Peter Powers
If you would like to join this service of worship using just the videos playing one after another, you can visit our playlist on Youtube by following the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2KHyGgDaLubTzWeo3cStWYo5WKAWIxl
Welcome and call to worship
Jesus on the boat in the storm said: ‘Peace! Be still!’…and there was a great calm.
We come to God, just as we are.
Sometimes at ease.
Sometimes confused by life’s storms.
Let us trust God with our big questions, and listen for God’s still small word to restore us to a sense of peace.
Song: Now thank we all our God
Opening prayers
Loving and sometimes silent God,
we come into your presence,
thankful to quieten our hearts and to wait for you to speak.
We bring our joys, our challenges, and our questions.
We open our hearts honestly to you,
and we wait in that space beyond questions
to feel you hold us in compassion.
Eternal God,
we praise and adore you for all that you are:
for being bigger than even our biggest questions;
for caring more than we can fully comprehend.
We praise and adore you
for your strength and your silence;
for your power and your peace.
We praise and adore you
for being in control and yet not controlling;
for being in the storms and beyond them.
We praise and adore you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
we praise you for ever.
God of our questions and our struggles,
when we too quickly mistake silence for indifference:
forgive and help us.When the voice of our own needs silences the voices of others:
forgive and help us.When we abandon others in their storm and watch safely from the shore:
forgive and help us.When we lose faith because things get tough:
forgive and help us.In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Lord Jesus,
you do not let us sink when our faith is going under.
You do not let our boats overturn when the seas of our life get rough.
You do not let our questions swamp us or our failures destroy us.
Rather, you forgive us, you save us,
you encourage, challenge and calm us –
and for this we are thankful. Amen.
Reading: Mark 5.35-41
Sermon
‘Storm Over the Lake’.
God of power and peace,
when the storm is raging:
You are there.
When our boats are sinking:
You are there.
When faith slips through our fingers:
You are there.
When our hearts sink and our courage fails:
You are there.
In the roar of the waves,
in the sound of the wind,
and in the silence:
You are there.
So, we praise you.
We thank you.
We worship you.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Listen to song: Can you hear me?
Prayers for others
In the light of the extension of restrictions,
we remember in prayer today:
those whose businesses are sinking…
those drowning in debt…
those going under with stress…
Faithful God, may they know you care.
Loving God, may they trust you’re there.
Saving God, hear our prayer.
We pray for those embroiled in stormy and violent relationships,
among and within nations, communities, and families…
those played out on the world’s stage…
those hidden behind closed doors…
Faithful God, may they know you care.
Loving God, may they trust you’re there.
Saving God, hear our prayer.
We pray for those whose cries go unheard,
especially those tortured and executed by brutal regimes…
for those whose questions go unanswered,
especially those searching for justice…
for those whose pleas go unheeded,
especially those on the edge unable to access mental health services…
for those whose needs go unmet,
especially in the Yemen, in Tigray, and in all places of poverty where the resources available are inadequate to feed the hungry and starving…
Faithful God, may they know you care.
Loving God, may they trust you’re there.
Saving God, hear our prayer.
We pray for the church as it seeks to address and answer big questions,
questions about life and death,
about gender and sexuality,
about faith and finance,
about race and responsibilities,
about integrity and healing…
Faithful God, may they know you care.
Loving God, may they trust you’re there.
Saving God, hear our prayer.
In Jesus’ name. 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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
Song: In Christ is our salvation
Blessing
Go in peace.
May the whisper of God’s wisdom
go with you today
into all your relationships.
May God’s blessing be yours, Father, Son and Spirit.
Now and always.
Amen.
Organ voluntary: Pièce d’Orgue, also known as Fantasia in G, BWV 572 (J.S. Bach)
Phoebe Tak Man Chow plays the organ of All Saints’ Church, Orpington
Oxford Methodist Circuit worship 