Worship at Home - Sunday October 11th 2020 - Sandy Methodist Church Chapel Anniversary

 

Worship at Home – 11 October 2020

Introduction

This service follows the order of service for Sandy Methodist Church who, today, celebrate the 110^th Anniversary of the opening of the Chapel in St. Neot’s Road.  The sermon is provided by Rev^d Richard Barrett who will be preaching in Sandy this morning.  In chapel, the hymns will not be sung, of course because of current restrictions.  Note this service will be used in Beeston and Trinity where worship is by Local Arrangement this Sunday. 

You are invited to light a candle and spend some time in quiet as you begin this time of worship.

Welcome and Call to Worship – (Dalwyn)

I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’ (Psalm 122.1 (NRSV))

Hymn – StF 25 – God is here! As we his people – https://youtu.be/eIPHYo8X8jk (tune only)

Prayers of Approach and Confession (Dalwyn)

At home or in chapel, all who worship in Spirit and in Truth do so as part of the great company who throughout time have raised their voices to praise God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We each join our voices as part of God’s people as we offer our praise saying together:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessèd is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the Highest.

 

When the heavens were opened to the prophet’s eyes and he beheld God’s throne, he fell down before God and confessed his sins.  So we too come before God in confession.

Almighty and everlasting God,
who from the beginning to the end knows our every word, thought and deed,
have mercy on us
have mercy on us.

When we have stepped back from following you because the task seemed too demanding,
have mercy on us
have mercy on us.

When we have remained silent even when the time was ripe for us to speak words of faith,
have mercy on us
have mercy on us.

When we have looked around us and judged others to be unworthy of our love and care
have mercy on us
have mercy on us

Lord Jesus Christ,
in obedience to God the Father, you became obedient, even unto death,
in the face of opposition you spoke the Good News of the kingdom
and even when people showed no gratitude you reached out the hand of love
Reach out to us once more, we pray,
and forgive us all our sins,
confirm and strengthen us by your Holy Spirit
that we may serve you this day and all the days of our lives.  Amen

God speaks to us through the words of Jesus saying,
“Arise, go forth, your sins are forgiven.”  Amen, thanks be to God.

The Collect

Almighty God,
to whose glory we celebrate the anniversary of Sandy Methodist Church:
we thank you for the fellowship
of those who built and worshipped in the chapel in Sandy,
and we pray that all who seek you in that place may find you,
and, being filled with the Holy Spirit,
may become a living temple,
a dwelling place for your life-giving presence in the world.
We ask it through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

Reading 1 - Proverbs 3:1-8  

¹My son, do not forget my teaching,
    but keep my commands in your heart,
² for they will prolong your life many years
    and bring you peace and prosperity.

³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
    bind them round your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Then you will win favour and a good name
    in the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body
    and nourishment to your bones.

Reading 2 - Philippians 4:4-9

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Sermon (Richard)

                 How are you feeling about life at present? Tired, fed up, anxious? Well listen to Paul –“Rejoice! And again I say, Rejoice!” In fact he uses that word no less than 7 times in a short letter. And remember Paul is sitting in prison when he says this. And the Christians in Philippi are feeling threatened by Roman rule and intimidated by opponents of Paul’s teaching.

                 Paul is urging them to look up and put their problems in perspective. They have been faithful and loyal and he is proud of them. They have helped him in his sufferings and he is grateful. They and he are witnesses to the gospel.

                And here we are together again – 3 sister churches in this corner of the circuit meeting in strange conditions but still worshipping our God and celebrating this church’s anniversary together. Some of us cannot be here, some have been ill, some may sadly have died since all this began, but we are still here. Our churches still stand, whether the doors are open or closed, as a witness in our communities to a faithful God who will never desert us. It has been a struggle and still is and we don’t see the end of it, but by God’s grace we gather to give him thanks and praise. Paul urges us to lay aside our burdens and lift up our hearts in thankfulness.

               “Do not worry”, he says. Of course we need to be concerned about keeping ourselves and others safe, but we have to find a way of living day by day that is not dominated by worry. There are some things we cannot control and we need to let them go. That’s where prayer comes in, acknowledging what we can do, what others have to do and what is outside our control, offering all of it to God without thinking we know the answers. The Lord knows our needs before we ask. “The Lord is near”, says Paul, the Lord hears our prayers, all our worries and concerns.

               The reading from Proverbs says –“trust in the Lord”, not the wisdom of the world’s rulers. Paul makes the astounding claim that Jesus is Lord of all the earth, challenging the authority of Caesar the Roman Emperor. Remember Christians are ultimately citizens of the kingdom of God. Our political leaders are too often unreliable and self-serving. Beyond our present crises, take heart -God is working his purposes out, in unseen and unexpected ways. Put your trust in him, not in any earthly power.

               That is why we may rest in a peace deeper than anything the world can offer, because it is like a castle we can take refuge in, a rock that is a firm foundation while the storm rages. Paul says –“the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds” from worry, doubt and despair.

                Both the writer of Proverbs and Paul tell us to “keep on doing what you did before”. That doesn’t have to include all the churchy stuff we have not missed these last months, but it means the habits of a Christian life – the commandments, the scriptures, the prayers, the hymns. Dalwyn has reminded us of the importance of hymns we have been taught and loved. I found myself going back to the psalms, especially Ps. 103:

 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his goodness, who forgives all your sins and heals all your infirmities”.

 Without the church routine we have had to ask ourselves what really matters to us, what is the bedrock of our faith, a good question to ask on this church anniversary.

                 Paul gives us his answer- stand by the values you believe in, all the more important in the midst of so much uncertainty and change. Truth in an age of lies, honour when leaders lack integrity, justice instead of discrimination, purity rather than dishonesty, excellence in place of the second rate. Hold on to these things. They are being challenged all the time with cynicism and ridicule but they are what really matters. They are what our churches stand for. To live by these standards may mean to suffer but it is our calling to follow Christ and to witness to the gospel.

              And like Paul, against all the odds, let us rejoice in our calling.

 

Hymn – StF 519 – Father, I place into your hands. - https://youtu.be/qbLjp4-8NdY

Prayers of Concern for others (Dalwyn)

If you have three candles or tea-lights you may wish to light them as you pray.

Rejoicing in our calling we pray to One who is the source of our faith, hope and love.

Let us pray,

We light a candle of faith

Faithful God, we thank you for those who lit the light of faith for us
and pray that you would continue to stir up the flame within us
that we might light the way to you for others.

We light a candle of hope

God of all hope, we thank you for those who held a light for us in our times of struggle
and pray for all who endure in the darkness of despair, sorrow and oppression
that your presence would break their chains and your light lead them to liberty

We light a candle of love

God who is love we pray for a world that is consumed by selfishness, greed and hatred
asking that your light would continue to overcome the darkness of human wickedness
as we wait for the dawning of the day of the Lord and work towards the coming of your kingdom.

In faith, hope and love we pray as our Lord Jesus taught us

Our Father …

Hymn – StF 335 – Rejoice the Lord is King - https://youtu.be/aDFAv0eh-s8