Call to worship:
Give us this day our daily bread to shelter our soul.
As bricks and mortar give our bodies shelter,
shelter our being, our souls, with your spirit.
Give us this day our daily bread to shelter our soul.
As houses protect and keep safe our physical being, hold us in the shelter and safety of your Word. Give us this day our daily bread to shelter our soul.
As an umbrella holds back the rain and the storms, so Lord be our umbrella, our tent, our shelter in life’s uncertain times.
O Lord our God, on this Lenten journey,
shelter us in the struggling world’s uncertainties.
Amen
Opening Prayer, inspired by Psalm 27.
O God, you promise to hide me in your shelter in the day of trouble,
and to conceal me in the corner of your tent.
When I am overwhelmed by my own needs and the needs of the world,
I know that I can come and hide with you.
When changing the world seems too much
and the needs of others weigh upon me,
I know that you will give me space to think and rest.
When life just feels too much and the anxiety in me is great,
you offer me solace and a space to be.
And when you make me ready,
I will follow you.
When you gather my courage,
I will go where you lead me.
With your love inspiring me,
I will speak and act in your name.
Amen.
https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2017/01/prayer-psalm-27.html written by Susan Durber, and posted on the Monthly Prayers page of the Christian Aid website. http://www.christianaid.org.uk/
STF 545 Be thou my vision
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
be all else but naught to me,
save that thou art;
Be thou my best thought in the day and the night.
Both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true Word;
be thou ever with me, and I with thee, Lord;
Be thou my great Father, thy child let me be
Be thou in me dwelling, and I one with thee. .
Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might;
Be thou my soul’s shelter, be thou my strong tower;
O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor earth’s empty praise:
Be thou mine inheritance now and always;
Be thou and thou only the first in my heart:
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.
High King of Heaven, thou heaven’s bright Sun,
O grant me its joys after victory is won;
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.
Bible Reading
Luke 13:31-35
Jesus’ sorrow for Jerusalem
31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.’
32 He replied, ‘Go and tell that fox, “I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.” 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day – for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
34 ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”’
Time to reflect:
On this second week of Lent we continue to draw from the Methodist Church Lent 2025; Soul Food resources. Over the Lenten period we are encouraged to reflect and to be nourished and refreshed as we cherish how much we are loved and accepted by God. This week the theme is Soul Shelter; it is a gift to be nourished by being in a safe home, however for so many this is not the case.
The suggested object this week to reflect on, is an umbrella or some kind of tent. An object that speaks of a temporary shelter or maybe reminds us of the reality that all earthly homes are temporary. Our Psalm for today, 27 reminds us in verse 5 of where our true and everlasting home is: “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock”. Our soul nourishment therefore starts with cherishing our dwelling place in the Lord. A rich place that grows through drawing on Jesus’s teaching on the wise builder, who builds a house on the word of God, which is a rock of firm foundation (Matthew 7: 24-27).
The temporary nature of a tent also speaks into the reality faced by so many people both here in Northamptonshire, across the UK and the world. The social housing crisis is rising across Northamptonshire, with a doubling of the requests received each month to the councils, in the last year. A place to live is a basic human need, but the sad reality is that, according to the UN, around 1.6 billion people don’t have access to adequate housing (https://ww3.rics.org/uk/en/modus/built-environment/homes-and-communities/president-column-tina-paillet-june-2024.html ).
In our Luke reading from Chapter 13, we read how Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Jesus’s weeping reveals his compassion and love, especially through his words of longing to gather; ‘as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings’. Jesus teaches us here that to lament over a situation, is a place of compassion and of action. During Lent we so often focus on fasting, of giving up certain things, but Jesus led by the spirit in the wilderness for forty days wrestled with temptations (Mark 1:13). Jesus’ lamenting over Jerusalem and wrestling with temptations suggest to me that this Lenton period is about holding in tension; being a period of reflection and spiritual nourishment, alongside lamenting and seeking God’s guidance as to the action God is asking of us to reflect God’s love as Jesus did. Therefore, let us follow Jesus’ example to prayerfully lament and have compassion on the need for safe houses for so many, not to linger in the lament but to seek God as to the action we might take to change this reality. Amen
Prayers of intercession
You are invited to pray silently for:
The needs of the world…
The Church and its calling…
Loved ones going through difficult times…
For peace, justice, and reconciliation…
In Jesus name.
Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
Please use the version that you prefer
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.
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.
Save us from the time of trial
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours
Now and for ever.
Amen.
StF 706 Longing for light
Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.
Chorus: Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.
Longing for peace, our world is troubled. Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice. Chorus
Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed. Chorus
Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
walls made of living stone. Chorus
Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
making your kingdom come. Chorus
Final Prayer
Go now and continue to offer prayers and thanksgiving for everyone.
Be shrewd in dealing with the world around you but do not be seduced into serving wealth.
Weep for those who suffer and share faith and truth with all.
And may God welcome you with love;
May Christ Jesus give you knowledge of the truth; And may the Holy Spirit lead you into all godliness and dignity.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
…In the name of Christ. Amen
https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/08/benediction-proper-20-c.html Copyright © 2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
