 We welcome everyone to our services at Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15) on the 4th Sunday of Lent.
We gather together to worship our loving, nurturing God, who, like a mother, knows us intimately, loves us unconditionally, teaches us the way we should go, and comforts us in times of need. Hymn 694 – Brother, sister let me serve you Prayer of Adoration and Confession Gracious God,Great and wonderful are your works!Where there is darkness, you bring light.Where there is sadness, you speak words of hope. Where there is despair, you bring new possibilities. Stir us with your Spirit, O God, in this time of worship. Awaken a sense of joy and reverence within us as we offer you our songs and our silence, our prayers and praises, for you are our God. Mothering God, embrace us in your fierce love, enfold us in your protective care, Calm our anxious worrying and quieten our teeming minds. Still us, body, mind and spirit, to rest in you. Merciful God,Even as we praise you, we are aware of our failures as your disciples. We take your love and acceptance of us for granted.We are often careless with our relationships,more focused on ourselves than on you or those around us. Forgive us. Awaken our spirit of commitment and compassion, so we may serve you more faithfully, day by day. Friends in Christ, by grace we have been saved through faith. Know that God forgives you and forgive one another. So may the peace of Christ be with you. Lord’s Prayer Readings – Numbers 21: 4-9 (Pg 158) John 3: 14-21 (pg 1066) Hymn 181 – For the beauty of the earth Weekly Prayer Father God, as we celebrate Mothering Sunday today, help us reflect your love for us, love in our families, our church and our community. May we be true followers of your son Jesus Christ, lifted high on the Cross so that all who believe might have life eternal. Amen Sermon Have you any phobias? Is there anything you are really scared of, to the point of your legs turning to jelly or that you have to hide behind the couch? I remember some people who were scared of thunder and lightening, for example. Some people don’t like fire or heights; for so many these days, there are certain foods which they react against or which they couldn’t even look at. I can eat almost anything, apart from okra, which admittedly you don’t get much in this country, but cooked the African way becomes really slimy. But one big phobia would be snakes. Even now, if I snake comes on television, I close my eyes, switch it off, get out of the room. That said, when I was in Africa, just shortly after I arrived, I saw a long black snake outside my house, and I didn’t freak out, but the very fact of facing the thing that terrified me actually helped me. Which brings us to this strange story in the book of Numbers. It is a story we would probably avoid, but it is in the lectionary simply because Jesus refers to it in the Gospel. Jesus had been in the wilderness, tempted by Satan, but he resisted the temptations. The Israelites were in the wilderness, but they fell straight into temptation – and they whined and they complained. Complained about the lack of water, complained about the boring manna – remember the melons and cucumbers we had in Egypt, they said. Maybe life in slavery wasn’t too bad after all. Even when they were brought to the verge of the Promised Land, they heard from the spies they sent out that the inhabitants were like giants, and maybe they had a phobia of giants, but they didn’t trust in Moses and they didn’t trust in God. And in this story today, poisonous snakes were sent and bit them, and many died. They realised that their complaining had led them here, so they went to Moses, asking for help. The outcome was the making of the bronze snake on a pole. The snakes didn’t go away, but if they were bitten, the people had to look at the bronze snake, and they would be healed. It was an antidote to the venom, you could say. The story and a God who punished the people with snakes doesn’t quite fit into our idea of a loving, caring God. But there is a psychological aspect to the story, for it is sometimes strengthening to confront what fears us, to face the things that somehow diminish us. Lent is a time for self-examination and we can identify things which hold us back from fullness of life in God’s service and seek to do something about it. In Kings we read how Hezekiah got rid of the bronze snake from the |temple, because people had turned it into an idol. But in John’s Gospel we hear Jesus referring to the story, of how the snake on the pole was lifted high to bring healing, and how he himself would be lifted up also to bring salvation. He was of course referring to the Cross and how he would be nailed to the cross and it lifted up for all to see. A terrible sight of suffering and agony, yet by his death we are healed, we are saved. Here we get a glimpse into the heart of God, a God who loved the world so much, he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. That wonderful verse from chapter 3, verse 14. One of the most beloved verses in the Bible. So, as the Israelites looked to the bronze serpent, we can gaze at the cross this season of Lent. We are not asked to do anything heroic, but simply gaze and see what God has done for us on the cross, behold the crucified Christ, arms outstretched, embracing the world. The Son of God is lifted up before us, and somehow we are drawn into the scope of his salvation. And we see love is at the heart of God. Love for the world. Love for you and me. Today is Mothering Sunday and we think of a mother’s love, whether it be a mother or an auntie or a granny or a lollipop woman – or someone like Rio Ferdinand, a macho footballer, whose wife died and who had to bring up their three children and be a father and a mother to them, discovering new sides to his personality he wasn’t aware of before. So God is a parent to us: Isaiah says: Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Hosea says: It was I who taught Ephraim to walk and took them up into my arms. I led them with cords of kindness; I bent down and fed them. Jesus says: How often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings… For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him, should not perish but have everlasting life. Hymn 549 – How deep the father’s love Prayers of Dedication & Intercession Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise him all creatures here below Praise him above, ye heavenly host, Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost Loving God, we thank you for the gift of motherhood and for the many examples of faithful mothers in scripture, like Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Lois. We give thanks for mothers the world over. We celebrate all those who have nurtured and cared for us, remembering especially mothers, stepmothers, aunts, grandmothers, teachers, neighbours, and all women who have mothered us. We celebrate today our mothers who bore us and cradled us as infants. We also remember mothers who have lost their children through illness or violence, whose tears still flow from their broken hearts. All shall be well, all shall be well And all manner of thing shall be well We remember families who are separated and those exiled from the land of their birth by frontiers, by barbed wire, and by war’s violence. We pray for all mothers who are struggling to be the parent they want to be. We remember those who through choice or circumstance cannot be mothers. All shall be well, all shall be well And all manner of thing shall be well We express gratitude to our spiritual mothers and fathers who guided us throughout life, modelling for us the love of God. All shall be well, all shall be well And all manner of thing shall be well We give thanks for our Mother Church; for our experience of being loved by a family that is as wide and broad as the human race. Creator God we thank you for always holding us in the palm of your hand. All shall be well, all shall be well And all manner of thing shall be well Silence All shall be well, all shall be well And all manner of thing shall be well Hymn 167 – Guide me, O thou great Jehovah Benediction
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
June 2025
|
RSS Feed
