Opening Reflection
Greetings and welcome to our service this morning, we pray you are keeping well and the presence of the Lord will surround you and uphold you.
Through prayer we open ourselves to God's power in us. Are we choosing to follow His ways fully, to open our hearts, our minds, allowing our spirit to connect with God. God to transform us from the inside out. To walk with us. As we heard last week, do not fear for Christ is with us. As we pause and open ourselves to receive today, God's Kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven. Prayer is vital to our everyday communion with Christ. How important is prayer to your life? How committed are you? We learn prayer in Jewish tradition was central to devotion to God, and what and how one prayed, reflected their view of God and what mattered most for life and godliness.
Let us take a few moments and reflect, is prayer central to our devotion to God?
As we spend time today in the presence of God, may we each allow God to speak deep within us and transform us a fresh, in a real, relevant, radical and refreshing way.
Psalm 24:7-10
The King is Coming!
7 So wake up, you living gateways!
Lift up your heads, you doorways of eternity![d]
Welcome the King of Glory,
for he is about to come through you.
8 You ask, “Who is this King of Glory?”
Yahweh, armed and ready for battle,
Yahweh, invincible in every way!
9 So wake up, you living gateways, and rejoice!
Fling wide, you eternal doors!
Here he comes; the King of Glory is ready to come in.
10 You ask, “Who is this King of Glory?”
He is Yahweh, armed and ready for battle,
the Mighty One, the invincible commander of heaven’s hosts![e]
Yes, he is the King of Glory!
Pause in his presence
Let us pray:
Oh Lord our God, your Kingdom Come, Lord we look to you, we seek your ways, we open our heart to you today and ask that Your presence, will move within me, within this space, where I am. Lord, Your Kingdom Come, here on earth as in heaven. Lord open my eyes so I may see your beauty all around, and cherish each day, seeking what is good, not living in fear or doubt but being filled with the joy of you in my heart. Guide me during this time, as I dwell more in Your Spirit, come Holy Spirit, this I pray in Jesus precious Name, Amen.
Hymn:
Prayers of Confession:
Let us pray.
Thank you Lord that you come and dwell and walk among us. Lord you ask us to come into communion with you one on one. Your scripture says, go into your inner room and talk to your father. So Lord as we find space, as we sit in silence, as we contemplate, being with you.
Lord, we come before you, knowing that we need your forgiveness, your guidance, so that any words we speak, any actions we make will be pure both inside and out. Lord, strip us of any mask we may be wearing and speak deep into our heart.
Let us spend some time in the stillness of God and offer up our own prayers of confession.
Lord, we seek your love, your guidance, your mercy and your grace over our lives. Lord, may we repent, may we know the mistakes, and make every effort to correct the errors of our ways.
Lord, as I seek more of your forgiveness, knowing that I continue to get things wrong, but Lord, with your grace, with your love, with support and encouragement and determination to not continue to sin, but do what is right by you. That is also true as I too need to forgive others and so here my prayer, from the words your Son taught us, guide me I pray;
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory
Are yours, now and forever.
Amen
Hymn:
Prayers of Intercession
Father God,
As we pray, we thank you that wherever we are, no matter what the circumstances, we can turn to You and know that You are always listening to us. We bring before you now all the concerns on our hearts.
Thank you for the wonders of technology that mean we can still hear Your word even when we are unable to meet together. Lord, we look forward to the day when we can meet again in person and we pray for those people who are involved in all the different aspects and decisions needed to make this happen. Thank you for all their hard work.
We pray for all those who are alone, may Your Holy Spirit uphold them today and through the coming week.
May your healing hand be upon those who are ill, bring peace to troubled minds, may they know your comforting presence. (Pause and name anyone who is known to you personally)
Lord, our hearts go out to those who have been bereaved especially during the pandemic, may they know Your comfort and love.
Heavenly Father, you know each one of us, keep us safe as the current covid restrictions are lifted. Help us all to be considerate of others in our actions. We thank you Lord for all those who have worked so hard to enable us to benefit from immunisation. We remember those in other countries who do not have access to health care as we have; we pray that you will give wisdom to those with power to change lives that they make decisions which are wise and just.
Lord we need your guidance to give us wisdom as we make important decisions at Church Meeting this week about the future of St Andrews. We pray for the Revd. and for the Elders and Leaders of our church that we make decisions that represent your will.
Father God, we fall short of what You want us to be. Forgive us Lord and help us to know your more and grow more like You each day.
Amen
Hymn
Announcements
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Whilst the church building is closed, our services are on line.
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Coffee morning via zoom: 11am see church email with details on how to join. To gather from the comfort of our homes, and share, Songs, word of encouragement, testimonies, prayer. We look forward to seeing you. If you would like further details on how to join contact office@standrewsbletchley.org.
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Offering
Whilst we appreciate this is a challenging time, we are grateful and give our thanks to God for all His provision, for your word says: 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.
We are thankful Lord that you have blessed us with a church building, although whilst we are unable to meet there in person at the moment we know that we still have expenditure that we have to meet.
Lord place on our hearts what we are able to give, ensuring we do not give beyond our means.
Ways to Give - Please click on this link to see our Ways to Give.
Prayers of Thanksgiving
Lord, oh Lord, thank you from the bottom of my heart, for all that you have done, all that you do, and for your love and protection.
Lord we look around and there is so much to be thankful for, for it is the little things that are so precious and put into prospective how fortunate we are.
Thank you Lord for our homes, for family and friends.
Lord thank you for bringing our children through saftely this last year at school and as they come to the end of another school year, guide them and protect them during the summer holidays.
Lord thank you for our youth, for those who will be heading off to university come September, as they seek to further their education.
Lord thank you for your church, for the fellowship of St Andrews.
Lord thank you for your creation, for life, may we appreciate each breath we take, and be grateful for all we have.
Lord help us to stop looking inward, and look outwardly, to help a neighbour in need, to offer kindness and a friendly smile to those we meet.
Thank you Lord for your word as Philippians 1:2-11
2 May the blessings of divine grace and supernatural peace that flow from God our wonderful Father, and our Messiah, the Lord Jesus, be upon your lives.
Paul Prays for the Philippians
3–4 My prayers for you are full of praise to God as I give him thanks for you with great joy! I’m so grateful for our union 5 and our enduring partnership that began the first time I presented to you the gospel. 6 I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!
7 It’s no wonder I pray with such confidence, since you have a permanent place in my heart! You have remained partners with me in the wonderful grace of God even though I’m here in chains for standing up for the truth of the gospel. 8 Only God knows how much I dearly love you with the tender affection of Jesus, the Anointed One.
9 I continue to pray for your love to grow and increase beyond measure, bringing you into the rich revelation of spiritual insight in all things.
10 This will enable you to choose the most excellent way of all—becoming pure and without offense until the unveiling of Christ. 11 And you will be filled completely with the fruits of righteousness that are found in Jesus, the Anointed One—bringing great praise and glory to God!
So Lord we want to say thank you, and bless you, and we continue to walk and be guided by you, In Jesus Name we pray Amen.
Hymn:
Reading: Matthew 6:9-13
Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
Sermon
Closing Reflection
Lord to be in your presence, to look around and be filled with your Holy Spirit, to be thankful in all situations and come to you in prayer at all times, is something to hold and to treasure. Thank you Lord, for your continued guidance and protection and may we lift up our prayers our praise in a real, relevant, radical and refreshing way, so that we are filled with hope, peace, joy and love.
Deborah Anne Poem:
When I begin my day,my arms I stretch wide and pray to the Lord today please be my guide.
I know it’s for my best,for me to seek Him first so after righteousness until the night I’ll thirst.
As I go about the day,my hands I stretch open and I pray to the Lord with words unspoken.
His Spirit speaks to me,for He knows I hunger to finish the race . . .as a faithful runner.
When from the day I retire,I stretch my arms out in bed and pray that tomorrow . . .I’ll continue to be Spirit led!
We give thanks to brother Torsby for sharing God's Word for us today.
We are so thankful for all those who continue to pray and support us during our time of interregnum. for it is our faith, our unity, or diversity which makes church. What a wonderful blessing.
We remember that even if the building is closed, the Church is still present in the people, the living body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and during this time, God has called us into a deeper communion with Him. We are here to encourage, to serve our communities, seeking God's face, His wisdom as we walk together. Not our own wants but aligning our hearts desire to that of God. We look forward to the day the church doors are open wide, and we can celebrate, and we are thankful for all those in the preparation and participation for this to happen God will and purpose.
The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the son and Holy Spirit
Be among you and remain with you always Amen
Numbers 6:24-25
Closing Hymn:
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