Sunday 27th June 2021

 BURTON JOYCE 

COMMUNITY CHURCH

with Nottingham North East Circuit

  

Sunday 27th June 2021 

This act of worship was prepared by Rev Yanyan Case

Adapted by Phil Colbourn. 

Hymns from Songs of Fellowship (SoF) 

Call to worship Psalm 147 

How good it is to worship our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! The Lord builds up his kingdom; he gathers the exiles of his people. He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. 

Opening prayer 

Merciful Father, the faithful One. To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to those with integrity, you show integrity, to the pure you show yourself pure. In your love, you rescued us from fear and troubles, with your strength we stand and live. Lord Jesus, light up our darkness with your true light and kindle in us new passion for you as your way is perfect and your promises are true. You are a shield to all those who look to you for refuge. May you be enthroned in our heart and delight in our worship. May you surround all those who are worshipping you by reading this home service with your intimate presence wherever they are. In Jesus name we pray. Amen

SoF 147: 

Great is Thy faithfulness 

Bible reading 

Nehemiah 5:1-13 

SoF 72: 

Come, let us sing of a wonderful love 

Reflection “Strength comes from unity” 

I’ve got two cats. When we moved to this manse in July last year, I loved everything, but I was a bit concerned about the foxes living next door. Some of you have been here and know what I mean. There is a piece of wild land next to the house reserved for foxes. I thought, oh dear, my cats will be become the fox’s dinner! But surprisingly, the foxes have not been a threat at all. Once I saw a fox having a nap in our back garden and one of my cats came out and scared him away! What has been a problem is our neighbour’s cat! Both of my cats got injured by him, and of course he got some pay back from my cats as well. So, it got me thinking - why don’t the cats join together to fight against the foxes instead of fighting each other! Sadly, this phenomenon does not just happen to cats, but to humans as well.

From today’s reading we can tell that the Jewish people were experiencing a lot of problems among themselves. The previous chapter is about the external opposition they faced when they were trying to rebuild the city wall at Jerusalem, whereas this chapter is about the internal conflicts among the Jewish community, such as selling their sons and daughters for slavey to their own Jewish people, and charging interests to their own Jewish people. So instead of fighting against their common enemies, they were mistreating each other.

You would think all Christians should work together to build the kingdom of God, but the reality is far from it. The religious conflicts within Christianity in history are beyond words. I am sure we are not unfamiliar with denominational conflicts, theological conflicts and constitutional conflicts. Jesus says in Matthew 12:25 “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand”. Considering all the divisions and conflicts we have it is a miracle that the Church is still standing. It is not the way that God intends us to be. 

After all, we are now brothers and sisters in Christ as we have the same Father in heaven. Jesus asked in Matthew 12:48-50 “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” In John 13:35 Jesus also says “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” As Ephesians 6:12 tells us “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” So, we should be joining together in love to fight our common enemies in the unseen world. Together, we are stronger than being alone. 

I came into ministry during the pandemic last year and I have not had the chance to preach in the church building yet. I have not been able to fellowship with you all and to know the congregations in our Circuit. But I have a dream, that when we go back to our church building, I will see a congregation that is bound in love; I have a dream that our yearning for fellowship will be demonstrated in understanding and support; I have a dream that when we invite the “outsiders” to come and see, they will see peace, harmony, love, warmth which will make them want to belong; I have a dream that this group of people that God gathered together at this corner of the earth, have made God proud in words and deeds; I have a dream that the people of God at Nottingham North East Circuit are holding hands together building the Kingdom with walls of peace and gates of joy. You are all in my dream, including myself. I have put up the following verse in my kitchen just to remind myself. Ephesians 4:2 “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.” 

However, I understand that unity is easier said than done because many issues in church can cause conflicts and divisions because we just cannot all agree on everything. Unity does not mean uniformity or compromise, and loving one another does not mean we have to agree with each other on absolutely everything. 

Finally, let us all be reminded by Apostle Paul’s teaching on love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Amen.

SoF 54: 

Brother, sister let me serve you 

Intercession  Blessed are you, Lord our God, for you have created us all out of love

and for your love. Even when in our sin and foolishness we strayed away from you, you are there seeking us out with open arms. Loving God, we ask forgiveness for the sin and arrogance that divides us and creates barriers between Christ-followers and among all peoples.  Silence  Loving God, may your Church throughout the world demonstrate your love for all peoples and nations. Bless all who seek to heal divisions and to do away with prejudice. Give courage to all who reach out to those in need and who seek to welcome the outcast.  Silence  Loving God, we pray for the world you created, especially for those areas that have been devasted by bombing, greed, and exploitation.

Send your help and provide for all those who are simply trying to survive due to illness, trauma, poverty or war. Bless the work of those who bring unity and reconciliation into people’s lives.  Silence  Loving God, as you reveal your love to us, help us to show that love towards each person we meet day by day. We ask your blessing upon

all those who seek to live out your grace in obedience to your will. 

Silence 

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Hymn SoF 386: 

Master speak

Closing prayers

Father God, lead us in goodness and mercy so that we may embrace obedience towards you. 

Christ Jesus, enlighten our darkness with your truth so that we may find ourselves standing on firm ground. 

Holy Spirit, bind us in your perfect love so that we can join together as brothers and sisters in unity for your kingdom. Amen.

Blessing 

May our love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that we may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Amen.