Sunday 1st November 2020: All Saints

Sunday 1st November 2020

All Saints

BURTON JOYCE COMMUNITY CHURCH

A short service for use at home 

 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. Prayer* adapted from New Zealand Prayer Book. Spend time with God as we share together this time of worship.

WELCOME

Today we celebrate the festival of All Saints

*Eternal God, you take men & women of every nation, age & colour to be saints: transforming them by grace, baptising them in your Spirit & filling them with life overflowing; so now lead us in paths of inexpressible joy, in Jesus name. Amen

We begin with this very well-known hymn:

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 109.

For all the saints who from their labours rest

PRAYER AND PRAISE

Praise and glory to the Lord who is the Head of the Church

Praise and glory to the Lord who leads his people out of darkness

Praise and glory to the Lord who is the living Word 

We bless you, O Lord our God, for the glory of this your world

We bless you that your love is new every morning

We bless you that you are making all things new

Praise and glory to our God, Father Son & Holy Spirit. Amen

CONFESSION

We are sorry for the suffering in our society: people losing loved ones & livelihood; families struggling to make ends meet. Father, forgive us.

We are sorry for the injustices & inequalities with which communities & individuals have struggled for years. Father, forgive us.

We are sorry that we have failed to care for your wonderful world & for one another. Help us, O Lord.  Father, forgive us.

Jesus says:

"Come to me. 

"Live & work alongside me and you will find rest for your souls." 

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 127.

Glorious things of thee are spoken

READING: 

COLOSSIANS 1, 1-14 

All the saints

REFLECTION: 
I wonder if you can find a map of the world to look at? Or perhaps you can see it inside your head or, even better, draw it out on a piece of paper. Which are the countries or places that hold a special place in your life or in your heart?

We are thinking about all the saints, both those resting from their labours and those still engaged in doing God’s work here on earth. God has his people in every country, in every part of the world. This is something to lift our hearts.

As we celebrate, let us remember the people of God wherever they are, whatever they are doing and in whatever circumstances they are living. And, at the same time, let’s give thanks for all those who have gone ahead to be with the Lord, people we have known, those we know of and those we never knew. 

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 278.

I will sing the wondrous story

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS 

We pray for your people in every country of the world

We pray for your people wherever there is conflict and division

Be with them and comfort them so that they may comfort others. 

We pray for people in our communities who face unemployment, ill-health, isolation & money worries, especially who cannot afford food and heat

Be with them and help us to help them.

We pray for happy relationships, practical support and real hope

We pray for all who grieve

Be with us and help us to be good neighbours to everyone. 

We thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life

God of truth: May your kingdom come. Amen

We say The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father …

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 70.

Come, let us join our cheerful songs

CLOSING PRAYERS 

May the blessing of God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, be with us and with all the God’s people everywhere, today, tomorrow and for evermore. Amen

One World Week - Sunday 25th October 2020

One World Week

Sunday 25th October 2020

BURTON JOYCE COMMUNITY CHURCH

A short service for use at home

 

Sunday 25th October 2020

 

Prepared for Burton Joyce Community Church by Phil Colbourn. Prayers adapted from One World Week resources. Spend time with God as we share together this time of worship.

WELCOME: it’s ONE WORLD WEEK!

Working together for a just, peaceful and sustainable world. 

This year’s theme: It's our world. Let's make it better.

We begin our service today with a hymn of praise that spans the whole earth

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 122. 

From the sun’s rising

PRAYER AND PRAISE

Praise and glory to the Lord 

who in the beginning created the universe.

Praise and glory to the Lord 

whose love for us is new every morning.

Praise and glory to the Lord our creator 

who knows and blesses each one of us. 

Praise and glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Amen

CONFESSION

We lament the suffering in our society: people losing loved ones, health, jobs, & businesses; families struggling to make ends meet. 

Father, forgive us.

We mourn injustices & inequalities, made the more evident by the pandemic, in which communities & individuals have struggled for years. 

Father, forgive us.

We confess that we have failed to care for your world & we are failing to care for one another. 

Help us, O Lord.  

Father, forgive us.

Jesus says: Come to me, 

yoke yourself to me & find rest for your souls. 

Amen

HYMN : Songs of Fellowship  54. 

Brother, sister, let me serve you

READING: GENESIS 9, 8-17 

The Rainbow Promise

REFLECTION: 

It is One World Week and we are going to spend a few moments thinking about what this means in the context of our reading from Genesis. 

This is also the last of our series of services for Creation-tide and we have come to the sixth and last day of creation, the icing on the cake: you & me; humankind. 

It was striking how, during the first few weeks of lockdown in April, rainbows appeared everywhere. It was as if people were invoking this ancient promise that life should not be wiped out by death and disaster, by the “flood” of the pandemic. 

It is good sometimes to be reminded of God’s promises.

The story of Noah & his sons & their wives is a foundational myth for the human race. From here, descendants of Ham, Shem and Japheth spread out across the globe. The story is rich in palaeo-anthropological and human evolutionary hints and possibilities! 

But the point is that we all have a common origin. It repeats & reinforces Genesis 1 & 2: the story of Adam & Eve. 

We are One World. 

But it is more than that. It is about the whole of creation; the whole world, the globe, the planet, everything, to the stars and beyond. 

One World Week reminds us:

·      Climate and nature are deeply INTERCONNECTED with our lifestyles

 

·      It is our RESPONSIBILITY to secure a sustainable future for our children 

·      We can seize this moment of coronavirus to MAKE OUR WORLD BETTER

‘It is more than that’ but it is still ‘that’. 

We are family. We care for each other. We are neighbours:

 

Being a “good neighbour” means so much more than just being quiet and unobtrusive. It includes looking out for our neighbours to make sure their needs are met, at personal, local, national and international levels.

So, please do give to our Harvest charities 

(details in the newsletter or on this website).

For us, the rainbow promise of Genesis 9 is fulfilled in Jesus; in his life, death & resurrection. In Jesus, God is making all things new. It is our new beginning and we can live each day in the creative power of the resurrection. 

Amen

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 290. 

Jesus is Lord!

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS 

Guide us as we recognise our responsibility to play a part in the flourishing of all creation, nature and humankind: One World created & shared by all.

Help us to be good stewards of the earth. Together, let us make it better. 

We pray for people in our community & beyond who face unemployment, ill-health, isolation & money worries, especially those unable to afford food and heat. We pray for supportive relationships, practical provision and real hope.  

We hold up to you all who grieve

God of compassion: May your kingdom come.

We say The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father …

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 555. 

Thou didst leave thy throne

CLOSING PRAYERS 

May the blessing of God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, who gives good without reserve to all, be with us & those we love, now, today and for ever. Amen

Churches Together - Charity Christmas Cards

Churches Together 
Burton Joyce, Bulcote & Stoke Bardolph

Charity Christmas Cards

We will not be holding a Churches Together coffee morning this Autumn but we can still support our regular charities by buying their Christmas cards. 

Here is a list with links to each charity.

Nottinghamshire Hospice

You can make a donation through the Facebook page

Or buy Christmas cards from the hospice shop in the village 

Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance Charitable Trust

You can make a donation on the ambucopter webpage

Or buy Christmas cards from their shop in Mapperley

Traidcraft

You can buy Christmas cards and more from the Traidcraft Online Shop

RSPB

You can buy Christmas cards from the RSPB Online Shop

RNLI - Lifeboats

You can buy Christmas cards and other gifts from the RNLI Online Shop

Donkey Sanctuaries

You can buy Christmas cards from the Donkey Sanctuary Online Shop

Or make a donation to the Radcliffe Donkey Sanctuary

If I've missed anyone, please let me know

Harvest Thanksgiving - Sunday 18th October 2020

Harvest Thanksgiving

Sunday 18th October 2020

BURTON JOYCE COMMUNITY CHURCH

A short service for use at home 

Sunday 18th October 2020 

Prepared for Burton Joyce Community Church by Phil Colbourn. 

Prayers adapted from the Trussell Trust. 

Spend a short time with God as we share together this time of worship.

WELCOME: it’s our HARVEST THANKSGIVING!

Churches in the village celebrate harvest this Sunday. As Churches Together, we encourage you to mark it with banners, flags, bunting etc. all around the village. Make yourself your own harvest table at home with fruit, flowers, vegetables, agricultural & wild, and then perhaps photograph it and post the photo online.

We begin with a familiar harvest hymn

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 585. 

We plough the fields and scatter

PRAYER AND PRAISE

Loving God, we praise & thank you for the many ways in which you provide for us: food, family, friendship, housing, health, happiness and ways to use time & talents. We lift to you the ways in which we remain in need of these things. 

God of generosity: May your kingdom come. 

CONFESSION

We lament the suffering in our society at this time: people losing loved ones, health, jobs, & businesses; families struggling to make ends meet. 

Forgive.

We mourn injustices & inequalities, made evident by the pandemic, with which communities & individuals have been burdened for many years. 

Father, forgive.

HYMN: (JMC Crum, 1928)

Hymns & Psalms; Singing the Faith; Rejoice & Sing

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love Whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

READING: DEUTERONOMY 16, 9-17 

Festival

REFLECTION: 

By Your touch You call us back to life again

Harvest is about gratitude. 

Harvest is about food & drink. 

Harvest is about the planet. 

Harvest Thanksgiving is traditionally a time for people to come together to celebrate everything the good earth has given. It is not in fact about thanking farmers although, of course, we are grateful to everyone who works to put food on our tables. 

Traditionally, it is the farmers who are giving thanks, grateful and perhaps relieved that the crops have grown and that the fruit of their labours is now safely stored away for the winter.

Harvest is about being grateful for what we have received, what we can now enjoy and what we hope to be able to draw on throughout the coming months. It is the good earth that has provided. It is all gift. 

Like rain, food is a free good. Yes, we do pay to have it delivered, it is not without cost, but all food and drink contains, & is mostly, free gift. Air, sun, soil, rain & photosynthesis are all given. We forget this at our peril but we do forget. 

This is a time to pause and take a breath and remember. 

Our economic systems encourage us to destroy and abuse the natural world, and the atmosphere, but this has to stop. Now.

As Christians we thank God for this good earth, for a harvest safely gathered in. It is a miracle of grace. Everything we have is God’s gift. 

Be thankful.

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 1234. 

For the fruits of his creation

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS 

We pray for people in our community & beyond who face unemployment, ill-health, isolation & money worries, especially those unable to afford enough to eat. We pray for supportive relationships, practical provision and real hope. 

God of compassion: May your kingdom come.

We say The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father …

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 75. 

Come, ye thankful people, come

CLOSING PRAYERS 

May the blessing of God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, who gives good without reserve to all, be with us & those we love, now, today and for ever. Amen.