Worship

Worship Material for 16 August 2020

Hymn Jesus stand among us

   1       Jesus, stand among us
        at the meeting of our lives,
        be our sweet agreement
        at the meeting of our eyes.
        O Jesus, we love you, so we gather here,
        join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

   2       So to you we're gathering
        out of each and ev’ry land,
        Christ the love between us
        at the joining of our hands.
        O Jesus, we love you, so we gather here,
        join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

   3       Jesus, stand among us
        at the breaking of the bread;
        join us as one body
        as we worship you, our Head.
        O Jesus, we love you, so we gather here,
        join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

Chat to all age

Who do you trust?

Friends? Family? Doctors?…….

Why do you trust them? …. because they have helped you before?

Do you trust God?

Why ….. because he has helped us before and we know he will help us again.

Who don’t we trust?.........

Why? …. because they have let us down etc.

We can trust Jesus, we can trust God to be here with us, to be there with us – to be with us – he has never let us down.

Prayer.

Thankyou Lord for always being with us no matter what is happening around us. Thankyou for always being there to talk to, and for listening so patiently to us as we rattle on!
Thankyou God for giving us peace and strength when we could so easily buckle – thankyou.

Hymn As the deer pants

1 As the deer pants for the water,

So my soul longs after You.

You alone are my heart’s desire

And I long to worship You.

You alone are my strength, my shield,

To You alone may my spirit yield.

You alone are my heart’s desire

And I long to worship You.

2 I want You more than gold or silver,

Only You can satisfy.

You alone are the real joy-giver
And the apple of my eye.

You alone are my strength, my shield,

To You alone may my spirit yield.

You alone are my heart’s desire

And I long to worship You.

3 You’re my Friend and You are my Brother,

Even though You are a King.

I love You more than any other,

So much more than anything.

You alone are my strength, my shield,

To You alone may my spirit yield.

You alone are my heart’s desire

And I long to worship You.

Reading Matthew 6_24-34

Talk Trust

We did a Desert Island Disc at church a few years ago now and I was asked to give my choices along with Robert Lewis, astoundingly we both chose the same book … Lord of the rings, but for completely different reasons. But our choice of music was miles apart!!

My first choice of song was a Dire Straits track called Don’t worry, it is, for me a wonderful piece of music mixes with wonderful words, that sum up my philosophy of life. Don’t worry!

I remember being stuck on a train the other year for over 6 hours, stuck outside Derby, it was a waste of time worrying, because it would do no good – it wouldn’t get the train going quicker, it wouldn’t get us home any faster, all we could do was to sit there, thankfully I had a good book with me – but no point in worrying, it just eats you up.

This is the text given to us this morning from Matthew chapter 6, “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink…..”

This struck a chord with me over 30 years ago and has seemed to form the foundation of my faith, my faith has grown since then, it has changed since then, but this same cornerstone of “Don’t worry” has stuck. It has been how I have tackled life, with all its ups and downs. Why?

Why am I so stuck on Don’t worry?

Well, it’s because I do believe that my God, and Jesus Christ, part of that God, are here with me at all times, he is at my side and he is able to lift me when down, he is able to comfort me when I am sad and he strengthens me when I feel weak.

Over the last 30 years,

there have been many occasions when I have been sad – he has been there and lifted me.

there have been times when I have been down and feeling depressed – he has lifted me.

there have been many times when I have felt weak, helpless – he has given me strength.

The reason is that I attach no blame whatsoever of God for the things that have happened to me. I do not believe that he makes things happen to us, I do not believe that he steps into our lives and causes things. – that is certainly not my experience. If it was, then my view of God would probably be an Old Testament view and I would not want to have that kind of God.

You may ask if my God does nothing then does he? No, he doesn’t do nothing, he doesn’t make things happen, but he lives with me and gives me that strength, that comfort, that peace of mind.

So how does this work for me then.

1. I have had financial problems at times, like many of us, and been concerned, yet comforted by the fact that God has said, don’t worry – do what you can, be careful, be prudent etc, work hard, I have done all that and God has guided me through – he hasn’t given me pots of Gold, he has kept me calm enough to sort problems through.

2. I have had problems, at times, with my kids, like many of us – some more than others. Again, I have relied on my God to strengthen me and give me peace and patience to see them through those teenage years to maturity. He didn’t step in to sort them out, and two of them are what I would call atheists, but it gives us good debates even now, I still have that patience with them, and I do not worry that they do not believe, as I know that within their hearts are good souls and a healthy spirit.

3. I lost my wife, Gillian to cancer, fifteen years ago - we both spent many hours talking about how God could do this that or the other and did he answer the prayers that were being given for her healing – we both did not believe that He would do that, we never expected a miracle of that sort, but what we did expect and what we did get was his strength in our lives, his peace and a joy given to us both in the knowledge that this pain would pass.

4. I have had work problems, who hasn’t – but I have not worried, I have moved on, and with Gods strength I moved to a job that had so much job satisfaction that it was a pleasure to go to work.

Jesus tried to tell his disciples not to worry, to get on with life and know that he is there. Those many times of his appearance after the crucifixion where he came to people to give them comfort and peace, telling them not to worry. It’s the same today, he comes to us to tell us don’t worry, I am with you.

You know, when I first started preaching this message twenty years ago, I also linked it with Merlin Carothers books on Praising God for all things. You know, thanking God for everything that happens in your life. This can be hard and my faith had taken that belief steps forward into not thanking God for what has happened, because that is presupposing that in some way he determined that it would happen – which I fervently now do not believe – I believe that life happens, he created life that we might experience pain and joy, he created life that we might find fellowship and find our God. I now do not praise God FOR all things, but I praise him THROUGH all things, that no matter what life throws at us, He is there – he comforts and guides’ us.

So folk, Don’t worry, God is with you today, tomorrow and forever

Amen.

Hymn Jesus take me as I am

Jesus take me as I am,

I can come no other way.

Take me deeper into You,

Make my flesh life melt away.

Make me like a precious stone,

Crystal clear and finely honed,

Life of Jesus shining through,

Giving glory back to You.

Reading Psalm 131

Hymn   Will you come and follow me

   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.

Prayers
Lord we thankyou for always being with us no matter where are, or what is around us.
Help us to also be able to love and help others wherever we can, give us the strength to help where we can, give us the wisdom to understand others different to us and the courage to stand firm against injustice.
Thankyou Lord for being you and for holding us so tight, it’s good to feel that love deep inside.
Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

Hymn Blessed Assurance

1 Blessed Assurance, Jesus is here:

How reassuring, feeling him near

He is still with me, never to leave;

Once I did doubt him, now I believe.

This is my story, this is my song,