Jesus is Lord! Creation’s voice proclaims it,
For by His power each tree and flower
Was planned and made.
Jesus is Lord! The universe declares it,
Sun, moon and stars in heaven
Cry, ‘Jesus is Lord!’
Jesus is Lord! Jesus is Lord!
Praise Him with hallelujahs
For Jesus is Lord!
Jesus is Lord! Yet from His throne eternal
In flesh He came to die in pain
On Calvary’s tree.
Jesus is Lord! From Him all life proceeding,
Yet gave His life a ransom
Thus setting us free.
Jesus is Lord! O’er sin the mighty conqueror,
From death He rose, and all His foes
Shall own His name.
Jesus is Lord! God sent His Holy Spirit
To show by works of power
That Jesus is Lord.
Praise and confession:
Psalm 8: “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers – the moon and the stars you set in place – what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honour”.
Creator God, we have only yet discovered a fraction of your creation and we pause to marvel.
May your generous love and creative power motivate us to be at one with your creation and with each other.
We give thanks that your generous love provides sufficient for our needs but never complacent about the needs of others.
Forgive us when we revel in self-importance and delight in glorifying ourselves instead of finding ways of pointing people to you through our actions and words.
Thank you that your work of reconciliation and forgiveness through Jesus’ death is made available for us and all people.
Amen.
Time to Reflect
Bible Reading
33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’).
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, ‘Listen, he’s calling Elijah.’
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ‘Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,’ he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
A visiting minister, at school one day was asked by one little 6 year old boy why he was wearing a cross round his neck.
The minister said: “It’s my cross of Jesus”.
“He’s dead!” replied the boy abruptly.
“I know” replied the minister, “He did die, but I believe he rose again and is alive today”.
“He’s dead!”, the little lad persisted.
The minister, patiently replied in a similar way to before. Finally the young lad said, “Its alright”, I was only testing you!”.
If you have followed something of Bible month you will know that this week we concentrate on the last four chapters of Mark’s gospel. Almost a quarter of Marks book deals with the events leading to the death of Jesus.
Whenever we read again the chapters about Jesus’ death they should test us!
They should not just be confined to being read on Good Friday in fact we should return to these events over and over throughout our lives in all situations and circumstances and ask ourselves “What happened here?”, “Why is the death of Jesus important at this particular time in my life?” We should look at the events in the world, in our communities, in our families and say, “Jesus died, how is that relevant?”. How does that event bring us hope?
The end of Mark’s gospel is better understood perhaps by looking at the beginning…..
At the beginning of Mark’s gospel he makes it clear for his readers who he believes Jesus is: (Mark 1:1) ‘The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.’:
‘The beginning’ – something is starting, yet it is something which has somehow already been around for a very long time.
‘Good News’ – the gospel: Mark announcing an event that brings about a radically new state of affairs for all humankind.
‘Jesus’ – a fairly common name, meaning ‘Saviour’.
‘Messiah’ – Mark clearly identifies Jesus to his readers as the long expected one and uses the word Messiah because of the hopes that people immediately attached to it.
‘Son of God’ – Mark uses this term throughout his book of good news to describe the relationship which Jesus has with God.
Without this identifying Jesus by Mark, at the end of his book we would be talking about the death of an ordinary man but clearly we are not! And there are signs in Mark’s record of the crucifixion which make this clear too.
Crucifixions were marked by screams of rage, cries of pain, wild curses and shouts of despair by the victims. Mark does not say anything about Jesus’ demeanour on the cross but about 3pm in the afternoon Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
A centurion standing nearby when he heard this cry of Jesus and saw how he died he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
In order for Jesus’ death to mean something in our lives we have to believe that Jesus is God and that God is Jesus but also that in this moment of death on the cross, Jesus knew deeply the separation from God which we know when we go our own way.
For me the work of God in Jesus on the cross provides the basis for reconciliation: Reconciliation between God and humanity; Jew and Gentile; humanity and the rest of creation; between churches; between individuals; between rich and poor; black and white; healthy and sick; between one country and another and between me and my maker.
We pray (A prayer from World Vision)
Dear Lord, help me to open my heart to understanding the movement of people who live on the margins, the bruised and vulnerable. When they speak, help me hear them. When they tell the truth, remind me of your deeds of power, that I can hear their voices and not be dismissive.
Touch my heart that I hear the good news and can move from my current attachments today to the world that you intended for me, even if it costs something.
I pray for the strength to move forward, practicing the principle, “justice is what love looks like in public”, which our Saviour Jesus Christ demonstrated with his life.
Help me live this out by joining together in my church and advocating for just government policies and programs that make a difference for the most bruised and vulnerable here and across the world.
Amen
The Lord's Prayer
Please use the version that you prefer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours
Now and for ever.
Amen.
StF 367 When I was lost you came and resued me
When I was lost, You came and rescued me;
Reached down into the pit and lifted me.
O Lord, such love,
I was as far from You as I could be.
You know all the things I’ve ever done,
But Jesus’ blood has cancelled every one.
O Lord, such grace
To qualify me as Your own.
There is a new song in my mouth,
There is a deep cry in my heart,
A hymn of praise to Almighty God – hallelujah!
And now I stand firm on this Rock,
My life is hidden now with Christ in God.
The old has gone and the new has come – hallelujah!
Your love has lifted me.
Now I have come into Your family,
For the Son of God has died for me.
O Lord, such peace,
I am as loved by You as I could be.
In the full assurance of Your love,
Now with every confidence we come.
O Lord, such joy
To know that You delight in us.
Many are the wonders You have done,
And many are the things that You have planned.
How beautiful the grace that gives to us
All that we don’t deserve,
All that we cannot earn,
But is a gift of love.
There is a new song in my mouth,…..
Prayer of Blessing:
Gracious God, Circle us this day,
keep peace within and anger without.
Circle us this day, keep comfort within and hardship without. Our lives are in your hands,
hold us gently in all we do for you.
Amen
Service prepared by Deacon Richard Beckett
Webpage: Paul Deakin