Sunday Worship 2 February 2025

worship to comfort & inspire, excite & energise

Order of Service

Below you will find the Order of Service, prayers, hymns and sermon for today’s service.   You can either simply read this or you can
 
to listen to the service and sing along with the hymns.  This will open up a new screen, at the bottom of the screen you will see a play symbol.  Press that, then come back to this window so you can follow along with the service.

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston

 
Welcome

Again and again in my thinking and services I turn to the Canadian Jewish songwriter and singer Leonard Cohen for ways into deep themes.  Today we started worship with some of his You Want It Darker.  In this song it is as if there are two voices at work – the cynic who sees God as the source of both good and evil and who declines to get involved in the suffering of the world and the voice of the believer who cries “hineni, I’m ready, my Lord.”  In our spiritual lives we often have these two steams of thought going on – the bitter believer asserting that waiting for God to help can lead to anger and devastation and the profound believer who lacks doubt and hostility.  We see these thoughts reflected in our readings today as we ponder our response to God’s call to us.  Let’s join in worship together whether we be cynical or profound.

Call to Worship

Gather us into Your presence, O Most High.  Let all be welcome here, the lost and forsaken, the blind and the lame, the rich and the haughty, the proud and the strong, the meek and the lowly.  Gather us in! Gather us into Your presence, Lord Jesus, as we yearn for Your face, as we long to explore our lives and our faith, and as we seek to understand all You call us to.  Gather us in! Gather us into Your presence Most Holy Spirit.  As we meet here around this table nourish us with and teach us to fashion lives that are holy and hearts that are true.  Gather us in!

Hymn     Gather Us In
Marty Haugen © 1982, GIA Publications, Inc OneLicence # A-734713 performed by Emmaus Music and used with their kind permission.

Here in this place new light is streaming 
now is the darkness vanished away.
See in this space our fears and our dreamings 
brought here to you in the light of this day. 
Gather us in, the lost and forsaken. 
Gather us in, the blind and the lame. 
Call to us now and we shall awaken. 
We shall arise at the sound of our name. 

We are the young, our lives are a mystery. 
We are the old who yearn for your face. 
We have been sung throughout all of history,
called to be light to the whole human race. 
Gather us in, the rich and the haughty. 
Gather us in, the proud and the strong. 
Give us a heart so meek and so lowly. 
Give us the courage to enter the song. 
 
Here we will take the wine and the water; 
here we will take the bread of new birth.
Here you shall call your sons and your daughters;
call us anew to be salt for the earth.
Give us to drink the wine of compassion.
Give us to eat the bread that is You.
Nourish us well and teach us to fashion
lives that are holy and hearts that are true.

Prayers of Approach, Confession and Grace

In You, O Most High we take refuge 
for You are a strong rock,
a place of safety in the storm, and a fort in the battle.
When the struggles of life seem too much,
when the waves seem to overpower us and the storms surround us, 
we find, in You, our true security. For this we praise You.

In You, Risen Lord Jesus, we find the confidence to follow 
despite the wiles of the wicked;
out of our mothers’ wombs You bought us,
that we may be a blessing to others. For this we praise You.
Even as we praise You, however, 
we become conscious when we’ve turned away,
when we’ve been found wicked ourselves,
when we’ve failed to love and denied ourselves refuge in You.
Give us time, Lord Jesus, to change and turn back to You.

In You, Most Holy Spirit, we find wonder and delight.  
Through Your love we find forgiveness and the strength to forgive others,
even the strength to forgive ourselves.
May our hearts and mouths be full of adoration and praise.

In Your life, Most Holy Trinity, we find life;
in Your love we find love; in Your delight we find joy.
Help us to praise Your splendour all day long.  Amen.

Introduction to Readings

In our first reading we have God’s powerful call to Jeremiah and Jeremiah’s attempts to tell God that he wasn’t ready.  God overrides Jeremiah’s reservations and commissions him for a powerful yet difficult ministry.  The Psalmist who wrote today’s ancient poem knew the joys and rewards of discipleship and cried to God for protection from wicked and violent people yet, even in agony knew that refuge is found in praise of God.  In our Gospel reading we read a synopsis of Jesus’ first sermon in Nazareth and how the people not only rejected him but tried to kill him.  Following God is not always easy!

Prayer of Illumination

Your Word comes to us in many ways, O God,
to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant, always to bring about change.
We hear You in ancient words and contemporary interpretation
but, most of all, we hear You in Jesus Christ, Your word made flesh. Amen.

Reading     Jeremiah 1:4-10

Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.” Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

Hymn     Psalm 71: 1-6
Text © The Praise and Psalmody Committee of the Free Church of Scotland and used with their kind permission.  Sung by unknown Free Church Choir arranged by Connor Quigley.

In you, O LORD, I’ve taken refuge; protect me ever from disgrace.
Rescue and save me in your justice; turn to me as I seek your face.

Be my strong rock and my sure refuge to which I always may resort;
Give the command to help and save me, because you are my rock and fort.

From wicked hands, my God, O save me, from cruel hands of violence.
For, Sov’reign LORD, you’ve been my refuge and since my youth my confidence.

From birth I have relied upon you; you are the guide of all my ways.
Out of my mother’s womb you brought me; to you I ever will give praise.

To many I’m a cause of wonder, but you are still my refuge strong.
My mouth is filled with adoration, praising your splendour all day long

Reading     St Luke 4:21-30

Then Jesus began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'” And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land, yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Sermon

Leonard Cohen encapsulated, it seems to me, both the bitter cynical believer who had been through the fire but couldn’t quite let go of belief and the devout believer who offered his life to God.  Raised an Orthodox Jew, Cohen spent some time in a Buddhist monastery.  His songs have Biblical, and often Christian, motifs.  This was a man who knew what faith is about and for whom simplistic answers were never going to satisfy.  There’s a restlessness in much of Cohen’s work and in his You Want It Darker we have a bitter reproach to God “if you are the dealer I’m out of the game | if you are the healer, it means I’m broken and lame | if thine is the glory then mine must be the shame.”  God is reproached for not helping “a million candles burning for the help that never came.” Yet at the same time the Cohen prays “I’m ready Lord.”  Clearly Cohen knew the complexities of call and response and of discipleship in the contemporary world.  In our readings today we see a reluctant prophet, an exhausted Psalmist, and a nearly murdered Messiah.  I wonder if they’d have had some sympathy with the nuances of Leonard Cohen’s bitter yet faithful discipleship.  

In our reading from Jeremiah, we see the reluctant prophet who resisted God’s call.  He felt inexperienced and not up to the task.  Unlike Isaiah’s “hear I am send me” (albeit after a heavenly vision) Jeremiah is rather more ordinary and pedestrian in his response.  In almost every part of the book of Jeremiah we see his reluctance, fear, anxiety, resistance, inadequacy and even resentment that God gave him the task of prophecy.   Now, to be fair, God told Jeremiah to forecast doom, an approaching invasion, and eventual exile so it’s not as if his message would have been welcome!  Neither Jeremiah’s confidence nor his achievements qualified him – he was qualified by God’s call alone.  Clearly, if we are to believe Jeremiah, he didn’t fulfil the job description.  He wasn’t qualified!  Yet he was chosen, before the ages, and sent to a people and ruling elite that didn’t want to hear.  In an ever more managerial culture, we’re used to only applying for jobs we can prove we’re qualified for.  We fill in our equal opportunities applications studiously evidencing all the things in the essential and desirable columns and generally show weary shortlisting panels that we’re up to the job.  In the upside-down values of the Kingdom, we’re called before we’re trained or experienced.  God is interested in our values, our response, and our faithfulness more than our abilities or skills – which can, after all, be learnt.  Eventually we stop telling God we can’t do it and get on with it!

Our Psalmist, ever aware of God’s presence, longs to be snatched away from enemies and critics.  Like Jeremiah the Psalmist is assured of God’s direction even before birth but, also like Jeremiah, the Psalmist encounters, detractors and enemies.  Here is a plaintive cry for protection, a cry born out of the very real experience of ministry and vocation.  Many a cleric has cried for justice and refuge after a difficult period of ministry. More than a few have wondered about critics being smote from on high! Worse, the Psalmist needs to be rescued not just from wicked hands but from violence.  Yet amid adversity time is found for praise.  These verses speak of one who knows how to be faithful in responding to God’s call but also of one who knows the cost of discipleship.  This is no “oh praise you God everything is wonderful” but a deeply felt trust in difficult times with a realism about the consequences of following God.  In a world ever more concerned about rights, service delivery, and getting one’s own way any vocation to follow God is problematic.  People might treat churches as yet another thing to be evaluated and consumed.  Whilst we don’t, yet, review worship on Trip Advisor it probably won’t be too long before Elders are worrying about social media reviews of services, fellowship, the foodbank, the old folks’ group, and messy Church.  Every one of us who responds to God call to find our everyday vocation must be aware of the critics and detractors who beset our paths.

Jesus, of course, knew a thing or so about adversity in vocation.  Here at his first sermon in his home synagogue he both delights and horrifies.  There must be a background story for why Jesus would not perform wonders in Nazareth; he implies both that the people want miracles but also that they do not recognise him as a prophet.  Worse he draws parallels with Biblical figures who took their ministry outwith Isreal and healed and fed pagans.  The good folk of Nazareth clearly didn’t like being told the pagans were more favoured than them – God’s chosen people!  And so they tried to kill Jesus.  As difficult as ministry has been at times I’ve not, yet, had a congregation try to kill me after a poorly received sermon!  

I don’t know enough about Leonard Cohen’s highs and lows in life and discipleship to understand neither his bitterness nor his faithfulness, but I listen with interest, objection, and admiration in almost equal measure!  Clearly Cohen had a strong sense of vocation to sing God’s praises in ways that made sense in the contemporary world.  Equally clearly he knew the pain and cost that comes from faithful discipleship.  Like these three passages connected with this idea of calling, there are rich seams to mine.  Jeremiah resisted his calling, the Psalmist suffered due to enemies, and Jesus was true to his despite the threat to his life.  

We gather here at worship in response to God’s call; we know God is at work within us and calls each of us to follow.  What it means to follow will be different for us all. 

•  We may look at the newcomer to church and be very annoyed no one is talking to her until we realise it’s our job too.  
• We may worry about whether there’s enough food in the foodbank and remember that we could donate something.  
• We may see a need for a friendship group for the lonely, a children or youth ministry, a place for asylum seekers to get food, warmth and company, a place for single mums to find rest, a need for a sensory garden or a quiet room in a busy town. 
• We may sense a deep call to some formal ministry within the Church but are afraid to talk to the minister or elders about it in case our sense of call isn’t recognised or, worse, in case it is!   

We see need around us, and it can be overwhelming.  We can feel God’s call within us and may be quite Biblical in our response – we run away!  We may know we have gifts, skills and abilities or we may, like Jeremiah, have an acute awareness of our ineptitude.  We may, like Jeremiah, be putting off the response to God’s call – but we know we need to answer.  Like the Psalmist we may be jaded and aware of how ministry in its many forms can drain energy and enthusiasm and realise it is only possible to respond to the Divine call through utter dependence on God as both refuge and strength.  We may realise that in our contemporary secular post-religious world any sense of responding to God’s call seems, at best, daft or, at worst, dangerous.  Yet there’s still that nagging call, that persistent sense that we have more to offer.

So today pray for those struggling with vocation; those putting off what they know they are called to, those finding excuses, those discouraged by others, and those who doubt they can do it.  And pray for yourself too that you may hear and follow and, in hearing and responding realise, like the Psalmist, even in adversity we need to sing our praises.  Let’s pray.

I’m ready Lord,
ready to follow, to the count the cost, to be faithful.
Magnified and sanctified be Your holy name,
let my praise of You energise during times of vilification, 
give direction when all seems dark,
and remind me of your loving presence.
Give me the courage to test out what I know you’re calling me to.
I’m ready Lord, Amen.  

Hymn     Have You Heard God’s Voice?
Text Jacqui G Jones © 2008 Used with permission. Performed by Ruth and Joy Everingham and used with their kind permission.

Have you heard God’s voice; has your heart been stirred?
Are you still prepared to follow?
Have you made a choice to remain and serve,
though the way be rough and narrow?
 
Will you walk the path that will cost you much 
and embrace the love and sorrow?
Will you trust in One who entrusts to you
the disciples of tomorrow?

Will you use your voice; will you not sit down
when the multitudes are silent?
Will you make a choice to stand your ground
when the crowds are turning violent? 

Will you walk the path that will cost you much 
and embrace the love and sorrow?
Will you trust in One who entrusts to you
the disciples of tomorrow?

In your city streets will you be God’s heart? 
Will you listen to the voiceless?
Will you stop and eat, and when friendships start,
will you share your faith with the faithless?

Will you walk the path that will cost you much 
and embrace the love and sorrow?
Will you trust in One who entrusts to you
the disciples of tomorrow?

Will you watch the news with the eyes of faith
and believe it could be different?
Will you share your views using words of grace?
Will you leave a thoughtful imprint? 

We will walk the path that will cost us much 
and embrace the love and sorrow.
We will trust in One who entrusts to us
the disciples of tomorrow.
 
Affirmation of Faith

We believe there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to God’s own purpose, we are convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,  nor things present, nor things to come,  nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Offertory

Jesus tells us to count the cost of discipleship; time and again in the Gospels he makes clear that following him is not easy and makes demands of time, talent, and treasure.  We, however, often make discipleship about gentle manners and Victorian hymnody!  Instead, we are called to follow and to understand the requirements of committed discipleship. As God’s people we are gathered to gain strength for our journeys and to give – of our time, our talents and, at this point, our treasure.  We may give in the plate or direct to the bank; we may gave a lot or a tiny amount; what’s vital is the giving that we might receive from the One who calls us to follow.  Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus as we follow you, help us to realistically count the cost
and find in You inspiration for the journey.
Bless these gifts and the love they represent
that we may use them wisely and be a blessing to others.  Amen.

Intercessions

We bring our prayers to God, the Eternal Trinity, who hears our longing, knows our pain, and responds to in love.

Eternal God we lift before you the nations of our world,
places of pain and terror, war and disease
and places of love and joy, diversity and wonder.
Give grace to all how dare to lead in our world,
that they may know wisdom, humility, and the courage to follow You.
Keep always in their minds the plight of the poor, 
minorities, and the very earth itself, that we may not perish but live.

God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Risen Lord, we pray that Your Church 
will again become a place of safety and blessing,
a place of refuge and energy, a place of calm and meaning,
a place to work out our callings and a place to challenge injustice.
Give grace to those who dare to lead Your Church,
that abuse may be named and dealt with,
that bad shepherds will be removed from office,
and that all members of Your Church will know their calling
and be encouraged to follow.

God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Most Holy Spirit, we pray that the Church, again, 
becomes a place of vitality,
where people find nourishment, healing and grace,
and where we may all encourage each other to respond 
to the various callings you give.

God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

In a moment’s silence we bring to God our own needs and prayers…

We join all our prayers together as, with courage we pray as Jesus taught saying…Our Father…

Hymn     Jesus Calls Us O’er the Tumult
Cecil Frances Alexander (1852) Public Domain Sung by the Episcopal Church of the Advocate, Virtual Choir Chapel Hill, NC 

Jesus calls us! O’er the tumult of our life’s wild, restless sea;
day by day his voice is sounding, saying, ‘Christian, follow me’.

As, of old, Saint Andrew heard it by the Galilean lake,
turned from home and toil and kindred, leaving all for his dear sake.

Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world’s golden store,
from each idol that would keep us, saying, ‘Christian, love me more’.

In our joys and in our sorrows, days of toil and hours of ease,
still he calls, in cares and pleasures, ‘Christian, love me more than these.’
 
Jesus calls us! By thy mercy, Saviour, make us hear thy call,
give our hearts to thine obedience, serve and love thee best of all.

Holy Communion

Eternal Majesty, 
before the ages began you formed the heavens and the earth, 
the moon and the stars proclaim your glory, 
and all that was created sings your praise. 
You make humanity in your own image, 
intending us to glorify and enjoy you forever. 
Again and again, we turn away from your love, 
despite the guidance of your Law and the warnings of your prophets. 
In the fullness of time, you emptied yourself of all but love 
and dwelt with us. 

O Jesus, our Saviour, 
you proclaimed good news to the poor, 
freedom for prisoners, 
sight for the blind and liberation for the oppressed, 
but we preferred to turn away from freedom 
choosing the bondage of sin, and nailed you to the Cross. 
Yet you defeated the powers of death and evil 
and revealed a new life for all who follow you. 

Before you were given over to the powers of your age, 
you shared in the simplicity of a meal with your friends, 
and, during that meal, you took bread, said the ancient blessing, 
broke the bread and gave it to your friends, saying 

Take this all of you and eat it, for this is my body which is broken for you. 
Do this in memory of me.

When Supper was over, you took the cup of wine, again prayed the ancient prayer of blessing,  gave the cup to your friends and said: 

Take this all of you and drink from it, this is the cup of my blood, 
the blood of the new and everlasting covenant 
so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me. 

Let us proclaim the mystery of our faith: 

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. 

Come, O Holy Spirit, on these gifts of bread and wine, 
that they may be, for us, the body and blood of Christ. 
Lift us into your presence that our faith may be renewed, 
our commitment to follow strengthened, 
and our understanding of Church deepened. 

Bless those who serve the Church 
that through prayerful discernment we may know Your will,
and that we might all be strengthened in our mission 
of worship and witness, evangelism and service, 
so that the bruised and broken find healing, 
the proud and mighty find humility, 
and the poor and lowly find their dignity. 

Through Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus, in the loving power of the Holy Spirit, 
all honour and glory are Yours, O Most High, forever and ever, Amen.

These are God’s holy gifts for God’s holy people!
Let us eat and drink as we show forth Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross,
and acknowledge his presence here, risen and ascended, 
for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.  
United with the entire Church on earth and in heaven,
we gather here to present our offering of praise and thanksgiving,
to renew the offering of ourselves, 
and to rejoice at Jesus’ promise to come again in glory.   

Music for Communion     Jesus Invites His Saints
Isaac Watts, Public Domain, Sung by Lythan and Phil Nevard

Post Communion Prayer

In our joys and in our sorrows,
in days of toil and hours of ease, in care and pleasure,
You still call us, Eternal One to love and follow You.
So we have gathered at this, Your table, 
to remember Your love, discern Your call 
and find strength for the journey.
Bless as we depart, that we may remember Your love,
respond to Your grace, and follow Your call.  Amen.

Hymn     I The Lord of Sea and Sky
© 1981, Daniel L Schutte, New Dawn Music OneLicence # A-734713. Sung by Chris Brunelle and used with his kind permission.

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.
Who will bear my light 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 words 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 wind and flame, I will send the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them. My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life 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.

Blessing

May the One who formed you in the womb,
the One who calls you to follow,
and the One who speaks in the silence of your heart,
form you, call you and speak to you anew
and the blessing of Almighty God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
be with you now and always, Amen.