Circuit Worship 6th June 2021

Mike Trinder

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=PLc2KHyGgDaLubDJH5uDfbzr5cGZg-PcoG

Welcome and Call to Worship:

I would like to welcome everyone to worship.  My name is Mike Trinder, and I’m one of the Oxford Methodist Circuit’s Local Preachers.

The Lectionary Readings today are for the 10^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

We start with the Call to Worship.

Loving, Heavenly Father, we thank you for the wonderful world in which we live.  We thank you for your word that we will be thinking about today. We would ask you to open our eyes and ears to your message of love that we hear today.

Amen

We continue our worship with the first song:

Hymn: Love divine all love excelling

Opening Prayers:

Creator God

We praise you for the intensity of your love. The Love that brought the universe to life, the love that designed and ordered our world.  The love that breathed life into humankind.

Creator God, we thank for the immensity of your Love.

Saving God,

We praise you for the endurance of your love, the love that came to share our  Human Life. The love that died for us upon the cross, and brough us the Holy Spirit. The Love that triumphed over hatred and death

Saving God, we thank you for the endurance of your love.

Strengthening God, we praise you for the power of your love, the love that brought your church to life, the love that transforms hearts and minds, the love that dares and cares and unites.

Strengthening God, we praise you for the power of your love.In the name of Christ, Amen.

We join together in the Prayer that Jesus taught us:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be your name;

Your Kingdom Come,

Your 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 yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen

Reading 1:  Mark 3: 20-36

Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebub,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Reading 2: 2 Corinthians 4: 13-5: 1

Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

We thank God for the reading of His Word.

Address

10^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Download sermon transcript

Song: Lord of all hopefulness

Prayers of Intercession and Blessing

Loving God, your Kingdom is a Kingdom of justice and mercy. We pray for the Leaders of the Nations, particularly at this time of Pandemic, and war in the middle east and food shortages throughout parts of our world. We pray that the rights and needs of all people will be met, by promoting peace and harmony.

Your Kingdom Come, your will be done.

Loving God, your Kingdom is a Kingdom of hope and joy. We pray for all those in sorrow or need. We remember the homeless, the bereaved, the anxious and the ill. We pray for those we know who are in need at this time.

Your Kingdom Come, your will be done.

Loving God, your Kingdom is a kingdom of light and life. We pray for ourselves, that you will guide us safely on our journey through life so that we will might become to be with you in your eternal kingdom.

Your Kingdom Come, your will be done.

Amen.

Organ Voluntary

Organ voluntary: Tuba Tune (Norman Cocker)

Daniel Cook plays the organ of Westminster Abbey

https://youtu.be/lMzDXp8U1Qs

Circuit Worship: 30th May 2021

Circuit Worship: 30^th May 2021

Anna Herriman

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=PLc2KHyGgDaLvHYGs16RpBI3RTNYUzTgz9

Welcome and call to worship

Hello, I would like to give you a very warm welcome to the service from the Oxford Methodist Circuit for Trinity Sunday wherever you are and whenever that is. I’m Anna Herriman, one of the Local Preachers on trial in the Circuit and will be starting the service today with a poem called “Trinity” written by a member of Wesley Memorial – Joanna Tulloch.

Dance of love in three steps,

care and grace and mercy,

you are with us always

to the end of this pandemic

and beyond.

Face of wonder, Father,

present in creation,

you are with us always

till your gifts are loved and nurtured

and transformed.

Son who shared our being

and taught us true compassion,

you are with us always

in those who care for others,

those who heal.

Spirit, source of courage,

comforter, defender,

you are with us always

wherever there’s injustice,

fear or pain.

Spirit, Son, and Father,

inspirer, friend, creator,

you are with us always

until the new beginning

dawns on earth.

Copyright Joanna Tulloch (2020)

Song:

Our God Saves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUOgVl0KuFI

Prayers

Let us pray:

Loving Creator, the source of life and love, we praise you for the beauty of this day, and thank you for the good things we enjoy.

Jesus, Messiah, we praise you for your courage and kindness in living your life and dying your death for all humankind. We are blessed by your rising from death to life, opening the way for us to follow you.

Holy Spirit of God, you reveal to us the things of God, open our hearts to Love, and shower upon us gifts which build up our brothers and sisters in Christ in peace and joy.

Holy God, amazing Trinity, as you gave yourself to heal us, help us to offer ourselves to you anew today, for you welcome and embrace all who respond in love to you. Amen.

From: https://www.methodist.org.uk/media/21291/30-may-21-worship-if-you-are-unable-to-attend-church.pdf

Reading 1

Isaiah 6: 1- 8

6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. ² Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴ The pivots^[a] on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ⁷ The seraph^[b] touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”.

Our old testament reading seems to focus more on calling but still has a link to today’s service. The hot coal on the lips implies that we are forgiven and should be connected to God within our calling to serve God’s purpose in His love, following Jesus’ way and letting the Holy Spirit guide us.

Prayers

Let us confess our sins to God:

Holy God,

You are always here, together with your Son and Holy Spirit,

You bring us together, care for us and protect us.

You have done so much for us since the beginning. of the world.

We forget and we have not always followed your way.

We recognise the need for you to lift us up.

Forgive us for not loving others as we should,

Forgive us for we have not sown the seeds of spiritual growth.

Restore us, so that we may reconnect with you, ourselves and each other.

That together we share and spread the Good News of your Son and your love.

Guide us and guard us through your Holy Spirit.

Through the power of Christ and the gift of your Spirit, Amen.

Reading 2

John 3:1-17

3 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ² He came to Jesus^[a] by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”^[b]4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.^[c] 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You^[d] must be born from above.’^[e] 8 The wind^[f] blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

¹¹ “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you^[g]do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^[h] 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.^[i]

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

¹⁷ “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Sermon

final_sermon_trinity_sundayDownload

Song:

StF394 Spirit of God, unseen as the wind

Prayers of Intercession and The Lord’s Prayer

We now share in a responsive prayer of intercession: each time I say “As you, God, love us”, I invite you to join in the response “Help us to love one another”.

Let us pray.

As you, God, love us, Help us to love one another. 

We thank you, loving God, for your unconditional love, which connects you to us and to all our neighbours worldwide; we thank you for giving us an example in Jesus of how we should share in that connectedness by loving you and our neighbours; and we thank you for the challenge to follow his example which we receive from your Holy Spirit within us. And we ask you to inspire each one of us as individuals to accept that challenge: to love you by loving our neighbours as Jesus loved people and as you love us – loving with a love that is unlimited both in the range of people with whom it connects us and in the lengths to which it is prepared to go.

As you, God, love us, Help us to love one another.

We thank you that even during times of lockdown the churches of our Circuit have found ways to connect with our neighbours; and we pray that as restrictions are relaxed we may seize whatever opportunities we have to enrich both the mission and service by which we connect with the communities around us and the worship and other activities in which we connect with each other.

As you, God, love us, Help us to love one another.

We pray for our national Methodist Connexion, and for your universal Church of which it is part. Connect and unite us in love even with those from whom we are divided by contradictory convictions. May we respect their convictions and be ready to listen to them even when we disagree; may we always be open to receive new insights, to travel from the old to the new on our pilgrimage of faith; and may we have the grace to live with diversity, in the knowledge that we are all “one in Christ Jesus”.

As you, God, love us, Help us to love one another.

We pray for the people of all nations and their leaders. We admit our share in humanity’s responsibility for the heating up of our planet which our heedlessness of our connectedness to the natural world has caused; and we pray for an adequate response to this challenge, firstly by those preparing for or taking part in the forthcoming UN Conference on this crisis in Glasgow, and then by the international community as a whole. We also remember those struggling to cope with the effects of the Covid pandemic throughout the world, including those hit by the lack of vaccines and intensive care in India and elsewhere; and we ask that our leaders may not only be wise in dealing with the pandemic here but also be compassionate in honouring our connectedness to these poorer countries by giving them all the help that is available.

As you, God, love us, Help us to love one another.

Finally, let us remember in a moment’s silence any known to us who are passing through difficult times just now, and let us ask God to show us if there is anything we can do to help them. (Pause)

As you, God, love us, Help us to love one another. 

And we join in the Lord’s Prayer, in whatever version each of us chooses.

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 for ever.
Amen.

Closing prayer and Blessing

May the love of God sustain us in our lives,

May Jesus, the bread of life himself defend us and give us strength to build his Kingdom,

May the Spirit, nourish us and guide us on our journey.

And the blessing of God,

The Father, the Son and Holy Spirit,

Be among you and remain in you always.

Amen

The service now finishes with the reminder that God loved the world that He gave his only Son so that we may live.

Song alternative to Organ Voluntary:

For God loved the world He gave his only Son

Circuit Worship: 23 May 2021

A service for Pentecost and Aldersgate Sunday. Led by Simeon Mitchell.

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 this link – or simply pressing play on the first video.

Welcome and opening responses

Hello, and a very warm welcome to this service from the Oxford Methodist Circuit for Pentecost and Aldersgate Sunday. We begin with some responses invoking the Spirit to come among us in this moment as we begin our worship – wherever and whenever that is. I invite you to join in with the words in bold type.

Leader:       Come, Holy Spirit.
Response: Come, Lord of life.

Leader:       You bring each new day alive with possibility.
Response: You fill creation with vitality and hope.

Leader:       You give each human being great potential.
Response: You inspire people to transform the world.

Leader:       Come, Holy Spirit, and enter our worship.
Response: Come, Lord of life, and infuse our lives.

Song: StF 385 Holy Spirit, we welcome you

Reading: Acts 2:1-21

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

Peter Addresses the Crowd

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
   and your old men shall dream dreams. 
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy. 
And I will show portents in the heaven above
   and signs on the earth below,
     blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 
The sun shall be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood,
     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Prayers

Let us pray:
Holy Spirit, we welcome you, we need you, and we praise you.

Praise be to the fire of heaven,
Furnace of purity,
Flame of power.

A spark.
that is all we need
on this day, igniting God,
so that we can burst into bonfires
which signal to all those around us
that you are bringing life and grace
to us, and to the whole world.

Praise be to the voice of God,
Communicating wisdom,
Connecting us all.

A word.
Speak now, O poet of Pentecost,
so that we can be the voice
of all those forgotten by the world,
so that we might tell of your love
and be good news to everyone we meet.

Praise be to the breath of life,
Blowing with hope,
Stirring things up.

A breeze.
Blow gently within us, shattering Spirit.
Bring peace and calm where consolation is needed
but gust through our complacency and our comfortableness 
until our restless souls find their rest in you.

Holy Spirit, coming to us as fire, voice and breath
we welcome you, we need you, and we praise you.
Amen

Based on prayers by John Proctor and Thom Shuman

Sermon

20210523-sermon-scriptDownload

Song: StF 408 How small a spark

Prayers

The Spirit came
and your Church was born,
in wind and fire
and words of power.

We pray, Holy Spirit, renew the life and faith of the Church amidst the challenges of these days. Strengthen our witness, and make us one in Christ.

The Spirit came
blowing fear aside,
and in its place
weak souls were stronger.

We pray, Holy Spirit, comfort those who suffer or grieve.
Bring healing and wholeness, and rest for the weary in body, mind or spirit.

The Spirit came
as your word foretold,
with dreams and signs,
visions and wonders.

We pray, Holy Spirit, transform narrow thinking and shatter rigid dogma
That peace and justice will prevail for all.

The Spirit came
warmed hearts
and stirred up holy men and women
to share good news.

We pray, Holy Spirit, move us to action
fill us with love that overflows for our neighbours.

The Spirit came
and is here today
urging us towards your kingdom
and drawing us into the new things you are doing in the world.

We pray, Holy Spirit, ignite a fire in our hearts,
a passion for justice that cannot be quenched
until no one is marginalized or oppressed,
until all of your children have the opportunity to thrive,
until the world is transformed and renewed.

We pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Song: StF 264 O thou who camest from above

Closing prayer and blessing

Thank you for being with us for this service today.

Some words of blessing to close.

Creator God,
as we journey into this week
give us the grace to allow your Holy Spirit to work through us.

Help us to celebrate all that is life-giving,
to restore hope where it has been lost,
and to bring about change where it is needed.

And so may the blessing of God,
Life-giver, change-maker, love-creator,
Be with us now and always.
Amen.

Organ Voluntary

Fantasia on ‘Komm, heiliger Geist’, BWV 651 (J.S. Bach)

Jean-Baptiste Dupont plays the Ahrend organ of the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, France

Circuit Worship: 16th May 2021

Led by 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=PLc2KHyGgDaLs_DpNGMwt0p7C7z99P3zkj

Activity sheet for children can be downloaded here; https://www.rootsontheweb.com/lectionary/2021/113-may-june-2021-b/easter-7/activity-sheet

‘The potential of prayer’

Welcome & call to worship

You who are passing through hard times: come! You who need strength to support those who are suffering: come! You who are full of happiness: come! You who are burdened and busy: come! Come; let us unite in worship of the one who offers us protection, comfort and joy.

Song: How shall I sing that majesty

Prayers

We come to you, Lord, ready to worship, ready to learn, ready for prayer, ready for action. May our worship here spill out into our every day.
Gracious God, set apart as your people yet together in your world, we worship you as one. Emboldened by your power, protected by your promises and filled with your peace, we worship you as one. Upheld by your word, inspired by your truth and named as your friends, we worship you as one. Keep us safe in the world. Keep us praying for the world. Keep us serving the world. As one, in Jesus’ name.
God of yesterday, tomorrow and today, we are children of the world you love and care for. We praise you, heavenly Father, for calling us into relationship with you. We praise you, Lord Jesus, for the power of your name and the protection of your prayers. We praise you, Holy Spirit, for your guidance and gifts that enable us to draw others to you.
For you are faithful in times of uncertainty, strong when we are weak, and the breath of all our being, the energy of all our doing and the peace of all our resting.
Forgive us, gracious God, when we have turned away from your word and immersed ourselves in the distractions of the world. Forgive us, when we have sought to belong to the world and compromised your truth to fit in. Forgive us, when we have bickered among ourselves and not shown the world that we are one. Forgive us, when we have distanced ourselves from those you have called us to serve. Forgive us, O God; protect us and unite us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Gracious God, we thank you for the enduring prayer of Jesus for his disciples which reaches and reassures us today as we walk in their footsteps, reminding us that we are not alone but protected, empowered, forgiven, and surrounded by your grace every step of the way. Amen.

Reading Acts 1.15-17,21-26

Reading: John 17.6-19 (PLG video)

Prayer after the readings

We do not ask for escape from hardships that we know are part of life in this world. Rather we ask: protect us from evil, make us one, and be with us through your Spirit. Show us your truth and guide us as we go out in your name. Amen.

Sermon ‘The potential of prayer’ (John 17.6-19 & Acts 1.15-17,21-26)

The traitor Judas must be replaced.
Two candidates are shortlisted – not for their gifts, skills or qualities, but because they witnessed the ministry of Jesus from start to finish. The initiative throughout lies with God. Just as, according to Luke, the Holy Spirit spoke of Judas in the Psalms, so prayer reveals his replacement, though in a way that we might not recognise today as divine guidance.
Matthias restores the number of the apostles to 12. Jesus chose 12 disciples from among a larger group of followers to symbolise one of the aims of his ministry. Twelve apostles stand for 12 tribes, Israel as a whole. In the Bible, Israel’s vocation is to be a light to the nations as in Isaiah 42.6 for example. By restoring the core group of Jesus’ followers to 12, Peter and the others show that they have not lost sight of the breadth of this vision. The heart of the Jesus movement is a Jewish people that is about to discover its universal mission.
Before his arrest, Jesus prays for his friends that they may be one as he is one with the Father. He asks that they may be protected in the uncertain times they face and made holy, set apart from the world’s unbelief – by the truth about who Jesus is.
The way in which Jesus prays helps us to understand the breadth and potential of prayer – not a formula of words, but an ongoing conversation and relationship with God/Jesus that helps to inform and shape everything that we are and everything that we do. This is surely the heart of our prayer life because it is at the heart of how Jesus prayed. Jesus would know of and use the great liturgical prayers of Judaism in the Psalms in particular, but also the prayers of the prophets. It is clear that Jesus calls his follows to develop a prayer life that is a conversation with God. Prayer is listening as well as speaking.
Our gospel reading is taken from the account of Jesus’ last words to his disciples at the supper before his arrest. He prays for those he will shortly leave through his Passion. There are echoes of the Lord’s Prayer in Jesus’ address to God as ‘Father’ and his prayer for protection from worldly powers of hatred and evil. It is as if Jesus looks for the coming of God’s kingdom in the unity, joy and faithfulness of his disciples.
Throughout his Gospel, John reframes the humiliation and tragedy of Jesus’ brutal execution. He likens it to the liberating sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, or the healing serpent that Moses raised up in the desert, or the tender care of the shepherd, or the fruitful seed that falls into the ground and dies, or the slave’s washing of feet. Here the death that takes Jesus away from his friends is his prayer for them, and for all who will believe through their testimony. Anxious as they are in the absence of Jesus, his Passion-as-prayer is the triumph of God’s love for the world over the destructive powers of evil.
We are linked to John’s audience as they and we naturally hear these words as coming from the crucified and risen Christ. Not only does Jesus pray for them and us, he also prays with us and them as together we are drawn into the offering of his whole life. Here, then, is a new perspective on what it means to ‘ask in my name’: it is to allow our life to be moulded by the vision that shapes his Passion. The potential of prayer is not a series of requests, it is to be aligned with God’s way of seeing the world and earthly living in the light of heaven.
Amen

Song: When the music fades

Prayer of thanksgiving

Lord Jesus, as your disciples in the world today, we thank you that your word of truth, your prayer of power and your heart of love, continue to protect, inspire and unite us as we live out our faith, build up our relationships, and hold the world before you in prayer. Amen.
Prayers of intercession Once again, the tensions between Israel and Palestine have reached the news cycle. We pray for the peacemakers in that area. Hold them from despair, give them the energy and vision for a better future that will keep them going during these difficult times. Help the local politicians and those in the international community who are trying to mediate and resolve this crisis. Equip them with the skills they need, give them the words that will speak into this situation and help those who need to hear listen to their words and cease their fire.
Lord, in a dark hour, let your light shine.
As we roll out the vaccine in this country and celebrate a return to something that feels more normal, we are aware that this is not the experience of many people around the world. The scenes and stories from India and Nepal are deeply upsetting. We pray for help to arrive, for oxygen, doctors and for relief for those suffering. As things improve for us may we not forget to pray for people around this world who still face many dark days battling coronavirus.
Lord in amongst the pain and suffering, let your light shine.
In the aftermath of the local, mayoral and crime commissioner elections we pray for everyone who has either lost or gained a job. Give people who are leaving their posts a sense of closure. Help them as they move on to something new. May they take the experience they gained and find ways to use it to empower and help others. For those who find themselves with a new job, give them the grace and humility needed to get to know new colleagues and work out what is required of them, and as our towns and cities emerge from coronavirus give us all patience with each other as we re-establish how to work and live with one another.
Lord, in a world of losses and gains, let your light shine.
The blossoms on the trees and parks filled with plants and flowers at this time of the year remind us of the wonders of the natural world. But we are well aware of the difficulties facing our planet. The issues around climate change can feel overwhelming but we pray that the church has a voice in the debate and that we face up to our personal responsibilities.
Lord, in a world challenged by the climate crisis, let your light shine.
In uncertain times we thank you Lord for the relationships and friendships that have carried us through: for those who have made us laugh, for those who have listened, for those who have stood by us. Thank you for the love, care and attention of others. Help us to learn to pray as Jesus did. As we move through this week and encounter our friends help us to pray for their needs and that they would know your peace in their lives.
Lord, in all of our lives and friendships, let your light shine.
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: Here on the threshold of a new beginning

Blessing

As we set down this time of worship, Lord, may our prayers be just beginning. May our worship, our time here, what we have learned and what we have discovered, lead us into action and lives full of worship every hour of every day. We ask in the name of Jesus, whose whole life was an offering of worship to you. Amen.

Organ voluntary

Prelude and Fugue in C, BWV 547

Leo van Doeselaar plays the organ of the Walloon Church, Amsterdam

https://youtu.be/P97d0Y8Hx_g