A Service to say at home
Call to Worship
The Lord be with you
And also with you
God in Jesus has revealed his glory
Come let us worship together
From the rising of the sun to its setting
The Lord’s name is greatly to be praised
Hymn – Sing something you enjoy!!
Prayer of Confession
Holy God we bring you ourselves
All that we are and all that we long to be
Our weakness, our failures, our sinfulness and our brokenness
Son of Mary Have mercy on us
Carpenter of Nazareth Have mercy on us
Healer of the sick Have mercy on us
Bringer of light Have mercy on us
Saviour of the poor Have mercy on us
Bread of life Have mercy on us
You who call us sister, brother, friend
Have mercy on us
Your body and Spirit with us
Holy God we bring you ourselves
All that we are and all that we long to be
Our weakness, our failures, our sinfulness and our brokenness Have mercy on us
Bible Readings
Psalm 123
1 I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who sit enthroned in heaven.
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.
4 We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
12 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Mark 6:1-13
6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Some Thoughts on the Reading
In my weakness I am strong
And on Sunday he (or she) began to teach in the church and many who heard her (or him) were astonished saying, “Where did this man get all this? What wisdom has been given to this woman? Isn’t this just the man from up the road? We know him of old. She lives just round the corner. We know a lot about her. Who does he think he is?”
They may have gone on, “This church in the centre of our village is a picturesque place but, well, not relevant anymore really. The people who go there, the people who preach there, who think they can tell us what to do, they’re no better than us!”
Is it possible that in this sort of weakness the church is strong?
And every day in the street, in the workplace, on the radio, on the TV, where people stand up and begin to talk about God people are astonished, nay outraged. “Who do these people think they are, with their holier than thou attitude? We know them of old. And some at that point call us hypocrites and quote the things we’ve said and done that we would be the first to admit have not been very Christian. And yet, and yet perhaps even in this weakness we, as Christians, are strong.
For a start when this sort of thing happens the first thing it should do is turn our eyes, with the eyes of the psalmist, to God.
“Have mercy on us.” we cry, and this isn’t a cry against God’s anger it’s a request for his ongoing, generous grace to us though we are, and are often seen as undeserving, without real merit. We have had more than enough of contempt, yet, in our weakness we are strong. Strong because of God not because of ourselves.
Jesus, returning to his home town, isn’t even heard by his old neighbours they’re so full of their amazement and indignation, at the cheek of this mere Carpenter’s son in coming to this place and preaching to them. Who did he think he was?
But is he weak? He’s saddened, but weakness doesn’t seem to come into it. Yet strangely neither does obvious strength.
There are evangelists, and we’ve all heard them or heard of them, who beat people, metaphorically, about the head with their religion, with their own strength and often with their own supposed righteousness.
Jesus however, as he sends out his first batch of evangelists, insists on weakness, even neediness. They are not to take anything, no money, no food, not even a change of clothes, they will be utterly at the mercy of those to whom they go. They will offer the word but if it and they are not accepted they will walk away. In their weakness they will be strong.
Paul too, and heaven knows he was possibly the greatest teacher, preacher, theologian, missionary, and had every excuse to claim strength, declares that it is only in his weakness that he has ever achieved anything.
It seems that he has been blessed with some amazing out of body experience, vision, revelation of God that few of us are ever likely to have this side of heaven. But even having had this he realises that to harp on about it will only drive people away.
For those who are open to God, to his word, to Jesus, then and now are often those who are beginning to realise that in all their relative wealth, their good jobs, their houses, cars and families there is something missing – there is a weakness at the centre of their lives.
Or they are those who are right at the bottom of the pit of life, for whom everything has fallen apart, who have lost or never had anything to hold dear, everything is missing, there is total weakness at the centre of their lives and if we are to witness to people in either of these states or to any in between our best starting point, paradoxically, is not a total brave certainty, is not in strong confident assertions but is in sharing our own weakness.
Then the cry of, “But this is only the man/woman up the road, we know him/her of old, s/he’s far from perfect.” will actually be a cry of relief because if we are just the man or woman up the road with all our imperfections on display. Only then it will be clear how much we rely in all that imperfection on a perfect God. We are no threat, quite the reverse. If we can turn to God for strength then so can they. We might just be the beginning of the way out of the pit, for in our weakness we are strong. Perhaps it is through our weakness but also our willingness to expose that weakness that we, or actually God, is strong and his strength becomes available to others.
Prayers
We pray to the Lord for courage and to give ourselves to him.
Give your Church the courage to give up her preoccupation with herself and to give time to your mission in the world. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.
May the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus bring forgiveness to your people and help us to face the cost of proclaiming salvation as we work together and apart in your damaged world. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.
Give your world the courage to give up war, bitterness and hatred, and to seek peace and healing for each other. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.
May the shoulders of the risen Jesus, once scourged by soldiers, bear the burden of our times. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.
Give us the courage to give up quarrels, strife and jealousy in our families, neighbourhoods and communities. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.
May the presence of the risen Jesus, his body once broken and now made whole, bring peace and direction as we live with one another. Give us the courage to give up our selfishness as we live for others, and to give time, care and comfort to the sick in ways that are safe for them and for us. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.
May the wounded hands of Jesus bring his healing touch to all who suffer, and the light of his presence fill their hearts and homes. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer.
Give us the courage to give up our fear of death and to rejoice with those who have died in faith. May the feet of the risen Lord Jesus, once nailed to the cross, walk alongside the dying and bereaved in their agony, and walk with us and all your Church through death to the gate of glory. Lord, meet us in the silence, give us strength and hear our prayer here and in eternity. Amen.
We pray with confidence as our Saviour has 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
A Home Communion
Take bread and wine or juice and pray
Blessed are you O God
For you have brought forth bread from the earth
Blessed are you O God
For you have created the fruit of the vine
Here at your table
You offer us light, bread and wine for the journey
To nourish us as sons and daughters
Jesus took bread, and having blessed it
He broke it and gave it to his disciples saying
Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you
In the same way after supper, he took the cup of wine
And gave you thanks, he gave it to them saying
Drink this all of you, this is my blood of the new covenant
Which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins
So now, following Jesus’ example
We take this bread and this wine and pray
Lord Jesus Christ, present with us now
Breathe your Spirit upon us and upon this bread and wine
That they may be heaven’s food for us
Renewing, sustaining and making us whole
That we may be your body on earth
Loving and caring in the world
Look – The bread of heaven – The light of the world
Here is Christ, coming to us in bread and wine
The gift of God for the people of the world
The table of bread and wine is now made ready
It is the table of company with Jesus
So, come to this table, you who have much faith
And you who would like to have more
You who have been to this sacrament often
And you who have not been for a long time
You who have tried to follow Jesus
And you who have failed
Come – it is Christ himself who invites us to meet him here
Eat your bread and sip you drink and take a moment of quiet before praying
Concluding Prayer
Holy God, we have seen with our eyes
And touched with our hands the bread of life the light of the world
Strengthen our faith
That we may grow in love for you and for each other
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
And may the blessing of God Almighty
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
be with us all, those we love and those we pray for
this day and for evermore.
Amen