Sunday 11th October 2020

Sunday 11th October 2020

BURTON JOYCE COMMUNITY CHURCH

A short service for use at home: 

Sunday 11th October 2020 

The hymns are chosen mostly from the church hymnbook 

Songs of Fellowship 

If you don't have a copy of the hymnbook at home, you can often find a video of the hymn on Youtube with the words displayed on video. Also, you can find the Bible readings online at several websites. Search for the specific chapter and verse (e.g. Exodus16, 1-15)

Prepared for Burton Joyce Community Church by Phil Colbourn. Prayers adapted from the Iona Abbey Worship Book. Spend a short time with God as we share in this time of worship. 

WELCOME

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 597. 

When morning gilds the skies

PRAYER AND PRAISE

Thanks be to you, O Christ, 

for the many gifts you have bestowed upon us

Each day & each night, each sea & land, 

each weather fair, each calm, each wild

Each day we remember your mercy. 

Each day we praise your name.

Everything we have comes from you. 

Each day we glory in your grace. Amen

CONFESSION

Creator of the cosmos, of eternity and time: 

Be with us in these times

Saviour of the world, healer of the nations: 

Be with us in these our places

Forgive us our neglect and abuse of your precious world

Breath of all living things: 

Breathe into us your life, your love & mercy. Amen

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 804. 

I lift my eyes

READING: GENESIS 1: 6-25

Climate & biodiversity

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 208. 

If I were a butterfly

REFLECTION

Last week was the beginning, Day 0ne in the Genesis story, and this week, we watch as the earth is formed, clothed and populated: Days Two to Five. On Day Two, the atmosphere gathers and the hydrological cycle kick-starts the climate. Plants begin to grow on Day Three and on Day Four (in an apparent diversion) the Cosmos comes into view before, finally, on Day Five, animals appear. 

I have been working on a website for the Climate Action & Biodiversity Group. You may remember how the group started after a talk on Extinction Rebellion at the church back in January. We had one meeting in February before Coronavirus struck. But the issues have not gone away. The Climate is in disarray because of all the carbon dioxide we release from our industrialised society. Wildlife is threatened by the continual clearance of forests and the loss of wild places. Even here in Burton Joyce we farm, build and mow, and places for the riches of God’s good creation diminish and disappear. What can we do? In Christ, God is rebooting creation and as Christians, we are involved. We have a responsibility as representatives of God’s new creation. Hope for the planet rests with us. 

It is our calling to live as God’s people in God’s world, a world remade, rescued and restored. Creation is longing for the children of God to stand up and be counted (Romans 8) but what does this mean in practice? How do we live now? 

The rich diversity of the earth and its intricate balance is our testimony. Look at the lilies of the field. Look at the sparrows. These tell us all we need to know. So, let’s do all we can to celebrate & honour God’s world in our everyday lives.

Why does the cosmos only appear on Day Four? Perhaps it is because those plants, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, have cleared the air sufficiently for the stars and planets now to be seen for the first time. Amen.

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 645. 

All creatures of our God and king

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS 

O Christ of the distant star and the running stream:

Kindle within our hearts 

a flame of love for neighbour, foe and friend

O Christ of the poor: 

Kindle within our hearts a flame of love …

O Christ of the forest floor and the ocean shore: 

Kindle within …

O Christ of the tree and flower, insect and elephant: 

Kindle …

O Christ of the hurt and weary, the weak and wounded: 

Kindle …

There is no star, no stream, no flower 

that does not proclaim your glory

O Christ, Word, Light, Life, Love and Joy, 

lend us your creative power

May truth & love lead us together 

in harmony and peace. Amen

We say The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father 

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 112. 

For the beauty of the earth

CLOSING PRAYERS 

The deep peace of the running wave and the deep peace of the flowing air, the deep peace of the quiet earth and the shining stars, the deep peace of tree and bird, the deep peace of the Son of Peace be with you now and always. Amen

And may the blessing of our God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon us,remain with us & keep all we love & long for, now, this day and for ever. Amen.