Order of Service 19th July 2020

Order of Service 19th July 2020

BURTON JOYCE

COMMUNITY CHURCH

Sunday 19 July 2020

Working with the Nottingham North East Circuit of the Methodist Church

Lord, we come to you. Be with us in this time of worship. Amen.

Let’s begin with a hymn, Songs of Fellowship 557

Thou whose almighty word chaos and darkness heard

(Let there be light)

Prayers

Loving God, you know us, and you love us. You have given us all we could ever need; we are blessed by you. You have made the stars of the sky, the sun and the moon, the earth and all that is on it; the seas and the rivers – we are abundantly blessed by your hand. You are our mighty creator God, our compassionate God, our friend and redeemer.

Confession

We come to you in the full knowledge of our failings, that we let you down, but also realising that you are our Forgiving God, and that you will renew us and restore us. We thank you for being our Saving God.

By your mercy, we are forgiven.

By your mercy, we are cleansed and renewed.

We give you thanks for being our merciful God, for sending your son Jesus Christ to be our Saviour & the Holy Spirit as our strength and guide. Amen

Psalm 139
The Inescapable God

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?

12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. 24 See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Reflection

‘Inescapable God’ I find the idea of the Inescapable God comforting – it means even if I try to hide my deepest darkest secrets from everyone else – even myself – I cannot hide from God, so there is no point trying.

God’s complete and utter love, surrounds us & is at work in all of us. Verse 5 is comforting: ‘you lay your hand upon me’. God has a directing hand on my shoulder, leading me to the right path, if I am willing to go.

The Psalmist writes that he is ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. God knit him together, created his whole being. God knew him before formation; long before birth. God is all encompassing, powerful, eternal and infinite.

This is the God of grace in action: before we were born, before our parents, grandparents or even further back, God knew us & loved us & has bestowed grace on us because he loves us. God chooses us before we choose him.

The final part of the Psalm is a plea for God to search the heart & ‘lead me in the way everlasting’. The way of Christ in righteousness & steadfast love with our Inescapable God, who loves us more than we can ever measure.

Songs of Fellowship 1566

Through all the changing scenes of life, in trouble and in joy

Prayers of Intercession

• Pray for family and friends

• Pray for all key workers
• Pray for those with no food, no clean water

• Pray for those in war zones.
• Pray for those alone, afraid, depressed

• Pray for ourselves.

Lord’s Prayer

Songs of Fellowship 425 (How great Thou art)

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder

Blessing

The God of eternity surround you. His Son Christ Jesus live within your heart. The Spirit of God guide you and give you strength. And may the peace of our Triune God comfort you now and evermore.

Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.

[Service prepared by Deacon Helen Snowball and adapted for BJCC by Phil Colbourn]