Welcome to our online service - 18 September
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 and in the church. Even if you have never been to St Gabriel’s before we would love you to join us. Please get in touch with the vicar Alistair (vicar@saintgs.co.uk) and he will send you the Zoom details.
Today’s service will have special liturgy and prayers marking
the death of her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Opening Prayer:
Gracious God, we give you thanks for the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth, for her faith and her dedication to duty. Bless our nation as we mourn her death and may her example continue to inspire us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
As we mourn the death of Elizabeth our Queen, let us give thanks to God in faith and trust.
For the gift of Christ Jesus and for all whose devotion to him has sustained the life of our Church and nation:
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
For Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and all the Royal Family; for the ministers of the Crown and all who bear the privilege and burden of government:
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
For all people touched by Queen Elizabeth’s devotion to public service:
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
For our own lives, giving thanks for all those who have gone before, and asking that we might go forward with confidence and hope:
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
O God, in whom we live,
and move, and have our being,
grant that your goodness and mercy
shall follow us all the days of our lives,
that we may ever trust in your unfailing love; through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Amen
O Jesus I have promised: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU_cev2ri90
To serve Thee to the end;
Be Thou for ever near me,
My Master and my friend;
I shall not fear the battle
If Thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway
If Thou wilt be my guide.
O let me feel Thee near me;
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
The tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw Thou nearer,
And shield my soul from sin.
O let me hear Thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
To hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen,
Thou guardian of my soul.
4. O Jesus, Thou has promised,
To all who follow Thee,
That where Thou art in glory
There shall Thy servant be;
And, Jesus, I have promised
To serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow
My master and my friend.
5. O let me see Thy footmarks,
And in them plant mine own;
My hope to follow duly
Is in Thy strength alone;
O guide me, call me, draw me,
Uphold me to the end;
And then in heaven receive me,
My Saviour and my friend!
J.E. Bode 1816-74
Almighty God,
you judge us with infinite mercy and justice
and love everything you have made.
In your mercy
turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life,
and the sorrow of parting into the joy of heaven;
through our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
All Amen.
God has shone in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels
to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.
As we acknowledge our human frailty,
we call to mind our sins of word, deed and omission, and confess them before God our Father.
Silence is kept.
This or another authorized confession is used:
You raise the dead to life in the Spirit:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
You bring pardon and peace to the broken in heart:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
You make one by your Spirit the torn and divided:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
May God our Father forgive us our sins
and bring us to the eternal joy of his kingdom,
where dust and ashes have no dominion.
All Amen.
Let us pray.
Merciful Father and Lord of all life, we praise you that we are made in your image and reflect your truth and light. We thank you for the life of our late Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth, for the love she received from you and showed among us. Above all, we rejoice at your gracious promise to all your servants, living and departed, that we shall rise again at the coming of Christ. And we ask that in due time we may share with your servant Elizabeth that clearer vision promised to us in the same Christ our Lord; who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
All Amen.
SING:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqqBu1VVHqM
God is love: let heaven adore Him;
God is love: let earth rejoice;
let creation sing before Him,
and exalt Him with one voice.
He who laid the earth’s foundation, He who spread the heavens above, He who breathes through all creation, He is love, eternal love.
God is love: and He enfoldeth all the world in one embrace; with unfailing grasp He holdeth
every child of every race.
And when human hearts are breaking under sorrow’s iron rod,
all the sorrow, all the aching,
wrings with pain the heart of God.
God is love: and though with blindness sin afflicts the souls of men,
God’s eternal loving-kindness
holds and guides them even then.
Sin and death and hell shall never o’er us final triumph gain;
God is love, so love for ever
o’er the universe must reign.
Timothy Rees (1874-1939) altd.
© A.R. Mowbray & Co. Ltd/Cassell Publishers Ltd
READINGS
Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills;
from where is my help to come?
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
He will not suffer your foot to stumble;
he who watches over you will not sleep.
Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord himself watches over you;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand,
So that the sun shall not strike you by day,
neither the moon by night.
The Lord shall keep you from all evil;
it is he who shall keep your soul.
The Lord shall keep watch over your going out and your coming in,
from this time forth for evermore.
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians. (4.16-5.4)
So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. (6.35-40)
All Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal
life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’
This the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
TALK written by Alistair Stevenson
Every single one of us will remember where we were when we heard the news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizaebeth. I was at home with the family and turned on the news just at the moment that Huw Edwards, the BBC news presenter, told those watching that the Queen had died. He was visibly upset with tears in his eyes. Even our children were struck by the enormity of this news.
The Week magazine wrote this:
“As people flocked to lay flowers outside royal residences, flags were lowered to half-mast. Sporting and corporate events were cancelled, and the Last Night of the Proms was called off for the first time since the Second World War. Fortnum & Mason, the department store in Piccadilly long favoured by the royals, blacked out its windows and stopped the famous clock on the building’s facade, while Morrisons reduced the volume of checkout beeps in its supermarkets. Trade unions cancelled planned walkouts for postal and rail workers, the Bank of England postponed its next interest rate decision, and the Liberal Democrats cancelled their party conference.”
This past week has truly been history in the making. But it has also impacted every single one of us.
The public response to the death of the Queen has been extraordinary. It started first in Edinburgh where people waited for more than 5 hours, some through the night to enter St Giles Cathedral and pay their respects to the Queen. Her coffin then made its way across Edinburgh to the Airport from where it flew to London and then on to Buckingham Palace. On Wednesday thousands again watched as the Queen slowly made her way to Westminster Abbey. Over the last few days hundreds of thousands of people have patiently waited in line in queues stretching many miles.
Just take a moment to consider what you have seen or experienced over the last week. What has struck you the most? How has it impacted you?
As I have reflected over the last week a few things have particularly struck me and I wanted to share these while reflecting on the passage that we have had read from the Bible.
Firstly, I was struck by how there is near universal regard, respect and admiration for the Queen. In a time where we so often speak negatively about leaders or those in authority, nearly everyone is speaking highly of the Queen and her leadership. People still want to believe in good authority and good leaders.
The Queen’s life and leadership were marked by many things. Her duty, her willingness to serve, her constant dignity and respect, and her clear humility. But the life of the Queen was also marked by her willingness, not to point to herself but to point away from herself to others and ultimately to Jesus.
In our passage from John, Jesus declares that he is the bread of life: ‘Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’
The life of the Queen is testament that for he, Jesus was the bread of life.
In her 2011 Christmas Message the Queen said:
“Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves — from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person — neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive …”
In 2014 she said:
“For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing. Christ's example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people of whatever faith or none.”
As we reflect and remember the life of the Queen it should cause us to ask where we find and what are the sources that we go to fill the spiritual hunger which is in every one of us. Where do we find strength in the positions that God puts us in. Do we come to Jesus or search in other places and people? Do we recognise the spiritual emptiness inside us?
My second reflection was this: People, at a time where there is so much change in the world, have been drawn together to remember and give thanks for the life of someone who has been such a unifying figure for most of the lives of most people. One commentator wrote this:
The Queen “was woven into the cloth of our lives so completely, we had stopped seeing the thread long ago. We’re mourning more than just a person and a monarch; we’re mourning a figure of continuity”.
People are genuinely grieving the loss of someone who has been so constant and grounding, especially at a time where there isn’t much communal hope and optimism.
Martin Kettle writing in the Guardian wrote on Thursday, ‘The need to be part of the shared story, and to attempt to process the personal loss, is strong and widespread… we are living through an immense collective event.
If you have heard and read interviews from people who went down to London, you will no doubt have noticed the desire of people searching and longing to be part of something bigger than themselves.
For me it exemplifies the desire within all of us to search for something bigger than ourselves and to find meaning in it. It is why Jesus says words, 'I am the bread of life' in response to a crowd desperate for a sign - longing for something that will give them evidence and direction towards truth.
In our passage from John the people are searching for something, they want evidence that Jesus is who he says he is. They see all that he is doing, the movement that he has created and they want to be a part of it. The people point back to how their ancestors, the Israelites, were given a sign through God's provision of manna from heaven while they were in the desert. Through manna God provided for their needs. Jesus says that God has now done the same. But the crowd are missing the point.
Through Jesus God has given true bread from heaven – a bread that gives life to the world. This bread doesn’t sustain our physical hunger and need but sustains our spiritual hunger and need – a need that sustains us beyond this life and into eternal life with God. But the crowd didn't get it. They are searching for the wrong things in the wrong places.
It is why the words of Paul that we heard from his letter to the church Corinth are so pertinent:
“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.”
Over the next 24 hours I would invite us to see beyond what we can see into what we cannot see - a heavenly, eternal perspective.
My second reflection is this - some people really struggle that the Royal family don’t earn their positions. They are not elected or given those positions because of anything they have done. They are simply born into it. Surely that is not fair, some might say. However, the Queen demonstrated that often when people are given a position or responsibility that they didn’t earn or gain because of any skill or gift, they are then more responsible and more careful with it.
If we feel that we deserve something because of something we have done we often then feel more entitled. For example, I deserve that new car because I worked hard for it. Or I deserve that position or promotion because I am more experienced and better skilled. Or I deserve to be in leadership because of all these people who elected me.
The Queen is a powerful analogy of the free gift we receive through Jesus. We can’t earn his grace, we don’t deserve it because of what we have done. It is completely free and is the most valuable gift we could ever receive. It should then cause us to ask - how am I going to be responsible with it? Jesus invites us, verse 35, to come to him and receive the free gift - a gift that never runs dry and will not leave us hungry or thirsty.
Queen’s speech at the opening of The Church of England General Synod in November last year. delivered by her son Prince Edward, said this:
“It is hard to believe that it is over 50 years since Prince Philip and I attended the very first meeting of the General Synod. None of us can slow the passage of time; and while we often focus on all that has changed in the intervening years, much remains unchanged, including the Gospel of Christ and his teachings.
The list of tasks facing that first General Synod may sound familiar to many of you: Christian education; Christian unity; the better distribution of the ordained ministry to the needs of the population. But one stands out supreme: “to bring the people of this country to the knowledge and the love of God”.
In a world that is longing and searching it is the role of the church - that’s you and me - to invite people to come to Jesus who is the bread of life. Amen.
We sing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYqgBMrmeZA
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Come unto me and rest;
lay down, thou weary one,
lay down thy head upon my breast’:
I came to Jesus as I was,
weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place,
and He has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Behold I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down and drink, and live’:
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched,
my soul revived,
and now I live in Him.
3I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘I am this dark world’s light;
look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
and all thy day be bright’:
I looked to Jesus and I found
in Him my star, my sun;
and in that light of life I’ll walk
till travelling days are done.
Horatius Bonar (1808-89)
Music: R. Vaughan-Williams
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
Eternal God, our heavenly Father, we bless your holy name for all that you have given us in and through the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth.
We give you thanks:
for her love of family and her gift of friendship;
for her devotion to this nation and the nations of the Commonwealth;
for her grace, dignity and courtesy;
and for her generosity and love of life.
We praise you for:
the courage that she showed in testing times;
the depth and of her Christian faith;
and the witness she bore to it in word and deed.
We pray for our Sovereign Lord the King
and all the Royal Family,
that you might reassure them of your continuing love
and lift them from the depths of grief
into the peace and light of your presence.
We would encourage to spend some time in personal prayer and intercession
God of mercy,
entrusting into your hands all that you have made
and rejoicing in our communion with all your faithful people,
we make our prayers through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s99dNPKYtHk
NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD,
With hearts and hands and voices;
Who wondrous things has done,
In whom His world rejoices;
Who from our mother’s arms
Has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The Son, and Him who reigns
With them in highest heaven,
The one eternal God,
Whom earth and heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be ever more.
Martin Rinkart (1586-1649)
tr Catherine Winkworth (1829-78)
THE BLESSING
God grant to the living, grace; to the departed, rest;
to the Church, the King, the Commonwealth, and all humankind,
peace and concord; and to us and all his servants, life everlasting; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.