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Virtual Worship - 6 September 2020

Jesus-Shaped-People (JSP): The Journey to Jerusalem

Thank you for joining us. For the next seven weeks we will be revisiting a journey which we began in 2014. It is a journey, devised by Rev Canon Gordon Dey, from whom you will be hearing later in this streamed service. Over the last six years here “JSP” has succeeded in bringing us back to the basic task of Christianity, living Jesus-Shaped lives; depending less on church tradition and more on the life and teaching of Jesus. Our aim is not to earn favour with God, but to respond to the love of God with love. 

All you need to be a Christian and nothing you don’t. 


Collect for the day:

Great God of Love, help us respond to the gift of grace which we received at your hand, by studying the life, teaching, and example of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and applying the principles that we find there to our lives in the 21st Century. Amen.

The JSP Adventure

We entered this JSP journey as our building program at Baildon accelerated. We did this deliberately to prevent the buildings taking over. We also instituted our formal Giving for Others program to try to match giving for the building fund with giving for others. We succeeded on both counts. How did Jesus-Shaped People change our church? Conversations following worship frequently discussed the theme of the worship. We learned to unlearn some precious beliefs and to espouse some forgotten ones. Our mid-week groups took up the discussions and the worship begun on Sunday. Gordon Dey taught us to look for five characteristics of the life of Jesus:
  • Responding to the real needs of people on the edge of society;
  • Taking people with us from where they were, rather than demanding obedience to old rules;
  • Building teams of people to set examples of Christian living;
  • Depending on prayer and reflection to trim our sails and to set our course;
  • Fearlessly speaking truth to power, even to the power of the church.
We will revisit these five themes during the next seven weeks, as we look at the ten chapters in the Gospel of St Luke which follow Jesus on his Journey to Jerusalem. The streamed services will also be shown in Baildon Methodist Church to a socially distanced congregation, which you may like to join. Every week there will be materials for discussion and we hope that our prayer groups and cell groups will reconvene however they are permitted to use these materials.

Hymn

Singing the Faith 409 “Let us build a house where love can dwell”


Psalm 130 vv1-8, “A pilgrim song”

Preparing the way for others

During lockdown, my wife and I have walked on many footpaths that we have not walked before. Some paths near to Baildon are wider and easier than they have been for many years because so many people have been out walking. We have also been lucky enough to spend a week in Cornwall, where some of the coastal path, bereft of visitors until recently, is sadly overgrown. Every person who walks the path makes it a bit easier for those who follow. Sometimes you come upon a bench, sited for a good view. Sometimes there is an inscription: “Jane Smith loved to walk here” or something like that. We owe our ability to walk these paths to the many Jane Smiths who walked the paths before us. They formed the path with their boots and made it easier for us.

So it is with this Jesus-Shaped-People adventure. The more of us who pursue the way of Jesus, the easier it will be for those who follow. We will be demonstrating lives of honesty, courage, service, and selflessness, that the children of our community will see and take note of. Our living will not be in vain.

Gospel Reading Luke 12:32-40

Preparing for the Journey by Rev Canon Gordon Dey

Summary: Grasping Luke's unique record of the final Journey to Jerusalem that Jesus makes with his disciples, and encouraging people to look forward to gaining a new grasp of Luke 9-19

Thank you for including me in this new adventure for the Bradford North Methodist Circuit. It was a special joy to introduce Jesus Shaped People to Baildon and Wilsden Churches and I’m delighted to join you today as you begin this new JSP Resource entitled ‘Journey to Jerusalem’.

JSP describes itself as ‘a whole church discipleship adventure’, based on the simple command of Jesus to ‘Follow Me’. JSP suggests that five basic themes were ‘core priorities’ for Jesus in his work - Mervyn has already referred to these. We’ll explore how we can make them key priorities for our own churches – with each of us playing our part in this.

Normally the main JSP programme lasts 15 weeks, so for some of you this ‘Journey to Jerusalem’ experience might lead you to tackle the full JSP programme at a later point.

Let's share a few thoughts about the Bible material we will be using together.

The four gospels writers have lots of material in common, but all have unique features. Matthew contains lots of teaching material, such as the Sermon on the Mount; Mark is the shortest, probably the earliest, and is very eventful and dynamic; John is very alternative and deeply spiritual, with fewer stories, but much more reflection and depth of insight.

Luke’s Gospel: What about Luke? A unique feature of his gospel is the information he gives about Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem. Both Matthew and Mark relate these events, but in a single chapter only.

In contrast, Luke, in chapters 9-19 gives much more detail about what took place, and includes lots of stories and parables that are unique to his gospel They are passages that we already treasure – the Lost sheep, coin and sons; the Good Samaritan; the giving of the Lord’s Prayer, and a wealth of other teaching as Jesus prepares his followers for all that lies ahead of them - this task has become an essential one.

JSP The five Key Priorities are very evident in these chapters, and so each week will focus on one of these. A final week will help us summarise what we have been learning and where this might be taking us.

The Adventure: I hope you’ll gain fresh insight and spiritual benefit during the coming weeks, from weekly worship for the circuit, and in small group meetings that are planned. Small groups offer great opportunity to grapple with ideas and questions that will be posed each week, and how they can be applied to the life of each church, and to your own life as a Christian disciple.

You’ll also be able to use these chapters in your daily prayers – a JSP resource sheet gives a daily breakdown of Luke 9-19. It is available on both the Baildon Methodist and the Bradford North website.

Hymn

59 in Singing the Faith “Shine, Jesus, Shine!”


Prayers: 

Let us begin our prayers by saying together the Lord’s Prayer as translated by William Tyndale in 1526. He translated the New Testament from original Greek texts as he was pursued round Europe by King Henry’s secret police, sleeping on floors, and hiding in cellars, travelling from city to city. William Tyndale was one of those who trod the path of Christianity before us, making our journey the easier.

Oure father which arte in heven,
halowed be thy name
let thy kingdom come
thy wyll be fulfilled
as well in erth as hit ys in heven;
geve vs this daye oure dayly breade
and forgeve vs oure treaspases,
even as we forgeve them which treaspas vs
leede vs not into temptacion,
but delyvre vs ffrom yvell.
For thyne is the kingdom and the power,
and the glorye for ever.
Amen.

Lord Jesus, enter our minds and hearts today
Open our spirits to learn from your life and example
Help us feel the chains that blight our lives;
Chains that bind us to earthly comforts;
Chains that keep us from your ways;
Chains that ties us to our past mistakes.
As you broke the chains of death,
Help us to break the chains that limit our lives.
From our pride, set us free
From our guilt, set us free
From our fear, set us free
From our wealth, set us free
Set us free to take your yoke upon us and to do your work. Amen

Gordon Dey again: 

Let me explore with you a few of the features of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. For three years Jesus and his disciples had travelled together, watching, listening, and sharing. ‘Follow me’ had been his invitation – what an adventure they had experienced. If they expected ‘more of the same’ they were to be shocked by Jesus suggesting that the way forward was to result in terror and tragedy.

THE JOURNEY: 

Much of the route would have been down the Jordan Valley that drops to 850 ft below sea level at the city of Jericho. Crowds of people are making this journey too - their annual pilgrimage to the Passover Festival. The crowd would include people whom Jesus had known since his time in Nazareth, his mother, his siblings, his school friends – as well as people he had met in his ministry.

‘FEAR NOT LITTLE FLOCK’ 

Jesus’ main concern on the journey is to strengthen his disciples, and prepare them for all that lies ahead. Luke chapter 12 is full of inspirational teaching and instruction, for the twelve disciples, and for the new group of 72 recently appointed.

Aware of the growing threat, and the death he will face, he’s conscious that his followers face the same threats if they stay faithful to him. He needs to reassure them that there is nothing to fear. ‘Fear not, little flock, for the Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom’ he declares and he urges them to keep their focus on him – not on things that are ‘here today and gone tomorrow’ – particularly life-style stuff that is so seductive. In recent years its power has driven our world into destroying our planet. Suddenly, in recent months, the ‘purses are wearing out’, our economy is undermined, and we realise how fragile life can be.

APPLICATION: 

A few weeks ago whilst vacuuming a bedroom carpet, we spotted a tiny moth in a corner of the room. Careful inspection revealed more. When we moved the bed the sight was horrendous – a section of carpet had been completely destroyed. The invasion had taken place secretly – but the damage was extensive, and the treatment had to be uncompromising. Has the the church become moth-eaten and ragged? ‘Journey to Jerusalem,’ is not just a fresh look at bible passages. It’s about asking questions - ‘who we are and where we’re going’.

Jim Eliot, just before he was assassinated as a Christian missionary, declared ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose’

Here are a few questions for this week:
  • What would it have been like for Jesus to make this Journey to Jerusalem?
  • How would he be dealing with the ‘terror and tragedy’ that lay ahead of him?
  • How would Jesus be feeling about the capacity of his disciples to ‘follow me’?
  • What effect has our western lifestyle had upon our desire for spiritual treasure?
  • In what ways has our changing lifestyle changed the culture of the church?
  • Are we still prepared to suffer in our following of Jesus?
For the next six weeks, our theme will be Jesus-Shaped-People. Next week, 13th September, Rachel James, Nicki Arkell, Amanda McCarthy, and Naomi Haworth will be leading our worship aided by some of their children. The theme will be Jesus’ preoccupation with the poor, the outcast, and the marginalised, in our society. Worship will be led on subsequent weeks by Rev Nick Blundell on 20th; looking at the teaching of Jesus. My colleague Peter Jackson on 27th will take “Building a common purpose” as his theme. Ruth Kerr and members of the prayer group on October 4th, will consider Jesus’ use of prayer. Jonathan and Sean Hayes will be dealing with prophetic challenge on October 11th, and Claire Nott will be revisiting the whole adventure on October 11th with an input from Rev Gordon Dey.

Donation: If you would like to make a donation to the spreading of the Gospel via the Jesus-Shaped-People, please transfer your gift to: Jesus Shaped People.

We hope that you find this journey as rewarding and challenging as we have done.

Benediction

Come with us, Lord Jesus;
Fill us with your Spirit;
Shape us to your likeness;
Use us to enfold with love our needy world.

___________________

Becoming Jesus-Shaped – Christine Crabtree

Walking the Labyrinth is the first of a series that will accompany our time with Jesus-Shaped People. There will be our Sunday services, both on paper and on YouTube; and there is midweek group material, so if you are able to start up a group now, and are thinking about what you might do, there is material available to take you through these next weeks. Please ask one of the ministers, or Mervyn Flecknoe from Baildon. Sheets prepared by Christine Crabtree, Roy Lorrain-Smith and Jackie Marshall, who have formed a Spirituality Group within the Circuit, are available from the Spirituality section of our website, for you to use on your own at home, to have a deeper experience of one aspect of the themes each week. 

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