(All our songs this morning are from Hymns & Psalms (HP) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Bolton Methodist Church and has been prepared by John Darnbrook one of our Circuit Local Preachers.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Call to worship
I will hear what the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful ones whose hearts are turned to him. Truly his salvation is near to those that fear him.
Being the end of the first week back of a new school year, today is Education Sunday, when we give thanks for all those involved in teaching us and our loved ones. Of course, our greatest teacher is Jesus himself, so we need to ensure that our hearts are indeed “turned to him” as we choose to learn from him each and every day.
Our theme for this morning is “Choosing not to be crooked” and we’ll be thinking about our lives and whether they are turned to God, or whether there are elements of crookedness, of sin, in us, and if so what we can do about it. We begin to find the answer in our first hymn:
Song – HP 744 – O for a thousand tongues to sing
Reading
Show plumb line: What is this? It’s used for decorating, or building a wall, to ensure you work in a straight line. I remember my Mum telling me what a plumb line was when I was little. Only hers didn’t hang quite straight – no wonder the wallpaper was a bit crooked! Let’s see if this wall is straight. Yes that’s in line, it’s what we call true.
[Attach plumb line to lectern] God said to Amos that his people were like a wall that is out of line – they weren’t being true to him and following his ways. In more ways than one, there was an element of crookedness about them [move plumb line to be crooked].
Do you think God could say the same about us? It makes me think, what would cause us to be out of line? What do we do that God wouldn’t like? And wouldn’t it be better if our lives were in line with God’s way? [move plumb line to be straight]
As we consider how we can best educate ourselves in the ways of the Lord, it’s important as we go through life that we read our Bibles, pray often and share time with other Christians, so that we try our best to live our lives the way God wants us to, in line with his will.
And God will help us to do so if we trust him, if we seek to do his will. “If you will faithfully obey me,” he says, “You will be my very own people.”
Prayers
Let us pray. God our Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can gather here today to worship you (whether we are here at Bolton Church in person or viewing this service online or via a printed copy). For you are worthy of the very best we can offer. It’s amazing to think that you created the universe, all the stars in the sky, you set the planets on their courses, and you created the perfect conditions for life on earth. You are beyond time and space, you are mighty and powerful, worthy of our highest praise and adoration.
And yet you know each one of us intimately. You know what’s going on inside our heads, our hearts and our lives. You are closer to us than any human ever could be, and you want us to be that close to you. We marvel Father that you are concerned with little old us. There are so many things in your world that need your attention, and yet each one of us can turn to you and know that you are right here with us, teaching us each and every day and helping us to live our lives in line with your will.
We thank you Lord God for all those who teach us and our loved ones: in schools, colleges, universities, Bible groups, fellowship groups and the like. Help us always to be open to learning new things, new ways of being, new ways of serving.
For we do need your help Father. On our own we so easily succumb to the temptation to sin. It’s rare that our lives are truly in line with the way you would have us live. We are aware of our faults and we bring them to you now and ask for your forgiveness …
It’s amazing that you are concerned with each one of us, it’s almost unbelievable that you offer us forgiveness for the wrong things we do, if only we are willing to turn from them, put those sins behind us, and live for you. And we do turn from our sins Father, we do believe in your forgiveness, and we give you thanks for restoring our relationship with you, through what you did for us in Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
We heard from the prophet Amos that the people of Israel would be punished because of their waywardness from God. Amos repeatedly told the people to change their ways and to seek God and learn to live his way. A message we pick up in our next hymn:
Song – HP 138 – Seek ye first the kingdom of God
Reading
As we give thanks today for all the ways God teaches us – directly and through the gifts of others, we ask him in our next hymn to continue leading us in the right way:
Song – HP 68 – Lead us Heavenly Father lead us
Sermon
Do you think God ever changes his mind? I never used to think he did. To me, God was someone who was always right and so never needed to change his mind. But our reading from Amos tells us quite clearly that God did change his mind, not just once but twice.
But does this mean that God is a little less than perfect, that sometimes he doesn’t know what is right and makes a wrong decision? Fear not. The God we worship is truly perfect in all ways. The reason he changes his mind is because of his supreme love for us, which was echoed in our reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where Paul goes to great length to emphasise that God’s saving grace through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus was the ultimate demonstration of his awesome love for us.
Back in the Old Testament, God told Amos that he was going to punish the people, because they were living wealthy and very pleasurable lives at the expense of the poor, who were being treated unjustly and were being oppressed. In other words, the wealthy people had chosen to be crooked.
But Amos pleaded with God not to bring his awful punishment on the people, and because God loved them and wanted to give them another chance to turn back to him, learn from him and mend their ways, he changed his mind and didn’t punish them to start with. Eventually he had to punish them though, because the way they were living would have destroyed all that was good in society, but again he did it out of love, to bring the people back to himself.
So yes, God does change his mind. And this shows us that we are not just pawns in God’s great plan for the universe. We are individuals each with our own free will. Despite Paul saying in our reading from Ephesians that God had chosen some people to be his before the world began, we have the freedom to choose whether to accept what God offers us, to choose not to be crooked and live our lives in line with his will.
God does not just pick some people to live and some to die – is that the action of a God of love? I think not. I’m not disagreeing with Paul, God has chosen some people to be his followers and to do great things in and through them, but they must respond to his call, otherwise the will of God will not be fulfilled.
The same is true of us too. God will never force us to serve him, we must always choose to do so. Paul himself could have ignored Jesus’ call on the Damascus Road and continued to persecute the Christians. Jesus had specifically chosen him, but Paul had to choose whether or not to accept his call.
We too are called to serve Jesus, and in responding positively we will be greatly blessed by God. However, if we use our free will to choose not to follow Jesus, to ignore his call on our lives, reject his teaching, then God will change his mind and will not bless us with the inner peace and joy that comes from learning from him day by day and knowing we are serving him.
Paul felt he was chosen, destined even, to be the great apostle that he became, with his message to the Gentiles. But God did not force him – as I said he could have chosen to ignore the message on the Damascus Road, but if he did, he would have suffered the consequences. Who knows, he could have remained blind and God would have chosen someone else for the task he wanted Paul to fulfil. And Paul would then have missed out on the blessings God wanted to shower on him.
If you read the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters, you quickly come to see Paul as a man who knew where he was going to spend eternity, and was looking forward to it. Had he not accepted God’s call, he would never have experienced that inner peace and security, that confidence that comes from knowing that Jesus died for him, and that his place in heaven was certain.
Are we in danger of missing out on that peace, security and joy because we don’t answer God’s call? What act of service is God calling you to? Shouldn’t our answer be an unqualified Yes?
It will be far better for us if we say Yes to God, than if we continue with a heart that is hardened against him. I’m not saying serving God will be easy – Jesus never said that; he was very honest about the cost that is involved. But I am saying that we will be much better off in the things that matter if we use our free will to choose to listen to God and say Yes to what he is calling us to do, and then choose to learn from him daily by regularly reading our Bible and sharing in fellowship with others from whom we can learn also. To quote our theme for today: if we choose not to be crooked. To choose to live our lives in line with God’s will.
Have you ever played a game in church called “Guess the connection between the Bible readings”? I often sit in church and wonder just how the preacher is going to link the chosen readings, for I don’t see much point in having a reading from the Bible if it serves no purpose other than to fill space in a traditional order of service.
You’ve probably already guessed that my theme comes from our Old Testament reading from Amos about the plumb line. And I’ve mentioned that Paul who wrote the letter to the Ephesians listened to Jesus’ very direct call and chose to turn his back on his own crookedness and live his life in line with God’s will.
But what of our Gospel reading about Herod having John the Baptist beheaded? How does that fit in with what we have been thinking about so far? Well, according to the daily Bible readings I use on the Methodist Church website, on Tuesday this week, the Christian calendar remembers the beheading of John. And I think that this awful action from King Herod and those around him shows us that if we don’t turn our back on our sins, then one act of crookedness will lead to another.
The reason John the Baptist was in prison was because he had boldly told Herod it was wrong for him to be married to his brother’s wife. You could say that in this passage of events, that was Herod’s first sin. But because he refused to act in the right way when he heard God speaking to him through John, in effect he chose to continue being crooked, it quickly led to another sin, and the death of a Godly man.
Herod was sinking deeper and deeper into the clutches of sin, all because he refused to listen to God and change his ways. Is this a danger that threatens us? Are we allowing sin to have an ever stronger hold on us, so that the wrong things we do get worse and worse? Are we struggling against God because we’re frightened to really serve him? Are we therefore condemning ourselves by choosing to remain crooked, out of line with God’s will? Remember Jesus said that not everyone who calls him Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.
But if that is where we are, then there is good news for us. The good news of the Christian faith is that God wants us to serve him, and in Jesus he offers us all we need to break the power that sin has over us – he wants to give us the strength and courage we need to be able to resist the temptation to sin. The power that enabled Jesus to resist sin and face even the cross with hope – that awesome power can be ours. Wow!
Don’t you find that amazing? That the God we worship, who created the whole universe, who is so majestic and mighty, wants to give us his own power so we can overcome the sin that is in our lives. What an amazing faith – which can be ours if only we would open our hearts truly to God.
Just as God can change his mind, so we need to change ours, so that we want to serve him, to turn to him and say “Yes Lord, what is it you want me to do?”. For when we choose to put our crookedness behind us, and ask God to help us live in line with his will; when we choose to educate ourselves in the ways of God by reading our Bible and learning from others, then he will do wonderful things both in and through our lives.
Is God asking you to turn your back on a specific sin in your life right now? Do you feel him saying to you, “What you have been doing is wrong, accept my power to overcome that sin”? Do you want to be close to God once again and experience the joy of walking each day with him, without that sin getting in the way?
If you feel like that, then join me and make this prayer your own. Let us pray: Lord God, I am so very aware of the sin in my life right now; and I realise that the path I have chosen to follow is wrong and has caused hurt. I realise too that because of my sin I am not as close to you as I once was. I have heard your call to put that sin behind me and I know that you will help me to do so. Please forgive me Father and send your Spirit upon me to give me your power to overcome sin and temptation.
Heavenly Father, with open arms and an open heart I welcome you into my life either for the first time, or afresh today. I gladly and humbly receive your forgiveness, which was won for me by the blood of Jesus on the cross. And I look forward to the rest of my life, knowing that the sins you have made me aware of have been forgiven and I have been cleansed, ready to live for you.
Heavenly Father, accept the praise that comes from deep within my heart for what you have done for me, for you are a gracious, merciful and loving God. I pray in and through the name of Jesus my Saviour. Amen.
Amen indeed!
Picking up on the commitment we have just made, our next hymn is:
Song – HP 739 – May the mind of Christ my Saviour
Prayers of intercession
Let us pray. God our loving Father, we have heard your voice, calling us to put our sin, our crookedness behind us, and so we say Yes we want to live in line with your will. We want to see you do marvellous things in and through our lives. On this Education Sunday and at all times, we want to continue learning about and from you.
But there are so many people whose lives are not in line with your will. We pray for the terrorists of this world and for all who believe that they can only get what they feel is right by oppressing others. Heavenly Father we pray for a worldwide awakening to your Spirit, so that hearts everywhere will be opened to you and people will be willing to choose not to be crooked, but will confess their sins before you and be healed and given the strength and courage they need to make a real difference for you in their own situation.
At this time especially Lord, we pray for all involved in education, that they may be strengthened in their task and equipped to succeed in improving the lives of those they teach. We ask your blessing on those who have had to make difficult and urgent decisions around the safety of school buildings recently and pray that they will seek and receive your help in dealing with the impact this creates.
Eternal God, Light of the nations, in Christ you make all things new: guide your world through the inspiration of your Spirit, that understanding may put an end to discord and bitterness, that love may overcome hatred and fear. Give us grace to rebuild bonds of trust, that together we may work for the dignity and good of all.
We pray for those people close to us who need to know you better … help us, having received your grace, your mercy and your power, to show them your love.
We pray Father for the troubled areas of your world; for people suffering from natural and man-made disasters, from economic turmoil, or from abuse or neglect. We ask that you would grant wisdom to all in positions of power and influence, so that people can learn to live in peace and harmony with one another.
Father there are so many needs in your world. We thank you for hearing our prayers and we look forward to these being answered in line with your will. In Jesu’s name we pray. Amen.
Offering Dedication: Lord God, we are grateful for all the blessings we receive from you, and for all the ways in which you transform our lives for the better. So we bring you our gifts of money, in the offering plate or by whatever other means we give. Take all that we offer, our money and our lives, and use it to the glory of your name. Amen.
As we think of the many ways in which we can learn from God, we come to our final hymn:
Song – HP 673 – Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Blessing
As we leave God’s house this morning, may our path be a straight one, in line with God’s will for our lives. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us, now and always. Amen.
