This short act of worship has been prepared for you. I invite you to share in a few moments with God knowing that other people within Paulton, Trinity and Chew Stoke Methodist Churches are sharing this act of worship with you.
Revd Martin Slocombe
Psalm 34:15-22
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,
and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord rescues them from them all.
20 He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Hymn – 470 – Lord for the years
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1 Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided, 2 Lord, for that word, the Word of life which fires us, 3 Lord, for our land, in this our generation, 4 Lord, for our world; when we disown and doubt him, 5 Lord, for ourselves; in living power remake us, |
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Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926) |
Prayer of adoration & confession
Loving God, giver of life;
Lord Jesus, friend and Saviour;
Holy Spirit, living water –
we worship and adore you.
We come today, not having or expecting all the answers, but knowing that you are the way.
Thank you, Lord, for your unfailing love.
Thank you that even with all our doubts and fears and worries about the journey ahead,
you are there by our side.
Where else can we turn? To whom shall we go?
Thank you that as we choose to go on this journey with you, as we make decisions and plans, you are there, gently leading and guiding, always present.
Praise you, Lord, for your constant love and faithfulness.
Amen.
When we turn away from you, O God,
and go our own way:
When the way ahead is not clear, when everything feels too much and we turn our backs on you:
When we make wrong decisions and our actions hurt others:
When we want to give up because it’s too hard:
When we cannot see beyond ourselves and act selfishly:
When we do not put you and others first:
forgive us, and turn us back to you.
Despite going our own way and not following you, despite our doubts and fears of your presence, you are there gently leading us,
reaching out your arms of healing and forgiveness.
Thank you, eternal God.
Amen.
Readings
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
The Tribes Renew the Covenant
24Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods.
14 ‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’
16 Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed;18and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.’
John 6: 56-69
56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’ 59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ 61But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.65And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’
66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ 68Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’
Reflection
Are you good at making decisions? Every day we make decisions on all sorts of things, from the very small and insignificant, to sometimes major decisions which will impact both our lives and the lives of others for many years to come. We make these decisions in good faith, based upon what we know at the time, and often only time will tell if they were good decisions or not.
This passage from Joshua comes at the end of an era. Joshua is approaching death, and with that comes the end of the time that he and Moses before him, have led the Israelites into the promised land. Joshua gathers the leaders of the tribes to reaffirm their covenant with God. There is no room for apathy or indecision. They must either reaffirm their faith in God, or turn to any one of a number of other Gods. They remember what God has done for their people, and commit to serving him in response.
In the gospel reading, Jesus also lays before his followers a similar stark choice, to follow him or to leave, the choice is theirs. He reminds them of the sacrifice that he will make for them, although they are yet to understand what that really means. And many turn away, as the life which he demands of them is too difficult. Jesus offers to those that remain, “Do you also wish to go away?” There seems a deep sadness in these words, as Jesus recognises that not all his disciples are committed, and some may choose an easier life by turning their back on him.
I guess we all wrestle with this question in our journey of faith from time to time – Do you also wish to go away? There are many opportunities to turn away from church and do other things, perhaps things we might prefer to be doing. As the lockdown restrictions are being eased I am aware of a number of people who have not yet returned to worshipping with us. For some it might well be a residual fear of going out or sitting in a confined space with others, but I guess that for others, they have gotten out of the habit of coming, and have found other things to do on a Sunday morning. The question for us all is how do we encourage these friends back to church?
But life isn’t all about us and what we want. If our Christian faith teaches us anything, it should be to recognise that we are called to live sacrificial lives, that we willingly place the needs of others before our own; we do things that we might prefer not to do, recognising that it is the right thing that God is calling us to do. The words of our Covenant prayer that we say every year are very much in that vein.
This past week, we have been shocked by the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. It has been heart-breaking to hear bereaved families asking if the sacrifice their loved ones made has now been rendered pointless. With the benefit of hindisght it is understandable that they might come to this view, but at the time, these soldiers were fighting for the right reason, knowing the sacrifice that they might be called to make. This is true sacrificial living. John records in Chapter 15 of his gospel, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15: 13). The sacrificial love offered by those soldiers was to place their lives on the line, not for their friends, but for strangers in another land. This was the depth of love demanded of them, the risk they were prepared to take, and 20 years later that must be remembered, not undermined or devalued, or considered pointless.
This was also the depth of Jesus’ love for us, that he would lay down his life, not only for his friends, but also for complete strangers, not only then, but for all time. We should not undermine or devalue that sacrificial act by turning away or deciding that it is worthless or pointless, when the way that God calls us to follow becomes too difficult.
Jesus calls us to follow, but will allow us to walk away if we so choose. As we follow, we recognise that the path may be a difficult one to walk, but not as difficult as the one Jesus willingly took for us. May we commit to following the one and only true path. As Peter asks, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life”.
Amen
Prayers for others
We pray for the world,
Gracious and holy God,
We come to you with the situation in Afghanistan heavy on our hearts. It is a situation so complicated, and so fast moving, that it is difficult for us to know what to say or how to think.
We hold before you the people of the country, those who stay and those who flee; those living with terror and afraid for the future; those who, because of this latest turn of events, will never be able to live the fullness of life that is your purpose. We hold all this before you.
We hold open to you the future: the world leaders with a role in shaping what happens next; the many who are becoming refugees and the people who will be called upon to offer them safety and a future; the impact of these local events on our world story. We hold all this open to you.
We hold in your love all those known to us whose lives have been bound up in the recent story of Afghanistan. We think of all those who have served there in our Armed Forces, those who were injured and those who did not return. We hold in our hearts all those for whom this is a time of special grieving and confusion, and those who minister to them. We hold all these in your love.
Rock of ages, at this difficult time we lean into your timelessness.
Turn us, and all people, to your good purposes for your world. Grant courage and wisdom, hope and a future.
Amen
Barbara Easton, Vice-President of the Methodist Conference
We pray for your church in the world,
for the North East Somerset & Bath Circuit, of which we are a part, for it’s ministers, lay workers, churches and congregations – especially this week we join with the Circuit as we pray together for Trinity, for the changes being made in the months to come, for the sadness and grief, and for the excitement at new opportunities
We pray for our friends who are unwell, and their families who are supporting them, and we ask for ourselves, and for all those we know and love …………
In silence or spoken aloud, we bring our own prayers
silence
God of all, we ask on behalf of all those in need.
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Communion Hymn - 586 – Here is bread, here is wine
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1 Here is bread, here is wine, 2 Here is grace, here is peace, In this bread there is healing, 3 Here we are, joined in one, Refrain |
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Graham Kendrick (b. 1950) |
Holy Communion
Hymn - 564 – O thou who camest from above
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1 O thou who camest from above 2 There let it for thy glory burn 3 Jesus, confirm my heart's desire 4 Ready for all thy perfect will, |
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Charles Wesley (1707–1788) |
Blessing
Lord Jesus Christ, you have the words of eternal life, and we have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. Go with us into your world.
Amen.
CCLI Licence 354889