Worship at Home
Worship for the Week Beginning 12th September 2021
To listen to the sermon and a hymn dial
01604 266000.
Sunday 12th September
Rev Romeo Pedro 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.
Download other Resources
© ROOTS for Churches Ltd www.rootsontheweb.com. Reproduced with permission.
We gather to worship Christ:
As we rest in God’s presence today, we will think about our mouths and all the words that come from them.
We call to mind the unkind words we have said and the loving words we have failed to say; we bring before God the thoughtless words we have forgotten.
Pause
We say sorry to God in our hearts for the words that have wounded others, by accident or on purpose. We ask God to forgive us.
Pause
Prayer Action: Our prayer is one that ministers and preachers sometimes use before they preach. When you say the word “mouth”, please make the sign of the cross with your finger over your lips.
When you say the word “heart”, please make the sign of the cross with your finger over your heart.
Let us pray:
Let the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.
Amen.
StF 175 – Here I am to worship
Light of the world,
you stepped down into darkness,
opened my eyes, let me see
beauty that made this heart adore you,
hope of a life spent with You
So here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you’re my God,
and you’re altogether lovely,
altogether worthy,
alltogether wonderful to me.
King of all days
oh so highly exalted
glorious in heaven above.
Humbly you came
to the earth you created,
all for love’s sake became poor.
So here I am to worship…
And I’ll never know how much it cost
to see my sin upon that cross.
And I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
So here I am to worship…
Bible Readings
Isaiah 50:4-9a
4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
I have not been rebellious,
I have not turned away.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.
7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
and I know I will not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near.
Who then will bring charges against me?
Let us face each other!
Who is my accuser?
Let him confront me!
9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.
Who will condemn me?
Mark 8:27-38
Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’
28 They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’
29 ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’
Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Jesus predicts his death
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’
The way of the cross
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
StF 782 – Thuma Mina
Cantor: Thuma mina.
All: Thuma mina, thuma mina, thuma mina, Somandla.
Cantor: Send me, Lord.
All: Send me, Jesus, send me, Jesus, send me, Jesus, send me, Lord.
Lead me, Lord …
Fill me, Lord …
Thuma mina …
Time to Reflect
Mark’s Gospel describes the beginning of the journey to the cross, including Jesus’ second great temptation.
We also read shortly before this about Peter’s confident proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah. You would think this was a moment of triumph – Peter had suddenly “seen the light”. But we realise that he had not yet understood what had been revealed to him.
Immediately after Peter’s announcement, Jesus began to predict his death. This was too much for Peter, who thought he knew what the Messiah would be and do, and so he, rather patronisingly, tried to correct Jesus, almost like an older brother pointing out his younger sibling’s foolishness.
Friends, how often do we react like Peter – we speak before we take time to reflect, sometimes in a patronising and foolish way?
Would you please reflect on this question (on your own or with someone): What can be the consequences of reacting without taking time to think (before you speak)?
Jesus’ response was strong and surprising. He called Peter “Satan” not because he was judging Peter, but because, at that moment, Peter had become a tempter who was trying to tempt Jesus away from his purpose.
Jesus followed this up with a conversation about losing life in order to find it. Joseph Campbell, the scholar of mythology and culture, is famous for saying, “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” This is very similar to the words of Jesus in today’s reading.
Although he had recognised that Jesus was the Messiah, Peter had not yet realised that Jesus was a different kind of Messiah – a dying Messiah. Peter rebuked Jesus for predicting his death, because he had not yet released the “life he planned” – the life of being a leader in the new order that a victorious Messiah would bring.
Jesus, however, has a different agenda. We must lose our lives – giving up our own dreams, expectations, desires and self-preservation in order to embrace the self-giving, abundant life of God’s Reign.
You cannot enter a new world if you’re not willing to leave the old one! That’s why, when we try to save our lives – our lives built on self-preservation, power, wealth, and immediate gratification – we end up losing the true life that God offers.
But, if we are willing to release the life we have (maybe it is someone I need to forgive; or someone I need to seek forgiveness from)- we are able to enter the life of God and discover abundance, vibrant life in sharing, peace-making, justice-bringing, and loving. (For us as a family indeed, having left so much behind seven years ago, this is certainly true – but also, it meant gaining a new family and a fullness of life that cannot be described in words). While we naturally seek to avoid what is painful and stressful, it is in failure that we learn; it is sometimes in suffering that we find healing; it is in the crosses we take up that we find the wholeness and joy of resurrection.
Can I ask you to sit quietly and reflect on this question: How can I commit to leaving some things in my life behind so that I can find the life of God in more fullness?
Amen.
Time to Pray…
If you can, please use any chocolate (or something sweet) and a blank piece of A4 paper (and pens and pencils) for these prayers.
There is a mealtime grace that asks, “For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful”.
To help you to pray today, please take a piece of chocolate and enjoy it! As you do so, think of something good in your life for which you should thank God.
As you thank God, also think of people and places that are not as fortunate as you are. Ask God how you can respond to those needs. Write about or draw those situations on your piece of paper. Put your A4 creation up somewhere where you can see it throughout the week to remind you to pray for those situations.
Conclude with this prayer: Lord for all that we received, may you make us truly thankful – and help us to be a blessing to others as well.
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 611- Brother, sister, let me serve you
Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant too.
We are pilgrims on a journey,
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this journey through.
Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant too.
Final Prayer of Blessing
God be with us, wherever we go and whatever we do. God be with us, whoever we meet and whatever we say. God bless us and keep us safe, today and always.
Amen.
Service prepared by Rev Romeo Pedro
Webpage: Paul Deakin