Welcome to our service - 16 May
This service sheet can be used individually or with households.
We would encourage you to say (or even sing) hymns and songs out loud.
Prayers, other liturgy or readings can be said out loud or silently, corporately or individually.
If you are able, we would also like invite you to join us for our main Sunday service, 10am, live on Zoom. Even if you have never been to St Gabriel’s before we would love you to join you. Please get in touch with the vicar Alistair (vicar@saintgs.co.uk) and he will send you the Zoom details.
Please join us for public worship in the church building this Sunday, 11:30am, for a service of Holy Communion.
Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Christ has ascended on high.
He reigns for ever. Alleluia.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord. Alleluia.
HYMN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIszhvHjBxQ
Lo! he comes with clouds descending,
once for favoured sinners slain:
thousand thousand saints attending,
swell the triumph of His train;
Hallelujah! hallelujah, hallelujah!
God appears on earth to reign.
2. Every eye shall now behold Him
robed in dreadful majesty;
those who set at nought and sold Him,
pierced, and nailed Him to the tree,
deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing
shall the true Messiah see.
3. Now redemption, long expected,
see in solemn pomp appear!
All His saints, by man rejected,
now shall meet Him in the air.
Hallelujah! hallelujah, hallelujah!
see the day of God appear.
4. Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee
high on Thy eternal throne;
Saviour, take the power and glory,
claim the kingdom of Thine own
Hallelujah! hallelujah, hallelujah!
everlasting God come down!
Words: Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Music: 18th C English melody
PRAYER OF PREPARATION
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
CONFESSION
Jesus is our high priest, tempted like us, yet without sin. He lives for ever in heaven to intercede for us. Through him we approach the throne of grace with confidence, and confess our sins.
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we confess that we have sinned
in thought, word and deed.
We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be;
that we may do justly, love mercy,
and walk humbly with you, our God.
Amen
ABSOLUTION
May the God of love and power
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.
COLLECT
Risen, ascended Lord,
as we rejoice at your triumph,
fill your Church on earth with power and compassion,
that all who are estranged by sin
may find forgiveness and know your peace,
to the glory of God the Father.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQ6cni_TG8
Lord I lift Your name on high,
Lord I love to sing your praises,
I 'm so glad you are in my life,
I 'm so glad you came to save us.
You came from Heaven to earth
to show the way,
From the earth to the cross
my debt to pay,
From the cross to the grave,
From the grave to the sky,
Lord I lift Your name on high.
(c) 1989 Marantha, Rick Founds
READINGS
James 2:14-26 New International Version - UK
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Matthew 7:21-27 New International Version - UK
‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’
This the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
TALK written by David Stout
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
That’s the final verse in the passage for this morning.
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
I grew up in church. My whole family went to church, and both parents were leaders within the church. We were part of an independent evangelical church, that had quite conservative views on things like women in leadership and a whole array of other things. It was also quite Calvinistic theologically. Now don’t worry if some of those words don’t mean anything to you, and didn’t make sense. That’s not really the point.
In that church there was a really clear view of how we are saved. Of how we are redeemed. Of how God makes us whole.
That we are saved through faith alone. There’s nothing we can do to generate our saving, to create our justification. There’s no action we can take to make us more saved. And there is no action that we need to take, no requirement for our salvation, other than our faith. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done. It doesn’t matter what sins we’ve committed, God’s grace will save us.
Jesus died for our sins, and we receive that saving grace through faith.
There’s lots of things about my upbringing in that church which were great, but there’s also plenty that weren’t so great. The emphasis in that context of being saved through faith alone, in effect created a subconscious “get out of jail free card” for me.
It meant that every time I sinned, every time I got something wrong, I would blame it on my fallen humanity, my inherent darkness. There was nothing I could have done to stop that rot, that sin. It was inevitable. But it was ok, because I knew Jesus had died for my sins and all I needed to do was say “I’m sorry, forgive me.” And I was washed clean. Born anew.
Now, the problem was not that any of that was fundamentally wrong. Because it’s not.
When I fall short, when I sin, when I get stuff wrong, it’s because sin entered the world and distorts what it should be. And in that place of pain I can turn to Jesus and say “I’m sorry, forgive me” and it is taken and I made clean. I am made whole.
The problem, was that in that setting, that was so focussed, that was so heavily emphasised, the “faith alone will save you” that my world started splitting apart. I was creating two personas of who I was. There was my belief, my faith in God, in Jesus and a desire to grow closer in relationship to my creator. And there was my actions, that showed little of that belief, because I felt helpless to do anything about what I actually did. My interactions with people. What I said, how I said it etc. All those physical things were at the mercy of a world fallen to sin, and there was nothing I could do other than beat my chest and pray for God’s mercy every morning. Desperately hoping that God’s love never ran out.
Now I wasn’t some tear away nightmare of an individual. People knew I was a Christian. I wasn’t an awful human being. I surrounded myself as much as possible with my faith, to try and keep my distance from sin. All that sort of stuff. But fundamentally, the way I acted was at times opposite to my beliefs. At best, there was little impact.
I went to University. I studied theology at a place called The Nazarene Theological College. It’s in South Manchester and is the training college for ministers with the Nazarene denomination. And I happened to turn up there and study theology, and it transformed my life.
There I was shown a different understanding of faith. A different understanding of salvation.
An understanding that said…
“You’re made in God’s image, so live up to it.”
That when Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 vs 48 “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” Jesus really meant that. Come on. Let’s try it. Let’s try and be the wholest you, most complete you, you can be right now. Because that is the promise that God saved you for. That through God’s grace and mercy and love that you can be what God created you to be. Not through your own power, but wholly through the power of Christ living in you.
That theology, that changed my life said this:
“You believe in God, you believe Jesus set you free from sin. Well maybe it’s about time you told the rest of yourself that. Live it. Live it with all of who you are. Not just your thoughts, your hopes, your beliefs, but with everything and in everything.”
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
This passage in James is quite controversial. Because it says that your faith is not something that just affects up here, in your head. Your faith affects everything you do. Your faith changes the way you interact with the world.
Your actions. Your works. Your deeds. Who you are when you’re walking up a street. That is impacted by your faith.
We’re going to read the passage again. Let’s REALLY read it this time.
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters,[a] if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
God does not call us to a faith that is trapped inside a box. Some little belief bubble inside our brain.
No, the fullness of God’s love and joy and mercy is found when we allow it through the Holy Spirit to wash throughout our whole selves. John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” Every tiny nook and cranny of our lives, filled with the love of God. And that faith, that faith changes things. That faith impacts the world. That faith makes waves.
The pain and suffering we see around us. That we cry out to God to heal. Let us pray that we are that answer to prayer. That through the power of the Holy Spirit we are the hands and feet of Christ in the world today.
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
If we don’t allow our faith to impact our actions, then we are experiencing such a tiny, limited amount of the life that God desires us to experience.
Faith is not something we think, or feel, or say. Faith is something we do.
So today let us pray together, God give us a faith that changes us completely. Give us a faith that shines for the world to see. Not for our glory, but for yours, so the world will see your love, your hope, your peace. Let our faith fill our actions, and our thoughts. Fill us with you Spirit, that we may love you and each other more completely through a faith that takes every sinew and every cell and makes them work for your glory. We ask this in your name, Jesus Christ, Amen.
THE APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand
of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen
O LORD, HEAR MY PRAYER,
O Lord, hear my prayer:
When I call answer me.
O Lord, hear my prayer,
O Lord, hear my prayer:
Come and listen to me.
Jacques Berthier/Taizé.
Copyright © 1982 Ateliers et Presses de Taize (France).
PRAYERS - written by Jo Chamberlain
A Christian Aid Week prayer from 1958
Let us pray
for grateful hearts
for sympathetic hearts
for generous hearts
and wills quick to help
and persistent in effort.
That our nation and government
may give generously for relief of refugees and be ready to help them find new homes and new homelands.
That all nations may live
free from fear and free from want.
Amen.
A prayer for the Middle East
God of peace, encourage those who seek to establish a fair and just peace in the Middle East. Bless their efforts as they work to end conflict. Lead those who engage in violence to put down their weapons and to live in peace with one another.
God of justice, bless those who work for peace through justice. Strengthen their resolve in the face of seemingly endless violence. Guide the leaders of the peoples of the Middle East to know your will and to support a just peace for all of your children.
God of love, lifting up the holy land for all humankind, breathe love and compassion into our prayers with a desire for nothing other than peace: peace in our hearts, peace for all creation, and especially peace in the land that is called holy.
God of hope, we lift up the city of Jerusalem, distracted and divided, yet still filled with promise as all the cities of the world. Come again into our cities, places of worship, Upper Rooms and Gethsemanes, that we may be given sight to recognise you.
God of mercy, even as we long to understand that which is often beyond our comprehension, we lay before you the hearts, minds and bodies of all those suffering from conflict in Palestine and Israel and from the ongoing occupation. Shower upon all the people of the Holy Land the spirit of justice and reconciliation.
God of the nations, give to all our people the blessings of well-being, freedom, and harmony, and, above all things, give us faith in you that we may be strengthened to care for all those in need until the coming of your son, our Saviour and Lord.
Amen.
A prayer for ourselves
God our Father
Help us to be people of deeds as well as people of faith.
Open our eyes to the needs around us and help us to see not just the need but how we can act.
Give us courage to act or speak up in challenging circumstances.
Give us wisdom to act or speak up when we don’t know what to do.
And lead us to pray when the only action available to us is to entrust the situation to you.
Amen.
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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUqfdaCLm0Y
There is a Redeemer
Jesus, God's own Son,
precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
holy One.
Thank you, O my Father,
for giving us your Son,
and leaving your Spirit
till the work on earth is done.
2. Jesus, my Redeemer,
name above all names,
precious Son of God, Messiah,
Lamb for sinners slain:
Thank you, O my Father...
3. When I stand in glory
I will see his face,
and there I'll serve my king for ever
in that holy place.
Thank you, O my Father...
Melody Green (c) Word Music (UK)
OFFERTORY - Take a moment to consider how you are going to continue to give to the life of the church and support other aid agencies and mission organisations.
SAY:
Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power,
the glory, the splendour, and the majesty;
for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
All things come from you,
and of your own do we give you.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rflCCx3QRys
Jesus is Lord!
Creation's voice proclaims it,
for by His power each tree and flower
was planned and made.
Jesus is Lord! The universe declares it;
sun, moon and stars in heaven cry:
'Jesus is Lord!'
Jesus is Lord! Jesus is Lord!
Praise Him with hallelujah,
for Jesus is Lord!
2. Jesus is Lord!
Yet from His throne eternal
in flesh He came to die in pain
on Calvary's tree.
Jesus is Lord!
From Him all life proceeding,
yet gave His life a ransom
thus setting us free.
Jesus is Lord…
3. Jesus is Lord!
O'er sin the mighty conqueror,
from death He rose and all His foes
shall own His name.
Jesus is Lord!
God sends His Holy Spirit
to show by works of power
that Jesus is Lord.
Jesus is Lord…
David Mansell © 1979 Springride?Word Music (UK)/
CopyCare Lrd
BLESSING
God the Father,
who has given to His Son the name above every name,
strengthen you to proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord.
Amen.
God the Son,
who is our great high priest passed into the heavens,
plead for you at the right hand of the Father.
Amen.
God the Holy Spirit,
who pours out His abundant gifts upon the Church,
make you faithful servants of Christ our King.
Amen.
And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
All Amen.