Video Services

In light of the current health crisis it is important that we can continue to worship even when separated. We held our first video service on Mothering Sunday and intend to keep providing live broadcasts on Facebook and this website.

24th July 2022
Morning Worship – 24th July

Morning Worship July 2022 Action rooted in prayer Opening Prayer: Come, let us worship the Lord, the God of Abraham, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us seek God’s justice, let us wonder at God’s mercy and grace. Let us worship Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen Reading – Genesis 18:20-32 (New Living Translation) 20 So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. 21 I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.” 22 The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham. 23 Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? 24 Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes? 25 Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” 26 And the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.” 27 Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose there are only forty-five righteous people rather than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous people there.” 29 Then Abraham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only forty?” And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.” 30 “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous people are found?” And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty.” 31 Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue—suppose there are only twenty?” And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.” 32 Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?” And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten. Reading – Luke 11.1-13 (New Living Translation) 11 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” ²Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. ³Give us each day the food we need, ⁴and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.” ⁵Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ⁶‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ ⁷And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ ⁸But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. ⁹“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹“You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? ¹²Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! ¹³So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” Reflection: The Lords Prayer – Our call to action What picture does ‘daily bread’ conjure up for you? Possibly a white-sliced or a small crusty granary loaf? If you were in France, it might be a long French ‘baton’, a croissant or a brioche that would spring to mind. And in the Middle East, a pitta or a flat bread, perhaps. All quite different but in the Lord’s Prayer it reflects the basic need to have sufficient food – physical and spiritual - to sustain us. In the year ending 31 March 2021, the Trussell Trust distributed 2.5 million emergency food parcels in the UK, an increase of 33% on the previous year and of 128% since 2016. Other food bank providers reported similar increases. The Trusts’ chief executive, Emma Revie, called for an end to food banks, insisting that it’s not right that people should have to struggle for essentials. ‘The time to act is now,' she said. When we pray ‘Your kingdom come…give us this day our daily bread’, we are echoing Emma’s words and asking that everyone has enough to live on. And, when they don’t, those who pray Jesus’ prayer say with Emma, ‘The time to act is now.’ In the Lord’s Prayer, we remember that our daily bread is God’s gift to everyone, not our possession to hold or withhold. We also remember that it is followed by our need for forgiveness, and our need to offer it – even to those who may not reciprocate. Grace and graciousness is not conditional. In short, we need God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to make us gracious in giving. When we pray for God’s kingdom to come what do we mean? Do we have a role in bringing the kingdom in? Indeed, what is it? How do we prepare ourselves to ‘perform’ it? The Lord’s Prayer links the kingdom to the provision of daily bread. We cannot escape the implication that material well-being and spiritual well-being are linked. So it must follow that, as well as praying for it, we need to act in particular ways, or in particular areas of life, to bring in the kingdom. God’s kingdom comes only when we remember our role in delivering it – our call to action. But one that is rooted in prayer – to be gracious in giving, to forgive and to be forgiven. A prayer of confession Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our prayers we have offered – words spoken, erudite or muddled, thoughts turned, feelings felt. But all of this is nought if we do not live out the yearnings of our praying. All of this is nought, if we do not turn our prayers to action. In penitence and sorrow, we offer now our lives to you, seeking to know your forgiveness and desiring to live by your ways. Amen. The 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 Closing prayer: Lord, help us to think before praying, and pray before acting. May we see our community and the people who make it up as precious to you and precious to us, as we seek to preserve all that is beautiful and build up all that is holy and Godly. Amen. Grace: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, And the love of God, And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. Amen.

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26th June 2022
Morning Worship – June 2022

Morning Worship June 2022 What gets in your way?

Opening Prayer: (Leader) The time is now, the Lord is here! He calls us in this moment. Rejoice in the fullness of his love. (Response) Let our hearts be glad and our tongues rejoice. When we walk in companionship with the Lord we are filled with joy in his presence. Let us praise the Lord. Amen. Reading – Luke 9. 51-62 (The Message Translation) ^51-54When it came close to the time for his Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead. They came to a Samaritan village to make arrangements for his hospitality. But when the Samaritans learned that his destination was Jerusalem, they refused hospitality. When the disciples James and John learned of it, they said, “Master, do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?” ^55-56Jesus turned on them: “Of course not!” And they travelled on to another village. ⁵⁷On the road someone asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said. ⁵⁸Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.” Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” ⁵⁹He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.” ⁶⁰Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!” ⁶¹Then another said, “I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.” ⁶²Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.” Reading – Galatians 5.1, 13-25 (Good News Translation) 5 Freedom is what we have—Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again. ¹³As for you, my friends, you were called to be free. But do not let this freedom become an excuse for letting your physical desires control you. Instead, let love make you serve one another. ¹⁴For the whole Law is summed up in one commandment: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ¹⁵But if you act like wild animals, hurting and harming each other, then watch out, or you will completely destroy one another. ¹⁶What I say is this: let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature. ¹⁷For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do. ¹⁸If the Spirit leads you, then you are not subject to the Law. ¹⁹What human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions; ²⁰in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups; ²¹they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these. I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God. ²²But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires. ²⁵The Spirit has given us life; he must also control our lives. Reflection In the reading from Luke’s Gospel today, Jesus’ challenge to the two people is very harsh. Jesus puts following Him above family and home commitments. A strong challenge indeed. But how much of this is because Jesus wants to stress the cost and commitment required. The priorities of being a disciple leaves no time for prevarication or excuses. Tough decisions may be needed. How often do we say we are going do something or commit to something but something else gets in the way? How much do we prevaricate? How much does this stop us doing the things that are really important? What gets in the way? Reflect for a moment on your past week. What has it been like and what has been achieved and more importantly what did not get done? Why not and what stopped you? The reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians expands on this and gives examples of sinful behaviours (verse 29 to 21) that are often the things that distract us from our true purpose. Paul wants to stress the behaviours that keeps us from following God’s will for us and those behaviours that are Spirit led (verses 22 to 23) which draw us closer to our purpose. A focus on the behaviours that make us productive and fruitful. Paul is clear that a life that is Spirit led keeps the priority on God’s desire for us. Prayers: We spend time to reflect on our past week, reflecting on those times that we have been distracted and apart from living in accord with God’s desire for us. We reflect on the week ahead. Think of those opportunities that might arise and pray that the gifts of the Spirit will bear fruit in our lives. The 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 Closing prayer: Lord God. Give us the power of your Spirit. Give us the wisdom to live in the Spirit, and to show the fruit of the Spirit in who we are. Make us people of love, joy and peace; make us generous and kind; and help us to shape our lives with gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Amen. Grace: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, And the love of God, And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. Amen.

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