St Albans and Welwyn Circuit Service – 29th October 2023
Brought today by Deacon Nigel Perrott
29th October 2023
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Amazing God, thank you for the beauty of creation, the wonders of your incredible world, and for the joys of life which remind us of your goodness, mercy, grace and love. Help us to pause a while with you.
Lord, not rushing away but seeking our rest and recuperation in you. Help us to open our hearts to receive the joy and peace you give.
By your grace enable us to offer praise to bless your holy name. Through your spirit help us to understand your word.
Thank you for the assurance that comes from Jesus and in his name we pray.
Amen.
Hymn
1 Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine:
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God;
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long.
2 Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love:
3 Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Saviour am happy and blest —
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love:
Frances Jane van Alstyne, (Fanny Crosby) (1820–1915)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 548
Prayers of Adoration
Loving Father God
Today as we gather in this place and further afield, we come with hearts of praise. Though the road may have been tough, life may be difficult, we thank you that you are in all things. You walk with us through the storms and through the joys of our lives. You are indeed the Lord of all, the king of kings and the carer of our souls.
Your love extends beyond our comprehension and we praise your holy name. We thank you for the gift of Jesus, that through him we don’t just have life we have a life of abundance and a life of love to share.
So it is through Jesus our redeemer we pray
Amen
Prayers of Confession
Forgiving Lord
We have know about the wonderful love we find in Jesus our saviour, yet we have to confess our failures, all those parts of our thoughts and deeds that do not glorify your name. Those things that do not share your love with those we meet. The words we use, the actions we make, the things we forget.
Lord forgive us.
As we pause in this moment, to reflect on our own hearts we ask you to forgive us, and help us to not make the same mistakes. Help us to be more like Jesus. Our Jesus, our friend and guide. Our Jesus who died so that we may live.
Lord we continue our thanks as we know that when we come to you and ask for forgiveness we are guaranteed of your forgiveness because Lord…that is what you have promised through Jesus in whose name we pray, We are forgiven,
Amen
Hymn
1 Come, let us sing of a wonderful love,
tender and true;
out of the heart of the Father above,
streaming to me and to you:
wonderful love
dwells in the heart of the Father above.
2 Jesus, the Saviour, this gospel to tell,
joyfully came;
came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell,
sharing their sorrow and shame;
seeking the lost,
saving, redeeming at measureless cost.
3 Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet;
why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget;
home, weary wanderer, home!
Wonderful love
dwells in the heart of the Father above.
4 Come to my heart, O thou wonderful love,
come and abide,
lifting my life, till it rises above
envy and falsehood and pride;
seeking to be
lowly and humble, a learner of thee.
Robert Walmsley (1831–1905)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 443
Please Read: John 3:1-21
John 3:1-17 “The natural mind cannot comprehend spiritual things”
Reflection
So here we have that famous passage, the one we will have heard many times. Setting the scene, we see Nicodemous visiting Jesus at night. Presumably so that nobody would know of the visit. After all Nicodemus was known as a wise Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin. His Greek name means, “Conqueror of the people. This is a very well respected and intelligent man. Being a man of learning he still couldn’t understand everything that Jesus had done but knew that it had to be something of God.
I think he knew that he needed Jesus, he knew he needed something more, maybe even something transformative. I also think that is a little like us. We don’t always want others to know that we need something, we don’t want admit that we are needy! We try to keep up appearances we are self-sufficient, we are the image we project to the world. On the inside there is a need for something, something more, more than our own strength. We need to trust in something that we don’t understand. Jesus is trying to help Nicodemous to understand.
God is tricky to understand. Our God, three in one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We do try to understand what it is. Have you ever tried to explain to someone what the trinity is? Something the church has wrestled with for centuries. I could spend hours writing about the early church, how the doctrines came about!
I still have nightmares about doing Christine doctrine essays at Theological College!
Of course it valid, it’s important and will continue to be a subject of debate for more years to come. Jesus was trying to simplify what God was about, as if that were possible!
I am a minister in the community, I spend a lot of time trying to help people understand, to find ways to translate church jargon into things that people can understand. However, I will leave the in depth teaching of Doctrines to my academic Colleagues!!
Part of my calling is to preach the Gospel, preach the Gospel not only through words but through practical actions. That well known saying that says, “preach the Gospel, use words if you have to”
So back to Nic!
Poor old Nic, You see everything that Jesus was teaching about God was countercultural. When we think about the things Jesus taught, it flew in the face of the culture of the day.
How can it be that a widow can put one penny in a pot and it be more than someone putting in ten? How can it be that the adulterous women can be forgiven a sent away to sin no more? “What do you mean I should love my enemies what on earth is that about”?
Then comes the big one, you must be born again! What on earth do you mean, how on earth can that make sense?
When we try to make sense of God we become unstuck. We cannot put the nature and character of God in a box. God is so far from our understanding.
Paul writes in romans 11:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[i] knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
God is certainly beyond our understanding. However, this passage contains one of the best known quotes of the Bible….
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.
In all the wonder and mystery of God comes a clear message. Its Gods road map to salvation…
Gods road map goes something like this…
God creates his world, God rescues the world through his Son, and God maintains his world through his spirit. Showing and demonstrating the glory and wonder of his kingdom.
When we start to understand that, we can start to see it is through Jesus, that we can start a new, a new life, just like a baby being born is starting a new life.
Amen…
Prayers of Intercession
Loving Father God
As we have spent time thinking about your love for the world, and the chance of rebirth, we thank you. The world you love, is in turmoil. We are called by you to bring all our concerns and worries to you. As we see the story of war and violence unfold we pray for all those who suffer it consequence, Children, babies, parents and grandparents. We pray for the peacemakers and pray that you word is heard above the egos of those who strive for violence and control. May there be a justice that comes from you and we ask that the light of Jesus does indeed shine in the darkness.
Here at home we pray for all those dealing with fear and loneliness, those who have a whole left by the loss of loved one, those caring for the sick. We pray they know your presence and feel your peace.
For this church and our circuit, we pray that we can continue to be your presence in the communities we live. May we truly be the hands and feet of Jesus to those we meet.
Here we can use the Lord’s Prayer
Final Hymn STF 440 –Amazing Grace
1 Amazing grace — how sweet the sound —
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.
2 God’s grace has taught my heart to fear,
his grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!
3 Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
God’s grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
4 The Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.
5 And, when this heart and flesh shall fail
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil
a life of joy and peace.
6 When we’ve been there ten thousand years
bright shining as the sun,
we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
than when we first begun.
John Newton (1725–1807) (alt.)Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 440
Blessing
The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.
