Lord, we gather before you to celebrate your great works.
Throughout history, you have shown your grace and mercy, and have lifted up the outcast and the lowly to show them how special they are to you.
Lift us now, we pray, that we may always remember your love for us and be open to sharing it with others, whatever their situation.
Amen
StF 24 - Come now is the time to worship him
Come, now is the time to worship.
Come, now is the time to give your heart.
Come, just as you are, to worship.
Come, just as you are, before your God,
Come.
One day every tongue will confess you are God, One day every knee will bow.
Still, the greatest treasure remains
for those who gladly choose you now.
Repeat first verse & chorus,
then first verse again followed by
Oh, come. Oh, come. Oh, come.
Worship the Lord. Oh, come.
Come, come, come…
Bible Readings
2 Timothy 2:8-15
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
11 Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13 if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
Dealing with false teachers
14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarrelling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Luke 17:11-19
Jesus heals ten men with leprosy
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’
14 When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’ 19 Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’
Prayers: ‘for a world in need’
In a world of hurt and fear, teach us, Lord, that you are here.
Come and meet us in our pain; show that faith is not in vain.
Touch the broken in their grief, to the troubled bring relief; grant all who cannot cope inner strength, rekindled hope.
In a world awash with need, scarred by hatred, envy, greed, come and show how much you care;
foster joy where there’s despair. Hear the pleading of the poor – lives destroyed by debt and war.
Work to bring new hope to birth, peace and justice on the earth.
In a world where faith has died, yet where countless creeds divide, come, and put an end to strife, all that scars or shatters life.
Heal, renew us, Lord we pray, show us where we’ve gone astray; give us help to put things right, turn our darkness into light.
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.
Message
When we go somewhere new, we are often asked the question where are you from? What do you do? How did you get here? Who are you and why are you here? Nice easy questions to ask, however not very easy to answer.
Today’s reflection is on the one person who returns to Jesus and worships him and is an invitation for us all at Northampton Methodist Church to fulfil our calling here and now.
Who are we? How would you describe yourself in one of the Mr Men book names? 0ne of my son’s has got the full collection of Mr Men books, they include Mr Happy,
Mr Grumpy, Mr Perfect, Mr Bump and
Mr Clever and many more describing different characteristics.
I love reading the wonderful world of Winnie the Pooh. It was “Piglet who noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.” Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A. Milne)
The psalmist says in 9 v 1 I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. In the story we read today about Jesus going on a journey along a border of Samaria and Galilee and he sees a group of ten men who have leprosy. We know that the Samaritans and Jews were enemies however as these men had leprosy they lived together outside the village. Jesus was about to teach the disciples a lesson in gratitude. Seeing Jesus these ten men call out from a distance saying Jesus, master, have pity on us. They saw Jesus as their master knowing he was the commander who is in control.
Jesus asks the ten men to present themselves to the priests which is an act of faith in itself. What surprises us is the extraordinary in the ordinary, these men have Faith and being asked to do the right thing and present themselves to the priests for cleansing. The result was all ten men were cured of leprosy. You would have expected them all to have returned to say Thank you and praised God together. May be singing Psalms like Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD,
my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
Only one man returns, a Samaritan, it is worth considering did the nine men return and see the differences between the Jews and the Samaritans resurface from their past, and see divisions and the past hurt? Are we being too hard on the nine who did not return? How often do we forget to be thankful for all our blessings? How often do we focus on the gift and not the giver?
It has been said that sometimes we are very often quick to pray but slow to praise. This one man a Samaritan comes back praising. Jesus says go, your faith has made you well and I am sure this man goes to village and tells everyone he meets the story.
You may also recall a story of a Samaritan woman at the well and she puts her jar down and goes and tells all those in the village the news as to who Jesus the Messiah (called Christ) is coming.
Today we are grateful for all God’s blessings toward us through Jesus Christ our Lord and with God’s people who use Psalms saying, give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
We started with the how, where, who, why and what and leave you with a question that has stayed with me since the recent Synod. In Northampton Methodist Church are we as people worshipping together, loving and learning together and sharing our faith with others as we go about our daily lives.
StF 455 - All my hope is founded
All my hope on God is founded;
he doth still my trust renew.
Me through change and chance he guideth,
only good and only true. God unknown, he alone calls my heart to be his own.
Human pride and earthly glory,
sword and crown betray his trust;
what with care and toil he buildeth,
tower and temple, fall to dust.
But God’s power, hour by hour,
is my temple and my tower.
God’s great goodness aye endureth,
deep his wisdom, passing thought:
splendour, light, and life attend him,
beauty springeth out of nought.
Evermore, from his store
new-born worlds rise and adore.
Daily doth the Almighty giver
bounteous gifts on us bestow;
his desire our soul delighteth,
pleasure leads us where we go.
Love doth stand, at his hand;
joy doth wait on his command.
Still from earth to God eternal
sacrifice of praise be done,
high above all praises praising
for the gift of Christ his Son.
Christ doth call, one and all:
ye who follow shall not fall.
Final prayer:
We bring to you, Lord, our memories of our life so far, however long or short, thanking you for all we have learnt.
Help us to see ourselves as you see us.
Help us to see other people as you see them.
Thank you for all the different friends we have.
We ask you to show us what really matters.
Help us to remember how much you love us and everyone.
Amen
