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Virtual Worship - 18 April 2021

“Every person matters”

The second in our worship series "Stay alive in the Spirit"

Welcome

Welcome is something we say at the beginning of every service. Whether in churches or on YouTube, we welcome you, whoever you are and whyever you have come. But this morning, “Welcome” is the theme of the service. “Every person matters - all are welcome.” And maybe some of you question how welcome you might be. Maybe you’ve had the experience of arriving at a place of worship and not being made welcome – or being treated as though you didn’t matter. That was wrong. Jesus made it clear throughout his ministry that he was there for the ones the respectable people turned away from and we, his followers, try to live that out – sometimes getting it wrong and causing hurt, for which we are sorry, but always coming back to Jesus and trying again.

Song

Our opening song reminds us that we are all welcome around God’s table, those who think they have life sorted and those who know God still has a lot of work to do in us. It’s “Vagabonds” by Stewart Townend.

Prayer

Loving Jesus, we thank you for making us welcome;
for opening your arms to children,
to outcasts,
to those who didn’t understand,
and to those whom others saw as full of sin.
Thank you that you welcome us into your presence today,
whoever we are,
and however many mistakes we have made.
Thank you that in you we can always find forgiveness,
a new start,
a chance to learn more about ourselves,
and strength to carry on.
Thank you that in you, we never run out of chances.
So help us to keep coming to you and to one another as we help each other to live this life of faith in the love you share with us.
Amen.

All are Welcome

Like many people, we have a Welcome mat at our front door. It’s not only a place for visitors to wipe their shoes before coming in; it also gives a message that they are welcome in our home. Our mat also reminds them that they are welcome in the language of heaven. To any other Welsh person in exile, this is a promise of a welcome in the hillside, and is a small coming home again to Wales.

God speaks our language when he welcomes us home. He speaks to our heart, and our heart responds. We do not need to translate the thoughts of our hearts into any other language. God speaks to us, and we speak to God in a way that is natural to our core.

Through us he speaks to others. What language do we use as we welcome them? Do we use our own familiar language, or do we try to speak their language so that they can hear God through our words?

Forester Lord

Reading: Mark 5: 21-43

I liked trees as a child and chose to train as a forester, learning all about trees and the management of forests. I intended an open-air life, but God led me into jobs to do with the economics of growing trees – which turned out to suit me very well. I mention all this because in a number of places the Bible likens us to trees.

For instance, as our Circuit Lent and Easter booklet reminded us, those who delight in God and his ways are like trees growing by streams of water, always fruitful even in hard times. And the promised blessings of Jesus are such as to make us oaks of righteousness which he himself plants. Whereas those who trust human resources instead of God will wither like a shrub in the desert. (Ps 1:3; Is 61:1-3; Jer 17:5-8)

God as a Forester! – planting us where he has designed us to fit. Not all the same, nor with the same job or bearing the same fruit. Some trees for timber; others for food production; or carbon fixing or other environmental benefits. And in God’s hands we are similarly varied: both in character and challenges, depending on where we are and what we face.

That analogy can take us only so far, of course. We’re not trees: what we are is flawed human beings who don’t like being told what to do, even by God, because we think we know better. And that causes a lot of damage: to ourselves, to each other and to the world we’re supposed to be looking after.

So God has a remedial job to do, which is why he sent Jesus – to show us how to live, and makes it possible for us to become more like what we’re meant to be.


He dealt with the damage when he died on the cross to meet the cost of all our wrongs, so that in him we could be forgiven and follow him trustingly. And he changes us from self-wilfulness to obedient followers, by sending his Holy Spirit to live within us: teaching us according to the Bible, and helping us bring our lives into line with that teaching – nudging us in right directions.
And Jesus revealed God, dealing with us each according to our character and circumstances. We can’t always see the why of what he calls us to do, but then we’re not Jesus the Lord.

Take, for instance, today’s passage and see how varied is his approach, within his overall aim of calling people to faith in him, and so to save them from being or becoming sparse desert shrubbery.


The sick woman: unclean, untouchable in this society. Jesus does not shun her, but he makes her face him and acknowledge her condition, and publicly declares that her faith in him has healed her, according to her a dignity and wholeness she had lacked for 12 miserably long years.

Jairus: He’s a big man in this society, but he humbly begs Jesus to heal his dying daughter. Then the girl dies before Jesus can reach her. But: “Do not fear, only believe,” (ie, in him as healer and saviour).

His disciples: He takes three, but not the other nine. We’re not told why, but he must have known what would be best for them all, as he does for each of us.

The mourners: They were an accepted part of that society, but he firmly ejects them from the house. You’d think they’d have made good witnesses, but No.

The daughter: Jesus takes only the three disciples and both parents to the room where the body of the little girl lies. Touching a corpse made you unclean for a week, but Jesus is greater than the purity laws. He takes her hand and says, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And up she gets, at once! “Now give her something to eat” – fully alive!

But then comes another surprise. He forbids them to tell a living soul. The man he’d healed among the tombs on the far side of the Lake was told to go and tell what God had done throughout the ten towns (Mk 5:1-20). But here – not a word!

Why? Well, Jesus does what his Father God commands, and the Forester Lord knows his trees, and the varied terrain, and the needs of the place and the times. That’s why we can trust him. Indeed, we must, however surprisingly he treats us, for he knows everything and we don’t.
All are welcome and every person matters in his programme of personal healing and global rescue from all that’s wrong – the tangled scrub of our own making – remaking us into his upright trees, bearing the rich fruit of his Spirit.

Song

Let’s sing of the love that calls us all to God, in our Hymn: HP691/StF 443, Come let us sing of a wonderful love 

Lord of the Fast

Reading: Isaiah 58:3-9a

Haven’t we left fasting behind and moved on into the celebration of the Easter season? Didn’t the Lent weeks of stoically refusing chocolate lead into a time of brightly coloured Easter eggs that we could unwrap and enjoy? Why then are we back into a theme of fasting?

This must be one of the hardest-hitting passages in the Bible about the way that we fast, and indeed the way that we worship. Fasting is between us and God, a time of us giving up something we enjoy so that God has first place in our lives. But God wants our fasting to make a difference in the world. When we deny ourselves something, we are challenged to give that something away in order to help someone else.

This is a hard thing for us to be faced with at this stage of the pandemic. Many of us have been denied things that we did not give up of our own choice. We have not been able to go out for coffee or to the pub, buy new clothes, take a holiday, or drive any long distance. And for those of us whose incomes have not been affected, we have actually saved money at this time.

In our society, saving money is always seen as a good thing, preparing for our future, making our retirement more comfortable. But John Wesley did not only say, “save all you can”; he continued, “give all you can.” If we have been fortunate enough to be able to save, can we deem ourselves fortunate enough to be able to give to those charities who have lost so much of their income through the cancelling of their usual fundraising events, while the needs they face have grown and grown?

Can the coffee not drunk fund a food parcel for a struggling family?

Can the clothes not bought pay for us to make wiser buying choices that might cost us more but that pay attention to who has produced our food and goods, and the environmental impact of them?

Can the holiday not taken fund a tree planting project to mitigate the carbon we produce?

Can the money saved on petrol go towards providing a vehicle to take pregnant women from remote African villages to hospital where they can give birth safely?

Sometimes we can see so much need that we are almost paralysed by it. We cannot meet all the needs that we see, and we don’t know where to start. But we don’t have to do it all – we just have to do something, give something, like the boy who gave his packed lunch and found that in the hands of Jesus it became enough, and the crowd was fed (John 6:1-15). What can we give – our money for treats we weren’t able to have – that can become enough in the hands of Jesus?

If every person matters, then it means everyone, not just us. Our journey of faith is part of what God is doing in God’s world. He needs to work in us, but he also needs to work through us to reach others; to shine his light into the world and to build the kingdom of God, making it a tangible reality for us and those around us.

Song

Let’s think about that as we sing Hymn HP 774/StF 410 Lord, thy church on earth is seeking thy renewal from above

Prayers

Creator God,

Maker and sustainer of all things and all people,
we call you "Our" Father,
yet so often fail to treat one another
as brothers and sisters.

We get confused between being the same and being equal.
Keep us from falling into the trap
of thinking our way is the best and only way,
so undermining the dignity and devaluing
those who are different to ourselves.

Help us to celebrate our immense diversity
and learn willingly and joyfully
from our differing cultures,
ideas and experiences,
secure in the knowledge
we are all equally loved,
equally and infinitely precious to you.

We pray this morning for all who are persecuted,
just for being who they are.
We pray for all those who are in need, longing
for nourishment and the basic necessities of life,
for justice, peace and security,
for comfort and companionship,
for health and hope of a brighter future.

In a moment of quiet, we bring to you the people
and situations heavy on our own hearts this morning.

Silence

Bless us with wisdom, compassion,
openness, generosity and humility,
so that we may be part of the answer
to these our prayers.

We ask in the name of our Rescuer Jesus,
as we pray together the prayer
he continues to teach his friends.

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.

Song

We’ve been saying that “all are welcome”, and let’s sing it now in Hymn StF 409 Let us build a house where love can dwell.

Blessing

Go on your way knowing that you are a person who matters, to us and to God.
Go on your way knowing that each one you meet is a person who matters.
As you go, may you know that God walks with you, and may you look for God in the faces of the ones you meet.
And may the blessing of God be with us all. Amen.

-- ooOoo --

If you are thinking of giving to a charity, the Bradford North Circuit is supporting Peer Talk as its current Second Mile Project. Peer Talk offers volunteer-facilitated peer support group meetings for those living with depression, and their families.

The Yorkshire West District is asking people who are thankful that they have received their Covid vaccine to consider donating to the work of Christian Aid as a thank-offering.
 
Baildon Methodist is supporting Hope for Justice during April, which works to combat modern slavery.
 
Your church may support a particular cause and you could give to that. Or give a gift to a charity that has helped someone you know.

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