Worship at Home
Worship for the Week Beginning 20th March 2022
Sunday 20th March
Local Preacher Linda Leathersich 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.
Let the truth of God dawn in our lives
Let the love of God fill our hearts
Let the freedom of God liberate our spirits
God of truth, love and freedom,
we worship you.
Today we think about our need to take time to change our lives for the better.
HYMN: STF 471 Lord I come to you
Lord, I come to you,
let my heart be changed, renewed,
flowing from the grace
that I found in you.
And Lord, I’ve come to know
the weaknesses I see in me
will be stripped away
by the power of your love.
Hold me close,
let your love surround me;
bring me near, draw me to your side
And as I wait,
I’ll rise up like the eagle,
and I will soar with you,
your Spirit leads me on
in the power of your love.
Lord, unveil my eyes,
let me see you face to face,
the knowledge of your love
as you live in me.
Lord, renew my mind,
as your will unfolds in my life
in living every day
by the power of your love.
(Geoff Bullock)
PRAYERS.
God of grace and growth, in this season of Lent and with spring blossoming all around us, we bring to you our desire to change for the better, trusting in your patience, rooting ourselves in your Scriptures, believing in your love, appreciating the limitations of time and celebrating the gift of life and all that there is to look forward to.
Lord, forgive us when we are slow to change, but quick to judge, forgive us when we take more from life than we give back. Forgive us and grant us your patience and vision and inspire us to care for all that you have made. We thank you that we can receive your forgiveness, given freely when we are sorry. Loving God,
Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, you nurture and nourish the soil of our lives; you watch over us patiently and expectantly; you fill us with the nutrients we need in order to grow, and you rejoice when we too, nurture, protect and watch over others. We offer our prayers in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Bible Readings
Invitation to the thirsty
55 ‘Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labour on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendour.’
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,’
declares the Lord.
9 ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Repent or perish
13 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’
6 Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig-tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, “For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig-tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?”
8 ‘“Sir,” the man replied, “leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig round it and fertilise it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.”’
Warnings from Israel’s history
10 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.’ 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did – and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did – and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
MESSAGE
I wonder how many of you are keen gardeners, I’m afraid I am not. If you are, you will know that when you plant a seed, you will have to be patient as you wait for it to grow and become what it is meant to be and all the time you are waiting, you will have to nurture the seed and make sure that it has every chance to blossom and be fruitful.
The Gospel reading tells us of a fig tree that didn’t bear fruit. Fig trees were often seen by the dusty roadsides around the country where Jesus lived, the soil there was poor, dry, dusty and full of stones. The fig tree that Jesus talked about had been given special treatment and was planted in precious soil in a vineyard. The gardener who planted it had cared for it, he knew that it would not produce fruit until the third year. The owner of the vineyard came at that time and was not happy. No fruit meant that it was a waste of valuable space and ordered it to be cut down. The gardener asked that it be given another chance, he would tend it and if there was no fruit the next year, it would be cut down. The tree was given a second chance.
Jesus wasn’t giving gardening advice to those listening, he was using the story to tell us that we are all given second and more chances to change our habits and start to live as followers of Jesus should live so that we become fruitful.
The reading from Isaiah tells us that our ways are not God’s ways, he stresses mercy and the need for us to change. Paul’s letter reminds us that we can’t get smug and think that we are already saved and so don’t have to do anything else, the Jews believed that, they were chosen and special. Paul stresses the need for all to change and repent. Like the fig tree we have all been given so many advantages by God, so are we being fruitful for God? The story teaches us that uselessness invites disaster for everyone.
Jesus told the story after the subject of suffering was raised. A man told him about a lot of people murdered by Pilate’s soldiers, they had been protesting because Pilate was planning on using the Temple’s money to improve the water supply for everyone. Mobs gathered and Pilate told his men to disperse them, the soldiers got carried away and killed the protestors. Maybe the man who told Jesus, was hoping that Jesus would want revenge for the deaths. The question was did the men deserve to die, if not, why didn’t God save them?
The Jews connected suffering with sin and believed that people who suffered had done something to deserve it. That is a heart-breaking belief, we all know good people who have suffered, think of Ukraine now and all those who died from Covid, many good people. Do you wonder why God created weeds to choke our plants, and the bigger question why does God allow bad things into our world? Jesus made it plain that no-one suffers because of anything they have done wrong. Our God loves us, he is faithful and he holds us in our struggles, he is right with us when we suffer and he definitely doesn’t send suffering to punish us. Our God is a patient God, he has sown the seeds of love and hope in our hearts and he nurtures us as he waits for us to change, to grow and to be fruitful, he is always watching and protecting us while he waits. God offers us chance after chance to make his ways, our ways. If we refuse, the day will come when God shuts us out; our own deliberate choice will shut us out of God’s kingdom. We need to ask ourselves “How do I need to change to achieve living God’s way?” Let’s accept God’s goodness and go around the world ‘plucking a weed and planting a flower’ by doing good, kind acts to make our world a happier and more peaceful place for everyone. We need to spread the power of God’s love to defeat the love of power and then our world will be more fruitful as we all grow towards God’s kingdom. Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Lord of Lent, come to your church and ask us your hard questions. Are we faithfully proclaiming your Gospel? Are we demonstrating in our life together the justice of your kingdom? Come to our church to spring-clean our ways of life, our structures and our priorities.
Point out the cobwebs and the dirt and create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. Lord of Lent, come to the nations and challenge what is happening. We pray for all in Ukraine, let them know that you are with them each day. Spring-clean the false gods, sweep out the pride, the self-seeking, the deceit, the corruption and the suffering, may the kingdoms of this earth seek justice and peace and know your love.
Lord of Lent, turn your healing love towards those who are sick and in pain today. We bring those we know to you and also ask your blessing on all who are lonely, sad or anxious at this time. Comfort those who mourn and wipe away their tears.
Lord of Lent we pray for ourselves. Spring-clean our lives and show us clearly all the wrong things that we need to change. Save us from using your patience as an excuse for not trying to correct our faults. Help us to be fruitful.
Renew our church, renew our world, and renew our hearts, our cleansing Lord of Lent, for we ask our prayers in the name of Jesus.
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.
HYMN. STF 363 My Jesus, my Saviour
My Jesus, my Saviour,
Lord there is none like you.
All of my days I want to praise
the wonders of your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter
tower of refuge and strength,
let every breath, all that I am,
never cease to worship you.
Shout to the Lord all the earth, let u sing, power and majesty, praise to the King. Mountains bow down
and the seas will roar
at the sound of your name.
I sing for joy at the work of your hands. Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand.
Nothing compares to the
promise I have in you.
(Darlene Zschech)
Benediction:
Let us go into God’s world with joy and peace and love and hope in our hearts to share these blessings with others. May the blessing of God, our creator and Sustainer, be with us and all those we love this day, this week and forever.
Amen
Service prepared by Linda Leathersich
Webpage: Paul Deakin