(All our songs this morning are from Mission Praise (MP) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Thornton Methodist Church and led by John Darnbrook one of our Circuit Local Preachers and accompanied by Sam Darnbook .
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Are you a good person?
Call to worship
Good morning! Are you a good person? I’d like to think that you are. I’d like to think that I am. If so, we’re going to be looking at us this morning. We’re going to be looking at the life of a good person and how it should be lived out; and whether we live up to those standards – the standards God sets for all who follow his son Jesus, as we will hear in our Gospel reading later. So if God sets the standard, let’s sing his praise.
Song – MP 631 – Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!
Prayers
Let us pray. There is a place for all of us in God’s family. No one is excluded, left behind or barred from entry. Everyone is welcome in God’s family. No one will be shunned, given the cold shoulder or snubbed. Think of those around you right now. Let us be welcoming to one another – for we are all part of God’s family. Welcoming God, we thank you that all people have a place at your table. Challenge us to sit willingly alongside the lowly, the disadvantaged members of our society who are disregarded. We thank you that you turn everything upside down, and give priority to the poor, not the powerful. May we learn more about genuine humility and how to make a place for everyone. Here in this place, we gather, physically and spiritually. We come before you, God, surrounded by others. Together we seek your word, your truth, your love. Together we share your space, your place. Together, with each other, we are yours and you are ours. Amen.
An alternative version of The Lord’s Prayer:
O Lord you reside in glory, we glorify you and thank you for the knowledge of eternal life. Lord, we long for the day when all people on Earth do your will. We ask you to feed us on your love, and grant us peace in our hearts when we find it difficult to forgive. Help us to find a way to live in freedom – doing your will through grace. For you are the God of love, peace and joy, and your kingdom is a place of true safety – now and forever. Amen
Gospel Reading:
Luke 14:1-14 (Sam to read): Jesus at a Pharisee’s House.
Talk 1:
As we have just heard, Jesus was invited to dinner on the Sabbath at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, where he was closely watched. He took the opportunity to share with his host what it meant to live the life he called people to live. And we can learn a lot from this, including showing true hospitality and giving a welcome to those who we wouldn’t naturally see ourselves associating with. As we try to live the way Jesus described, are there people we could befriend or reconnect with, that we can share our faith with? Maybe those who wouldn’t always be on other people’s guest list. Could we invite someone, or a small number of people, to a meal at our house, and take the opportunity to share with them what it means to us to live out our faith in Christ? Jesus certainly took his opportunity to share with those at the meal, what it meant to him to live the life he was calling people to lead.
Jesus was often invited to the big social functions of his day – although why is never really clear. Perhaps his hosts wanted to observe him to confirm their opinion of him as a dangerous lawbreaker. In one sense, he did not disappoint here; in another, he showed himself to have a greater grasp of living the life of faith than his fellow diners.
Any story that starts with a reminder that it was a Sabbath usually ends in conflict. Jesus, as ever, met it head-on. He healed a sick man and challenged the other guests to find fault – but they were silent. Perhaps they didn’t even notice the healing. Perhaps they did but had little concern for a nobody in the crowd. What mattered to them was that they got their rightful place at the table. In the social conventions of the day, such jockeying for position at a meal or feast was common practice. Roman society (even in Judea) was structured around status and honour. The invitation to dinner meant that you were somebody; just how important was shown by how near the host you were seated. It was crucial that everyone knew their place and played by the rules. Jesus noticed this and told a very direct parable containing really common-sense advice. It is interesting to note the Pharisees invited Jesus so they could watch him – yet, all the time, he had been watching them. The parable is a gentle put down of this common social one-upmanship: advising his listeners to choose a lowly place at the feast table, and maybe they might be invited further up; rather than choosing a prominent place and suffering the indignity of being asked to move further down. But the parable is also an allusion to our reading from Proverbs that we will hear shortly. Reminding his hosts of what they would have known well from their study of the Scriptures, Jesus said it is far better to be humble, because in the kingdom such people will be exalted. He then gave very direct advice to the Pharisee who was the host of the meal, telling him not just to invite his friends but also to invite those who can’t repay him – the poor, the outcast, the disabled, people such as the man healed at the beginning of the party. This, of course, is a direct challenge to the way of the world; it is not how things were done in Caesar’s empire. It is, however, how things are done in God’s kingdom! Let’s hold that thought, as we sing our next hymn.
Song – MP 465 – Meekness and Majesty
Prayers:
Let us pray. Forgive us, O God, for those times, too often, when we have felt ourselves to be more important than others. Forgive us, O God, for those times when we have excluded people from a welcome. Forgive us, O God, when we have seen others as less worthy than us. Forgive us, O God, when we have failed to be hospitable. Forgive us, O God, when we have ignored the need of those around us. Forgive us, O God, we pray. Amen.
O God, why you forgive us when we treat others badly, we do not know, but you do, because you love us so much. Why you offer us such forgiveness amazes us day by day. We are not worthy of your love, time and attention and yet, we hear echoes of your words: ‘You are forgiven, go and be my people’. We thank you for your forgiveness, and we ask that you would help us not to commit those sins again that you have forgiven us for. Help us to be good people, for you. Amen.
Reading
Proverbs 25:6-7 – Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence.
Talk 2:
In one sense, this proverb could be summed up in the phrase, ‘Know your place!’
But it is slightly more subtle than that. It is about a life lived properly in relation to God. So, this proverb is more about being secure in who you are rather than timidly taking the lowest place possible. Those who are motivated by loving God and living out that love in how they treat other people, are not dependent on the opinion of others for their sense of self. This means that they are able to be open-handed and generous. A challenge for us all to live that way, in response to God’s amazing love for us.
The Pharisee who was hosting Jesus is likely to have been an expert in his knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and would therefore have been very familiar with the extract from Solomon’s proverbs that we have just heard. Yet when Jesus said something very similar to that Pharisee during the meal, I get the impression it made a significant impact – as though Jesus had explained it in a new and very relevant way. Can we find new ways of explaining and sharing Jesus with others, to make our faith come alive in a way that is relevant to them? For Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet; and it is our job to share his wonderful love with them. Let’s sing of that love in our next hymn.
Song – MP 94 – Come, let us sing of a wonderful love
Reading:
Psalm 112 – The righteous shall not fear bad news, for their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
Talk 3:
The author of this psalm is reflecting that life with God means everything is OK. But it is rather more than that. Life lived with God, who is gracious, merciful and righteous, means that we too should aspire to live like that. Faith is not just what we believe or sing about in church; faith is about how we live and how we care for the least in our midst.
So, trusting in God, living God’s way, serving God by being kind and generous to others – all of this is what God calls us to, but, none of this will prevent us having difficulties to deal with in this life. If it did, many more people would be active Christians (or at least pretend to be), if it meant an automatic exemption from anything bad ever happening to them.
No – life, faith, is not like that. As the psalmist said: A good person “is not afraid of receiving bad news” – so we can deduce from this, that even an extremely good person (as described in this psalm) should expect to receive bad news on occasions. For faith in God – lived out in kind deeds towards other people – does not exempt anyone from having to live in the real world. And in the real world, we will receive bad news, we will have difficulties to deal with at times.
But look carefully at how the psalmist phrased this: A good person “is not afraid of receiving bad news.” That lack of fear comes from the person’s deep-rooted faith and trust in God. The very next words about this good person are “his faith is strong and he trusts in the Lord.” As the writer of 1 John chapter 4 says “There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out all fear.”
Good people deal with difficulties, with bad news, by continuing to trust God, continuing to be generous and kind. For they know this is what God wants, they know this is pleasing to God, and they know that God will help them through their difficulties, help them deal with their bad news in the best way possible.
And the same will be true for us, as we live out our faith in the real world. If we can continue to trust God in the tough times, and continue to be kind and generous to others, (when it would be so easy to concentrate just on our own lives and what we are going through), then we will find that God is right there next to us, helping us to deal with our troubles in the best way possible.
So we shouldn’t give in to fear and despair. The Bible’s advice is not to give up, and don’t run away. For God has ordained victory for those who stay faithful to him. We may have taken a few hits and carry a few scars, but God will bring us through and make us stronger and wiser if we trust Him and rely on his promises. The Bible says, ‘Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world’ (1 John 4:4 KJV). The power at work within us is greater than the circumstances that surround us and the foes that oppose us.
Some people adopt a resigned approach of “Que sera sera – what will be, will be”. But as Christians truly putting our trust in our ever faithful God, we can adopt the incredibly hopeful approach of “what will be, will be . . . the very best for us” because that is what God promises to his faithful followers.
God will never let us down. So let us continue to trust him, to be good people, being kind and generous to others, and to look for opportunities to share with them what being a Christian means to us. For then, ultimately, our love of God will take away any fears we had, because we trust and believe that God will always be with us. Hallelujah to that! Amen!
Song – MP 486 – Now thank we all our God
Prayers of intercession
Let us pray.
Thank you, God, that we are all in your family. Thank you, God, that no one is left out.
Please help us open our arms to everyone. May we be confident of our place in your kingdom, but may we always act with humility. Amen.
Lord God, we bring before you those we don’t consider to be within the bounds of our hospitality: the poor and sick of other nations; refugees; the homeless on our own streets; all who are on the edges of society.
We do our bit, we give money for their needs and pay our dues as Christians should; but we cannot invite the whole world into our homes. And yet…help us to understand that hospitality is a ‘moveable feast’. Jesus was a host although he had no home to call his own. It was in his welcome and the warmth he showed that he demonstrated his love for those around him.
So, Lord, when we come across those who are on the margins, move us not just to walk on by. We thank you for those who work, paid or as a volunteer, for those in need and we pray for their continuing strength and resolve in righting the injustices of society. And may we be given the grace to extend the hand of friendship, and maybe drop a kind word or deed here and there, even if we can do little else. Show us, Lord, what you would have us do.
We thank you Father for hearing all our prayers, which we bring to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Offering: 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.
Song – MP 760 – When we walk with the Lord – Trust and Obey
Blessing
So, are you a good person? Do you want to be transformed into an even better person? As we leave God’s house this morning, may we go with the will to allow his Spirit to transform us, into the best possible version of who we are. And as we go, may we take God’s love out into the world with us, so that through us, he can transform others also. Amen.
