Worship
at Home – 30 August 2020 – Written by Christine Scrutton
Call
to Worship
You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find Him. That’s right – you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, God prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it.
StF 89 Strength
will rise as we wait upon the Lord - https://youtu.be/yubLGTOcm8c
Prayer
of Adoration and Thanksgiving
(John Wesley 1703-91)
Fill
up within us, O Lord, all that is wanting or lacking. Reform whatever is amiss
and perfect the work you have begun in us.
Being made by you let us magnify you with our lips and being made for
you let us glorify you with our lives. Amen.
Lord
God, we come before You today giving thanks for the many blessings we have
received in this past week and the countless number, we haven’t clearly
recognised in these past few months.
Help us to understand Your presence with us through troubled times. We give thanks for the supportive and caring
church community which through this pandemic has endeavoured to care and to
show God’s love for all people.
As
we come to know You as our heavenly Father, who loves us unconditionally ; who
accepts us just as we are and who knows us better than we could know ourselves,
we can acclaim our love for You, almighty God.
When we follow Your directions and obey Your laws of love, we will be
blessed. In the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Prayer
of Confession
In
a moment’s silence we confess the things which we have said or done that may
have not been done in obedience to Your Holy Word.
Look
upon us, O Lord with those eyes of love which recognised Peter’s declaration of
his faith in You and his failure to remain faithful, during difficult
times. Look upon us with eyes of love
when we lack obedience to follow the path you have set before us. Look upon us with eyes of love when we fail
to care for others as You care for us.
Father
God in your mercy forgive our sin, free us from pride, give us humility in
relationships and grace to choose your will, that we may go in faithfulness,
trusting in Your power and obeying Your Word. Through Jesus Christ our Saviour
and Lord. Amen.
MP 151 For I’m
building a people of power https://youtu.be/fAVdz4a7s6s
Scripture:
Matthew 7: 21-29 NIV
21 ‘Not everyone who says to
me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does
the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many
will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and
in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” 23 Then
I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
24 ‘Therefore everyone who
hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who
built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down,
the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did
not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But
everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is
like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The
rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell with a great crash.’
28 When Jesus had finished
saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because
he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Reflection
on reading
So
far this month, Dalwyn has been reflecting on the words in Matthew’s gospel
referring to the Sermon on the Mount.
Looking at Church as a Community of people who have something to say
about Jesus and how their task should be to open up those truths to others who
may have never heard the wonderful message of who Jesus really is. This moved on to reflect on the Church being
blessed, especially through these difficult times, remembering that this
blessing is not exclusive to the worshipping community but God’s blessing
should be for others who are in a mist when it comes to seeing His blessings
and the path He wants them to take. As
cairns may be laid on a path where mist gathers to show the way along it, so
Jesus lays down ways to follow Him through the things that he teaches.
Last
week Dalwyn reflected on Church as a people of prayer but also as a community
of quiet and humble actions.
We
are nearly at the end of this section of the Sermon which outlines what it is
to be a disciple and how a disciple should act.
This week the reflection is on the Church as an obedient community. As followers of Jesus who was himself
obedient to His Father, so the church should listen to God’s words and be
obedient in following what He has to say.
Matthew
ends the Sermon with an observation about the compelling nature of Jesus and
His teaching. No-one had come across a
rabbi or leader in the synagogue who spoke with such an authority on the word
of God. The difference being that Jesus
not only talked of love, but He showed love; He didn’t just tell the people
about forgiveness, he forgave sins and he was never judgemental to those who
were on the fringes of society. His
deeds matched His words. Everything
Jesus said was backed up by the character he possessed. It’s no wonder then that when Simon Peter and
Andrew and later James and John were called to leave their fishing jobs to
follow Jesus, they obeyed without question.
(Matthew 4: 18-21). Matthew also
obeyed the call to follow him leaving his work as a tax collector (Matthew
9:9). Jesus was an expert in Scripture
and an expert in Life. He knew about
building houses and that need for firm foundations, to make the house
strong. That is why He told the parable
of the Wise and Foolish men.
I’m sure you have had the experience of putting together a flat pack. If you’re the type who looks at the parts in the box and ‘know’ how to put them together without reading the instructions, you may have found out that this can inevitably lead to all kinds of little mistakes. If the instructions aren’t followed to the detail in the picture diagram and if the initial check of the contents hasn’t been carried out, there is not much chance of the piece of furniture looking like the picture on the box.
Jesus always keeps his instructions very
clear. ‘This is what I say’ he
proclaims. ‘Listen to me very carefully,
I shall say this only once’ as Michelle would say in ‘Allo Allo’.
Doing
what Jesus says or on the other hand, not doing as Jesus says is like the
parable of the house which was built on rock compared to the house which was
built on sand. The house on the rock is
firm, it has solid foundations; it will not fall down. Those who build on rock, who build on the
Word of God, have listened very carefully and obeyed the instructions Jesus has
given them. He knows that hearing what
He has to say is not enough though. If
action doesn’t follow from his instructions, Jesus says that is like the
foolish man who built his house on sand.
Those who have heard what Jesus has said but haven’t matched the words
to the deeds are not building their lives on Him as a solid foundation. Those
who follow the instructions very carefully will have lives which can stand the
test of a storm, especially when they put that plan into action.
Remember
the Sunday School Hymn ‘The wise man built his house upon the rock and the
rains came tumbling down. The rain came
down and the floods came up and the house on the rock stood firm. The foolish man built his house upon the sand
and the rains came tumbling down. The rains came down and the floods came up
and the house on the sand fell down.
Crash! ‘
Life
founded on Jesus Christ is safe and sound like a rock which will not move. So we are called to be obedient, but what is
Jesus telling us to do? Our actions can
hold more weight than anything we might say about the love of Jesus. Paul has
something to say about the things we can do in his letter to the Romans Chapter
12: 6-8. “We have different gifts,
according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it
in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching,
let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing
to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him
govern diligently; if it is showing mercy,
let him do it cheerfully.”
So
if we are listening very carefully to Jesus words and His instructions for our
lives, we will be like the wise man building his house on a rock. Obedience to Jesus is LIFE in all its
fullness. But we are human. We don’t like it when we are told what to
do. My parents warned me about riding
pillion on a scooter without a helmet. This
was in the days before they made a law to make it compulsory. I disregarded their advice and asked my
boyfriend to stop at the end of the road so that they didn’t see me. In hindsight I know better and it would have
been far safer to follow my parent’s instructions.
Our
heavenly Father knows what is best for us and expects us to be obedient to His
Word; not just listening to what He says, but putting those words into actions
which can touch the lives of others. As
we come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, have we been listening very
carefully. Maybe if we have heard the message, God will
show us places and people where we can put those words into action.
StF 645 Will your anchor hold https://youtu.be/UQQO8v-0VBo
Prayers
of Intercession
Let
us pray together in the unity of Jesus Christ.
Fill your Church, O Lord with life and energy, spiritual health and
vitality. As we feed on Your word may we grow more like you; may we exercise
your loving, minister with your tenderness, serve you with humility and
co-operate with your vision.
Fill
your world, O Lord with wonder at creation, recognition of our mutual
responsibility, desire for reforming the results of human destruction and hope
in the possibilities of living at peace with God and with one another. We particularly pray for the devastating
fires in California and for those whose homes have been destroyed. In these troubled times throughout the world,
we pray for the countries who are struggling to contain the coronavirus
alongside other issues which endanger lives.
Fill
our homes and neighbourhoods, O Lord with the generosity and trust that allows
space but is always ready to encourage and support. We pray especially for
those on the TSB prayer list and in a few moments we pray for those known to us
who need your love and comfort today.
We
remember those who continue to work in difficult environments trying to keep
themselves and others safe from the virus which has taken so many lives
throughout the world. We pray for those
who are dying and those who love them.
We thank you for the lives of others who have recently departed from
this world and call on your comforting arms to reach out to them. We particularly remember Margaret and her
family.
Help
us to build on the solid rock of Jesus as we pray the prayer that He taught us:
The
Lord’s Prayer
Our
Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be His name.
His kingdom come, His will be done………………..Amen
MP 760 When we walk with the
Lord https://youtu.be/OoLLWZEkY7A
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