Worship at Home
Worship for the week beginning 18 September 2022
By Phillip Medhurst – Photo by Harry Kossuth, FAL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7550875
To listen to the sermon and a hymn dial
01604 266000.
Sunday 18 September
Local Preacher John Atkin 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.
Opening Prayer:
Holy God, as we meet together,
help us to be aware of your presence.
Create in us a desire to build your kingdom,
so that, as we listen to your word and sing your praises, we will understand how to be your people wherever you have placed us.
Generous God, maker, saviour, counsellor,
we come to you with all that we have,
a community gathered in your name.
May we hear what you have to say to us today, and live our lives as an act of praise.
Amen.
StF 55 – Immortal, invisible, God only wise
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
To all life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish, but naught changeth Thee
Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render, O help us to see:
’Tis only the splendour of light hideth Thee.
Prayer Confession and Thanksgiving:
Following you, Jesus, does not guarantee an easy life. There are challenges and obstacles as the sinful life constantly fights with our Spirit-filled life. We are sorry when our human condition takes over and we fight using our own efforts. We’re sorry for the times we retaliate when others are hurtful to us.
We’re sorry for relying on our own ideas and neglecting the wisdom of the Spirit’s guidance. We’re sorry for all the excuses we offer to get out of things you ask us to do.
We’re sorry for letting you down, for our complacency. We know some things can’t wait. And that you call for action.
Forgive us, Lord.
Help us to centre our life on you,
heeding the urgency of your call.
Amen.
Some things can’t wait. Such as the need of people in this world to acknowledge and follow you, Lord. For who knows when you will return? We give abundant thanks for everyone to whom you give the cloak of evangelism and leadership.
Our hearts overflow with thanks and praise: for our own salvation; for all who played their part in leading us to faith and nurturing us on our walk in freedom; and that we are no longer drifting in hopelessness, but secure in you.
Your Holy Spirit leads us with incomparable power, strength and wisdom. And our heart’s desire to follow where you lead, with the fruit of the Spirit ripening within us. You have the power, Lord, to change our attitudes and our priorities. Our hearts are full of thanks and praise for the joy we know in you and the inheritance that can never be taken from us.
Lord, we pray for others to know the same.
Amen.
Bible Readings
Amos 8:4-7
and do away with the poor of the land,
5 saying,
‘When will the New Moon be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
that we may market wheat?’–
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheating with dishonest scales,
6 buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: ‘I will never forget anything they have done.
Luke 16:1-13
The parable of the shrewd manager
16 Jesus told his disciples: ‘There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.”
3 ‘The manager said to himself, “What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg – 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.”
5 ‘So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?”
6 ‘“Three thousand litres of olive oil,” he replied.
‘The manager told him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifteen hundred.”
7 ‘Then he asked the second, “And how much do you owe?”
‘“Thirty tons of wheat,” he replied.
‘He told him, “Take your bill and make it twenty-four.”
8 ‘The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 ‘Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 ‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Time to Reflect
Time to Reflect
Jesus tells one of his most challenging parables. A manager’s dishonesty has been found out and, frightened for his future, he makes a series of dodgy deals with his master’s clients. The disciples are then invited to reflect on how best to live in the real world, and whether their true master is God or worldly matters.
We are challenged in Luke 16. 1-13 and in Amos 8. 4-7, to think about the way that we use our wealth, what we possess and who we are and how we can bring a positive Jesus like transformation to the communities where God has placed us. It’s easy for us to separate the sacred our worship of God from the secular world – but God doesn’t make that distinction.
In Amos 8, the prophet is calling Israel and Judah to account for their failure to uphold the Torah, Gods Law he invariably focused on what happened in the marketplace, in the shops, at work.
Amos is not calling out a few bent traders but rather castigating a whole economic system, rigged against the poor and in favour of the rich. This was a society that paid lip-service to God on the sabbath and ignored him for the rest of the week, allowing the rich to grow their wealth through unjust trading practices with a callous indifference to those they exploited. Amos’ words echo down the centuries and land squarely in our markets and workplaces and challenge us to use our wealth justly.
Amos points out that these merchants/business people were keeping the religious festivals, but not in spirit, it was all show. They couldn’t wait for the holy days and Sabbath to be over so they could go back to making money. Their real interest was in enriching themselves, even if that meant cheating, changing the quality while putting the price up. Do you take time out of the week to pray and worship God, or is making money more important to you than anything else?
Jesus told the religious leaders in Luke 16: v13. “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”.
Because the Pharisees that Jesus was talking to loved money and power, they took exception to Jesus’ teaching. As we have come out of the Covid pandemic we are going back to an age that seems to measure people’s worth by how much money they make. And not their contribution to our society. Do we laugh at Jesus’ warnings against serving money? Do we try to explain them away? Do we apply them to someone else – the Pharisees for example? Unless we take Jesus’ statements seriously, we may be acting like Pharisees ourselves. Do we use our wealth and our actions based on the values of the Kingdom of God, remember Amos’s words as they echo down the centuries and land squarely in our markets, workplaces, and lives, and challenge’s us to use our wealth justly.
Prayer for Others and Ourselves
Lord, Help us in our dealings to be just and fair; to be true to our ethical values even when we make small purchases; to think of how our gains may be losses to others.
Money is not evil – it is the love of it.
Let us not love it for its own sake;
let it be an agent for good in the world,
used to promote just and equal community.
We give thanks for the life of Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. We honour her life of service built on a firm foundation of faith and an exemplary commitment to duty. Comfort those who mourn and bring peace to those in distress.
Draw near to all who mourn the passing of your servant, Elizabeth, our Queen; and grant to her successor, and all the Royal family, the gift of your peace and the strength of your love; We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our 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 495 – Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways:
reclothe us in our rightful mind;
in purer lives your service find,
in deeper reverence praise,
in deeper reverence praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
beside the Syrian sea,
the gracious calling of the Lord
let us, like them, obey his word:
‘Rise up and follow me,
rise up and follow me!’
O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
when Jesus shared on bended knee
the silence of eternity
interpreted by love,
interpreted by love!
With that deep hush subduing all
our words and works that drown
the tender whisper of your call,
as noiseless let your blessing fall
as fell your manna down,
as fell your manna down.
Drop your still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of your peace,
the beauty of your peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
your coolness and your balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire,
speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,
O still small voice of calm,
O still small voice of calm!
Closing Prayer:
We want to be the body of Christ,
longing to bless the world with love,
and transforming society, here and now.
Holy Spirit, we offer you
all that we are, all that we do.
Take us, and our gifts and talents,
and help us be signs of your kingdom today.
Amen.
Service prepared by John Atkin
Webpage: Paul Deakin