Welcome to our service - 22 November
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.
Due to the lockdown there will be no service in the church at 11:30 am. You are invited to come to church at the same time for private prayer between 11:30 - 12:30.
SERVICE
Opening
Alleluia, alleluia.
You, Christ, are the King of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
Alleluia.
SING:
At the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow,
every tongue confess Him
King of glory now.
'Tis the Father's pleasure
we should call Him Lord,
who from the beginning
was the mighty Word.
2. Mighty and mysterious
in the highest height,
God from everlasting,
was Light of light.
In the Father's bosom,
with the Spirits blest,
love, in love eternal,
rest, in perfect rest.
3. Humbled for a season,
to receive a name
from the lips of sinners
unto whom he came;
faithfully he bore it
spotless to the last,
brought it back victorious
when from death he passed.
4. Brothers, this Lord Jesus
shall return again,
with his Father’s glory,
with his angel-train;
for all wreaths of empire
meet upon his brow,
and our hearts confess him
King of Glory now.
Caroline Noel (1817-77)
CONFESSION
Jesus says, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’ So let us turn away from sin and turn to Christ, confessing our sins in penitence and faith.
[This morning we use the words of Psalm 130 to draws us to confession, forgiveness and absolution]
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
[Take a moment of silence to ask God to speak to your heart about anything you should ask forgiveness for.]
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
[Take a moment of silence to receive God’s forgiveness.]
Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
Amen
COLLECT
God the Father,
help us to hear the call of Christ the King
and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory. Amen
SING:
COME AND SEE, come and see,
Come and see the King of love;
See the purple robe and crown of thorns He wears.
Soldiers mock, rulers sneer,
As He lifts the cruel cross;
Lone and friendless now He climbs towards the hill.
We worship at Your feet,
Where wrath and mercy meet,
And a guilty world is washed
By love’s pure stream.
For us He was made sin—
Oh, help me take it in.
Deep wounds of love cry out
‘Father, forgive.’
I worship, I worship,
The Lamb who was slain.
Come and weep, come and mourn
For your sin that pierced Him there;
So much deeper than the wounds of thorn and nail.
All our pride, all our greed,
All our fallenness and shame;
And the Lord has laid the punishment on Him.
We worship at Your feet...
Man of heaven, born to earth
To restore us to Your heaven,
Here we bow in awe beneath Your searching eyes.
From Your tears comes our joy,
From Your death our life shall spring;
By Your resurrection power we shall rise.
We worship at Your feet...
Graham Kendrick.
Copyright © 1989 Make Way Music.
READINGS
Jonah 4 New International Version - UK
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, ‘Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.’
But the Lord replied, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’
Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’
But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’
‘It is,’ he said. ‘And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.’
But the Lord said, ‘You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left – and also many animals?’
Matthew 9:10-13 New International Version - UK
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’
On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’
TALK by Stuart Ibbotson Justice and mercy Jonah 4
I want to begin this week by reminding ourselves of what happened at the end of chapter 3, which we looked at last week. It’s verse 10 when God saw the repentance and the softened hearts of the Ninevites, and so Chapter 3:10 says, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened”. Now I think just about any other prophet of Israel would be like, mission accomplished, God shows grace, His reputation is honoured, and so on. God had shown what true justice and mercy are all about. And what was Jonah’s response to all of this? He is extremely annoyed, he is livid with anger, we might say unreasonably so. In his opinion there has been no justice and there should have been no mercy. “It’s not fair!” I wonder when you last heard this heart-felt cry? I wonder when each of us last uttered it, if only inwardly? “It’s not fair!” Maybe you joined the shortest queue at the supermarket, only to end up waiting the longest, you know it’s when the person in front of you has there purse or wallet in a bag pocket, inside a bag and doesn’t start to get it out until after all the items in their trolley have been scanned- and then for good measure gives the cashier a handful of money off vouchers that they ask them to check through to see if any can be used.
Okay, maybe this is just one of those things that get to me as I try to be ready and so not to hold others up- judgemental or what! Just one of my many flaws. Perhaps you have a friend who always lands on their feet again and again, apparently no matter what crazy things they do, but not you, never you, even when you have tried to do everything just right. Or perhaps there are long-planned for celebrations or holidays that we’ve had to abandon this year, because of COVID-19. It’s not fair, we can say to ourselves.
Here we are at the final chapter of Jonah where he has been called a pouting sulky prophet. Why? Following one rallying call to repentance by him, the citizens of Nineveh repented, and God spared them. This was covered really well by Catherine last week. But now, because of this Jonah becomes cross, very cross, and the true reason for running away to Tarshish, is revealed. In v2 He revealed that he knew God was going to relent from destroying them. He just knew God would forgive them, the Assyrians enemies, cruel people, immoral people. He knows that God is a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. But Jonah objected, his heart was repulsed by the people of Nineveh, he raged he was angry, he did not want the hated Assyrians saved, he wanted them destroyed, but God loves the most unlovely. God, who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, knows Jonah so well. I wonder if Jonah is a mirror onto humanity for us, showing us our tendency to define and limit God’s goodness, grace and generosity? Are there people in our hearts we really, really believe that even God could not possibly want to save from destruction, because of the many evil things that they have done?
We see a parallel to this in the gospel reading this morning, when the Pharisees questioned why Jesus would eat with the hated tax collectors and sinners. But Jesus answers: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Just as his Father did for the people of Nineveh. In v5 Jonah had sat down East of Nineveh (present day Mosul, in Iraq), hoping for the destruction in 40 days which he had prophesised. He has been in Nineveh for three days. Now he sits moping outside. The shelter he has built may have been like the shelters that were built when the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated. They were reminders of the time Israel spent in the wilderness, on their journey of salvation from Egypt to the Promised Land. Does this perhaps suggest that Jonah himself is on a journey of salvation? Like the escaping children of Israel, he, too, had passed through the waters and travelled across a desert. He has personally experienced God’s salvation and now acknowledges that God is merciful and kind. A new future awaits him, but he will not let go and move towards it. He waited to see what happened and got hot under the collar- literally, when God did not punish the people that Jonah felt had to be punished. In v6 we read that the LORD God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But in v7 we find that at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. So not surprisingly when we get to v8 and the sun rose and God provided a scorching east wind which would cover him with dust, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head he grew faint. Is it that God is making a point to bring the stubborn and sulky Jonah out of his bad mood? God is showing that He is sovereign over everything on the land, sea and air, the plant and worm.
The Planet Earth series’ popularity shows something deep seated in us enjoys God’s creation. God’s provision, which we need to keep reminding ourselves that it is our duty to care for. What about the extreme overreaction by Jonah when the plant withers and it gets hot in v8? Do we also have a tendency to overreact when things go wrong, why me, why now? How dare you God, we may think but not say out loud! I am so annoyed, I wish I were dead, says Jonah, - a classic teenager retort, during a strop and said without thinking and really not meaning it, when mum says you cannot go out like that. Jonah’s heart was revealed. Who has the last word in this book? God is slow to anger while Jonah is not only quick to anger but nurses his anger. This is despite the name Jonah meaning dove, which has of course been a symbol of peace and the Holy Spirit, appearing on several occasions in the old and new testaments. But Jonah is definitely not at peace with God’s not destroying Nineveh. God, He has 3 questions for Jonah. The LORD asked Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ , and Jonah has his strop, so in v9 God says to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ Then finally in v11 the Lord asks him should he not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left – and also many animals?’ In fact the book ends with that unanswered question. Those in Nineveh were ignorant, morally spiritually unaware of Him, but God has spared Nineveh, judgment will now not happen because they all repented, and this is what Jonah could not stomach, he cared more for 1 plant than 120 000 people. Jonah had hidden deep rooted prejudice, he’d rather die than see Nineveh saved, he sulked, and yet Jonah knew God was sovereign he knew he was compassionate, he knew God as sovereign Lord of Israel, but Not, in his mind of the whole world, he had a blind spot, he did not want Gentiles saved, just his own people. Jonah’s heart had not been transformed and he was still cross inside, even after his miraculous rescue from sea and fish. His heart sadly was not changed, what a sadness! What is our heart like? Do we have blind spots? Is our view of God, partial, parochial, prejudiced, narrow? Do we squeeze God into our personal agenda, our own restricted scenario, or denominational box or cultural confines.
We are under orders to take Christ’s good news to the whole the world. God cared about 120 000 in Nineveh, a massive population for any city then, and God still has concerns for all, be they in Greystones, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England- you get the picture- the WHOLE human population! I wonder if we can imagine ourselves, not in Jonah’s position, but perhaps as one of the saved people of Nineveh spared by God, or as one of those in the position of the tax collectors and sinners eating with Jesus. Which of us has not forgotten who we are a little, lost our way, and in our loss and longing have been found by God? This is a different side of “it’s not fair!” This is unexpected salvation, unanticipated generosity. Even our idea of fairness can limit how we think that God operates. But God’s generosity is without limit, measure, or calculation.
Fairness, or possibly our idea of it, is not enough for God. God is about limitless, overflowing, all-inclusive generosity and it is offered to all people, whether we like it or not. God wants us all to share with all people His great Mercy and Justice, as revealed through the sacrifice of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins. Jesus paid the ultimate price for us, who are we to sit in judgement of those who receive God’s justice and mercy. Let us not be like Jonah, sitting and fuming at what we perceive to be people undeserving, even as we fight against injustice in all of its many forms- for by fighting injustice we are acting as a light to point people towards Jesus, who came to offer justice and mercy to all.
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 Grace Jackson
Gracious God, thank you that you are both just and abounding in mercy, and that you sent your Son into the world to be our Saviour.
Thank you that you have heard our prayers, and that there are now several vaccines to protect against Corvid which are looking promising. We pray that you will bless the scientists who are working so hard on the vaccines, and strengthen them as they continue working seven days a week with testing their effectiveness.
We come to you at this critical time in the life of our nation, to pray for many who are suffering, through sickness, job uncertainty, unemployment, anxiety or depression. Lord Jesus, may they know your comfort and your healing touch. We pray for wisdom for our Government, Prime Minister and Cabinet, in the difficult decisions they have to make as they seek to contain the Pandemic, and as they negotiate with the European Union about our future relationship after Brexit. We pray for the National Health Service, doctors and nurses and all who work within it, and for all front line and key workers. We ask that you will protect them and give them strength beyond their own strength to cope with the demands made upon them, including the emotional demands, as cases of Corvid rise again.
We pray for your blessing and protection for our city, our neighbourhood, our communities, our families and our church family. Thank you that as a church family we are able to meet together each week on Zoom. Lord Jesus, strengthen us with the knowledge of your presence, and build us up in faith. Bless Alistair, our Vicar, Stuart and Peter, lay Readers, and the PCC , as they adapt and take advantage of this new form of ministry. Help us all to reach out to our neighbours, that we may be a blessing to our community in Greystones. We pray for our families and friends, whether near or far away, and pray that you will protect and guide them.
We will just take a moment or two, in silence, to lift to God those we know in particular need of God's blessing.
Father God, we pray not just for our own nation and neighbourhood, but for all the nations as together we face the challenges both of the virus, and also the huge question of climate change. Forgive us, Lord, that we have caused so much damage to this beautiful world which you have created, and help us now to join together in halting the damage, both on an international and a personal level. And we pray that you will raise up men and women of faith to positions of responsibility and authority, who will listen to your voice.
We pray for the poorest countries as they seek to contain the spread of Coronavirus, as well as coping with floods and droughts caused by climate change. We specially think of Syria, and pray for an end to the war which has been going on for so long. We pray for the people of Lebanon, struggling to rebuild after the explosion in Beirut, and Yemen, also war torn and with many people on he verge of famine. Please help the people of these countries, and bless the work of Christian Aid and Tear Fund that they may be able to bring hope and practical aid to them and other poor countries. And we pray that the vaccine against Corvid may be made available to them.
And finally a prayer for ourselves. Breathe on us with your holy and life-giving Spirit, Lord, and equip us with the gifts of the Spirit for service to you and to our neighbours.
We ask all these things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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
SING:
My Jesus, my Saviour,
Lord, there is none like you;
all of my days I want to praise
the wonders of your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
tower of refuge and strength,
let every breath, all that I am
never cease to worship you.
Shout to the Lord all the earth,
let us sing power and majesty,
praise to the King;
mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of your name.
I sing for joy at the work of your hands,
forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand;
nothing compares to the promise I have in you.
(C) 1996 Kingsway Thankyou Music
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.
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:
King of Kings, Majesty.
God of heaven living in me.
Gentle saviour, closest friend,
strong deliverer, beginning and end.
All within me falls at your throne.
Your Majesty, I can but bow,
I lay my all before you now.
In royal robes I don't deserve,
I live to serve your Majesty.
2. Earth and heaven worship you,
love eternal, faithful and true.
Who bought the nations, ransomed souls,
brought this sinner near to your throne.
All within me cries out in praise.
Your Majesty …………..
Jarrod Cooper © 1996 Sovereign Lifestyle Music
FINAL 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 us and remain with us always. Amen