Prepared by Chris Hancock – 29th June 2025
Hymn 1 – Singing The Faith – 545 Be Thou My Vision
Opening Prayers
Loving God, we thank you that you reveal your presence to us. In sparks of revelation, in gentle whispers,
on mountain tops and in the dark valleys, in our homes and churches, in the beauty of nature and in our busy streets. We come rejoicing into your presence and offer you our praise and adoration.
God of mercy and forgiveness, we confess that so often we are distracted by our busy lives. We cling to anger and resentment. We fear for the future rather than seek signs of hope.
Forgive us. Fill us with your love so that your glory may be seen in us. Give us strength and courage to follow Jesus wherever he leads. Amen
Please say the Lord’s prayer in whichever version you prefer to use.
Hymn – Singing the Faith 692
| 1 Your hand, O God, has guided your flock, from age to age; the wondrous tale is written, full clear, on every page; our forebears owned your goodness, and we their deeds record; and both of this bear witness: one Church, one faith, one Lord. 2 Your heralds brought glad tidings to greatest, as to least; they summoned all to hasten and share the great King’s feast; their gospel of redemption, | sin pardoned, right restored, was all in this enfolded: one Church, one faith, one Lord. 3 Your mercy will not fail us, nor leave your work undone; with your right hand to help us, the victory shall be won; and then, by all creation, your name shall be adored, and this shall be our anthem: one Church, one faith, one Lord. Edward Hayes Plumptre (1821–1891) |
Lesson Luke 9 verses 51 – 62
Samaritan Opposition
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Hymn – Singing the Faith – 673
| 1 Will you come and follow me if I but call your name? Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same? Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known, will you let my life be grown in you and you in me? 2 Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name? Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same? Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare? Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me? 3 Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name? Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same? Will you kiss the leper clean, and do such as this unseen, and admit to what I mean in you and you in me? | 4 Will you love the ‘you’ you hide if I but call your name? Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around, through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me? 5 Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name. Let me turn and follow you and never be the same. In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show. Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me. John L. Bell (b.1949) and Graham Maule (b.1958) |
Reflection
As I read the words of today’s lesson, I wonder whether Luke 9 is a reminder of gospel commitment in the midst of our ordinary lives or a call to quit our ordinary lives in favour of a gospel-focused ministry that will shove aside all the usual aspects of our lives?
It is, of course, clear that God can and does work through people who own homes and who love their families and who attend the funerals of their loved ones.
But regardless of whether we are called to leave behind family and friends, we are all called to a radical commitment to the gospel. So, in the midst of our lives that may sometimes mean turning down a promotion, saying hard things to our children, denying our families the dream holidays taken by others, or any number of other sacrifices both great and small in service to the power and beauty of the gospel . . . we ought not be surprised.
But how can we possibly do this? We do this in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who hovered over creation and who gives breath to all that lives, – the Spirit who is poured out on all who choose the new life by making Jesus their Lord and believing in all that he said and the things that he did.
The Spirit is given so that we might proclaim to the ends of the earth what God has done and what God is doing and will God will yet do.
The Spirit speaks in our hearts and reveals to us the power of God and the word of God and the love of God. For it is the Spirit that moves us and touches us and speaks to us.
The Spirit gives to us her fruit. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
We in our turn are called to make use of that fruit in our mission. To make disciples of all people, encouraging to meet with Jesus in a personal way. Teaching them to hear and follow all Jesus has asked us to do. Help them to immerse themselves in the fullness of God, Jesus tell us: – immerse them in the waters of creation and pray down the Holy Spirit upon them in the name of the one – the only one who has created and is creating, – the one, the only one, who has come in Jesus to reconcile and make new – the one, the only one, who continues to work in us by the Spirit.
That is the work that God gives to us.
We proclaim the God who made all things who has reached out to those he made through the Son – the Word of God – the Power of God – made flesh – and that all who turn to him and who follow him are filled with his Power – his Spirit – and made new both in this life – and in the next!
We have a living reality that is full of truth: and points us to a truth – and a power – and a way – like no other truth or power or way. Jesus calls us – the Spirit calls us – the Father calls us – to share it! To share it by speaking of it. And to share it by living it.
What a world this is! What a wonder life is! How awesome that all this – and all of us – should be! So spread the word about our Glorious God. Let his light shine in the darkness and his song of love be heard in our voices, in our lives and throughout the whole world. Amen
Prayers
We spend a moment praying for the church: perhaps your own church congregation, or the wider Christian church, or all people of faith. In the quiet, we pray for all who are gathering in worship today.
[Silence]
Living God, help us – your people – to be your hands and feet in the world. May we find ways to be an answer to prayer, to bring transformation in our own lives, communities and our world.
We spend a moment praying for those close to home, calling to mind the names of those in our own family, in our church congregation or our friends who are struggling with life at the moment. In the quiet, we hold them and their needs in the presence of God.
[Silence]
Living God, you know our hearts and our hurts. We offer them to you now, and ask you to come close to those we have prayed for, bringing them wholeness, healing, your comfort and your hope.
We pray for the world – taking a moment to pray for something we have heard in the news that troubles us, or for someone we have never met but whose story has affected us. We particularly pray for the situation in the Middle East – Israel, Iran, Palestine and Gaza. Ukraine and Russia. In the quiet, we hold the people and places we have prayed for and place them in the presence of God.
[Silence]
Living God, you know the pains of your world. It can feel overwhelming when we switch on the news, or read our newspapers. In the darkness, bring your light. In the conflict, bring your peace. In the brokenness, bring your healing.
[Silence]
We pray these, and all our prayers, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn: Singing the Faith 368 – When Morning gilds the sky
| 1 When morning gilds the sky, our hearts awaking cry: May Jesus Christ be praised! in all our work and prayer we ask his loving care: May Jesus Christ be praised! 2 To God, the Word on high, the hosts of angels cry: May Jesus Christ be praised! Let mortals too upraise their voices in hymns of praise: May Jesus Christ be praised! 3 Let earth’s wide circle round in joyful notes resound: May Jesus Christ be praised! Let air and sea and sky from depth to height reply: May Jesus Christ be praised! | 4 Be this, when day is past, of all our thoughts the last: May Jesus Christ be praised! The night becomes as day when from the heart we say: May Jesus Christ be praised! 5 Then let us join to sing to Christ, our loving King: May Jesus Christ be praised! Be this the eternal song through all the ages long: May Jesus Christ be praised! Translated: Edward Caswall |
Blessing
Loving God, your love is amongst us, it flows ahead of us, out of the doors, into the street, into the homes, businesses, workplaces and gathering spaces of this community. Show us how to offer something of your love, to the world around us, each day, we pray. Amen.
