St. Albans and Welwyn Circuit Service for 7th July 2024
prepared by Mr. Graham Phillips
A warm welcome to you wherever you may be.
Call to worship
In a world of disbelief, we set aside this time to connect with faith.
We come carrying worries and fears, losses and dreams;
Ready that we may open our hearts to God’s grace.
We come bearing the stresses of our week and conflicting concerns;
Ready that we may open our minds to God’s word.
We come feeling overwhelmed and unsure of ourselves, with too much to manage
and too little hope;
Ready that we might open our lives to God’s Spirit.
We come as we are, to be embraced as we are, by God’s eternal love.
Hymn. StF 443. Come, let us sing of a wonderful love
Opening Prayers
Surprising God,
We confess before you now that we are a lost and wandering people, distracted by the world around us and easily diverted from how you call us to live. We are quick to anger and slow to forgive, we are quick to judge and slow to accept; we are quick to doubt and slow to understand. All too often we place barriers in the way of seeing you in the world, and shun opportunities to share you with the world.
We pray to you now for support and compassion; that we may always, however tentatively, proclaim the joy and hope of your promise to us—that we are forgiven. We gratefully affirm that your love will always welcome us. comfort us and heal us. Be with us now in this time of worship and help us to accept you into our lives, as you will always accept us AMEN
Empowering God,
Your love touches our lives in many different ways, through the varied talents and diverse interests you have blessed us with. Your love guides our lives in many different ways, along the varied paths we travel and the individual choices we make. In gratitude and reverence, we offer the fruit of your love – the gifts of what we have and who we are – for use in your service. Inspire us, exactly where we are today to see the needs of those around us. Work through us we pray, just as we are today, to heal your broken world. AMEN
The Lord’s Prayer :- Our Father who art in heaven ……………… Amen
Reading from Mark 6 v 1-13 (NRSVA)
He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. they said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power is being done by his hands! Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and John and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. The Jesus said to them. “Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house. And he could do no deed of power there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. |He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in their belts, but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all, should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Hymn StF 354 Jesus is the name we honour
A short reflection.
I don’t know about you but one of my favourite days out is going to a craft fair, such an array of different talents on display, using so many different mediums to such great effect. My favourite
amongst all of the different skills on display has to be those who work with wood, carpenters and wood turners.
I find it awe-inspiring the way they can take an old gnarled block of wood and by using their skills, turn it into something truly wonderful to behold. I love watching as they take the tools of their trade, lathes, saws, chisels and gouges of different shapes and sizes, and use them with such precision, they produce what can only be described as a masterpiece.
They take an ordinary lump of wood and turn it into something special, the mundane is made into something unique, drabness is turned in to beauty, all by the skill of the crafts-man’s hands.
This leads me to think of Jesus the carpenter’s son, is this a mere coincidence? It makes me think that somehow God saw a parallel in the art of the carpenter and the life shaping power of Jesus, the way, over and over again Jesus would take the most ordinary of lives and fashion them into something quite beautiful.
Jesus continues to work amongst those who follow him, painstakingly and lovingly seeking to produce a new creation. Today, as in years gone by, not everyone recognises that, any more than the people of Nazareth recognised the true significance of Jesus when he returned to them at the beginning of his ministry. We too can miss the miracle of his grace as it passes us by, because most of the time our minds are closed to what God can accomplish within us. But if we truly want to fulfil our potential, to truly be different, we need to look no further than the carpenter’s son who is able to turn the deadwood of our lives into something truly outstandingly beautiful.
Prayer of intercession
Faithful God,
It is easy to cry, ”Where is God in the world?” as disease disrupts lives and illness induces grief and pain.
Help us to see you, Lord: in the dedication of nurses and doctors; in the wonder of science and research.
Help us to serve you, Lord: by comforting those who suffer; sitting with those in distress.
It is easy to cry, “Where is God in the world?” as war and violence spread fear and entrench hostility.
Help us to see you, Lord: in unexpected bonds of peace; in the provision of refuge and shelter.
Help us to serve you, Lord: by confronting aggression and the abuse of power; protecting those
displaced by conflict.
It is easy to cry, ”Where is God in the world?” as racism diminishes our society and prejudice fuels distrust.
Help us to see you, Lord: in the friendships that bridge cultural divides; through the allies that
speak up for the exploited.
Help us to serve you, Lord: by adding our voices to calls for justice, replacing suspicion with a
desire for understanding.
It is easy to cry, “Where is God in our lives?” as hopes are dashed and dreams delayed.
Help us to see you, Lord: in the small moments of each day, reminding us of your persistent
love for us.
Help us to serve you, Lord: with welcoming hearts and acts of compassion, sharing your love
in the world around us.
All this we ask in Jesus’ name, who lived and loved as one of us, God in the world. Now and
forever AMEN
Hymn StF 94 To God be the glory
Closing Prayer and Blessing
Go forward this day: ready to find God in the world, in small surprising places.
Willing to see God at work, in intriguing and unexpected ways.
Eager to serve God in the world, where you are, as you are, and as God calls you to love.
May God our Creator hold you and yours in the arms of his love.
May Jesus inspire you in your loving and serving.
May the Spirit guide you as you journey onwards
In the name of the trinity of Grace. Amen
