Welcome to worship with the Bradford North Methodist Circuit this morning. This service will be shared this morning by Rev Nick Blundell and the members and friends at Christchurch, Windhill.
Living God, creator and sustainer of the world,
we pledge to live well and with humility, in harmony with your creation;
we pledge to look to your Son for truth and guidance;
we pledge to make time for prayer and to be open to your Holy Spirit;
we pledge to read your Word, and to be guided by the example of your Son.
We give you our lives to be transformed as we worship and adore you,
and we thank you for your love. Amen.
In the Saviour’s name, we pray. Amen
We bring our prayers together, as we pray, with all God’s people, the Lord’s Prayer.
Service sheet (pdf)
Call to worship
We come to praise the Father for his goodness,
to thank Jesus for his open hands of love,
and to seek the Holy Spirit’s blessing.
Come, therefore, and worship God.
to thank Jesus for his open hands of love,
and to seek the Holy Spirit’s blessing.
Come, therefore, and worship God.
God of the mountains and the sky,
of our minds and our hearts:
we look up to you in awe;
we reach out to you in longing;
we worship you in gratitude;
we sing to you in joy.
For you are our God,
and we are your people –
today and always.
Amen.
of our minds and our hearts:
we look up to you in awe;
we reach out to you in longing;
we worship you in gratitude;
we sing to you in joy.
For you are our God,
and we are your people –
today and always.
Amen.
Hymn:
You might like to sing, or reflect on Horatius Bonar’s hymn at Hymns & Psalms 136, I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘Come unto me and rest.’
Prayers
we pledge to live well and with humility, in harmony with your creation;
we pledge to look to your Son for truth and guidance;
we pledge to make time for prayer and to be open to your Holy Spirit;
we pledge to read your Word, and to be guided by the example of your Son.
We give you our lives to be transformed as we worship and adore you,
and we thank you for your love. Amen.
Prayer of Confession:
God of all creation, forgive us when we lose perspective
and our world shrinks to our size, not yours.
Forgive us and nourish our vision.
Forgive us when we look away from you when we feel empty and grasp what is not ours to take.
Forgive us and nourish our vision.
Forgive us when the choices we make are self-centred, and we are indifferent to the needs of the wider community.
Forgive us and nourish our vision. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
and our world shrinks to our size, not yours.
Forgive us and nourish our vision.
Forgive us when we look away from you when we feel empty and grasp what is not ours to take.
Forgive us and nourish our vision.
Forgive us when the choices we make are self-centred, and we are indifferent to the needs of the wider community.
Forgive us and nourish our vision. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Assurance of forgiveness:
God of all, you transfigure our smallness with your greatness;
you unlock our limitations with your grace; you calm our confusion with your faithfulness;
you forgive our mistakes with your generosity; you inspire our dreams with your love –
enabling, empowering and encouraging us to serve you and your whole creation
with all we are and all we have. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
you unlock our limitations with your grace; you calm our confusion with your faithfulness;
you forgive our mistakes with your generosity; you inspire our dreams with your love –
enabling, empowering and encouraging us to serve you and your whole creation
with all we are and all we have. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Reading
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (NIV)
When you have entered the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God. 5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians ill-treated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labour. 7 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our ancestors, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, LORD, have given me.’ Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. 11 Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household. Reflection – Finding meaning in action and ritual?
Towards the end of the passage there is the retelling of the ancestral story beginning, ’My father was a wandering Aramean…’ But to be ready for that, to be able to tell and hear it clearly, there are rituals to be performed, actions to take. These involve selecting the firstfruits of the harvest and placing them in a basket, taking that basket to the priest who then sets it on the altar, that the ancient story might be told. And when it’s told, and you’ve bowed down before God, then, with the Levites and the foreigners, the in-crowd and the excluded, you rejoice together. In the Talmud, the tithe of first fruits is described as being made up of seven crops: wheat, barley, grapes (wine), figs, pomegranates, olives (oil) and dates – it sounds like a recipe for a party, with a guest list where all are included. And all this, doing and telling, is about gratitude for God’s splendid generosity.
As we make our way through Lent this year, let’s determine to be grateful and generous, not simply in our words and worship, but in our day-to-day and our difficulties. Let this forty day journey with Jesus to Jerusalem be a time when our actions speak as clearly as our words, as God’s gifts are celebrated and shared with those who need them most.
Reflection
An odd choice of reading for Lent this – feels more like a Harvest Festival lesson? So why has the lectionary given us this? Perhaps it’s to remind us in this season of preparation that what we do is every bit as important as what we say, that we find our identity in how we behave as much as in what we believe. And that our behavior needs to be rooted in gratitude and generosity, rather than concern for our own spiritual wellbeing.Towards the end of the passage there is the retelling of the ancestral story beginning, ’My father was a wandering Aramean…’ But to be ready for that, to be able to tell and hear it clearly, there are rituals to be performed, actions to take. These involve selecting the firstfruits of the harvest and placing them in a basket, taking that basket to the priest who then sets it on the altar, that the ancient story might be told. And when it’s told, and you’ve bowed down before God, then, with the Levites and the foreigners, the in-crowd and the excluded, you rejoice together. In the Talmud, the tithe of first fruits is described as being made up of seven crops: wheat, barley, grapes (wine), figs, pomegranates, olives (oil) and dates – it sounds like a recipe for a party, with a guest list where all are included. And all this, doing and telling, is about gratitude for God’s splendid generosity.
As we make our way through Lent this year, let’s determine to be grateful and generous, not simply in our words and worship, but in our day-to-day and our difficulties. Let this forty day journey with Jesus to Jerusalem be a time when our actions speak as clearly as our words, as God’s gifts are celebrated and shared with those who need them most.
Hymn:
We sing Frances Ridley Havergill’s hymn – HP 705 Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee
Reading
Luke 4:1-13 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’
4 Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone.” ’
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendour; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.’
8 Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” ’
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
‘“He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” ‘
12 Jesus answered, ‘It is said: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ‘
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
3 The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’
4 Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone.” ’
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendour; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.’
8 Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” ’
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
‘“He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” ‘
12 Jesus answered, ‘It is said: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ‘
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Reflection
The landscape is empty, only the fierce furnace of the sun blazes mercilessly on the scorched land. All life has scuttled for sanctuary among the crevices of the rocks or lies up in the hollows of the dried-up watercourses waiting for the cooling breeze of evening. All life, that is, save that of the gaunt figure of a man picking his way wearily to the shade of a lone tree. He’s hungry, thirsty, and tired. Yet from his eyes there still gleams a wise compassion that seems infinitely older than his age. He sits down and rests, his eyes fixed on a jumbled heap of boulders shaped like round loaves of bread. They remind him of his hunger. ‘Turn them into loaves,’ comes the whisper. ‘You are starving, satisfy your hunger. Are you not God’s Son?’ He looks up, as if seeing someone before him, yet he appears to be alone.
‘That’s what the voice said at your baptism,’ continues the questioner. ‘You are my Son – or was it just your imagination, a trick of the brain, an illusion? Perhaps you are not whom you imagine yourself to be, but just an ordinary carpenter infected with messianic fervour. Prove that I’m wrong. If you do succeed, it will win you a lot of votes. There is a lot of hunger in the world. Millions are starving. And even if you do believe in yourself, then turning stones into bread will convince the atheists and the sceptics. Go on, turn them into loaves!’
The man looks again at the rocks and shakes his head. ‘No,’ he replies. ‘It is written: one does not live by bread alone.’
Undaunted the voice continues: ‘Come with me to a mountaintop – a holy place. For did not Abraham, Moses and Elijah have mountaintop experiences, moments of vision? I too can weave visions. So, stand with me on the roof of the world to see your destiny. I’m pleased that my talk of bread and circuses did not impress you as they have the Roman world. You are made of finer stuff; you are made to wield power, to exercise authority. Before you kings will bow and emperors will do you homage. Look! This is my world.’
The man looks. Spread out before him in a trice is the long march of history: kings, emperors, dictators and presidents, generals and commanders, men and women of wealth, power and influence, all who rule, all who conquer, all who control, all of them bowing before a throne on which he sits. ‘It is yours,’ says the voice. ‘I give it to you and all its glory. All I ask is that you acknowledge me; that you call me your Lord, and you shall have it now. What is your answer?’
The man pauses, considering, then gazes down again. Now, instead of the panoply of power, he sees a man wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe, mocked and buffeted by jeering soldiers. Afterwards, he looks into the tormented face of a crucified man and finds his own staring back at him. He stands upright: ‘No. Depart from me. For Scripture says, “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”’
‘Come with me,’ the voice persists. ‘I want you to see something. I will take you to the Temple. There’s nothing wrong with a visit to your Father’s house, is there? Tell you what – we needn’t even leave the desert. Let me open up your imagination. We’ve entered the main gate and have gone through the courts into the Holy Place. Now we are in the Temple itself and have climbed to the roof at its highest point. Don’t look down – it’s a long drop! But I’m forgetting; you are God’s Son. You lead a charmed life. Jump! It’s okay. You can depend on the Father. Does not the Scripture say that his angels will protect you, lest you strike your foot on a rock? It’s quite safe. Think of the entertainment value, think of the draw that a miracle will have. Once you have gathered the crowd by this stunt they will hang upon your words. So, jump!’
The man looks down and up again, then he shakes his head once more: ‘I see you know your Bible,’ he replies, ‘yet that does not surprise me. But let me give you another text that will put this suggestion beyond argument: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’
The voice was silent. As the sun begins to set, a cool breeze springs up, seeming to whisper, ‘Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’
to decision makers in politics, business and industry,
to those who have wealth,
and to all whose lives affect the lives of others:
grant wisdom and compassion.
‘That’s what the voice said at your baptism,’ continues the questioner. ‘You are my Son – or was it just your imagination, a trick of the brain, an illusion? Perhaps you are not whom you imagine yourself to be, but just an ordinary carpenter infected with messianic fervour. Prove that I’m wrong. If you do succeed, it will win you a lot of votes. There is a lot of hunger in the world. Millions are starving. And even if you do believe in yourself, then turning stones into bread will convince the atheists and the sceptics. Go on, turn them into loaves!’
The man looks again at the rocks and shakes his head. ‘No,’ he replies. ‘It is written: one does not live by bread alone.’
Undaunted the voice continues: ‘Come with me to a mountaintop – a holy place. For did not Abraham, Moses and Elijah have mountaintop experiences, moments of vision? I too can weave visions. So, stand with me on the roof of the world to see your destiny. I’m pleased that my talk of bread and circuses did not impress you as they have the Roman world. You are made of finer stuff; you are made to wield power, to exercise authority. Before you kings will bow and emperors will do you homage. Look! This is my world.’
The man looks. Spread out before him in a trice is the long march of history: kings, emperors, dictators and presidents, generals and commanders, men and women of wealth, power and influence, all who rule, all who conquer, all who control, all of them bowing before a throne on which he sits. ‘It is yours,’ says the voice. ‘I give it to you and all its glory. All I ask is that you acknowledge me; that you call me your Lord, and you shall have it now. What is your answer?’
The man pauses, considering, then gazes down again. Now, instead of the panoply of power, he sees a man wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe, mocked and buffeted by jeering soldiers. Afterwards, he looks into the tormented face of a crucified man and finds his own staring back at him. He stands upright: ‘No. Depart from me. For Scripture says, “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”’
‘Come with me,’ the voice persists. ‘I want you to see something. I will take you to the Temple. There’s nothing wrong with a visit to your Father’s house, is there? Tell you what – we needn’t even leave the desert. Let me open up your imagination. We’ve entered the main gate and have gone through the courts into the Holy Place. Now we are in the Temple itself and have climbed to the roof at its highest point. Don’t look down – it’s a long drop! But I’m forgetting; you are God’s Son. You lead a charmed life. Jump! It’s okay. You can depend on the Father. Does not the Scripture say that his angels will protect you, lest you strike your foot on a rock? It’s quite safe. Think of the entertainment value, think of the draw that a miracle will have. Once you have gathered the crowd by this stunt they will hang upon your words. So, jump!’
The man looks down and up again, then he shakes his head once more: ‘I see you know your Bible,’ he replies, ‘yet that does not surprise me. But let me give you another text that will put this suggestion beyond argument: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’
The voice was silent. As the sun begins to set, a cool breeze springs up, seeming to whisper, ‘Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’
Hymn
Hymn HP 131 Lord, who throughout these forty days for us didst fast and prayPraying for others, and ourselves.
To those who exercise power,to decision makers in politics, business and industry,
to those who have wealth,
and to all whose lives affect the lives of others:
grant wisdom and compassion.
To the vulnerable and the weak,
to those with little or nothing,
to those subject to the will of others,
and to the very young and the very old:
grant wisdom and compassion.
To us as we look at what we have,
to us as we consider what to do,
to us as we relate to the world,
and to us as we seek to be faithful to you:
grant wisdom and compassion.
to those with little or nothing,
to those subject to the will of others,
and to the very young and the very old:
grant wisdom and compassion.
To us as we look at what we have,
to us as we consider what to do,
to us as we relate to the world,
and to us as we seek to be faithful to you:
grant wisdom and compassion.
In the Saviour’s name, we pray. Amen
We bring our prayers together, as we pray, with all God’s people, the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn
We sing Jan Struther’s hymn HP 552 – Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joyBlessing
Lord Jesus, may we see you more clearly, love you more dearly and follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen. We bless one another, and all those we have touched with our prayers today, as we share the Grace: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and always. Amen.
(CCLI 432031. Service prepared by Rev’d Nick Blundell. Prayers & second reflection taken from Roots magazine – adults and all age, 6-12 March 2022)
(CCLI 432031. Service prepared by Rev’d Nick Blundell. Prayers & second reflection taken from Roots magazine – adults and all age, 6-12 March 2022)
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