(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Northcliffe Church LEP where Methodists and United Reformed worship and witness together led by Rhona North one of our circuit Local Preachers.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Welcome: Draw up a very comfy chair, wrap a warm throw around you, put a lamp on, light a candle and glance upwards. See your Heavenly Father looking at you with such love, Jesus on His throne beside Him. Listen to the millions of angels singing worship songs to Jesus. Hear the Holy Spirit’s invitation to come up higher and worship Jesus. Know the invitation is given to you with such love. We welcome you Holy Spirit…
Reading 1:
Psalm 138 A prayer of thanksgiving! The psalmist bows down to God in awe of His constant love and faithfulness to him. He praises God for hearing his prayers and keeping His promises that, one day, every knee will bow and tell that Jesus is Lord.
Song – StF 342 – All hail the power of Jesus’ name
Prayers of Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving:
Dear Father God, I lift you up and praise you for adopting me into your family. I praise you for allowing your only Son Jesus to die on the cross. I praise you Father because you know me intimately, you know every time I stand up and sit down. You know all my hopes and dreams, you’ve heard all my prayers. Your love for me indeed is constant. I praise you for Jesus and I’m sorry for what I’ve made of life this week. The times when I didn’t or couldn’t pray, nor read my bible, for the times I’ve not trusted you, nor fully believed your love for me.
Confession: Make your own confession here ….
Hear the word of Grace and Mercy from Jesus, “My child your sins are forgiven.“ Feel the freshness of His Spirit, taking all the mud and silt. He reminds you that He keeps no record of wrong.
Thanksgiving: Make you own thanks for God and all His blessings here….. Join in with the wave of prayer… Our Father…
Reading 2
Jesus here is so very understanding of our human nature. The crowd are pushing and jostling to hear Jesus. Peter, Andrew, and, in the second boat James and John, have been fishing all night and have caught nothing. They are exhausted. Jesus is so aware of that, and of us when we are empty. He gets into Peter’s boat and asks Peter to go out a little bit then into the deep.
He asks them to throw their nets out. Can you just hear obedient Peter’s frustration with Jesus, he had been doing that ALL night! Perhaps grudgingly he does and the nets of his boat become full. Jesus you probably looks at them with such direct love, calls them to make disciples with Him and they will now be fishers of men! And the amazing thing is Jesus knows where the fish are!
Reflection
Do you push yourself to get near to Jesus? To be with Him? Is He asking you to do something for Him? If our eyes, ears and mobility have slowed down the beauty is we can still pray. Today Jesus might want us to push ourselves just a little bit and later, when we are ready, to go deeper with Him.
He is gentle. Michael Moseley taught us that the first step was just a little tweak added onto what we already do. What might your little tweak be to increase your prayer for the making of disciples? We don’t even need to do it on our own for the amazing help of the Holy Spirit!
Song If you can access the internet you might like to listen to Noel Richards, ‘We want to see Jesus lifted higher. In it he says step by step, little by little we are gaining ground:
Song – StF 476 – One more step
Reading 3
Paul talks about the delight of God using him to preach that Jesus died and was resurrected so that all our sins could be forgiven. despite his original persecution. He says it’s not what he has managed to do but God’s grace working in him, changing him bit by bit.
To Do: Make a list of all those that gave you the message about Jesus. Whether it was prayers before you were even born, teachers, family, pastoral help, encouragers or people praying for you. Let the Holy Spirit bring them to mind and thank God for each one He brought into your journey with God.
Sharing the gospel can be passive, others seeing Jesus in you, your holy lifestyle, the love in your eyes, time to listen. That all speaks so much to those who know you. The more time we spend with Jesus the more we become like like him…. As we gaze on His kingly brightness our face displays Your likeness…
Song – StF 59 – Lord the light of your love
Talk
Sharing the gospel can be active too. Telling our own testimonies (2 minutes only!!) sharing what Jesus is doing in our own lives, telling what strength and joy we get. People can’t disagree with our own experiences and the Holy Spirit gives us the words. It starts with us asking God to show us whom He is bringing to know Him. Someone possibly we know. Then keep praying for a few weeks for them to know Jesus and it will surprise you what God might do!!
To Do: Ask Jesus for one person that He wants to come and know Christ and ask God to help you pray for them.
Prayers of Intercession:
- Father God we pray for your world, for the countries and peoples you made. For those at war, experiencing earthquake wind and fire. You raise up and tear down kings, queens, prime ministers and presidents. We pray for world leaders we know, for missionaries, persecuted Christians and agencies…..
Lord in Your mercy lighten their darkness
- We pray for the United Kingdom and its leaders: Hilary Benn, Ian Murray, Eluned Morgan and Keir Starmer. For every MP. For the House of Windsor, For King Charles, For Jesus to be at the centre of our nation, for evangelists and mission…
Lord in Your mercy lighten their darkness
- For West Yorkshire, For Kerry Tankard Chair, Phil, Joy, Lisa and Nick. For each church and community in the Circuit that they may tell the story of Jesus and make disciples…..For Bradford District and finances
- For those of our friends, family colleagues or neighbours who are struggling just now…. Grief, illness, debt, poverty, abuse… We lift them up into your arms Jesus…
Lord in Your mercy lighten their darkness
- Lastly for ourselves, you might give our daily bread, the power to pray and share the good news. We ask our prayers in Jesus’ name, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Amen
Song – StF 403 – God is love
Blessing: May your God bless you and keep you, be gracious to you and give you all that you need in the coming week, Amen
