Worship at Home
Worship for the week beginning 25 September 2022
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Sunday 25 September
Rev David Speirs 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:
Loving God, as we take this new step together as the new Northampton Methodist Church we thank you for your presence and your guidance. We pray that you would bless this time of worship that we might be filled by your Holy Spirit and remade in the image of your Son Jesus Christ. In his name we pray.
Amen.
StF 684 – Here at the threshold of a new beginning
Here on the threshold of a new beginning,
by grace forgiven, now we leave behind
our long-repented selfishness and sinning,
and all our blessings call again to mind:
Christ to redeem us, ransom and restore us,
the love that holds us in a Saviour’s care,
faith strong to welcome all that lies before us,
our unknown future, knowing God is there.
May we, your children, feel with Christ’s compassion an earth disordered, hungry and in pain; then, at your calling, find the will to fashion new ways where freedom, truth and justice reign; where wars are ended, ancient wrongs are righted, and nations value human life and worth; where in the darkness lamps of hope are lighted and Christ is honoured over all the earth.
So may your wisdom shine from Scripture’s pages to mould and make us stones with which to build God’s holy temple, through eternal ages, one church united, strong and Spirit-filled; heirs to the fullness of your new creation, in faith we follow, pledged to be your own; yours is the future, ours the celebration,
for Christ is risen! God is on the throne!
Timothy Dudley-Smith (b.1926)
Words © 1999 Hope Publishing Company, 380 S Main Pl, Carol Stream, IL 60188
Bible Reading
1 Timothy 6: 6-19
Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
The Good Fight of Faith
But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.
As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Time to Reflect
The reading that we have this Sunday is a reminder of our priorities as God’s people. Paul is warning Timothy about the danger of the love of money and riches which leads to pain and spiritual destruction. Instead, as a person of God, Timothy is counselled to pursue “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.” (v.11).
We live at a time when the cost of living is rising and the wealth gap is growing ever wider. There is a great need in our communities for the hungry to be fed, clothed, and sheltered. Paul advises Timothy that the materially rich should be generous and ready to share what they have with others, putting their trust in God and not in material wealth. In so doing they secure their eternal futures by having the same loving concern for people in need that Jesus does.
As we start this new step in our journey together, as Northampton Methodist Church, we are very aware of the material assets that we manage; buildings and accounts that have all been raised for the work of the Kingdom. There is, however, the danger that we begin to love those material things more than we love God and our neighbour. We must remember that buildings and assets are not ends in themselves. Instead they are resources to be used for God’s good purposes: To share the good news of Jesus in word and in action. Knowing this means that our hopes should not rest in these material things but rather in God who supplies all our needs. By placing our hope in God, and his promises in Jesus, we are given a sure and firm foundation for our life of faith.
The letter that Paul is writing to Timothy is intended to be an encouragement to him, as part of his mentorship of this young minister. Paul is seeking to help Timothy has he grows in grace, holiness, and his understanding of God whilst pointing out potential dangers and pitfalls that he could fall into. By keeping his focus on God, rather than the distraction of material wealth, Paul knows that Timothy will flourish in his calling. We too need encouragement as we keep our focus on God and what he is calling us to do. We must remember that through Christ and the Holy Spirit we have God’s living presence amongst us; encouraging, helping, and leading us.
The next year will be a challenging one, but it will also be a time of opportunity for us to remember who we are and what we are called to be as Jesus’ disciples. We are encouraged then to pursue a way of being and behaving in which we seek God’s righteousness and mirror God’s generosity, by using what we have to further the good work of his Kingdom. Christ reminds us that we are called by him to build relationships, to share what we have with others, and to tell to all the good news of the Gospel.
By following Jesus, placing our hopes in him and not in the false security of riches, we can have confidence in the future, as we invest what we have in the work of compassion and mercy that builds spiritual revenues whilst enabling human flourishing. We may then see the greatest of treasures that is God’s love being known and shared amongst us as we grow as a Church, with new people coming to know and love Jesus.
So this Sunday we commit ourselves to placing all our trust in God, to follow Jesus, and to share the love we have received from him with all those we encounter. One body together in Christ for the advancement of his Kingdom.
Amen.
Prayer of Intercession
You are invited to pray silently for:
The needs of the world…
The Church and its calling…
Loved ones going through difficult times…
In Jesus name. 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 545 – Be thou my vision
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
be all else but naught to me, save that thou art; be thou my best thought in the day and the night, both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word, be thou ever with me, and I with the Lord; be thou my great Father, thy child let me be; be thou in me dwelling, and I one with thee.
Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might; be thou my soul’s shelter, be thou my strong tower: O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor earth’s empty praise:
Be thou mine inheritance now and always;
be thou and thou only the first in my heart:
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.
High King of heaven, thou heaven’s bright Sun, O grant me its joys after victory is won;
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.
Irish, 8th century
translated by Mary Elizabeth Byrne (1880-1931)
versified by Eleanor Henrietta Hull (1860-1935).
Final Prayer
Gracious God, as this time of worship comes to a close we remember our calling to be disciples of Jesus. Help us, by your Holy Spirit, to follow him and to share his love. Unite us as one body together so we might serve Christ as his faithful people. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord, Saviour and friend. Amen
Service prepared by Rev David Speirs
Webpage: Paul Deakin