Welcome to our service - 3 April
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 in church and 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.
SERVICE
Opening
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
SING:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7w-tDjlpgk
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)
THE COMMANDMENTS
Hear these commandments which God has given to his people and examine your hearts.
I am the Lord your God: you shall have no other gods but me.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
With all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.
Amen. Lord, have mercy
You shall not make for yourself any idol.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
You shall not dishonour the name of the Lord your God.
You shall worship him with awe and reverence.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Christ is risen from the dead: set you mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Honour your father and mother.
Live as servants of God; let us work for the good of all,
especially members of the household of faith.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
You shall not commit murder.
Live peaceably with all; overcome evil with good.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
You shall not commit adultery.
Know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
You shall not steal.
Be honest in all that you do and care for those in need.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
You shall not be a false witness.
Let everyone speak the truth.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
You shall not covet anything which belongs to your neighbour.
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus:
‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Love your neighbour as yourself, for love is the fulfilling of the law
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
CONFESSION
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
We have sinned against you
And against our neighbour
in thought and word and deed,
through negligence, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault
We are truly sorry
And report of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
Who died for us,
forgive us all that is past
and grant that we may serve you in the newness of life
to the glory of your name, Amen.
ABSOLUTION
Almighty God,
who forgives all who truly repent,
have mercy upon us,
pardon and deliver us from all our sins,
confirm and strengthen us in all goodness,
and keep us in life eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
COLLECT
Almighty God,
by the prayer and discipline of Lent
may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings,
and by following in his Way
come to share in his glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord
SING:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSp-3kvKQZs
My soul finds rest in God alone,
My Rock and my salvation;
A fortress strong against my foes,
And I will not be shaken.
Though lips may bless and hearts may curse,
And lies like arrows pierce me,
I'll fix my heart on righteousness,
I'll look to Him who hears me.
O praise Him, hallelujah,
My Delight and my reward;
Everlasting, never failing,
My Redeemer, my God.
2. Find rest, my soul, in God alone
Amid the world's temptations;
When evil seeks to take a hold
I'll cling to my salvation.
Though riches come and riches go,
Don't set your heart upon them;
The fields of hope in which I sow
Are harvested in heaven.
O praise Him…
3. I'll set my gaze on God alone
And trust in Him completely;
With every day pour out my soul
And He will prove His mercy.
Though life is but a fleeting breath,
A sigh too brief to measure,
My King has crushed the curse of death
And I am his forever.
O praise Him…
Oh praise Him, Oh praise Him
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Stuart Townend and Aaron Keyes
©2007 Thankyou Music
READINGS
Romans 12:14-16 New International Version - UK
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
John 11:30-37 New International Version - UK
Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked.
‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’
But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
Thanks be to God.
TALK by Alistair Stevenson
The Amish are most famous for their radical and highly devout Christian lifestyle that is barely influenced by the outside world. They tend to all wear the same clothes, travel by horse and cart and try to maintain self-sufficiency. They are renowned for their slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible.
But in October 2006 they hit the world news in deeply tragic circumstances as a member of their community killed 5 children in an Amish community in Pennsylvania.
However, as the story unfolded what became increasingly remarkable were the acts of mercy, compassion and forgiveness shown in the aftermath of the shooting and the tragic death of the young children and the murderer.
Within the first week after the shootings, the Amish families who had suffered from such terror responded in four ways that captured the world’s attention. First, some visited Marie Roberts, the wife of the murderer, to offer forgiveness. Then, the families of the slain girls invited the widow to their own children’s funerals. Next, they requested that all relief money intended for the Amish families be shared with Ms. Roberts and her children. And finally, in an astonishing act of reconciliation, dozens of Amish families attended the funeral of the killer.
In our passage from Romans, Paul continues to encourage the church to live out their lives of sacrificial worship through love in action and so he encourages them to ‘bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse’.
I am convinced that forgiveness is one of the most counter cultural acts that the church is called to display to a world that more often than not seeks justice, retribution and due punishment. It’s why Jesus said in Matthew 6: “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” and then in chapter 18 when Peter comes to Jesus and asks him, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.'” That is radical, extravagant forgiveness. Forgiveness is an act of blessing.
Jesus also seems to make it clear that our ability or capacity to receive the forgiveness of Jesus is dependent on our willingness and capacity to forgive others.
These final verses in Romans 12 which we’re going to be exploring over the next two weeks, sometimes have the subheading of forgiveness. Here, Paul is saying, forgiveness is not simply offering a word - it is a whole life orientation desiring the restoration and transformation of the other.
The church in Rome would have heard these words and immediately remembered the words of Jesus at the sermon on the mount: “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbour’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”
Blessing those who persecute us is actively wanting the other person to flourish. It is far more than indifference or reluctant acceptance. It is hoping that the other person - the person that has wronged you - will actually prosper. This is probably the last thing we want when we have been hurt or wronged by another.
I often joke with people that I have a terrible memory. I can barely remember conversations that I have had a week ago, let alone many months or years in the past. It also means that I can sometimes quickly forget when I have been hurt by someone else.
But they have been a couple of times in my life that I still remember when someone has really hurt me. And I admit, it is a struggle to want that person to flourish. So often I have had to turn to pray and in prayer ask that God would bless that person. And it’s through prayer that my heart starts, slowly, to turn to truly desire their well-being and their flourishing. When we have been deeply hurt by another, it is incredibly difficult to want them to be blessed.
Corrie ten Boom was an amazing Dutch Christian who during the War hid Jews from the Nazis. And she was caught and arrested, as was her father and her sister, and they were taken to concentration camps. Her father died, and her sister Betsie, who went with her to Ravensbrück, died also in that concentration camp. But amazingly Corrie survived. And after the War she went round just talking about forgiveness.
One time in 1947 she was in a church in Munich. And when she finished her talk, this man came up to her, and she recognised him as one of the guards in Ravensbrück concentration camp. He didn’t recognise her, but she recognised him, and she could remember his cruelty. And he came up to her and he said, ‘Thank you for your message, wonderful message about forgiveness. I have become a Christian, and I know that God has forgiven me. I want to know that you forgive me.’ And he stuck out his hand and said, ‘Shake my hand as a sign that you’ve forgiven me.’ And Corrie said she just – all the memories of her sister dying, his cruelty, came back into her head. She wrote this:
‘I stood there and I could not. Betsie had died in that place. Could he erase her slow, terrible death simply for the asking? It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I’d ever had to do. I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion – I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. “Jesus, help me,” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand – I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”’
‘And so, woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands, and then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. “I forgive you, brother,” I cried, “with all my heart.” For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I have never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.’
It is only through loving our enemies, through radical forgiveness, through blessing those you persecute us that we are able to live in harmony with one another.
The Greek sentence here reads literally: ‘Think the same thing towards one another’. That is ‘be of the same mind’ and so ‘live in agreement with one another’. The phrase is almost identical with Paul’s appeals to the Philippians to be ‘like-minded’ and ‘one in spirit and purpose’.
The question is therefore, do we all need to agree with each other on everything?
Once again, we need to look at the context of these verses and particularly the beginning of chapter 12. Our unity, our one-mindedness, should flow from our all being willing to be living sacrifices and so being transformed by the renewing of our minds. It through this transformation of mind that we become ‘link-minded’. Not through all agreed one everything, but through all being on the same trajectory of transformation. This flows from our love being sincere (v.9) and being devoted to one another in sisterly and brotherly love.
Maybe this story, written by Max Lacado, will help us consider this further:
‘Farmer Jones sensed trouble on the trellis. His grape givers groaned. Leaves drooped. Vines dragged. Listless loganberries sighed in chorus.
The farmer listened for a time and decided to do what grape growers have done since the beginning… He talked to his crop. A boss-to-branch chat was in order. He set a stool between the rows, pulled off this straw hat, took a seat, and invited, “Okay, guys. Why the gloom? This is not the whine I had in mind”.
At first no one spoke. Finally a slender tendril opened up. “I just can’t do it anymore!” he blurted. “I squeeze and push, but the grapes won’t come.”
Leaves bounced as other branches nodded in agreement. “I can’t even get a raisin to pop out,” one confessed.
“Call me cluster barren,” shouted another.
“Forgive me for being sappy,” offered one more, “but I’m one burdened branch. I’m so tired my bark is barking.”
Farmer Jones shook his head and sighed. “No wonder you guys are unhappy. You’re trying to do what you can’t do and forgetting to do what you’re made to do. Stop forcing the fruit. Your job is to hang on to the vine, to keep connected to the trunk. Get a grip! You’ll be amazed by what you will produce.”
To live in harmony with one another - to be one-minded - we need to stay connected to the trunk, to stay connected to Jesus. It’s by us all staying connected that we are able to grow and flourish together and to bear fruit. That’s when the harmony and unity that Paul is encouraging becomes possible.
Growth Groups are very much a part of our vision to be a church that is UP, IN and OUT. They are the key component of 'IN' - being a church that grows as a family of faith - that is able to live in harmony with one another and outwork some of the characteristics that Paul describes in our passage.
Growth groups are midweek small gatherings of the church family coming together to worship God (UP), grow together (IN) and share His Love with others (OUT).
Our hope is that growth groups will grow! Grow in a deeper relationship with Jesus as we stay connected to the vine, grow with one-another and also grow and bear fruit with others joining.
We hope that all those who regularly attend St Gabriel's will be a part of a Growth Group even if time commitments mean you can't attend regularly.
My encouragement to you this Sunday is that you would consider being a part of a Growth Group here at St Gabriel’s. While going to church on Sunday is important, Growth Groups will enable us to become a church that is truly living out the values that Paul is expressing here in this passage. My prayer is that Growth Groups will become places where love is seen in action. As we grow together as those who follow Jesus, study the Bible, pray, grow in intimacy to be able to share our pain and hurts. A place where we can truly rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.
After Easter we will be launching our Growth Groups. These groups are for everyone and I invite you to join one.
And so close, back to the Amish. American author and speaker Dr Diana Bulter Bass reflected on the amazing act of forgiveness displayed by the Amish community in the aftermath of the shooting in 2006 wrote this:
“As my husband and I talked about the spiritual power of these actions, I commented in an offhanded way, “It is an amazing witness to the peace tradition.” He looked at me and said passionately, “Witness? I don’t think so. This went well past witnessing. They weren’t witnessing to anything. They were actively making peace.”
THEY WERE ACTIVELY MAKING PEACE – in the midst of huge pain, anguish and hurt, the people of that Amish community sought to do something so radical, so out of this world, that it shocked the world. Would we be a church that truly blesses those who persecute us, that seeks to live in harmony and so actively makes peace in our world. 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 Linda Chambers
Today is Passion Sunday when we remember the sufferings of Jesus leading up to the events of Easter. We’ll keep this in mind in our prayers this morning. There’ll be a pause after each section for our own prayer.
Lord Jesus, thank you for our ‘Bless Greystones’ Sunday and Alistair and Catherine’s ministry among us in so many different ways. Thank you for last week’s Sunday Youth Group, the Parents’ Big Night Out, Playmates, Cuppa and Cake and all those involved.
May we continue to use the gifts you’ve given us for the encouragement and building up of one another and our local community. Help us to give our best to you despite our feelings.
We lift up to you now any of our fellowship we know are struggling at the moment for whatever reason …
Lord Jesus, thank you for our city with all its diversity, opportunities, green spaces.
But we know that in so many ways it’s a very unequal city. We pray for our city council and business leaders, for good judgement, wise decisions and compassion.
We pray now for an area of Sheffield where we know there is deprivation and hardship …
Lord Jesus, thank you that we live in a democratic nation where we can choose our own leaders, have the freedom to live our own lives and think for ourselves.
But we realise these are worrying times for so many people and many things in our nation need fixing.
Pray for an aspect of our national life where there is particular suffering at this time …
Lord Jesus, thank you for the beauty and diversity of your world with its different cultures, landscapes and wildlife.
But we also cry out to you for your suffering world and especially at this time for Ukraine – for its leaders, those forced to flee danger, those left behind out of necessity or because of conscription.
Add your own prayer now for Ukraine – or for another country where there is conflict, suffering, poverty …
Lord Jesus, thank you that you were willing to suffer humiliation, anguish and pain to bring us forgiveness, healing and hope. Help us to give ourselves to you as you gave yourself for us. Hear our prayers now, offered in your name. 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:
LIGHT OF GOD, come dwell within Your people,
As intended from the dawn of time. Make Your goodness, echoed through creation, Our desire, Joy of the Divine.
Holy Spirit, break through our darkness;
Holy Spirit, breathe through our lives.
Light of God, come, radiant and glorious;
Perfect wisdom in this world today.
Light of God, come to Your fallen people,
As we follow in the steps of Christ.
May Your fragrance beautify Your people,
As we mirror our Creator’s light.
Holy Spirit….
Light of God, come claim Christ’s stolen glory,
Burn the shadows with the flame of truth.
May Your church rise, stars within the darkness,
Giving glory to the Lord of light.
Holy Spirit….
Light divine, come, Father of all beauty;
Son of goodness, Spirit of all truth.
Move us, use us, people of Your vision,
As we wait for our returning King.
Holy Spirit….
Keith & Kristyn Getty
Copyright © 2005 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:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue8ZCAc9xQ8
I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene,
and wonder how he could love me,
a sinner, condemned, unclean.
How marvellous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! How wonderful
is my Saviour's love for me!
2. For me it was in the garden He prayed,
‘Not My will, but Thine’:
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.
3. He took my sins and my sorrows,
he made them his very own;
he bore the burden to Calvary,
and suffered and died alone.
How marvellous…
4. When with the ransomed in glory
his face I at last shall see,
'twill be my joy through the ages
to sing of his love for me.
How marvellous…
© Charles H. Gabriel (1856–1932)
FINAL BLESSING:
May God the Father,
who does not despise the broken spirit,
give to you a contrite heart.
Amen.
May Christ,
who bore our sins in his body on the tree,
heal you by his wounds.
Amen.
May the Holy Spirit,
who leads us into all truth,
speak to you words of pardon and peace.
Amen.
and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always. Amen