Worship at Home Sunday 24th May 2020 | St. Peter's Church Ardingly

Nigel Cheater

Monday 10th April 2023

Welcome to Worship at Home on the Sunday after Ascension.

We are in the between times, when the disciples had returned to Jerusalem, in obedience to Jesus’ command to wait in the city until they were clothed with power from on high.

We are in the between times, as we wait, gradually returning to what we used to call ‘normal’. As we wait, let us use this time especially to pray, and to praise:

Let’s begin with praise, and a great hymn celebrating Jesus, risen and glorified:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV9wUIZJFAA

Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour,
first-begotten from the dead.
Thou alone, our strong defender,
liftest up thy people's head.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Jesus, true and living bread!
Jesus, true and living bread!

Here our humblest homage pay we,
here in loving reverence bow;
here for faith's discernment pray we,
lest we fail to know thee now.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou art here, we ask not how.
Thou art here, we ask not how.

Though the lowliest form doth veil thee
as of old in Bethlehem,
here as there thine angels hail thee,
branch and flower of Jesse's stem.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
We in worship join with them.
We in worship join with them.

Paschal Lamb, thine offering, finished
once for all when thou was slain,
in its fullness undiminished
shall for evermore remain.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Cleansing souls from every stain.
Cleansing souls from every stain.

Life-imparting heavenly Manna,
stricken Rock with streaming side,
heaven and earth with loud hosanna
worship thee, the Lamb who died.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Risen, ascended, glorified!
Risen, ascended, glorified! George Hugh Bourne

The Collect for the Sunday after Ascension:

Risen, ascended Lord,

as we rejoice at your triumph,

fill your Church on earth with power and compassion,

that all who are estranged by sin

may find forgiveness and know your peace,

to the glory of God the Father.

Take a moment now to reflect on the past week, to bring before God the things which we thought, did or said which were wrong:

Lord our God,

in our sin we have avoided your call.

Our love for you is like a morning cloud,

like the dew that goes away early.

Have mercy on us;

deliver us from judgement;

bind up our wounds and revive us;

in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

When we truly turn to the Lord we can have confidence with the writer of Psalm 103 that our sins are taken away:

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
¹⁰He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
¹²as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.

We worship a wonderful, holy and compassionate Lord!

As we remember what Jesus went through on the cross for us, read through the words of this hymn by William Rees, or join in with it via the link below:

1 Here is love, vast as the ocean,
loving-kindness as the flood,
when the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
throughout heav'n's eternal days.

2 On the mount of crucifixion
fountains opened deep and wide;
through the floodgates of God's mercy
flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
poured incessant from above,
and heav'n's peace and perfect justice
kissed a guilty world in love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8YOPj5TnUM

Over the last couple of weeks the importance of praise has been impressed on me. Praise has power to transform situations, power to heal, power as a weapon in our warfare against ‘the world, the flesh and the devil’.

Praising God for who He is, for what he has done for us in Jesus, for what he has given us in the Holy Spirit, helps to lift us beyond our immediate preoccupations and situations. The situation we are in may not change, but God will change our view of it when we praise him. Perspectives change when we turn our eyes upon Jesus, and ‘look full in his wonderful face’.

When we face a ‘Goliath’ in our lives, praise helps us to see the giant threatening us from God’s perspective. And from God’s perspective, Goliath must have looked like very small beer!

We may look as though we are surrounded by problems, but in Jesus we are surrounded by him. Psalm 91 has a wonderful picture of God sheltering us under his wings. He is there watching over us, surrounding us and we can praise him for that.

In today’s Gospel reading, John 17:1-11, Jesus says in verses 10 and 11 ‘All mine are yours, and yours are mine … protect them in your name that you have given me.’ Jesus cared passionately about his disciples, about looking after them. He cares in the same way about us, his disciples today. We can be confident that even when we feel far from him, when life feels too much for us, Jesus is still there looking after us, because the Holy Spirit, the paraclete (one called alongside us) has been sent to be with us and in us. We just need to call on ‘the name’, the name of Jesus.

There is a wonderful instance of God’s response to praise in a story from 2 Chronicles 20, which we were reading in home group recently. Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, was facing a serious threat on his eastern border. A huge army from Moab and Ammon and other tribes was massing to attack Judah. The whole assembly of Judah, with their little ones, their wives and their children, stood together as Jehoshaphat prayed in desperation to the Lord.

In answer to their heartfelt plea, the Lord spoke through one of his prophets, Jahaziel (we even have his lineage listed!), saying ‘This battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf’. Encouraged, the whole assembly praised God. The following day, as the people of Judah went out, Jehoshaphat commanded the people to sing to the Lord, with the choir going in front of the army (this may not be in the Sandhurst manual today!), saying …

‘Give thanks to the Lord,

For his steadfast love endures for ever.’

… and as they began to sing and praise the enemy army in confusion turned on each other. They were routed, and Judah did not have to fight. The battle was truly God’s, not theirs.

Praise became a weapon in the armoury of the people of Judah, and so it can become for us today. Paul commands us ‘be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power’ (Ephesians 6:10) and ‘rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!’ (Philippians 4:4).

I am praying that with the easing of the lockdown restrictions we will see a resetting of priorities among people, a hunger to discover more about God, for us all to turn more to him. And as a first step we can weave praise into our lives, through prayer, through music and song (there are some wonderful hymns and songs out there on the net), and through thanking him at all times.

(If you have the time, do read about Jehoshaphat, King of Judah – 2 Chronicles 17-20. A man with weaknesses and strengths, like us, but hungry to follow the Lord.)

Now let’s turn ourselves to prayer, for just as we know Jesus is praying for us, it is ‘our duty and our joy’ to give thanks to him and to pray for others:

For the sick and for those who suffer, for all in the nursing homes at this time, that the threat of covid will be removed, and for those who are housebound:

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

For our government, the Prime Minister and cabinet, that they may be given wisdom as they negotiate the return to regular work for the country:

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

For school leaders and education authorities, for church leaders, that a well managed reopening of schools and churches may be worked out:

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

For businesses throughout the country, that they will be able to restart and bring their employees back from furlough; for those who have lost their jobs and are contemplating loss of earnings, and may be feeling the loss of their place in society:

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

For those in other countries less well off than ours, where resources are stretched or non-existent, that they will have good harvests this year and be able to secure their food supplies. We think especially of those we support in the Rehema project in Tanzania; in Imara Uganda; at the Old Jeshwang health centre in the Gambia; those supported by SamarasAid in Syria:

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

For ourselves, for a fresh filling of the Spirit at Pentecost, that we may be transformed into being more like Jesus, that through us our families and community may be transformed by his power:

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

Just as we have a God who numbers the hairs on our head, we have a God who hears our every prayer, so let’s close our prayers by saying the prayer that Jesus taught us:

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.

To end I have chosen the ‘ascension hymn’ by Charles Wesley – there is a link below which has the words as well as the music. Just listen, or join in this wonderful celebration of Christ’s triumph over death and his return to heaven:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b_ODz_jgTs

Hail the day that sees him rise, Alleluia!
to his throne above the skies; Alleluia!
Christ, the Lamb for sinners given, Alleluia!
reascends his native heaven! Alleluia!

There a glorious triumph waits; Alleluia!
lift your heads, eternal gates! Alleluia!
Christ hath conquered death and sin; Alleluia!
take the King of glory in! Alleluia!

Lo! the heaven its Lord receives, Alleluia!
yet he loves the earth he leaves; Alleluia!
though returning to his throne, Alleluia!
still he calls mankind his own. Alleluia!

See! he lifts his hands above; Alleluia!
See! he shows the prints of love: Alleluia!
Hark! his gracious lips bestow, Alleluia!
blessings on his Church below. Alleluia!

Master parted from our sight, Alleluia!
far above yon azure height, Alleluia!
grant our hearts may thither rise, Alleluia!
Following thee above the skies. Alleluia!

With prayers and best wishes,

Phil

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