Worship at Home for 17th January 2021

Worship at Home - Sunday 17th January 2021

If you would like to join us for live worship then it will be taking place at 10:30am on Sunday via Zoom or via Dalwyn's YouTube channel at - https://tinyurl.com/WAHRevD

This week Sonia Butler and Mary Millar will lead part of the service alongside Revd. Dalwyn Attwell

Call to Worship

“I saw you while you were still under the fig tree” (v48)

Religious Jews of Jesus’ time would often sit beneath the fig-tree to pray and meditate on the coming of Messiah.

As you enter this time of worship today, find somewhere peaceful and comfortable to sit. You may wish to light a candle to help you focus your attention on God’s presence with you now and as a reminder that you are part of a worshipping family across the globe.

It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,

but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,

(Micah 4.1,4)

Hymn - Be Still For the Presence of the Lord

Prayers of Approach and Confession

Note that the prayers below are different to those that will be used in the live-service.

Our prayer of approach is adapted from Eddie Askew – Breaking the Rules – Meditations and Prayers based on Psalm 139

Lord, give me the courage
to be myself today.
To live life as it comes,
welcoming it,
and saying ‘yes’ to everything.

You made me, Lord,
and made me human,
so being human can’t be bad.

Lord, teach me to live today.
Help me to see
that love and holiness have dirty feet
through dancing joyfully about the earth,
hands joined in yours.
That life with you is whole, and holy.
That everything I do
can bear your imprint
can be coloured in love. Amen

A prayer of honesty before God

O God, you are my God
and you know me through and through.
You see my moments of activity and my moments of rest,
every minute I live before you.

As I consider the last few days,
there are things that have pleased you and things that have displeased you,
moments I have embraced and moments I have hidden away from,
words that have built others up and words that have cast them down.

O God, you are my God
and you know me through and through.
As I open my hands to you now,
I offer you my actions, my moments and my words
asking you to treasure that which has brought you glory
and to forgive that which has not.

As you search me O God, and know my heart
as you test and know my thoughts,
renew in me a thirst for your everlasting ways
and plant my feet firmly on the path you are showing me
that I might walk with you
through the days that you have ordained for me. Amen

Hymn - O God, You Search Me and You Know Me

The Word of God

Reading – John 1.43-51

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

⁴⁴Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

⁴⁸“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

⁵⁰Jesus said, “You believe^[a] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹He then added, “Very truly I tell you,^[b] you^[c] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’^[d] the Son of Man.”

Reflection

“How do you know me?” … “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree.”

Story-tellers and movie-makers all know that the transformation of a ne’er-do-well into a hero is an enduringly popular plotline! I imagine that many of us could name our own particular favourite book or film with this familiar story at its heart! There is something hopeful about the redemption of a character ‘from the wrong side of the tracks’ who goes from being a negative influence to making a positive contribution.

In the story of Philip and Nathaniel, at first it seems that Nathaniel is entirely immune to Philip’s enthusiasm and the good-news he brings about finding ‘the One’ written about in Moses and the prophets. Philip’s ‘tiggerish’ enthusiasm is met with Nathaniel’s ‘Eeyoreish’ world-weary cynicism: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

Within the space of two verses this negative and cynical character is transformed. His questions and doubts dissolve as he declares, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel!” As a dramatic conversion, Nathaniel’s is right up there! It even seems to catch Jesus by surprise! “You believe because I told you I saw you …” And, yes, it seems, that Nathaniel is completely transformed when he discovers that Jesus had seen him and knew him.

It is notable how often, in the Bible, people’s situations are transformed when they come to realise that they are known by God who has seen their struggles and heard their cries.

For me, one of the most transforming verses in Scripture is the moment God speaks to Moses from the burning bush and says, “I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out … and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them …” (Exodus 3.7-8)

God sees, God hears, God is concerned and God comes. – Let us rest in the security of knowing that we are fully known and fully loved by the One who fearfully and wonderfully made us.

God’s Love Letter

About 20 years ago, someone put together a ‘letter’ from God using verses of Scripture to remind us just how deep is God’s knowledge and love for us. Spend some time now reading/listening and meditating on God’s great love for you.

Hymn – StF 72 – Father God, I wonder how I managed to exist -

Prayers of Intercession:

Jesus told Nathaniel that he had seen him whilst he was still under the fig tree. Many commentators suggest that the ‘fig-tree’ was a place where devout Hebrews would pray and meditate. They would particularly focus their prayers on the Coming of Messiah. It may be that this is why Nathaniel’s attitude changed when Jesus told him that he had seen him, it could be that Jesus was saying, in effect, “Your prayers have been heard and I have come as the answer to them.”

As we pray, today, let us hold before God those people and situations that are on our hearts and where we want to see God’s saving power at work.

Let’s pray,

Knowing and Seeing God, as come now in prayer, we do so in assurance that you know the deepest desires of our hearts and minds.

In love we hold before you our families and friends