Sunday Worship 26th April
The service has been prepared by Mike Furborough, who as many of you know, is no stranger to Blaby Congregational Church. He had previously agreed to lead our Worship this week and generously prepared the service and shared it with us.
Mike's service is on the theme "Jesus takes time to explain his own story."
Call to Worship
Come, walk with him.
Come, talk with him.
Come, feast with him.
Come, worship Jesus, our risen Lord.
Hymn: 302 I want to walk with Jesus Christ,
Prayers of Approach
God, we gather as your people.
We come to walk a journey together,
to talk and to share along the way,
[to feast on bread and wine],
to meet and to know Jesus.
Help us to marvel at all that Jesus has done for us. Amen.
Risen Saviour, risen Lord,
we come to you today.
We come to share in your story.
We come to feast with you.
We approach your throne with the knowledge
that you died for us and rose again.
Hallelujah, risen Lord Jesus.
Hallelujah. Amen.
Prayers of Confession
Risen Lord, we are sorry that we fail to recognise you in our midst,
that we are too preoccupied with ourselves.
We are sorry that we let you down,
that we feast and don’t invite others to share with us.
We are sorry that we welcome friends but not always the stranger,
or anyone who makes us feel uncomfortable.
Forgive us, Lord.
Help us to be generous people, our church, our homes – and our hearts –always places of
welcome. Amen.
Prayers of Praise and Adoration
Father, we thank you that you come out and meet us
where we are.
We worship and adore you.
We thank you that you walk the road with us, that you treat us
as an equal even when we fail to recognise you.
We worship and adore you.
You always love us, always care for us, always want to eat
and drink with us – such is your love.
We worship and adore you.
Thank you, Lord, that you are not a stranger, but our friend.
We worship and adore you. Amen.
Hymn: 295 I serve a risen saviour……
Bible Reading Psalm 116 vs 1-10
Hymn: 435 Lord Jesus Christ, you have come to us
Bible Reading from the New Testament Gospel Luke 24.13-35 On the Road to Emmaus
New Testament Acts 2.14a,36-41
Peter concludes his open-air sermon with a strong statement about the identity of Jesus: ‘God has made him both Lord and Messiah’, and a hard-hitting accusation: ‘this Jesus whom you crucified’ (v.36).
Events in Jerusalem before the Passover may have convinced members of this very crowd that Jesus was a rabble-rousing, blaspheming troublemaker who needed to be crucified to maintain peace with the Romans and a proper respect for their faith. Jesus’ resurrection disproves this assessment: God raised Jesus from the dead, showing clearly that their whole understanding of God’s will had been wrong.
How could they get it so wrong? They ask the anguished question, ‘What should we do?’ (v.37). Peter’s answer is surprising – he does not tell them to go away in sackcloth and ashes, but to be baptized and then they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is a promise for all who hear God’s call. Peter gives them an urgent yet open invitation.
New Testament 1 Peter 1.17-23
The writer continues to encourage his readers by changing their understanding of their sufferings. He evokes two aspects of Jewish culture and shared memory – the exile, and the practice of ritual sacrifice.
‘The time of your exile’ was originally the time in Babylon after Judah had been conquered (587/6–538 BC). ‘Exile’ thus becomes shorthand for living in a hostile environment while holding true to the faith (e.g. in the stories of Daniel).
So, the readers are being encouraged to understand their sufferings as caused by being God’s people in a hostile context, but also to have hope that, just like the original exile, theirs is temporary – they have an eternal home with God, and they are not living outside God’s care. They are secure because they have been ransomed with the blood of Christ, who can be pictured as resembling the perfect sacrificial animal. The cleansing he brings is not temporary but resembles a new birth. How are they to live in the light of this? With reverent fear for God, who judges all impartially and with genuine mutual love.
Gospel Luke 24.13-35
In Luke’s Gospel, the risen Jesus makes his first appearance during this 10 to 12 kilometre walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
Two disappointed and heartsick disciples are making their way home when Jesus himself comes and walks beside them. Their eyes are kept (literally, ‘held back’) from recognising him. We are not told who or what prevents them from knowing – it could be God’s direct action, or the trauma they have experienced in witnessing his death, or a combination of both.
Jesus asks them what they have been talking about as they walked along, and there follows the almost comical scene of Cleopas and his companion recounting the story of ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ to – Jesus of Nazareth!
When he first asks them, though, they stand still ‘looking sad’, as if the horror of recent events has sapped all their energy. The word for ‘sad’ here could also be translated ‘angry’. Either way, they are overcome with deep emotion and say, ‘We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.’ ‘Redeeming Israel’ could mean freeing Israel from Roman rule, but it could also indicate more far-reaching hopes, such as the idea that the Messiah would end all wars or bring about the end of time. Whatever they were hoping for, it all seems lost now.
Then the unrecognised Jesus begins to reframe their experience by explaining to them, from the Scriptures, that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer; it was in God’s plan and not a terrible accident. It is as if this unknown teacher takes their isolated beads of knowledge and re-strings them into a different sequence revealing a new pattern. Their hearts burn within them as they listen to him. It is this new knowledge, plus their own generous hospitality, that paves the way for the moment when they recognise him in the breaking of the bread.
The links between the readings:
These readings encourage us to consider that we might have got things wrong and jumped to false conclusions. The crowd in Jerusalem had previously assumed that Jesus was a troublemaker; the readers of 1 Peter perhaps felt alone in meaningless suffering; the disciples on the road had assumed that Jesus was finished. All these thoughts were overturned by the reality of the resurrection
Hymn: 673 There is a redeemer...
Prayers of Intercession
Give each person a nail. Invite them to close their eyes and hold their nail, feeling its sharp and rough edges, as they listen to this verse from a well-known hymn: ‘Come, see his hands and his feet – the scars that speak of sacrifice, hands that flung stars into space – to cruel nails surrendered.’ Read it several times. Suggest that, in their mind’s eye, people reach out and touch Jesus, see his scars and thank him for his sacrifice.
Heavenly Father, we pray for all the places in the world that need your peace:
places where wars continue to threaten the stability of the nations;
and the lack of peace has caused so much destruction;
places where people have to flee their homes, their families destroyed, lives lost.
Lord, bring your peace which passes all understanding.
Give wisdom to world leaders:
to presidents, prime ministers, politicians of all governments,
that they may strive for lasting peace and true justice,
not putting personal ambitions before the needs of their people.
Lord, bring your peace which passes all understanding.
We pray for those who need peace of mind:
those weighed down by the stresses and strains of everyday life,
or who suffer with anxiety, or are oppressed by worry and fear;
for those who find it hard to let go of things and simply trust.
Lord, bring your peace which passes all understanding. Amen.
Living Lord,
we bring to you the needs of the world.
We pray for those who consider themselves to be strangers
and outcasts.
Help us always to welcome the stranger, whatever the cost,
not sitting comfortably and ignoring people we think
don’t fit in,
not taking the easy way.
May our homes and churches be places of welcome,
hospitality and love,
that all may have the chance to recognise and see you
in the warmth of those around them.
We pray for countries where food is in short supply.
May we farm sustainably and eat sensibly,
so there is enough to feed the whole planet.
May we not look only after ourselves but seek to offer
the same opportunities to all.
Help us not to be selfish, but always to consider others.
Lord, we long for the day when all in society will be equal.
May we be a part of making that happen.
We pray for those who are lonely and have no one
to eat with them.
May we open our doors to our neighbours, so that love
and friendship can flourish, and all can enjoy the feast.
We ask in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Prayer to Combat the Coronavirus Pandemic
Most merciful and Triune God,
We come to you in our weakness.
We come to you in our fear.
We come to you with trust.
For you alone are our hope.
We place before you the disease present in our world.
We turn to you in our time of need.
Bring wisdom to doctors.
Give understanding to scientists.
Endow caregivers with compassion and generosity.
Bring healing to those who are ill.
Protect those who are most at risk.
Give comfort to those who have lost a loved one.
Welcome those who have died into your eternal home.
Stabilize our communities.
Unite us in our compassion.
Remove all fear from our hearts.
Fill us with confidence in your care.
Jesus, I trust in you.
Jesus, I trust in you.
Jesus, I trust in you.
Amen.
Hymn: 424
Lo he come with clouds descending
Benediction
Lord Jesus,
as you walked on the road to Emmaus,
walk with us on the roads we travel.
Help us to know your presence with us,
and to be your presence to others.
And, at the end of the day,
may we all enjoy your feast.
Amen.
