Nottingham North East Circuit
HOME SERVICE
SUNDAY 23rd JANUARY 2022
Prepared by Rev Alan Boyd
Welcome to this act of worship which is for you to use at home on your own or with others. If you have internet access, there are links in blue to click on to take you to the songs, Bible reading and a spoken version of today’s message. I would recommend that you say the words of the service aloud, rather than read them silently to yourself – this really does help.
A GATHERING HYMN AND CALL TO WORSHIP
Let’s be quiet for a while as we try to step aside from whatever we’ve just been doing, take a deep breath, collect our thoughts, bring our experiences of the past week here and come to Godasweare–notasweoughttobe.Godis here as we meet to offer praise and prayer. When you feel ready, sing/read/pray/proclaim the words of this hymn (Singing The Faith 678 “Come, all who look to Christ today” to the tune “Tallis’s Canon”) :
"Come all who look ...." (CLICK FOR MUSIC)
Come, all who look to Christ today,
Stretch out your hands, enlarge your mind, Together share his living way,
Where all who humbly seek will find.
(Richard G. Jones)
Grace to you and peace from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as we worship together.
A PRAYER OF PRAISE AND CONFESSION
Now we continue in worship as we pray together – first of all our words of praise and then our honest confession. Knowing God’s grace and goodness, we end this time with words of forgiveness. Let’s pray now ...
God of the past, we offer our praise for your constant love and guidance throughout our lives. God of the here and now, we rejoice that you continue to be with us each moment of every day. God of tomorrow, we trust in your promises as we continue our journeys as individuals and as your church.
We thank and praise you that wherever we are, whatever we are doing, in joy and sorrow, in health and sickness, in hope and despair, you are with us. We have felt your presence as we have travelled to this day, you have marked out the way ahead and you call us to follow.
Forgive us when we are hesitant or choose to go our own way, when we find it easier to be selfish rather than loving. Forgive us when we set up our own markers on an easier pathway, ignoring the needs of others. Forgive us when our actions act as millstones round the necks of others, dragging them down rather than inspiring them with your love.
(Take time now for your private confession)
We ask that each day you will remake us in your image and give us the courage to walk in your footsteps.
WORDS OF FORGIVENESS
Jesus says: I will always love you, everything is forgiven. We pray in the name of Jesus who is the way, the truth and life. Amen.
A HYMN OF PRAISE
(Singing the Faith 5 ‘Father in whom we live’)
You will know the tune as ‘Crown him with many crowns’. Also, in the first verse, some people prefer to sing “Maker, in whom we live” instead of “Father, in whom we live”.
Sing/Read/Pray/Proclaim the words ....
1 Father, in whom we live,
In whom we are, and move,
Glory and power and praise receive Of thy creating love.
Let all the angel throng
Give thanks to God on high;
While earth repeats the joyful song, And echoes to the sky.2 Incarnate deity,
Let all the ransomed race
Render in thanks their lives to thee, For thy redeeming grace.
The grace to sinners showed
Ye heavenly choirs proclaim,
And cry: 'Salvation to our God, Salvation to the Lamb!'3 Spirit of holiness,
Let all thy saints adore
Thy sacred energy, and bless Thy heart-renewing power. Not angel tongues can tell Thy love's ecstatic height, The glorious joy unspeakable, The beatific sight.4 Eternal, triune Lord!
Let all the hosts above,
Let all the sons of men, record
And dwell upon thy love.
When heaven and earth are fled Before thy glorious face,
Sing all the saints thy love has made Thine everlasting praise.
INTRODUCING OUR 2 -PART BIBLE READING
Around abut 50 AD a battered and exhausted Paul arrived in Corinth, a great port in south- eastern Greece. He had great hope for the Christian Community there, but instead found them split into factions, with some there believing that they had superior gifts and dominating everything. Paul really pushed for some re-thinking. He highlights how the Holy Spirit unifies by inspiring a whole range of gifts – not just the gifts of the Spirit in the first part of our reading in verse 1-11, but also, in the second part in verses 12-31, a wide range of practical abilities that benefit the whole community. He thinks of it as a body, where all the parts depend on each other, all the parts are equally valued and all have a vital role to play for the good of everyone.
THE FIRST PART OF OUR BIBLE READING:
1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-11 (CLICK HERE TO LISTEN)
Spiritual Gifts
1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good .8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
WE PRAYERFULLY SING AS WE HEAR AND BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT OUR 2 -PART READING
(STF 678 “Come, all who look to Christ today)
"Come all who look ...." (CLICK FOR MUSIC)
Come, all who look to Christ today,
Stretch out your hands, enlarge your mind, Together share his living way,
Where all who humbly seek will find.
Come, all who will from every place; find here new powers of unity, accept the Spirit’s strong embrace, which binds us in community.
(Richard G. Jones)
Whether it’s a sports team, a band, cubs, brownies, guides, scouts, a family or a Church – it’s always better when we all work together. Everybody has a different part to play, or different gifts to offer. All of them are important. All of them are needed. In today’s Bible readings, a leader called Paul is helping the very first Churches - and us - to think about it.
1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-31 (CLICK TO LISTEN)
One Body With Many Members
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ 22On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member,
25that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. 27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
A REFLECTION ON THE READING
TODAY’S MESSAGE (CLICK TO WATCH/LISTEN)
There’s a photo of me, my sister and two brothers together taken many a year ago. It’s a good one but slightly scary. Although there’s a span of 18 years between us all, we look like 4 clones. Scarily like clones. So, there are 3 more like me! Yet, although we look alike, and there are some bits of our nature that are the same, we’re definitely NOT the same people, or have the same interests, life story or talents.
Take one of my brothers – for instance – I won’t tell you which one. There is NO way on God’s good earth that you would let him near any – and I mean ANY – D.I.Y. Step away from that saw, spanner, hammer, drill, filler, sandpaper, screw, pipe, knife, paint brush - for trust me it won’t turn out well, more like Armageddon. A well, at least he knows and accepts that.
What a contrast to the heartwarming, slow expertise of THE REPAIR SHOP. Do you watch it? If not, then you should. Broken, battered, neglected and tarnished items of great personal value to people are painstakingly inspected, taken apart, and restored by some simply amazing craftswomen and craftsmen. Whether it’s a clock, piece of furniture, painting, rocking- horse, radio or 1001 other things, they somehow dismantle it, restore it and get it all back together again.
Have you ever had to take something big apart - something-big with lots of bits in it - to try to fix it? Even though I often don't quite know how they work, I've had to take lots of things apart to try to get them to work again. We especially used to have a grey vacuum cleaner. I never seemed to be away from it - screwdriver in one hand. Undo the rubber lip. Take out the screws that hold the front plate. Undo the roller and belt. Undo the second base plate. Take out the thing that changes the height for carpets and linos. Take out the suction tube. Undo the foot pedal that ... and so on and so on. Hundreds
Now one thing that struck me in all those times was that every part was needed to make it work. Without the belt - Without the tube - Without the tiniest screw - it just wouldn't work right, or maybe wouldn't even work at all. Every bit had a part to play. It was the whole thing that mattered.
That's what Paul's getting at. Paul is the person who wrote the letter we've just read. The letter shows how all parts of the Christian body are important in the same way as something as silly as all parts of a grey vacuum cleaner - or something as marvellous as our bodies with all its many, many parts - or anything else you care to think about. Each bit depends on every other bit. Each bit has a part to play.
He says (verse 3) "There are all sorts of different gifts, but the same Lord. There are all sorts of different things to do - but the same Lord” and later on (verse 12) "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ". So it is with Christ.
Each one of us is really special and each one of us depends on everyone else. Each one of us has a gift - something we can give - and we need everyone’s gifts to make things really happen. The life of this Church doesn't just happen by chance. It needs lots of people, lots of time, lots of gifts, lots of commitment - all working together.
At the most basic level, it doesn't open itself. It doesn't clean itself. It doesn't heat itself. It doesn't light itself. It doesn't paint or repair itself. It doesn't pay for itself, doesn't have music by itself. It doesn't have worship and prayer by itself ... you name it. And at another really important level, the good news of Christ, and the hope that he offers doesn't get passed on by itself. Many people offer many gifts to the whole body and then the body works.
Back to Paul. He is dealing with a situation in Corinth where “look at me ma - no hands” was the order of the day in the Church – my gift is bigger than your gift; my knowledge is truer than your knowledge; my faith is more faithful than your faith; my Church is bigger, better, more Biblical than yours; my ministry is real ministry and yours is – well I don’t know what. A sort of a New Testament version of George Orwell’s Animal farm “all animals are equal but some are more equal than others” becomes “all can be saved but some can be more saved than others”, like that song “Anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you, yes I can, no you can’t, yes I can, no you can’t”.
And Paul says – no – look around you (1 Cor 12:12) “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ”. Look at what each of you has to offer (1 Cor 12:27) “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” And throughout the reading we heard, Paul gives example after example of gifts – and these are just some examples. He paints a picture of each person - and so each gift that a person has - as being an important, integral, vital, honoured part of the whole body. The gifts of the whole body. The purpose of the whole body. The mission of the whole body. The ministry of the whole body.
Realising what your gifts actually are in the first place is the best place to start. Doing that is a priority for the whole Church. It’s a priority for our Circuit. It’s a priority for the fellowship that you belong to. What is God calling you to offer? Perhaps the past 2 years have been alright-ish for you, or just different, but if you’re anything like me, you’ve maybe pulled down the shutters and retreated to your cave over the past 2 years and gone into a sort of hibernation, or maybe things have been much more difficult for you and very painful – but whatever it’s been like, God is still calling me and you.
As Paul said - some are called to be apostles, and prophets - telling it like it is, and evangelists, and preachers, and listeners, and companions, and musicians, and welcomers, and wonderful cooks, and gracious servers, and wall painters, and door-fixers, and pray-ers, and supporters, and givers, and organisers, and do-ers, and much more. Is that you? Perhaps you’re not a dramaticperson. But you are able to work modestly and steadily in a way that could support a friend who can’t cope with sudden and dramatic change at work or at home. While others lose their heads, you keep yours. That steady hand of yours on the wheel –
Maybe you’ve been through a hell of a time yourself. Nothing has worked out right. You feel battered into the ground. But then your experience, how you’ve somehow survived, your understanding way - can offer support and hope to a friend or work mate or neighbour who’s having to face the same. What a gift!
What are you being challenged not to leave to someone else? Again, if you’re anything like me, you’ve felt anxious or lost over the past couple of years, feel anxious or lost now and just don’t know what the future will be like or aren’t sure what to do next, but God is still calling me and you. What is God calling you and me to do?
Maybe your gift is in practical caring, clothing and feeding others. Is your gift speaking up - challenging bias, injustice or racism when you hear or see it? Or is it thankfulness, being a smiling presence, a welcoming person, or plain open heartedness? What about being a patient listener, being on the phone or on the doorstep when it matters, understanding, showing mercy, a generous giver – not just money but your time, gracious in your behaviour, someone who cooperates instead of competes, encourages instead of criticises, forgives instead of holding a grudge. Someone who doesn’t give up on people.
Is your gift being patient and content with simple things? A sense of peace or patience and contentment that could encourage someone who’s suffered great disappointment? Could your gift simply be the example of your life, being able to be different and make a difference to others? Only you can know what your gift is. Only you can tell what you will do with it. What gift you could offer as part of our life and mission in your Church or in the Circuit?
Now I don't think that Mission is about standing on doorsteps, knocking on doors and asking dead embarrassing questions about Jesus. No. Just being where you are in your fellowship - that's MISSION. We are people who think that the Christian way is important - that's MISSION. We try to live by it and share it as best we can - that's MISSION. Many folk are part of our lives here. Our lives rub up against each other, we treat each other as important and we have an effect – that’s MISSION
I know that you have many talents. I know that you have already given much to the Church's life. But then I also know that you have received much. I want to invite you to give and receive again during this year. Not someone else. You. Part of living MISSION. On your doorstep. Each one of us part of the whole body. Each one of us as important as the other.
Each one of us offering what we have and who we are - and we need everyone's gifts to make things really happen. We can all be sure of one thing – it just won’t be the same without you or me. As we often say together in communion "Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in the one bread". And I believe that Christ will bless us all. And I believe that Christ will offer more in return than we can imagine. Because Christ believes in us. AMEN
PERSONAL PRAYER & PRAYERS FOR THE WORLD
Almighty God, You have created a world, and your place is the whole universe. I have made small things and my place is a home, an office, a school, a shop, a town. How can my life be important? How can it be a part of your love at work round this whole earth? Spin the globe and I see the call to tell good news; To be with those in need; To work for justice; To care for the earth; To grow as disciples of Christ. All- encompassing, All-involving, Almighty God, include me. Thank you that every one of us - young, old and in-between - has part to play in your body, the Church and so with confidence and commitment, we pray for our world ....
(Pause for a time of silence to recall, or to pray out loud for, our world, people, places or situations, those around us, our own needs)
We gather all these prayers together - spoken and unspoken - in the prayer that Jesus gave us:
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.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever.
AMEN.
OUR FINAL HYMN,
(Singing the Faith 116 “Sing for God’s glory “)
“Sing for God's Glory” (CLICK FOR MUSIC)
Sing/Read/Pray/Proclaim the words ...
SingforGod'sglory
that colours the dawn of creation,
racing across the sky
trailing bright clouds of elation,
sun of delight succeeds the velvet of night, warming the earth's exaltation.SingforGod'spower
that shatters the chains that would bind us, searing the darkness of fear and despair that could blind us,
touching our shame with love that will not lay blame, reaching out gently to find us.SingforGod'sjustice
disturbing each easy illusion,
tearing down tyrants
and putting our pride to confusion, lifeblood of right, resisting evil and slight, offering freedom's transfusion.SingforGod'ssaints
who have travelled faith's journey before us, who in our weariness
give us their hope to restore us,
in them we see, the new creation to be, spirit of love made flesh for us.(Kathy Galloway)
A PRAYER OF BLESSING
Please use our skills and abilities to bring love and joy and peace to our world so that your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. So now, O Lord, extend our friendship, deepen our faith, widen our hope, pour out your Spirit, send out your grace, reach out your love so that we may grow in your name. AMEN
Some prayers and hymns are taken from, based on, or inspired by, those in, ‘Partners in Learning’ and ‘Roots’. Hymns are used by permission under CCL
No comments:
Post a Comment