Opening Prayer
As we still ourselves we recognise that wherever we are, we are in God’s presence and the God we know in Jesus waits patiently for us.
Lord our God, help us to know your ways and teach us your paths.
Lead us in your truth for you are the God of our salvation.
Hymn: StF3 Eternal God
Sing/ Read /pray /proclaim the words:
Eternal God, your love’s tremendous glory
cascades through life in overflowing grace,
to tell creation’s meaning in the story
of love evolving love from time and space.
Eternal Son of God, uniquely precious,
in you, deserted, scorned and crucified,
God’s love has fathomed sin and death’s deep darkness,
and flawed humanity is glorified.
Eternal Spirit, with us like a mother,
embracing us in love serene and pure:
you nurture strength to follow Christ our brother,
as full-grown children, confident and sure.
Love’s trinity, self-perfect, self-sustaining;
love which commands, enables and obeys:
you give yourself, in boundless joy, creating
one vast increasing harmony of praise.
We ask you now, complete your image in us;
this love of yours, our source and guide and goal.
May love in us, seek love and serve love’s purpose,
till we ascend with Christ and find love whole.
Alan Gaunt (b. 1935)
Let us pray together
Loving God, all worship and adoration belongs to you for you alone are Lord, you alone are the mighty God, Creator of all that is good.
And yet you are closer than our very breath.
You are closer than my breath and I thank you Lord that you are always with me,
whether I know it or not,
whether I recognise it or not,
whether I delight in it or not.
You are always there to comfort and to challenge
Thank you for your saving presence.
Amen
You might like to bring to mind the things you are sorry for this week, confident in God’s loving mercy and forgiveness.
Today’s Reading from the Old Testament
Today’s Gospel Reading: Matthew 21: 23 – 32
Time to Reflect
‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ This is the question behind both the Old Testament and the first part of the New Testament readings.
Is the Lord among us when we are thirsty in the Wilderness and have no water?
Is the Lord among us in the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth?
No doubt in the last months the question ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ has been asked as we contend with the global pandemic with all its implications not least the different ways of worship.
“Is the Lord among us or not?”
The answer of faith is yes. We have God’s promise resounding down the generations in the words “I will be with you” and “I am with you”
Is the Lord among us when we are thirsty in the Wilderness and have no water?
Yes, the Lord provides water from the rock.
Is the Lord among us in the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth?
Yes, the Lord is the source and strength of all they do.
God’s presence does not depend upon us and how we feel. God’s presence is a gift to us, born out of love for us. God’s presence is promised in fire and flood (Isaiah 43:2) because we are precious in God’s eyes and loved.
And ours is the call to respond as God asks us, as the father asked the sons, to work in the vineyard. That is our situation. Whether we have been aware of that challenge for many years or have newly come to faith we are called to tell of the saving love of God in word and deed.
Take a time to sit quietly and to reflect on the times you have felt distant from God and the times you have known God’s presence.
Take time to pause and be present to God
A time of prayer
Lord we have set aside this time to pray, yet as people and situations pop into our minds today and in the week to come help us to take time to hold them in your love and to pray for them.
Now Lord I use this time to bring my concerns to you. I ask for your Holy Spirit to be in me to guide my thoughts that I may pray in accordance with your will and for your glory.
I pray for those who have suffered this week…
I pray for those who have rejoiced this week…
I pray for those I have seen this week…
I pray for those I have longed to see this week.
I pray for myself..
Lord with me here, take these prayers in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father ……
Hymn: StF 530 To be in your presence
or sing a verse of a hymn that comes to mind
To be in your presence,
to sit at your feet,
where your love surrounds me,
and makes me complete:
This is my desire, O Lord,
this is my desire.
This is my desire, O Lord,
this is my desire.
To rest in your presence,
not rushing away,
to cherish each moment —
here I would stay.
Noel Richards (b. 1955)
A blessing for you
May you know the Lord with you each day of your life, may you answer the call to listen and the challenge to follow.
And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit will be with you as you go. Amen
Original Materials by Rev’d Anne Smith
All Hymns reproduced under CCLi 5573.