St. Albans and Welwyn Methodist Circuit Service for Sunday 21st May 2023
Deacon Nigel Perrott
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, your Word has led us here; your truth has echoed in our minds, your Spirit has touched our lives, your being is within us. You are more than we see and more than we know, more than we can comprehend or imagine or wish for. You are ours and we are yours, and together, we are your family. To you be all praise and glory.
Amen
Hymn STF 15
Chris Tomlin (b. 1972), Ed Cash and Jesse Reeves
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 15
Words and Music: © 2004 worshiptogether.com Songs / Sixsteps Music
Prayers of Praise and Adoration
Lord God, we cannot see and know the depth of your being, but, for what we do see and know, we worship and adore you. We find in you protection, guidance and love.
We find in you forgiveness, acceptance and repentance. We see in you a way of living that is right and just, loving and caring.
We feel the spark of your Spirit in the depths of our beings and know you to be true. Blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as you are one, may we be one with you.
We thank you, O God, for your creation: for plants, for flowers and food, for animals and people,
for sustenance and provision.
We thank you for sight and sound, for touch and taste and smell and feeling; for emotions and inspiration; for your indwelling spirit. For all of this and so much more that makes life what it is, and reveals what living and loving are. We thank you for guidance; for dreams and visions that reveal you to us. We praise and thank you for all people – the good, the bad, and everything in between – who have made us the people we are, and who encourage us to be the people you want us to be. You are our compass, our plumb line, our map through the choices of life. To you, O God, we offer our thanks this and every day. Amen.
Prayer of Confession and Assurance
Holy God, whose perfect nature challenges and changes us, our guilt weighs heavy on our shoulders. It saddens us that we fail you so often when we: fail our families, friends and neighbours; fail to recognise need; fail to see how we can be the hand that guides, the love that enfolds, the word that strengthens. Forgive us that we deliberately look the other way and avoid the hard challenges you call us to. Forgive us, O God, for our failings, our deafness and our blindness in reaching out and offering your love. Your love is abundant, your forgiveness unimaginable. O God, may we hear your still small voice that says, ‘Your sins are forgiven, your slate wiped clean, the weight of your guilt removed. Go now, in peace to love and serve your neighbour”. Amen
Hymn STF 346
Fred Pratt Green (1903–2000)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 346
Words: © 1969, Stainer & Bell Ltd, 23 Gruneisen Road, London N3 1DZ www.stainer.co.uk
Please Read John 14:1-14
Our reflection on this passage is written by a dear friend who has agreed for me to share it. Kathie is a local preacher and I often follow writings! The past two weeks I have been away, and I read this reflection while away. I thought I would share it today as I have only one day to prepare this written service, and also I felt I could not do any better!
Reflection
The opening verses we’ve just read are very familiar to many of us from funeral services. “My Father’s house has many rooms; I am going there to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Mourners find much comfort there – that they will be reunited with their loved ones.
My mother lived by those words for 25 years after they were spoken at my father’s funeral, waiting until Jesus came to take her.
Her Bible said “In my Father’s house there are many mansions, so I used to say she would need one, for the first thing she’d be doing on arrival is inviting all the family around, all her friends – and many souls she could now come to know – from Adam through to the Wesley brothers.
Personally, I look forward to Jesus showing me a little room, but I would want to walk in the garden with him, and to get to know him better. The disciples had probably had three years to get to know Jesus as they travelled with him.
They saw him in action, they heard his teaching and even had private lessons, but quite 4 frequently – they were clueless. Their questions revealed how little they understood. Thomas could not understand where Jesus was going, even though he had told them enough times. Philip wanted Jesus to show them the Father, but that’s what he had been doing from the beginning, as he was the very image of the Father, the human face of God. This reading is part of the “Farewell Discourse”, beginning in Chapter 13 when Jesus and the disciples are gathered for the Passover feast, which they don’t realize yet, will be their Last Supper with him.
Jesus teaches them their final lessons. He is their servant – no master is greater than his servant, so he washes their feet. Judas is sent out to “do quickly what you are about to do”. Peter is told he will deny Jesus. Yet, even so, Jesus says “ I go and prepare a place for you.” Charles III may have lots of mansions, palaces and castles, but I don’t expect him to prepare a room for me – and it’s very unlikely he’ll prepare one for you either.
He may honour us for service to community, you could even be knighted, but he certainly can’t offer eternal life. Charles is, however, the Head of the Church of England, and we see by his actions how he loves the people he now serves as King, and we know he has a deep faith like his mother had.
So he is perhaps a good role model for us, as a servant of God, but he cannot lead us to God the Father like Jesus can. Jesus said “ I am the way and the truth and the life”. The only way to God is through Jesus. That is the most important and basic statement of faith. Jesus is the path we follow, leading us, guiding us, teaching us, which he did by coming alongside us as a human like us. He is the truth – he shows us the reality of all God’s promises, and how scripture, the prophetic words, are now fulfilled through him. He is the life – human and divine, that acts as the bridge taking us to the eternal life on offer, because by uniting his life with ours, we are united with God. We become children of God through the life of His son, Jesus. Jesus tells his disciples – and us, to have faith in him, for then we will be able to do what he did. That isn’t to say we can all become miracle workers, but is about carrying the gospel message to the people we meet, so that we too bring glory to the Father. That may seem a scary thing, but Jesus says “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in me.” So, let us pray: Lord Jesus, grant me to walk in your way, to know your truth and to experience the life you share with your Father.
Amen.
Kathie Lowrie
Hymn STF 545 be though my vision
Irish, 8th century
translated by Mary Elizabeth Byrne (1880–1931)
versified by Eleanor Henrietta Hull (1860–1935) (alt.)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 545
Prayers of intercession
Lord, as you have called us to walk in your way, make us the people that you would have us be, guide us that we may do what you would have us do, that we may reveal your truth, and lead others to the fullness of life, that we may be a chosen people, a royal priesthood, that we may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light.
Lord, lead us in the ways of peace. Guide us in the path of life. We pray for all who are in positions of authority, for all who will be called upon to make difficult decisions this week. We remember those who make decisions that affect the life of this planet.
We pray for all who do research into healing and the renewal of the earth.
Lord, lead us in the ways of peace. Guide us in the path of life. We praise you for all who have enriched our lives, for all who have built up our community, for those who extended our vision, for all who taught us the truth, for those who set us on a good path.
We pray for our families and friends, for the people we work with and those we spend our leisure-time with.
Lord, lead us in the ways of peace. Guide us in the path of life.
We pray for all who are confused about the truth, or about life, for all whose minds are disturbed, for all who have lost their way. We pray for all who live a lie and cannot face reality. We pray for all who are not at peace. We come to you with all who are troubled in heart.
Lord, lead us in the ways of peace. Guide us in the path of life.
Lord Christ, as you have gone before us and prepared a place for us, lead us until we come fully into your kingdom and walk before you in that life which is eternal. Lord, lead us in the ways of peace. Guide us in the path of life.
This we ask in the name of Jesus
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our father in heaven, hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and forever.
Amen.
Hymn STF 470 – Lord for the years
Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 470
Blessing
The good and gracious God guide us into the ways that lead to peace; and the blessing of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you now and always. Amen
