Sunday 8th August 2021

 BURTON JOYCE 

COMMUNITY CHURCH

with  Nottingham North East Circuit

Sunday 8 August 2021

Prepared by Rev John Wiseman. Adapted for Burton Joyce Community Church by Phil Colbourn. Spend time with God, knowing that other people share this act of worship with you. Hymns: Songs of Fellowship (SoF) 

Opening Prayers 

Psalm 119:169-176 Let my cry come before you Lord

Bible reading Luke 10:38-42 

Mary & Martha

Hymn SoF 1448 

May the mind of Christ, my Saviour

Today’s Message 

Now it might seem from the bible passage that Jesus is placing the learning that Mary does above the caring that Martha provides, but there is a time and a place for both. But, today, I’m doing something a bit sdifferent. Rather than focus on the bible passage, I am going use this song, verse by verse, as we explore today’s theme.

1 Let us build a house where love can dwell, and all can safely live.
A place where saints and children tell, how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions. 

Rock of faith and vault of grace.
Here the love of Christ shall end divisions, 

All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place. 

Although it was written for a church dedication, the words of this hymn do not really refer to the physical construction of a church. It uses the metaphor of a building to focus on the church that meets to worship God, the people, the living body of Christ. A living body full of love and hope, life and faith, successes and failures, hospitality and nurture, peace, justice and equality, acceptance and welcome, that as it learns more about God’s love is able to act as a channel of that love in the way it cares for its members and its local community. A body of people where all can feel safe and secure in who they are, where people are able to live lives that not only receive forgiveness from God but also offer forgiveness to each other and even to themselves. It is about a people learning more about the God they believe in and able to care for others in the way God cares for us 

2 Let us build a house where prophets speak. and words are strong and true. 

Where all God's children dare to seek to dream God's reign anew
Here the cross shall stand as witness. And a symbol of God's grace.
Here as one we claim the faith of Jesus, 

All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place. 

As he toured the Mediterranean on his three missionary journeys, Paul was faced with many different issues that demanded his attention. As he attempted to console, calm, comfort, challenge and correct, Paul proclaimed to those early communities that it didn’t matter where they were, who they were, which level of society they came from, if they were Jew or Gentile, free or slave, man or woman. Despite their differences they held one thing in common which united them more than other things could ever divide them. And that was the cross. In 1 Corinthians 2:2 Paul declares:  "I determined that while I was with you, I would speak of nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.” It is through the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross that ALL of God’s people can be active participants in bringing in the kingdom, declared in a united prophetic voice, that is Good News for all. 

3 Let us build a house where love is found, in water, wine and wheat.

A banquet hall on holy ground, where peace and justice meet
Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space.
As we share in Christ the feast that frees us 

All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place. 

During the last meal with his disciples, Jesus shared bread and wine with his closest friends. Taking the break and wine, blessing it and sharing it he declared that his body and blood were being given for them. Do this, he said, ‘in remembrance of me’. I wonder whether Jesus was simply asking them to share bread and wine or whether he was saying ‘whenever you find yourself having to put your body in the firing line, when your blood might get shed... do it in memory of me.’ Do it because you believe in the things I stood for, in the things I did, in the words I spoke, in the way I interacted with people and sought to bring God and humanity together. Putting yourself on the line because you believe in truth, peace, justice, equality, forgiveness, grace, reconciliation and love that overcomes all things. Remember me by how you live out your faith in worship, service and evangelism but also in leaning and caring, continuing to learn more about me and caring for others and for yourself. 

4 Let us build a house where hands will reach, beyond the wood and stone.

To heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the word they’ve known.

Here the outcast and the stranger, bear the image of God’s face,
let us bring an end to fear and danger.
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place. 

As we explore our faith through scripture and the example of Jesus, we learn we are not called to be static in either our being or doing. Rather we are called to move forward towards the future God is calling us to. To move deeper in our discipleship and witness, taking the good news, taking love for the least, the lost and the lonely that Jesus demonstrated so visibly in his own ministry, out of the place where we meet to worship God and into the communities in which we live, in order to serve God through our care and compassion. In the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 

5 Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard.
And loved and treasured, taught and claimed, as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace,

let this house proclaim from floor to rafter. 

All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

Marty Haugen @ GIA Publications Ltd 1994 

I wonder if we, as individuals, as churches, as a circuit, can engage in activities that allow all people across the age spectrum to listen and learn from old and young alike. To create a fellowship where despite our sometimes-contradictory convictions, people’s understanding of faith and their own individual journeys are not just tolerated but accepted. A community where the highs and the lows, the tears and the laughter, can be moments when we share and care for each other and our local communities. Learning and caring is one strand of our Way of Life. Perhaps, as we emerge out of the darkness of the past 16 months into the light of the future God has laid out for us, we can learn to be the living body of Christ and proclaim that all are indeed welcome in this place. Amen

Let’s sing SoF 411 O for a heart to praise my God

Prayers of Intercession 

For all those who have given their best in the Tokyo Olympics

For all those preparing for the Paralympics starting on 24 August 

For those who provide learning opportunities of all kinds

For all those who work in the care sector 

For those who are away on holiday and for those who are not 

For Rev Moses and his family as they move to Winchester 

For Deacon Julie Morton as she prepares to come to the NNE circuit 

That all of our churches can be learning and caring communities 

We bring all our prayers together in Our Father …

Our final song (not in SoF)

Teach me, my God and King,  in all things thee to see,  and what I do in anything  to do it as for thee. A man that looks on glass,  on it may stay his eye;  or if he pleaseth, through it pass,  and then the heaven espy. All may of thee partake;  nothing can be so mean,  which with this tincture, "for thy sake,"  will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause  makes drudgery divine:  who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,  makes that and the action fine. This is the famous stone  that turneth all to gold;  for that which God doth touch and own  cannot for less be told.

Blessing 

Into this week we go, our hearts and minds set on learning more about your endless love for us, and promising to offer your care and compassion to all that we meet, for it is in Jesus name that we go to serve and care. Amen