A call to worship:
“We gather in your presence, ever faithful God.
Help us to focus these moments upon you. We rejoice in the gift of your Church on earth and in heaven.
Build us up as your people and renew our faith we pray, in Jesus’ name.”
Amen.
Servant King StF 272 by Graham Kendrick
From Heaven, you came helpless babe
Entered our world, your glory veiled
Not to be served but to serve
And give Your life that we might live
This is our God, The Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to The Servant King
There in the garden of tears
My heavy load he chose to bear;
His heart with sorrow was torn,
“Yet not My will but yours”, He said.
This is our God, The Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to The Servant King
Come see His hands and His feet
The scars that speak of sacrifice
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered
This is our God, The Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to The Servant King.
So let us learn how to serve
And in our lives enthrone Him,
Each other’s needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we’re serving.
This is our God, The Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering,
Of worship to The Servant King.
Bible Readings
Psalm 25
Of David.
1 In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.
2 I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
13 They will spend their days in prosperity,
and their descendants will inherit the land.
14 The Lord confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever on the Lord,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 Relieve the troubles of my heart
and free me from my anguish.
18 Look on my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
19 See how numerous are my enemies
and how fiercely they hate me!
20 Guard my life and rescue me;
do not let me be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope, Lord, is in you.
22 Deliver Israel, O God,
from all their troubles!
Jonah 1
Jonah flees from the Lord
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’
3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.’
7 Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’
9 He answered, ‘I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’
10 This terrified them and they asked, ‘What have you done?’ (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, ‘What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?’
12 ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea,’ he replied, ‘and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.’
13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.’ 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Jonah’s prayer
17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Reflection:
Jonah 1
Today’s Bible passage may be familiar to you. You may have heard the story in school or Sunday school; it may even be one of your top Bible stories. The story of Jonah may be in your top ten of Bible stories.
Today we are going to look at two simple questions, what path are you on this morning? and where is the path you are on leading you?
The book Jonah was written 770BC and we can read Jonah as a myth, an allegory or a true story. Here are some signposts that might help us today, Jonah’s response to the presence of God and Jonah’s response to his predicament.
God had asked Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach against their wickedness, but Jonah went in the opposite direction away from where God wanted him to go. However, Psalm 139 v 7 – 10 reminds us that running from God. ‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast’.
Secondly Jonah’s response to his predicament
When the storm came Jonah suggested that they should ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea.’ Jonah recognised that he could not run from God and declared ‘I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ May we be able to say we know God’s everlasting Love for us even when we feel, God is absent, God is silent and God feels distant.
A modern hymn called Oceans reminds us that at time God has a purpose for us, ‘You call me out upon the waters, the great unknown Where feet may fail and there, I find You in the mystery in oceans deep my faith will stand. What path are you on?
Where is the path leading you?
Let us live in the presence of God not go in the opposite direction.
Prayer:
God, whose life dances in and beyond all creation, whose song resounds throughout the universe and beyond, you call us to add our voices to your harmony and long all voices to be part of your song of infinite grace.
May we have the courage to raise our voices to join your song and the sensitivity to enable all voices to be heard.
May we know and rest in the silence that births new melodies.
May all hearts echo with the resonance of your love.
May our voices be raised in shouts of protest,
in howling cries of grief and in gentle sounds of comfort.
May we join the yearning choir in the reality of deep lament that longs for change and brings healing into being.
Amen.
Rachel Bending, Chair, Southampton District
Prayer:
Grant us the grace, O God, to surrender the grievance that separates and the forgiveness that is withheld.
Assure us that no sin is so great that it cannot be confessed, no wound so deep it cannot be healed, and no sinner so lost that grace cannot bring them home.
Amen
William Booth (1829-1912)
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.
What a friend we have in Jesus StF 531
What a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer!
Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Saviour, still our refuge–
take it to the Lord in prayer!
Do your friends despise, forsake you?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he’ll take and shield you;
you will find a solace there.
A prayer of blessing:
May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you, wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
