Hello Friends
For any who were unable to join us for worship in our church building in Waarden Road today, I append the transcript of the service below to enable your own devotions at home. For those who prefer to follow a service by YouTube I have supplied the link prepared by my colleague Pastor Steve Mayo.
In Christian Love
Colin
Sunday 11th April 2021- Canvey Island Methodist Church
Readings: Psalm 133; Acts4:32-35;1John1; 1John1:1-2; John20:19-31;
Theme: Living In Faith- Trusting in Jesus the Truth! The truth will set you free.(John8:32)
Complete Service Link:
https://youtu.be/5V0JUnoDqBc
1) Welcome, Notices
2) Call to Worship: Psalm 133. A song of ascents. Of David.
1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
3) hymn: 298 Christ the Lord is risen today Singing the faith
https://youtu.be/nzy7jFNUc3w
Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Foll’wing our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy pow’r to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!
Charles Wesley.
4) Prayer of Praise, Thanksgiving, Adoration, Confession, Lords Prayer.
Loving Father God. We come before you this morning both in resurrection praise but also in quieter, more reflective thought as our nation and royal family mourn the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh. Lead us all through this change in national life, and especially be with our royal family as they mourn his loss.
For the first followers of Jesus, after Easter, life would never be the same again. Their new life with the risen Lord was just beginning and we too lift our voices in praise to you as today’s children of the resurrection. Thankyou that your living Holy spirit is with us now as we worship you. Roll back the stone of our caution and timidity that we might worship you with exaltation and freedom in spirit and in truth. Lord God we live in a world where so little is taken at face value; where doubts prevail and trust is undermined. As the risen Jesus stands before us, strengthen our faith and help us to doubt our doubts. Forgive us Father, we pray, when we fail to reflect your truths in our daily lives and help us to become testaments to your risen power. May Christ be evident in us and in all that we do. Lord God, we thank you for your patience with us and your assurance of forgiveness. In Jesus Name we prayer . Amen.
The Lords 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.
5) John 20:19-31. New International Version. Mary
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
6) STF302 He has risen
https://youtu.be/7PiG6GjK7Is
He has risen, he has risen,
He has risen, Jesus is alive.
When the life flowed His body,
Seemed like Jesus' mission failed,
But His sacrifice accomplished,
Vict'ry over sin and hell.
In the grave God did not leave Him,
For His body do decay,
Raised to life the Great Awakening,
satan's pow'r He overcome.
If there were no resurrection,
We ourselves could not be raised,
But the Son of God is living,
So our hope is not in vain.
When the Lord rides out of heaven,
Mighty angels at His side,
They will sound the final trumpet,
From the grave we shall arise.
He has given life immortal
We shall see Him face to face,
Through eternity we'll praise Him
Christ the champion of our faith.
7) Prayers For Others - Sue
Let us pray – some words from Psalm 113. “Praise the Lord, Praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and for evermore.”
Dear Lord, We do indeed praise you and we rejoice in you, as your word encourages us to do, and we bring our thanks for your glorious blessings and thank you for all answered prayer. We thank and praise you for the good news we’ve received of Brenda’s recovery, that no future treatment is planned and that she will have regular check ups. Alleluia, Lord. We thank you for answered prayer.
We bring our prayers for others before you.
We pray for our world, for all the countries, for their leaders and for all who are making difficult decisions. We think especially of the Lebanon and pray that you would intervene to bring a solution to the economic and political crisis. We pray for Anna in Beirut. Please continue to lead her in her life and work for you and give her your protection. And, we pray for the work of New Heights.
We pray for our country, for your leading and guiding, for our economy and for our National Health Service. We bring before you our Queen and the Royal family. We think of them in their sadness and mourning for the Duke of Edinburgh and pray that you will strengthen and support them.
We bring our church family before you. Thank you that we are able to meet again to worship you together in our church. We pray that you will bless each one of us and be near to those who were unable to join us in church this morning.
We have had sad news that our dear friend Joan DeVilliers passed away on Thursday night. We thank you for her life. She was much loved by us all and we thank you for her loving friendship and we rejoice that Joan is now at rest with you. We bring Joan’s family before you and ask you to comfort and support them and to bring them through all the necessary arrangements.
We think also of our dear sister Pauline who passed away last month. Her funeral is on Friday and we ask you to be close to her family and support and comfort them and help them through this distressing time.
We pray for all those whose hearts are saddened by the loss of someone close and dear to them. Your word tells us that you heal the broken hearted and we ask you to bring them peace.
We pray for Colin and Cathy and their family and we lift them before you for your blessing. Please be with Colin on Friday as he leads the funeral service for Pauline.
Lord, We pray again and ask you, in your mercy, to bring an end to the Corona virus. We thank you so much for the vaccine that’s been developed and for its effectiveness.
We bring before you all those who are suffering in mind, body or spirit. Please be with each one and we ask you to meet their need. We pray for all those named in our church prayer book. We lift each one individually before you. You know all about these dear people and the situations. We will just have a moments silence while we each pray in our hearts for those who need your special touch of healing, support and peace.
Thank you Lord.
Now Lord, we pray for ourselves. We thank you for your gift of salvation. May you bless each one of us and lead us in the way that you want us to go. Help us to heed your leading and please give us wisdom and peace so that we can move in step with you and learn to walk more closely with you.
Thank you for hearing all our prayers. We bring them in the strong and powerful name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
AMEN
8) Sermon
It was the evening of the Sunday after Jesus had died on Calvary’s Cross and his friends were all forlornly gathered together in a room, traumatised by the terrible events that had lead up to and included his final passion scene. This group of people were grief stricken, bewildered and frightened. Would their names be the next on the Roman arrest warrants they wondered; after all they were friends and associates of Jesus. Would this be enough for them to be seen as guilty of insurrection by association with Jesus, the King of the Jews?
This was a group of people who were almost certainly feeling totally dejected, listless and lacking in direction. Their leader was dead, their mission to see the kingdom of God grow in the lives and hearts of the people thwarted, and now they were left feeling isolated and useless. What now? What was the point of anything?
I wonder, have any of us ever been in a room of despondency similar to this? A place of emptiness where gut wrenching fear and numbness stalks us; Feelings that threaten to suck the life and enthusiasm out of us? Perhaps we too have felt completely poleaxed by some event or events, when everything that we have ever known or found security in. All of these have been torn away from us, either in a moment or maybe over this last period of lockdown.Before it came along we were positive, confident people, full of vision and expectation of what was going to do in our midst. But now that confidence seems to have evaporated in the void of Isolation, social distancing and in the wake of lost hugs and conversation.
So it was with these “disciples of Jesus” in the first century, isolated by fear and marginalisation, and who found themselves in just such a place of lonely desolation.
But then…….. the risen Jesus was somehow remarkably in their midst right in this same room of brokeness and lost dreams and the scene around them immediately was changed! “Peace be with you”, Jesus said to them. And wow, how they needed this peace. And it came. The Calvary had indeed arrived; the TV set of their view of life had been readjusted, and the picture was now crystal clear. As Jesus stood amongst them, he showed them his hands and his side. It really was Him! Amazing! He who had been lost to them was now found and they were overjoyed when they saw and recognised their Lord.
I wonder which room we are in today? There certainly has been a lot to take the sheen from life over this last year or so of Covid lockdown restrictions. Social distancing, not seeing our friends for months on end, places of entertainment and of meeting closed; even our church buildings have been closed to worship. Some of us have even lost family or friends to Coronavirus!
Today though, in contrast to all of this, we read about a Lord who can walk through locked doors; who is not restricted by regulation or custom. He enters our locked rooms and offers us his peace as well. His is the peace that passes understanding. He breathes his Holy Spirit on us too and recommissions us too to go out in his name to offer that same saving love to others.
May we drink in and live his peace offered; may we receive his fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit and may we take His message of love, hope, forgiveness and the promise of life eternal in heaven for all who repent and believe to others. Amen,
9) I serve a risen saviour (He lives).
https://youtu.be/BEcfRlAsBB8
1
I serve a risen Savior
He’s in the world today.
I know that He is living,
Whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy;
I hear His voice of cheer;
And just the time I need Him
He’s always near.
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.
2
In all the world around me
I see His loving care,
And though my heart grows weary,
I never will despair;
I know that He is leading,
Through all the stormy blast;
The day of His appearing
Will come at last.
3
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian,
Lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs
To Jesus Christ the King!
The Hope of all who seek Him,
The Help of all who find,
None other is so loving,
So good and kind.
9) Communion:
The Minister: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
All: He is risen indeed.
The Minister: Let us pray.
Glory to you, O God: You raised Jesus from the grave, bringing us victory over death and giving us eternal life. Lord Jesus, for us and for our salvation you overcame death and opened the gate to everlasting life. O Holy Spirit, You lead us into the truth and breathe new life into us. Glory to you Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever.
All: Amen
Minister: Jesus, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us. He died and was raised, to die no more.
All: In dying, he died to sin once for all;
In Living, He lives to God.
Minister: So let us celebrate the feast in His Joy and in the power of the resurrection.
All: we offer you our praise.
Minister: Christ Jesus was in the form of God, but he did not cling to equality with God. He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and was born in our human likeness.
All: Being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on the cross.
Minister: Therefore, God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name above every name.
All: That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Minister: We praise you Father, that on the night in which he was betrayed, our risen Lord Jesus came and stood among his disciples and said, ”Peace be with you”.
He took bread and gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying “Take and eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’.
After supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying, “This cup is the new covenant of my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this in remembrance of me”.
All. As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Minister: Jesus said, ”I am the bread of life. Those who come to me shall not hunger and those who believe in me shall never thirst”. Receive this holy sacrament of the body and blood of Christ and feed on the Lamb of God with reverence and with faith
Come, as those who are beloved by God,
Come, not because you must but because you may;
Come, not because you are righteous but that you desire to be true disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Come, not because you are strong, but because you are weak and stand in constant need of heavens mercy and help.
Come, All is prepared. Draw near with faith:
(Stewards to distribute communion).
(Once communion has been distributed to say)
ALL: May we who break this bread and eat it; share its life with the world.
The Body of Christ keep us all in eternal life.
All: Amen.
We share the cup as Jesus did.
May the blood of Christ keep us all in eternal life.
All: Amen.
Let Us Pray
All: We thank you, Lord, that you have fed us in this sacrament, united us with Christ, and given us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet prepared for all people..
All: Amen
10). On a hill far away
https://youtu.be/5sBd-VWMYvo
On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross
The emblem of suff'ring and shame
And I love that old Cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it someday for a crown
Oh, that old rugged Cross so despised by the world
Has a wondrous attraction for me
For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it someday for a crown
In the old rugged Cross, stain'd with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see
For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above
To pardon and sanctify me
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
To the old rugged Cross, I will ever be true
Its shame and reproach gladly bear
Then He'll call me some day to my home far away
Where his glory forever I'll share
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
11) Offering Prayer and Benediction
And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore Amen.
12) Vesper. Let the whole world know, we are on Gods side.
https://youtu.be/-yjCoDMsly8
Let the whole world know,
We are on God’s side (forever),
Let the whole world know,
He’s our friend and guide,(along the pathway):
For in Christ, new life we’ve found,
And our lives are changed around,
Let the whole world know.
There’s a job to do(We’ll do it)
Let the whole world know,
Others need Him to (They surely need Him)
Like a brightly shining Light,
In the middle of the night,
We will stand for truth and right,
Let the whole world know!
Everybody seems to have a cause for which to speak,
Loudly from the rooftops they proclaim the things they seek;
Often for a needless cause and often to deceive,
Should not we who know the Lord, declare what we believe.
Now we travel heaven bound, Let the whole world know,
Let the whole world know,
We are on God’s side (forever),
Let the whole world know,
He’s our friend and guide,(along the pathway):
For in Christ, new life we’ve found,
And our lives are changed around,
Let the whole world know.
There’s a job to do(We’ll do it)
Let the whole world know,
Others need Him to (They surely need Him)
Like a brightly shining Light,
In the middle of the night,
We will stand for truth and right,
Let the whole world know!
Let the whole world know!
Let the whole world know!
Let the whole world know!
13) Go in peace
______________________