Worship at Home
Worship for the week beginning 24th April 2022
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Sunday 24th April
Local Preacher Jenny Brooks 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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Prayer of gathering:
Jesus, we rejoice in your resurrection. You met with Mary in the garden, bringing laughter after tears. You met with the disciples in a room barred against the world, bringing joy after sorrow. You met with Thomas, in his confusion, bringing faith after doubt. You meet with us and countless generations, bringing renewal after cynicism. Meet with us now, in this moment, enable our hearts to be filled with joy at the message of Easter. Amen
StF 296, use tune 401 Abbotts Leigh
Christ has risen while earth slumbers,
Christ has risen where hope died,
as he said and as he promised,
as we doubted and denied.
Let the moon embrace the blessing;
let the sun sustain the cheer;
let the world confirm the rumour.
Christ is risen, God is here!
Christ has risen for the people
whom he loved and died to save;
Christ has risen for the women
bringing flowers to grace his grave.
Christ has risen for disciples
huddled in an upstairs room.
He whose word inspired creation
is not silenced by the tomb.
Christ has risen to companion
former friends who fear the night,
sensing loss and limitation
where their faith had once burned bright.
They bemoan what is no longer,
they expect no hopeful sign
till Christ ends their conversation,
breaking bread and sharing wine.
Christ has risen and forever
lives to challenge and to change
all whose lives are messed or mangled,
all who find religion strange.
Christ is risen. Christ is present,
making us what he has been –
evidence of transformation
in which God is known and seen.
Bible Reading
Reading John Ch. 20 verses 19-29
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Reflection:
This reading divides into 2 parts, the first is described as happening on the evening of the day of Jesus’ resurrection when everything must have felt confusing and frightening. The disciples were locked inside because they were afraid of what might happen to them. Jesus stands amongst them to show them his hands and side and they believe in his resurrection, when they have not accepted Mary’s testimony of her encounter with Jesus, earlier in the day.
The second part of the reading focusses on Thomas and his encounter with Jesus, a week later. This is the subject of the picture above, a painting by He Qi a Chinese American artist.
Thomas was not at the first meeting with the risen Jesus and finds it impossible to believe in his resurrection without seeing for himself. When Jesus meets Thomas, he invites Thomas to touch his hands and side. Jesus knows what Thomas needs. This provokes a very deep and profound response in Thomas – “My Lord and my God”.
I wonder if your experience of Jesus has ever produced that kind of reaction in you? Knowing that Jesus meets us where we are will help us to continue to find ways to share His love with others. Sometimes we can feel that we powerfully encounter God in Jesus and this is a great blessing. Putting ourselves in places and situations that are designed to help us encounter Jesus is an important part of our faith in practice.
Verse 29 seems to be addressed not only to Thomas, but also to future generations of believers (including us), who have not had the opportunity to physically see Jesus, but have found ways to understand his teaching, love and grace.
Prayers of Confession and Intercession
Risen Saviour, although we have not seen the empty tomb, folded grave clothes, the wounds on your hands and feet, or your physical presence among us, yet we believe, for we have tasted your love, experienced your power, known you deep within us through your Holy Spirit.
So, we come to acclaim you, bring you our confession of past wrongs and request for forgiveness. Remind us that your truth can set us free, empower us to speak it in love and live by it in faith. We ask for your love to touch all whom we name before you. We name places, situations and people who stand in need of your grace.
In the name of our risen Lord,
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 407 Hear the Call
1. Hear the call of the Kingdom,
lift your eyes to the King;
Let his song rise within you
as a fragrant offering of how God,
rich in mercy, came in Christ to redeem all who trust in his unfailing grace.
2. Hear the call of the Kingdom
to be children of light with the mercy of heaven, the humility of Christ; walking justly before him loving all that is right, that the light of Christ may shine through us.
Chorus: King of heaven, we will answer the call. We will follow, bringing hope to the world, filled with passion, filled with power to proclaim salvation in Jesus’ name.
3. Hear the call of the kingdom to reach out to the lost with the Father’s compassion in the wonder of the cross, bringing peace and forgiveness and a hope yet to come: let the nations put their trust in him.
Chorus
Prayer of Blessing
Lord Jesus Christ, come afresh to us each day, so that we may know you as friend and companion, serve you as Saviour and confess you as the Risen Lord, to the glory of your name.
Amen
Service prepared by Jenny Brooks
Webpage: Paul Deakin