Written Service
Sunday 30th January 2022
Prepared by Rev Dr David Monkton
Grant us. O Lord, to pass this day in gladness and peace, without stumbling and without stain, that reaching the days end victorious overall temptation, we may again praise you ,the eternal God, blessed over all things, now and forever, Amen (Mozarabic Sacramentary.10th century)
Hymn STF 57.
Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King.
1 Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing, "My God and King!"
The heav'ns are not too high,
his praise may thither fly;
the earth is not too low,
his praises there may grow.
Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing, "My God and King!"
2 Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing, "My God and King!"
The church with psalms must shout: no door can keep them out.
But, more than all, the heart
must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in ev'ery corner sing, "My God and King!"
George Herbert
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, the One who created all that was and is and is to come. Thank you for this opportunity to worship you and give thanks for all the good things that we have received. We give you thanks for the things that are minutely small and infinitely overwhelming. Thank you for the created world and all the wonders within it.
We find ourselves pondering over the things that cause us distress, even loss and hardship, through flood, tsunami , famine, earthquake and war. But help us Lord never to lose a sense of wonder, a sense of mystery and a sense of fascination for all the good things we are able enjoy.
Above all may we have an awareness of your love for all that you have made possible in Jesus who gives up his life on the Cross. May we know the depth of your forgiveness for us all. Help us to live out our lives in the name of Jesus.
May we be forgiving too, that we might be aware of the life eternal that you give us.. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Hymn STF.495.
Dear Lord and Father of mankind forgive our foolish ways
1 Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise.
2 In simple trust like theirs who heard beside the Syrian sea
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us, like them, without a word
rise up and follow thee.
3 O Sabbath rest by Galilee,
O calm of hills above,
where Jesus knelt to share with thee the silence of eternity,
interpreted by love!
4 Drop thy 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 thy peace.
5 Breathe through the heats of our desire
thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, O still, small voice of calm!
John Greenleaf Whittier
Gospel Reading -
Our gospel reading for today is from Saint Luke chapter 4 vs 21-30.
Jesus was in the early days of his ministry and everyone was keen to hear what he had to say. They were very impressed.
He comes to Nazareth where he had been brought up, but he said to the people ‘a prophet is never recognised in his own country,’ and they turned against him.’ What angered the people was the apparent compliment that Jesus paid to the gentiles. The Jews in Nazareth were so sure that they were God’s people that they utterly despised all other nationalities, and here was this young man Jesus whose family they knew, preaching as if the gentiles were specially favoured by God. The crowd then turned against him- Fortunately he escaped unharmed
St. Luke chapter 4 vs. 21-24,28-30.
21Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ 23 He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”’ 24 And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Psalm 71 vs. 1-6 (as from the Revised English Bible reads)
In you Lord I have found refuge, let me never be put to shame.
by your saving power rescue and deliver me, hear me and save me!
Be to me a rock of refuge to which at all times I may come.
You have decreed my deliverance, for you are my rock and stronghold.
Keep me safe, my God, from the power of the wicked,
from the clutches of the pitiless and the unjust
You are my hope Lord God, my trust. since my childhood.
On you I have leaned from birth,
you brought me from my mother’s womb: to you I offer praise at all times.
The writer of these words, in contrast to Jesus who was just beginning his ministry, was an elderly man who has experienced God’s help throughout his whole life, but he now comes to God in prayer to share with God his troubles.
It is surprising how much the Psalmists are concerned about sharing their burdens with God. There are nearly 10% of all the Psalms are concerns about illness alone. The Psalmist has lived an eventful life and been involved in many kinds of difficulties, troubles and responsibilities and is now going through life at a time of life-threatening illness. There are people around him, who, to put it mildly are not helpful to him as he goes through difficult days. He is depressed . He feels that God's wrath rests on him, a way of looking at things which we think quite differently about today. Alongside this he also feels that his life is in the grip of godless enemies-ruthless and unjust people who are lying in wait for him and conspiring against him.
It is very easy as people get older to feel things are working against them. Those of us who are older slow up and find ourselves not able to do all that we may want to do. It is very easy to get frustrated, but more than that, circumstances and other people can be against the older person too.
The Psalm appointed for today is Psalm 71. The good news Bible calls it ‘an Old Man’s prayer,’ so does the Jerusalem Bible.
2
There are also other factors that are very common. Loneliness, less energy and stamina We easily forget things or can’t find things. These states of mind are not just belonging to a man who lived many years ago, but probably in part of our personal histories today. It is sometimes a temptation for all of us to think our glass is ‘half empty,’ instead of ‘half full.’
What is the answer to this state of things?
It comes in verse six of this Psalm:
You are my hope Lord God, my trust. Since my childhood on you I have leaned, from birth, you brought me from my mother’s womb: to you I offer praise at all times.
The writer of these words needs to remember again how he has been brought up to trust in God from the very earliest of his days, even from the moment the Lord bought him from his mother’s womb, from the day he was born.
A good Jewish family even today sees the importance of weaning up a child to have faith in God. What a great mistake it is to leave all the education of a child to our schools alone ! There is an important place for teaching them knowledge to live life well and informed in society- in other words with a good sense of being good citizens in society, considerate of other people: but there is an emptiness in the kind of secular education that many think is the be all and end all of what education is.
Some may think of education as something that exists in order to pass exams and hopefully get a good job as the results of good examination results.
True wisdom includes knowing about God. Seeing God as a living force, and through His Spirit enabling us to be what we ought to be - made in the image of God. We need to reach out towards God- so that we can reach out to the true essentials of what life should be all about.
We need to be able to pray to God, not always in words but in our attitudes and in our intentions so that we can reach out to be fully human in the way God wants us to be.
Psalm 23 is probably the favourite psalm of most of us. ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’ What a great comfort there is in that Psalm, but I would like us to look at just one verse of that psalm. When we put our whole trust in God and see the dimensions of his love towards all human beings through what Jesus has done, as the good shepherd, we then throw themselves trustingly into being his trusting servants in every part of our lives
Then we can say not my cup is only ‘half full,’ but ‘my cup runneth over’, this is part of our ‘convalescence’ when we go through difficult times. ‘my cup brims with blessing’ (says The Message paraphrase of the Bible).When we look at the Good News Bible it says .’You welcome me as an honoured guest, and fill my cup to the brim...
As we get older we may think that we are being excluded from things simply because we are older. That is not always an easy thing to decide what we ought to be doing. Sometimes others may think it is time that we gave things up, but we have to come to a point where we feel this ourselves. In our Covenant Service we say to the Lord, ‘let me be laid aside for you’.. We may think of this as being simply an opting out of things that we have previously done .
Sometimes in fact it is a very positive thing to give up certain things, but not give up the way of following Jesus. ‘To be laid aside’ from a particular job may mean a younger person is able to express themselves in a way that is far more in keeping with the way in which society works today. That is good. Sometimes It is a very positive thing to stand back, simply to listen and just occasionally advise and encourage others.
Sometimes when we are older we may be needed to do something that nobody else can do.
At one time earlier in my ministry one of my small chapels regularly held a monthly service with the Anglicans. Our elderly lady organist was escorted to the organ on the one arm by a retired Major General, on the other by a retired Admiral. Admiral Sir Gilbert Stephenson had been called back in his late seventies into the naval reserve and oversaw the evacuation of Dunkirk. For this he was knighted.
Now into his nineties, in his earlier days he had been responsible for conducting worship on board ships, he took some services in our small churches. He became a popular speaker at our midweek meetings. Travelling home along narrow winding roads after such a meeting, he said: ’David, when I get to the point in life where I am useless, I hope I can take a tablet and end my life. What do you think?’
It was dodgy to have a discussion on such a profound subject on windingly dangerous roads, so I asked him a question. ‘Do you believe in the power of prayer.’
He responded very positively. ‘You need never be useless’ I replied. ’You can always pray for someone whose need is greater than your own.’
‘You’ve hit me below the belt’ He replied.
My hope is that as we get older we will pray far more for those whose needs are greater than our own. We never know what influence we can have in helping others. Even our hastily expressed and naive prayers might well be the means of helping them in their spiritual needs and progress.
As we get older, life is less about doing physical feats. Our limited physical stamina prevents this, but we should be more concentrating on what we are ‘called to be’ as human beings who have been given gifts by God to be used according to the best of our ability.
The changing scenes of life can deeply affect the way in which we interpret, understand and help what is happening to us and others around us. This will deeply affect the style of ministry we perform throughout our lives.
If we keep God at the centre of or lives and prayers, whatever our problems or troubles may we too be like the old man in the Psalm- able to ‘praise God at all times’ and find his blessings in continuing to live out our lives to the full in his service.
Hymn STF531
What a friend we have in Jesus.
1 What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
2 Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer!
3 Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Saviour, still our refuge-- take it to the Lord in prayer!
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he'll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.
Joseph Medlicott Scriven
Intercessions.
May we likewise bring all our concerns before God, our relationships, our personal worries, the needs of others, their disappointments. Let us pray for all who have lost loved ones through covid, through illnesses of all kinds. All who feel unjustly treated.
All victims because of natural disasters
The people of Tonga Those enveloped by the tsunami there .
(any special needs of friends, loved one’s or any other serious plights of people in the world.)
Almighty God to whom our needs are known before we ask, help us to ask only what accords with your will, and those good things which we do not or in our blindness cannot ask, grant us for the sake of Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord’s prayer.
Hymn STF693 Beauty for holiness
Beauty for brokenness Hope for despair Lord, in your suffering This is our prayer Bread for the children Justice, joy, peace Sunrise to sunsetYour kingdom increase! Shelter for fragile lives Cures for their ills Work for the craftsman Trade for their skills Land for the dispossessed |
Rights for the weak Voices to plead the cause Of those who can't speak God of the poor, Refuge from cruel wars Havens from fear Cities for sanctuary Freedoms to share Peace to the killing-fields Scorched earth to green Christ for the bitterness His cross for the pain God of the poor.... Rest for the ravaged earth Oceans and streams Plundered and poisoned Our future, our dreams Lord, end our madness Carelessness, greed Make us content with |
The things that we need God of the poor... |
Lighten our darkness Breathe on this flame
Until your justice Burns brightly again
Until the nations Learn of your ways
Seek your salvation And bring you their praise
God of the poor ...
Closing prayer.
God of all, praise and thanks be ours: through Jesus who at his birth received visits from shepherds and foreigners,
who invited fishermen and tax collectors to be his disciples,
who taught us not to judge others,
who healed a Roman’s servant and a Canaanite’s daughter,
who was happy to be counted as one who ate and drank with sinners,
who challenged religious leaders for neglecting justice mercy and faith,
and who sets before us an example of a message of God's love for all people.
Cleanse us by your Holy Spirit, to truly love and serve you and serve all. In Jesus name Amen.
Go in peace and may the peace of the Lord go with you. Amen.
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