St Clement Church Community Easter Season Service 4

                                

                                   

        St Clement Church Community Easter Season Service

 

Good morning to you all as we commemorate the 4^th Sunday of Easter.  This Service of the Word is for you to read at home if you’re unable to worship with us in person at St Clement but will be with us in spirit.

Much love and may Christ’s love sustain you always. 

Rev Di and family xx

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen.  He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

 

Let us pray: Merciful Father, you gave your Son Jesus Christ to be the good shepherd, and in his love for us to lay down his life and rise again: keep us always under his protection, and give us grace to follow in his footsteps; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Hymn; ‘Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken’
 

Our prayers of Penitence

On this 4^th Sunday of Easter, in a moment of quiet reflection let us honestly examine our lives, remembering where our attitudes have been wrong, where love has grown cold, where hurts have not been forgiven, or where cries for help have not been answered…

 

When we are faced with something that challenges us, but fail to step out in faith and instead regress into old attitudes;

Lord, have mercy. 

 

When we face difficult times, but fail to recognise that through it all you are holding us in your loving arms;

Christ, have mercy. 

 When we look inwards to our own concerns rather than seeking to help those in need;

Lord, have mercy. 

 

May Almighty God have mercy upon us, forgive our mistakes and failings, and bring us to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Let us pray our Collect for the fourth Sunday of Easter

Risen Christ, faithful shepherd of your Father’s sheep: teach us to hear your voice and to follow your command, that all your people may be gathered into one flock, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

 

 

Readings:

Acts 9.36 - end

Revelation 7. 9-end

 

Hymn; ‘ How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds’
 

 

The Gospel Reading

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. (10.22-30)

Glory to you, O Lord.

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.    Praise to you, O Christ.

 

 

Reflection

I’m pretty certain that if we were asked to reflect on the question; “Where have you found God?” the answers would be as unique and diverse as each one of us. 

Some might say it was in the wonder of a beautiful sunset, others might say they felt God’s presence when they held a new-born baby, or perhaps some would offer that God was found in the gentle touch of a friend’s hand.  Hopefully, some would say they have found God here, in the sacred space of this Church.

But unfortunately, as much as we want to hold on to the closeness of those times, the troubles of life can cause such moments of profound depth and sadness that pull us away from the God we so desperately seek.

John’s gospel for today is a reminder of this.  It was winter, the festival of the Dedication in Jerusalem.  We know this as Hanukah today; the Festival of Lights, which commemorates the rededication of the temple after its destruction. 

At the temple Jesus is walking in the portico of Solomon, maybe he was sheltering from the cold, we hear the words; “it was winter,” but perhaps it also describes the bleakness and spiritual chill of the time and place. 

The Jews surround Jesus, encircle him and begin to attack him with their questions.  “How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  Another translation reads; “How long do you intend to annoy us?” 

Jesus responds by pointing to his works; “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.”  And he points to his words, reminding them; “I have told you and you do not believe.” 

But this isn’t what they want to hear or know, because their purpose is to gather evidence against Jesus to eventually rid themselves of this so called “king”, this Good Shepherd. 

Jesus tells them they don’t recognise him for who he is because they aren’t his sheep, and folk in those times would understand this explanation, as a lot of them were shepherds.  Their flocks of sheep were kept together on the hillside for safety, and when they went to tend to them, the sheep would hear the voice of their own shepherd calling, separate from the others, and follow him.    

Likewise, Jesus’s sheep, those who know him, hear his voice and follow him, and see him for who he is.

Against the backdrop of the temple building, they look at Jesus and see him as the true living, breathing temple, the dwelling place of God.  And during the festival of lights, they see Jesus as the light of the world. 

But where is he in our world?  And how do we find him?

Let’s listen to the words of John’s gospel again; Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.”  “I know them.”   not; “they know me and follow me” but; “I know them”. 

What wonderful news, our Saviour knows us, inside and out, with all our quirks and imperfections, and still loves us, literally for all eternity.

Our Saviour loves us, cares for us, and then promises that no one will ever snatch us away from him.

His love runs deeper than we can ever comprehend, because even when we’ve given up looking and searching, our Lord does not. While we may forget that we are his sheep, Jesus never forgets that he is our Shepherd.       

 “It was winter.”  The first sermon I wrote on this passage was at the time of Ken’s diagnosis way back in 2013.  I physically felt the chill in the air on reading it, and I know that you shared our worry, pain and heartache.

The dark days of those times caused us to stop in our tracks, our world was shattered, it was truly winter. And then we recognized the Truth that stood before us…in our searching and looking for reasons and answers, we found our Good Shepherd searching and looking for us. 

In times since, we as a community have shared in supporting each other through dark days, especially in the recent loss of much-loved members of our church family; Ted, Linda, Martin, Barrie, Margaret, and we now offer that same support to Dot, Debbie and Graham and share in their grieving for Terry.

 So, as we read these words today, may we find comfort in knowing that through all it all, Jesus is with us.  That when we can’t find him, he finds us, and we hear him say:

“I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.  What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one, no one, can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.”

We are his sheep, and all shall be well. Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Hymn; ‘Alleluia, Sing to Jesus’
 

Affirmation of our faith

Let us declare our faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; he was buried; he was raised to life on the third day and afterwards he appeared to his followers and to all the apostles: this we have received, and this we believe.  This is the faith of the Church. This is our faith. We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Our intercessions this week are written by Helen Dunbar

Through the risen Jesus we have a living hope which will never spoil or fade. Holy God, your son remained with his disciples for forty days after his resurrection, teaching them to love all people, as friends and neighbours. We too are his disciples, and we offer our prayers on behalf of the church, the world in which we live and all those with whom we share it.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for all churches across the world; we ask your blessing and guidance on all clergy. Here at St Clement, we pray for our own dear Revd Diane, as she works to enrich the ministry in this community.

We give thanks for being able to be here in St Clement Church today to worship with our Christian family. Let us remember the many Christians in other parts of the world, who are unable to worship freely, and feel persecuted for their beliefs.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Lord, we ask your guidance for the leaders of our nation, and all those who work to keep us safe; those who uphold our freedom of speech, the freedom to worship, the freedom to live our lives without fear and to live in safety. We pray for all who shape the minds of the young and impressionable. We pray for government, all who teach in schools and colleges, lecturers and broadcasters and those who use social media to interact with others; may they carry out their work with a sense of responsibility.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for ourselves at St Clement and the surrounding area, for all we know and all those who need our love and support.  Please God help us in all we do today and help us to make the right decisions, giving us patience and understanding and the ability to see the bigger picture.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer.

 

Lord, we ask your blessing on our royal family, we especially think of King Charles and the Princess of Wales who are still on a journey of recovery from serious illness. We give thanks that the King along with other members of the royal family was able to lead the commemorations of VE Day during this past week.

Lord, we pray that you are able to provide solace and inspiration to those who feel detached from you at this moment.  Those who feel that you may not be present in their daily lives or find it difficult to turn their thoughts towards you.  We pray that they are able to once again experience your ever present and glorifying nature and realize that you had never left them, but were always there, waiting.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer.

 

Dear Lord, we pray for the weak and vulnerable, for those who must live depending on others for every need, and for those who find coping with life very difficult.  We pray for a greater reverence, one for another, for a greater willingness to uphold and encourage one another; we pray for healing and wholeness. We remember the sick and suffering in the parish and beyond, all those recovering from and awaiting surgery and we ask God’s blessing and comfort on them.

We especially remember at this time: Reverend Diane, Ken, May, Susan and Tony, Lynda, Dot, Maureen, Pam and David, Sandra, Roger, Michael and Patricia, Rob and Alison, Stella, Jeremy, Anita and Stephen, Callum and Elaine, Sue and Martin, Margaret and John, Dave and Jeanette, Carrie and John Paul, Felicity, Nan, Barry, Paul and all those who have no one to pray for them.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer.

 

 

We pray for those who have died; we pray for all who are grieving for loved ones and find it difficult to cope with the great sorrow and loss they feel; commend their loved ones to your unfailing care which lasts throughout this life and on into eternity.

We hold in our thoughts and prayers Dot, Debbie, Graham and their families as they come to terms with the loss of Terry.

We pray for all those whose anniversary falls at this time, and we remember Sydney Colwill, Betty Davies, Mike O’Brien, Ruth Lyne and Paul Nicholls.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer.

 

Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Andrew, St Allen and St Clement and all the saints.

Merciful Father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen

 

Gathering our prayers and praises into one,

let us pray with confidence as our risen Lord taught us;

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen.

 

Hymn; ‘O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.’ 

 

The Peace

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples

and said, ‘Peace be with you.’

Then they were glad when they saw the risen Lord.

Alleluia!  May the peace of the risen Lord be always with us.

 

Blessing

May the light of Christ surround us,

may the Love of God enfold us,

may the presence of God watch over us,

may the power of God protect us and those whom we love, 

and may we never forget that wherever we are, God is also. 

Amen.