Welcome to our service - 6 June
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 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 at 10am or 11:30am.
OPENING
OPENING:
We gather in praise of the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
HYMN:
All creatures of our God and King
lift up your voice and with us sing:
hallelujah, hallelujah!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
thou silver moon with softer gleam:
O praise Him, O praise Him,
hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!
2. Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
ye clouds that sail in heaven along,
O praise Him, hallelujah!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice,
ye lights of evening, find a voice:
O praise Him….
3. Thou flowing water, pure and clear,
make music for thy Lord to hear,
hallelujah, hallelujah!
Thou fire so masterful and bright
that givest man both warmth and light:
O praise Him……………
4. Let all things their Creator bless
and worship Him in humbleness
O praise Him, hallelujah!
Praise, praise the Father,
praise the son,
and praise the Spirit, Three-in-One:
O praise Him……..
St Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) tr W H Draper (1855-1933)
© J Curwen & Sons/William Elkin Music Services
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
Human sin disfigures the whole creation, which groans with eager longing for God’s redemption. We confess our sin in penitence and faith.
We confess our sin, and the sins of our society, in the misuse of God’s creation.
God our Father, we are sorry
for the times when we have used your gifts carelessly,
and acted ungratefully.
Father, in your mercy:
forgive us and help us.
We enjoy the fruits of the harvest,
but sometimes forget that you have given them to us.
Father, in your mercy:
forgive us and help us.
We belong to a people who are full and satisfied,
but ignore the cry of the hungry.
Father, in your mercy:
forgive us and help us.
We are thoughtless,
and do not care enough for the environment and the world you
have made.
Father, in your mercy:
forgive us and help us.
ABSOLUTION
The Lord enrich us with his grace,
and nourish us with his blessing;
the Lord defend us in trouble and keep us from all evil;
the Lord accept our prayers,
and absolve us from our offences,
for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Amen
COLLECT
Almighty God,
you have created the heavens and the earth
and made us in your own image:
teach us to discern your hand in all your works
and your likeness in all your children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things,
now and for ever.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy7t2Uasqe8
FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:
Father, unto Thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise.
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light:
Father, unto Thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise.
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above;
For all gentle thoughts and mild:
Father, unto Thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise.
For each perfect gift of Thine
To our race so freely given,
Graces, human and divine,
Flowers of earth, and buds of heaven:
Father, unto Thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise.
Folliott S. Pierpoint (1835–1917)
READINGS
Genesis 1:21-31 New International Version – UK
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.’ And there was evening, and there was morning – the fifth day.
And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’
Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.’ And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.
Romans 8:18-23 New International Version
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
This the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
TALK written by Alistair Stevenson
Sustainability, green issues, climate change, environmentalism – words such as these have increasingly dominated the discourse of our leaders, politicians, governments and business – desperate to show their environmental credentials. But the Christian community seems like it has been playing catch-up. Somehow the church has not, until recently, viewed these issues as such a priority. This must change.
The evidence for climate change seems to be unequivocal. I’m not going to lay it out today. But if you would like to find out more, our greatest source for evidence comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that is made of up of work from over 2500 scientific experts from over 130 countries. The evidence shows amongst other things, a recent and unprecedented global rise in temperature, a global rise in sea levels, and global rise in greenhouse gas concentrations.
Whether it’s plastic pollution littering seas and the poorest communities, or species going extinct at record rates, or the climate crisis making droughts, floods and storms more frequent and severe, we’ve misused and damaged this beautiful gift of God. We’re feeling some of the effects in the UK, but the impacts are hitting people in poverty the hardest.
As we consider our own impact on climate change we can have some unhelpful motivations. For example:
- Financial – the government makes it more expensive to pollute by taxing fuel and flying. My car tax will go down so I’ll get a more efficient car.
- Family - think how terrible it will be for my grandchildren.
- Fear – think about how bad it will be for us if we don’t do something.
- Fashion – environmentalism becomes fashionable and we therefore need to look good in front of others.
But, the thing about all of these is that they play on my selfishness to make me change – the love I have for my money, my family, my future, or my image.
But God gives us real and authentic motivation to care for the environment by showing us what our relationships should be with both creation and its Creator.
We are called to be righteous – to have right relationship with others, right relationship with the physical world and creation and right relationship with God. But all of these have been broken. If we are called to bring God’s kingdom here on earth, we should seek to bring restoration to all these broken relationships.
Climate change should concern Christians because it moves our focuses away from our own individual concerns to the needs of our brothers and sisters around the world.
As Western Christians, we can so too easily ignore the impact of climate change. If it does seem to be getting warming, then surely that’s a good thing with the climate here in the UK? It seems that for a lot of Western Christians we simply do not understand the impact of environmental damage on our brothers and sisters around the world. As we continue to consume here in the UK – our lifestyles are having a negative effect on our neighbours in the poorer parts of the world.
Tearfund has numerous stories of individual lives impacted by climate change. Meet Andrew, for example, who lives in Malawi - in a village hit by floods that meant he lost his harvest and he, therefore, struggles to feed his family. In recent years drought has shrivelled Andrew’s crops before floods washed the next harvest away. In another year their land became a sandpit: the river flooded, dumping 12,000 tonnes of sand on their soil.
He says: Our land was like a river: water brought all this sand. Now we have to dig down a metre to find good earth. In the past, food would last all year round to the next harvest. But these days, because of droughts and floods, we never harvest enough for the whole year.
Andrew’s life is determined by his environment, by the cycle of the seasons. Extreme weather – the result of climate change – doesn’t just mean bad weather, it can also mean starvation.
It is the world’s poorest people who bear the brunt, who are affected the most by climate change. As God’s people, we are called to act justly, to love our neighbours and to care for God’s creation. Our lifestyles are contributing to climate change and impacting the lives of our brothers and sisters around the world.
Rev Nicky Gumble, of the Alpha Course and Holy Trinity Brompton:
'Climate change is, without doubt, the biggest environmental challenge facing our world – and as a Church we are called to act. Why? Because of love. God loves us and he expects a response of love firstly for him, but also for our neighbour and particularly for the poor, who are the ones most hit by damage to the environment. Christians should be at the forefront of the environmental movement because in our care for God’s creation we reflect our love for the Creator.'
The Bible gives us three events within the storyline that reveal God’s concern for the physical world:
- God created physical
- God became physical
- God’s hope is physical
God created physical.
Our passage today is from Genesis 1. We hear a resounded message that what God created was good! It wasn’t created out of destruction, or brokenness, it was created good.
Our biblical mandate starts in Genesis – where the biblical narrative kicks off as God creates the heavens and the earth and pronounces it as good! He creates it as a reflection of His glory and majesty. God has made creation – it is His first and foremost, created to worship Him. And he then commands His people, who are made in His image, to “work and take care of it” as in Genesis 2:15. Or another translation says to ‘serve and preserve’. This is what it means for God’s people to rule creation faithfully. As servants of the one great king, God himself, we have been given responsibility for tending His garden the earth as an act of service and worship towards Him. The Genesis text tells the story of a beautiful and bountiful creation with abundance for all, but one that depends on the faithful vocation of its human caretakers. We are called to carefully and responsibly manage God’s creation that has been entrusted to us - exercising stewardship and service over the rest of His creatures in a way that reflects His character. Not through brutality and carelessness, but with love and compassion and service.
Secondly, God became physical
The word become flesh and dwelt among us. God steps into the physical world. As the apostle John writes in his letter: ‘we have seen with our eyes… we have looked at and our hands have touched’ (1 John 1:1). Jesus cares about the physical. He speaks to and heals people’s physical sickness as well as their spiritual. His physical body is resurrected. Thomas is allowed to touch his wounds – to put his hands on the marks of the nails. God become physical and bore a physical death for our redemption.
As Jesus healed the physical needs of others so we must as Christians do all we can to heal the physical needs of our sisters and brothers who are suffering the most because of climate change. We will next week continue our series on the book of James. As we explored three weeks ago, James makes it very clear:
‘14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 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?’
Our response to climate change is part of our faith with deeds. Climate change, as we heard from the story of Thomas, is causing starvation - it means that our brothers and sisters are going without daily food. We must do something to help them.
Thirdly, God’s hope is physical.
The physical creation is not merely temporary. The Biblical hope for the future is very real and physical. Our biblical understanding of creation and the environment will only go so far unless we have a renewed eschatology – a renewed theology relating to the end times. Basically, if we think that God to just going to destroy this old world and create a new one why should we bother doing anything to save it?
The Bible speaks of a “new heaven and a new earth” – a renewal and transformation of this creation. The theologian and Christian environmentalist Ruth Valerio puts it like this: ‘the emphasis of the word ‘new’ is on transformation rather that destruction, indicating newness in terms of quality rather than of something new that has never been in existence’.
The new creation is not a replacement but a fulfilment and renewing of the old – going back to the ideal of Eden and God’s first creation. And creation awaits in expectation for this to take place.
As we heard from Romans 8v19: ‘The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it....creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.’
As we start to bring God’s Kingdom on earth in the here and now, we can start to see creation renewed and redeemed.
As God’s people living today, we live in the now and the not yet – in a place where God’s kingdom is here in part but not in full. A situation where we are continually praying that God’s kingdom would come on earth as in heaven. Like Jesus, our role is to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel; the new Kingdom; to model a new humanity; to bear witness now to the total redemption that God will one day bring about. The world is crying out, but God is at work and we’re invited to join him in a ministry of reconciliation – reconciling people to their Father, but also reconciling people to the creation we’ve been given to steward, and seeing it restored. This is the fullness of the gospel, not a side issue.
In response to the changing climate, we need to examine our lives and role in this before God. We must change the way we live to have less impact on the earth and our neighbour. We must consider the things that we buy and the lifestyles we take for granted and what we are doing to contribute to climate change.
Our consumption is seriously affecting the environment. So maybe the next time you are thinking about buying a new pair of shoes, or a new TV, or a new car, or a new piece of clothing, you can ask yourself how much energy has been used to make it? How many miles did it have to travel to get into the store?
In the last year, one of the significant changes that Catherine and I have made has been to reduce the amount of meat we eat have learnt more about the environmental impact of producing meat.
It is not so much as an action that we do, but more of a lifestyle. We must live by example to the world around us by the way that we outrageously care for the environment and seek to stop climate change.
And as we do this, we become a part of God’s redeeming story not just for mankind but also for the whole of creation. Jesus is calling his people – the church is the hope for the whole earth – to live our lives in a way that, not only has care and compassion for the least, the last and the lost… but also His creation. And out of this we should see the missional lifestyle of care and stewardship of God’s creation because our future hope gives us the motivation for how we live today, in active expectancy and anticipation. Amen.
AN ACT OF COMMITMENT FOR THE CARE OF CREATION
‘While all creatures stand in expectation, what will be the result of our liberty?’ (Thomas Traherne)
As the whole of creation looks with eager longing for the redemption of humankind, let us pledge ourselves anew to serve our Creator God, the Father who is the maker of all things, the Son through whom all things are made, and the Holy Spirit, the giver of life, who renews the face of the earth.
Let us affirm our commitment to care actively for God’s creation:
Lord of life and giver of hope,
we pledge ourselves to care for creation,
to reduce our waste, to live sustainably,
and to value the rich diversity of life.
May your wisdom guide us,
that life in all its forms may flourish,
and may be faithful in voicing creation’s praise.
May the commitment we have made this day be matched by our faithful living. Amen.
PRAYERS - written by Jo Chamberlain
Yesterday was World Environment Day, and today in church we are marking Climate Sunday. Next weekend, world leaders gather for the G7 summit in Cornwall, a precursor to the UN climate summit, COP26, in Glasgow in November. This is the background to our prayers today.
Lord God, you made the world and declared it was ‘very good’. And yet, we have not treated the earth and our fellow humans with the care and respect they deserve. Our world and our neighbours are impacted unequally by climate change. Those who are least responsible are impacted first and worst. We are sorry and ask for your forgiveness. Give us the courage to keep raising our voices about the climate emergency, which affects people living in poverty the worst. And may your Spirit of peace be in the hearts of all people, so that conflicts end in peace, and relationships are restored.
Your kingdom come
All: Your will be done
Lord God, thank you for this beautiful world you have created. For the parks and green spaces in our neighbourhood, and the wilder beauty of the Peak District. For each creature and plant which shares our common home. Take a moment to give thanks for a part of God’s creation which is special to you – for me it’s the seeming infinity of the sea.
Your kingdom come
All: Your will be done
Lord God, we pray for the world leaders meeting in Cornwall next week. Help them to work together to find solutions for the world’s recovery from Covid-19, for fair finance for the world’s poor, and for urgent action to tackle the climate crisis.
Your kingdom come
All: Your will be done
Lord God, we pray for the COP26, meeting in November. We pray that the poorest nations will be able to attend in person, in spite of the pandemic, so they can have fair access to the negotiations. We pray for bold, courageous decisions to cut carbon emissions and a commitment to work together to bring about change, and a willingness for those with the biggest responsibility and resources to shoulder the biggest share of the burden.
Your kingdom come
All: Your will be done
Lord God, we pray for the events today and this week to mark Climate Sunday. We pray for fun and fascination with nature at the Churches Count on Nature events this afternoon and through the week at All Saints, and thank you for the St Gabriel’s worship in the park this morning. Give us a sense of awe and wonder for you and your creation. We pray for our church and our response to the climate crisis. Help us to play our part in the care of your creation as fellow residents in our common home.
Your kingdom come
All: Your will be done
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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgLwH5RdtPk
I, THE LORD OF SEA AND SKY,
I have heard My people cry;
All who dwell in dark and sin
My hand will save.
I, who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
I will speak My word to them.
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord.
Is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go, Lord,
If You lead me;
I will hold Your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain;
I have wept for love of them –
They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
Give them hearts for love alone;
I will speak My word to them.
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord…
I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame,
I will set a feast for them –
My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide
Till their hearts are satisfied;
I will give My life to them.
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord…
Daniel L. Schutte.
Copyright © 1981 Daniel L. Schutte & New Dawn 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.
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=rAE0vUurnUM
Creation sings the Father’s song;
He calls the sun to wake the dawn
and run the course of day,
‘til evening falls in crimson rays.
His fingerprints in flakes of snow,
His breath upon this spinning globe;
He charts the eagle’s flight;
commands the new-born baby’s cry.
Hallelujah! Let all creation stand and sing:
“Hallelujah!”
Fill the earth with songs of worship,
Tell the wonders of creation’s king.
2. Creation gazed upon His face;
the Ageless One in time’s embrace,
unveiled the Father’s plan
of reconciling God and man.
A second Adam walked the earth,
whose blameless life would break the curse,
whose death would set us free
to live with him eternally.
Hallelujah! Let all creation stand and sing:…
3. Creation longs for His return,
when Christ shall reign upon the earth;
the bitter wars that rage
are birth-pains of a coming age.
When He renews the land and sky,
all heav’n will sing and earth reply
with one resplendent theme:
the glory of our God and King.
Hallelujah! Let all creation stand and sing:…
Words and Music: Keith & Kristyn Getty & Stuart Townend
(Copyright © 2008 Thankyou Music)
BLESSING
May God who clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the air,
who leads the lambs to pasture and the deer to water,
who multiplied loaves and fishes, and changed water into wine,
lead us and feed us, and change us to reflect the glory of our Creator
now and through all eternity; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
