Canvey Methodist Church Sunday Service - 26th July 2020.
1). Introit: Michael W. Smith with Sinach - WAYMAKER.CCl Licence No: 425086
You are here, moving in our midst
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, working in this place I worship You, I worship You
You are here, moving in our midst
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, working in this place
I worship You, I worship You Waymaker, Miracle Worker
Promise Keeper, Light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are
Waymaker, Miracle Worker
Promise Keeper, Light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are
Michael W Smith
2). Welcome.
Welcome to today’s service of Worship from Canvey Methodist Church on Sunday 26th July 2020. God is moving in our midst. We may be separated by distance today but God the promise keeper, the way maker, makes a way for us into worship today. He is amongst us, shedding His light into our lives today. Life for us may be getting a little easier as covid restrictions are increasingly lifted but there is still enough uncertainty remaining, confusion over new rules, over bubbles and of who we can and can’t meet with for this time to still be strange and worrying. Here are some hopeful words from Psalm 119:129-135 that are really a prayer that acknowledges the blessings and security that come about as people open their hearts-door to God and live according to His overarching precepts for humanity.
129 Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. 130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. 131 I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. 132 Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name. 133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. 134 Redeem me from human oppression, that I may obey your precepts. 135 Make your face shine on your servant and teach me your decrees.
We sing our first hymn together,
3) STF 64: Praise is rising. CCl Licence No: 425086
Praise is rising, eyes are turning to You
We turn to You
Hope is stirring, hearts are yearning for You
We long for You
When we see You
We find strength to face the day
In Your presence all our fears
Are washed away, washed away
Hosanna, Hosanna
You are the God who saves us
Worthy of all our praises
Hosanna, Hosanna
Come have Your way among us
We welcome You here, Lord Jesus
Hear the sound of hearts returning to You
We turn to You
In Your kingdom broken lives are made new
You make all things new
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4).Prayers of Praise, Adoration, and Confession.
Almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we worship you this morning.You are Creator and Sustainer, Alpha and Omega, beginning without end, whose very being is beyond all knowing. We open our lives to you today; to your light and understanding, to your wisdom and your word. We praise you dear God that you make yourself known to us through Jesus Christ and that you reveal your glory and power in us through the Holy Spirit, that we might be set free. Lord, forgive our half-hearted attempts to follow you.
We confess that often our desire is for a faith that is nice and gentle, one that will keep us cosy and cocooned. Lord forgive us for the times when we choose to keep our faith in its place and safely tucked away in a discreet corner of our lives and out of harm's way; For when our commitment to you is lukewarm.
Lord, we know that you love us too much to leave us un-reminded of your uncompromising call to discipleship and sacrificial service.
Almighty God, please comfort us when we are disturbed, but please disturb us when we are comfortable.
Let us love you with passion, seek you single-mindedly, and follow you as if our lives depended on it – for indeed they do.
May we hunger and thirst for your kingdom, above all else. For Jesus sake. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
We hear our Old Testament and Epistle Readings. Both speak of closeness and relationship with God.
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5). 1Kings3:5-12.
v5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
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6). Romans 8:26-39. https://youtu.be/yYdrnRvhLhM
v26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
More Than Conquerors- 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[b]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[c] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes:
a.Romans 8:28 Or that all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who
b.Romans 8:36 Psalm 44:22
c.Romans 8:38 Or nor heavenly rulers
7). Hymn: STF 404. God’s Spirit is in my heart. CCl Licence No: 425086
God’s Spirit Is In My Heart
He Has Called Me And Set Me Apart.
This Is What I Have To Do,
What I Have To Do
He Sent Me To Give The Good News To The Poor
Tell Prisoners That They Are Prisoners No More
Tell Blind People That They Can See
And Set The Down Trodden Free
And Go Tell Everyone The News That The
Kingdom Of God Has Come
And Go Tell Everyone
The News That God’s Kingdom Has Come.
Just As The Father Sent Me So
I’m Sending You Out To Be,
My Witnesses Throughout The World,
The Whole Of The World
He Sent Me To Give The Good News To The Poor
Tell Prisoners That They Are Prisoners No More
Tell Blind People That They Can See
And Set The Down Trodden Free
And Go Tell Everyone The News That The
Kingdom Of God Has Come
And Go Tell Everyone
The News That God’s Kingdom Has Come.
Don’t Carry A Load In Your Pack,
You Don’t Need Two Shirts On Your Back
A Workman Can Earn His Own Keep,
Can Earn His Own Keep
He Sent Me To Give The Good News To The Poor
Tell Prisoners That They Are Prisoners No More
Tell Blind People That They Can See
And Set The Down Trodden Free
And Go Tell Everyone The News That The
Kingdom Of God Has Come
And Go Tell Everyone
The News That God’s Kingdom Has Come.
Don’t Worry What You Have To Say,
Don’t Worry Because On That Day
God’s Spirit Will Speak In Your Heart
Will Speak In Your Heart
He Sent Me To Give The Good News To The Poor
Tell Prisoners That They Are Prisoners No More
Tell Blind People That They Can See
And Set The Down Trodden Free
And Go Tell Everyone The News That The
Kingdom Of God Has Come
And Go Tell Everyone
The News That God’s Kingdom Has Come.
Alan Dale
8). Prayers For Others - https://youtu.be/-e9YHhqjcQM
Dear Lord, We come before you now to bring our prayers for others. We thank you and praise you for your word which tells us, in the book of Romans, that nothing can separate us from your great and powerful love, and if you are for us who can be against us!
And, so, we thank you so much for everything you have blessed us with this past week and we thank you for this beautiful day.
We think of our church family and even though we can’t be together physically to worship you, we know that we can still have fellowship with one and other and bring our worship, praise and prayers to you. We pray for everyone in our church family and pray that you will bless each one and may we all have a special sense of your presence with us. We pray especially for those who are lonely or not feeling too good today. We ask for you to fill them with your peace and grace .
We bring Colin and Cathy before you. We thank you so much for them, and we praise you for the way that they share your love with us in everything that they do. We pray a special blessing on them and their family. And we think of baby Rufus and ask for your protection and care on him and his family.
We pray now for our world. God of all creation, you hold the world and the depths of the earth in your hands. There are so many places that need our prayers. We think firstly of our own country, especially as we are coming out of lockdown. Please help us, as restrictions are lifted, to know what we should or shouldn’t do to keep safe. We also pray for our economy and our way of life, that you will lead our politicians in their decision making.
We ask you to bring an end to this Corona Virus. We pray for all the medical researchers and ask that you will lead them to a vaccine that can be produced quickly.
We lift before you all NHS workers and ask you to protect and care for them. We also ask for you to support the hospital chaplains who are working in difficult times.
And we pray for all the other countries too who are coming out of lock down. We pray for help with their economies. We pray especially for the Lebanon as we hear from Anna that the country is in crisis. We pray for your miracles of provision for the Lebanon.
We pray for Anna and thank you that you have her in your care. We ask that you will bless her now in a special way as we pray.
We pray for Apolina, Romania and thank you for everything you have blessed them with. Please support and lead Pastor Attila as he works for you in all his many endeavours there. Please bring your miracles of provision to Romania too.
We bring all the people who are named in our church prayer book before you. There are so many people named there and all have such great need of your healing, blessing and help. Please be with them all and we ask you to meet their every need as we are sure that you know all about them. We lift each one individually before you for your healing, blessing and care.
Lord, we bring before you now all those who are mourning. Please Lord, comfort them in their bitter grief, which can be too hard to bear. We ask you to be their Yahweh Shalom, their peace.
Now Lord, may you bless each and every one of us and may Jesus touch our lives in a very special way today.
Thank you for hearing all these prayers. We are assured in the reading from Romans that Jesus is interceding for us on our behalf and so we bring these prayers to you in the great, victorious and powerful name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour. AMEN
9). Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52 https://youtu.be/bZW5HPMzWwk
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast. 31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds[a] of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl. 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
The Parable of the Net. 47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked. “Yes,” they replied.
52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.
a.Matthew 13:33 Or about 27 kilograms
10). Sermon.
Slogans…………… We have had quite a few of these lately. A lot has been said both about and throughout this strange and unsettling Covid 19 period and much of it has been summed up by slogans or strap lines. It all started off with “Stay home, save lives, protect the NHS", and now we all are being urged to “Stay alert, control the virus, save lives" - This has been, and still remains good and important advice. Over the years we have been regaled with other slogans of well meaning advice; In wartime, “Careless talk costs lives”, then as every Christmas Season approaches, “Don’t drink and drive”, and whilst still on the driving theme who remembers “Clunk, Click, Every Trip”, the advice about wearing seatbelts. And of course there are many more. One that sticks in my mind is the sound advice that I read every year as a child, from British Rail (as it was then), to “Stop, Look and Listen” before crossing the railway track from Ferry Road at Benfleet onto the “Downs” beyond. Yes back in those heady, carefree days, people were allowed to cross the railway track provided that all followed those three simple rules!! (Perhaps wisely, but for me a little sadly, that gate across the railway track is now closed to public access).Back in the day however, for my family, crossing this metal ribbon of transport civilisation into something akin to the land of CS Lewis’s Land of Narnia, became something of an annual event at harvest time. In those days before ‘Managed Country Parks’, when Benfleet Downs was a much Wilder place, we would walk amongst its narrow overgrown pathways, gathering a selection of ferns and foliage to include in the Harvest Displays at Church. Today, it occurs to me that “To Stop, To Look, and To Listen”, is not bad advice to apply to daily life sometimes. After all, how many times was it that Jesus remarked to those who followed him, “He who has ears to hear let them hear” at the end of a difficult saying or parable (e.g., Matthew 11:15; Mark 4:9, 23)?
Life can get frenetic, full of “to do” lists; things to do, places to go, people to speak to, letters/ emails to write, recorded television programs to watch, people’s competing expectations to manage, and the many rushing thoughts going through our minds, all competing for our attention! In fact life can seem sometimes like an interminable railway track snaking away into the distance and from whose definitive route we just cannot seem to escape or deviate from. To Stop! To take stock! To reflect and to reconsider! This advice, I suspect, is probably a healthy course for us all to take from time to time. Perhaps this enforced period of Covid-19 shielding has forced some of us to do this. To Stop.
In 1 Kings 3v5-12, King Solomon had just such an experience. Right at the beginning of his reign, he encountered God in a “Stop Moment” dream. “What do you really want out of life”? God asked Solomon. So Solomon Stopped and considered the question, and to his credit, asked for Wisdom and not riches.
To “Stop” though is only part of the journey. There are also two further important component steps to take; “To Look” and also “To Listen”. To really see what is around us, to consider all the options, to really hear and understand what is being said, to take the “cloth out of our ears” (In Canvey/ East End Speak), to have the courage to unmask our eyes, to unblock our ears and to encounter what is before us. Or as Jesus put it, “He who has ears to hear, let them hear”!
St Paul did this in the reading from a Romans 8v26-39. He Stopped, he Looked, and he Listened and he concluded that even when life seems at its toughest, even when it’s problems are at their most intractable, even then, “all things still work together for good for those who love God”. And in summing up this divine rule, St Paul went on to pen my favourite verse in the New Testament, “If God is for us, who can be against us? And, Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us.
It goes on to tell us that: In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
When we Stop, Look and Listen, when we open our eyes to God’s reality, we find that all around us is a kingdom of great worth where small things grow into something mighty and unexpected; where the small mustard seed of faith can grow into the mighty “Niagara Falls” of God's blessing and anointing upon a life, even your life and mine. In short, you and I are not only loved but we are also accepted by Almighty God, “Warts and All”. If God has accepted us, then we each can have the confidence to do the same. But how can this kingdom of God grow in our lives when we seem so weak and make so many mistakes? The answer…... the kingdom is where the king is and if we have invited God to be King of our lives, then He comes in and the Kingdom grows.
“Romans 8v26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God”.
We have Stopped, We have Looked, We have Listened. And now together as part of God’s Church on Canvey Island, we rise refreshed, restored and renewed to see His kingdom grow through our love, commitment and service.
Amen.
11). A hymn that sums up this call to serve as disciples of Jesus.
SofF 20. An Army of Ordinary People. CCl Licence No: 425086
An army of ordinary people
A kingdom where love is the key
A city, a light to the nations
Heirs to the promise are we
A people whose life is in Jesus
A nation together we stand
Only through grace are we worthy
Inheritors of the land
A new day is dawning
A new age to come
When the children of promise
Shall flow together as one
A truth long neglected
But the time has now come
When the children of promise
Shall flow together as one
A people without recognition
But with Him a destiny sealed
Called to a heavenly vision
His purpose shall be fulfilled
Come, let us stand strong together
Abandon ourselves to the King
His love shall be ours forever
This victory song we shall
12: Prayer and Benediction.
God, your kingdom is like: a mustard seed – full of endless possibilities;
yeast – that helps us to grow; treasure – that is worth searching for; a precious pearl – worth giving everything up for; a net – ready to gather us in.
Help us to discover these secrets. Lord of the kingdom,may we plant the seeds, may we grow like the yeast, may we seek your treasure, may we prize your pearl, may we come into the net of your kingdom, this week and every week. Lord, you are the seed planter, fish netter, bread baker and pearl hunter. Make us into living parables, that we may become creative and life-giving stewards
of the world you have entrusted to our care. O Holy Spirit, breath of all creatures, purifier of all souls and healer of all wounds; be fire to our heart, light to our path and friend for our journey. Amen. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)- Methodist Church Prayer Manuel.
And now may the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, The Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and forevermore.
Amen
13. Vesper: SoF168:Here is love, vast as the ocean- CCl Licence No: 425086
Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Loving-kindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout heav’n’s eternal days.
On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.
Let me, all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only,
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see;
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.
In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and pow’r on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.
William Rees/William Edwards
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Acknowledgments:
With my thanks to :
Methodist Church Worship at Home
Roots Magazine.
Bible Gateway Commentaries.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)- Methodist Church Prayer Manuel.
For ideas.