Mothering Sunday 10th March

Hymn – O For A Closer Walk With God

O for a closer walk with God,
a calm and heav’nly frame,
a light to shine upon the road
that leads me to the Lamb!

Where is the blessedness I knew
when first I sought the Lord?
Where is the soul refreshing view
of Jesus and His Word?

What peaceful hours I then enjoyed!
How sweet their mem’ry still!
But they have left an aching void
the world can never fill.

Return, O holy Dove, return,
sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn,
and drove Thee from my breast.

The dearest idol I have known,
whate’er that idol be,
help me to tear it from Thy throne
and worship only Thee.

So shall my walk be close with God,
calm and serene my frame;
so purer light shall mark the road
that leads me to the Lamb. (by William Cowper – 1731 – 1800)

Preparation

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.

Grace mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you

All: And also with you.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

We have come together in the name of Christ to offer our praise and thanksgiving to hear and receive God’s holy word, to pray for the needs of the world, and to seek the forgiveness of our sins, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may give ourselves to the service of God.

All: We say Sorry

Jesus says, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’

So let us turn away from our sins and turn to Christ, confessing our sins in penitence and faith.

All: Lord God, we have sinned against you;

We have done evil in your sight.

We are sorry and repent.

Have mercy on us according to your love.

Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.

Renew a right spirit within us and restore to us the joy of your salvation;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in His image to the praise and glory of His name through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Blessed is the Lord,

All: For He has heard the voice of our prayer;

Therefore shall our hearts dance for joy

All: And in our song will we praise our God.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, creator and redeemer of all;

to you be glory and praise for ever.

From the waters of chaos you drew forth the world, and in your great love fashioned us in your image. Now, through the deep waters of death, you have brought your people to new birth by raising your Son to life in triumph.

May Christ your light ever dawn in our hearts as we offer you our sacrifice of thanks and praise.

Blessed be God, Father Son and Holy Spirit.

All: Blessed be God for ever.

Hymn – Teach me Thy way, O Lord, teach me Thy way!

Teach me Thy way, O Lord,

teach me Thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford,

teach me Thy way!
Help me to walk aright,

more by faith, less by sight;
Lead me with heav’nly light,

teach me Thy way!

When doubts and fears arise,

teach me Thy way!
When storms o’erspread the skies,

teach me Thy way!
Shine through the cloud and rain,

through sorrow, toil, and pain;
Make Thou my pathway plain,

teach me Thy way!

Long as my life shall last,

teach me Thy way!
Where’er my lot be cast,

teach me Thy way!
Until the race is run,

until the journey’s done,

until the crown is won,

teach me Thy way! (Benjamin M Ramsey – 1849 to 1923)

Collect for Mothering Sunday

God of compassion,

whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary,

shared the life of a home in Nazareth,

and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself:

strengthen us in our daily living

that in joy and in sorrow

we may know the power of your presence

to bind together and to heal;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

All: Amen

Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.

All: And Christ shall give you light.

You have died and your life is hid with Christ in God.

All: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.

Set your minds on things that are above,

not on things that are on the earth.

All: And Christ shall give you light.

When Christ our life appears

you will appear with him in glory.

All: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

Hymn – All for Jesus I Surrender

Our First Reading is taken from – Colossians Chap: 3

12 You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

13 Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you.

14 And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity.

15 The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.

16 Christ’s message in all its richness must live in your hearts. Teach and instruct one another with all wisdom. Sing psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing to God with thanksgiving in your hearts.

17 Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through him to God the Father.

This is the Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

Benedicitus

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,

All: who has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour,

All: born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets God promised of old

All: to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us,

To show mercy to our ancestors,

All: and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham:

All: to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

Free to worship him without fear,

All: holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,

All: for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

To give his people knowledge of salvation

All: by the forgiveness of all their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

All: the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,

All: and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

All: Glory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

and shall be for ever.

Amen.

Hear the Gospel our Lord Jesus Christ According to John Chap: 19

25 Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “He is your son.”

27 Then he said to the disciple, “She is your mother.” From that time the disciple took her to live in his home.

This is the word of Christ

All: Thank be to God

Sermon for Mother’s Day – 2024

For those whose mothers and grandmothers are still alive – cherish them today. Hug and kiss them. Honour them. Thank them.

For those whose mothers have gone home to the Lord, remember them.

We should also remember Mary, the Mother of our Lord today.

And let us ask the Lord to open our eyes, and our hearts, to come to more fully understand the great mystery and gift of the Church as our Mother. Let us live our lives as Christians, by living in the heart of our Mother Church, for the sake of the world into which we are sent to bear the Good News.

A special day to honour mothers and mothering is a part of every major tradition, culture and Nation. That is because we know instinctively the wonder, miracle and gift of mothers and mothering. They carry us in their wombs, the first home of the whole human race. They offer us to their family, and the whole world.

They gave us life and birthed us into the network of relationships which gives that life meaning, the family. They taught and nurtured us on the way, by offering wisdom, example, and practical experience. They picked us up when we fell and unconditionally loved us back when we strayed.

There is no-one like a mother, no substitute for her place, no equal to her love and placement in our own formation. Mothering is an ongoing relationship of love and care.

That is why it used to be called Mothering Sunday. Like our-selves, much of Europe, celebrates Mothering Sunday on the Fourth Sunday of Lent. This is because people not only honour their mothers but also return to visit their mother Church that day. It is called mothering Sunday – indicating the truth that mothering is active and continuing.

Throughout the Nation today, florists have been on high alert, and restaurants are fully booked. Our hearts and minds all turn to the woman who gave us life and showed us the beauty of steadfast love throughout our entire lives.

And, yes, tears of love and memory are shed, revealing the power of love to conquer death. Grief and love are companions. The depth of the grief is a sign of the depth of the love; another face of love. However, they do not take away the pain.

Mother’s Day is always a time for celebration, it can also be a time for introspection. We want to stay present in the moment and enjoy every minute with our family, but we also try to take time to pull back and reflect on our larger motherhood journey.

This year God drew my mind (and my heart) to a number of parallels between a mother’s experiences and our relationship with Him. Specifically, He reminded me:

Just as we delight in spending time with our children, He delights in spending time with us.
Just as we set boundaries for our children because we love them and want to keep them safe, He also sets boundaries for us out of love, not to withhold blessings from us.
Just as we grieve when we see our children making unwise choices, He also grieves when we make choices that are not in our best interest.
Just as we celebrate our children’s accomplishments, He delights in our victories.
Just as our hearts break when our children are unkind to one another, His hearts breaks when we are unkind to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Just as we would be willing to take on all of our children’s pain so they wouldn’t have to endure hardship, He has already demonstrated His willingness to love sacrificially when He sent His own Son to die on the cross in our place.

As I reflected on these parallels, I thought for a while on how my love for my children compares to God’s love for me. I thought about how special the love I have for my children is. It’s:

unconditional
fierce
nurturing
forgiving
protective
unrelenting

The list goes on and on, but here’s the big truth I took away and that I hope to convey to you. As amazing and all-encompassing as I think my love for my children is, it’s nothing compared to the love my Heavenly Father has for me. Never forget that He loves you in a way that you will never truly be able to wrap your head around. Take all of the wonderful feelings you have for your children, and let the fact that He feels the same for you on an incomprehensible level permeate your very being. Never forget that you are fiercely loved by your Heavenly Father. No one can ever take that away from you.

A Mother’s Day Prayer for You

I want to offer this Scripture passage in the form of a prayer for you because it does an excellent job of describing the incredible love that your Heavenly Father has for you.

It’s from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians Chap: 3

14 For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father,

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name.

16 I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves,

17 and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love,

18 so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love.

19 Yes, may you come to know his love – although it can never be fully known – and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

20 To him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of:

21 to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.

Amen

Hymn – There’s a Song for all the Children

1 There’s a song for all the children
that makes the heavens ring,
a song that even angels
can never, never sing;
they praise the Lord their maker
and see him glorified,
but we can call him Saviour
because for us he died.

2 There’s a place for all the children
where Jesus reigns in love,
a place of joy and freedom
that nothing can remove;
a home that is more friendly
than any home we know,
where Jesus makes us welcome
because he loves us so.

3 There’s a friend for all the children
to guide us every day,
whose care is always faithful
and never fades away;
there’s no-one else so loyal
his friendship stays the same;
he knows us and he loves us,
and Jesus is his name. (by Albert Midlane (1825 to 1909)

Time of Silence …..

We Say Together:

The Creed.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

All: Amen.

Prayers and Intercessions

Prayers for King Charles

Through this tritium of prayer we ask God’s continuing blessing on our new King Charles

Prayer

O God, to whom every human power is subject,
grant to your servant our sovereign Charles
success in the exercise of his high office,
so that, always revering you and striving to please you,
he may constantly secure and preserve
for the people entrusted to his care
the freedom that comes from civil peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

All: Amen

Prayer for the Royal

Almighty God, the fountain of all goodness,

we humbly beseech thee to bless

Queen Camilla, William Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the

Royal Family:

Endue them with thy Holy Spirit; enrich them with thy heavenly

grace; prosper them with all happiness;

and bring them to thine everlasting

kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Mother’s Day Prayers

Let us pray

Lord, on this day set aside to honour and remember mothers, we give you thanks for our mothers. We are grateful that you chose to give us life through them, and that they received the gift of life from your hands, and gave it to us. Thank you for the sacrifices they made in carrying us and giving us birth.

We thank you for the women who raised us, who were our mothers in childhood. Whether birth mum, adopted mum, older sister, aunt, grandmother, stepmother or someone else, we thank you for those women who held us and fed us, who cared for us and kissed away our pain. We pray that our lives may reflect the love they showed us, and that they would be pleased to be called our mums.

We pray for older mums whose children are grown.

All: Grant them joy and satisfaction for a job well done.

We pray for new mums experiencing changes they could not predict.

All: Grant them rest and peace as they trust you for the future.

We pray for pregnant women who will soon be mums.

All: Grant them patience and good counsel in the coming months.

We pray for mums who face the demands of single parenthood.

All: Grant them strength and wisdom.

We pray for mums who enjoy financial abundance.

All: Grant them time to share with their families.

We pray for mums who are raising their children in poverty.

All: Grant them relief and justice.

We pray for step-mums.

All: Grant them patience and understanding and love.

We pray for mums who are separated from their children.

All: Grant them faith and hope.

We pray for mums in marriages that are in crisis.

All: Grant them support and insight.

We pray for mums who have lost children.

All: Grant them comfort in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We pray for mums who gave up their children for adoption.

All: Grant them peace and confidence as they trust in your providence.

We pray for adoptive mothers.

All: Grant them joy and gratitude for the gift you have provided.

We pray for girls and women who think about being mums.

All: Grant them wisdom and discernment.

We pray for all women who have assumed the mother’s role in a child’s life.

All: Grant them joy and the appreciation of others.

We pray for those people present who are grieving the loss of their mother in the past year.

All: Grant them comfort and hope in Christ’s resurrection.

Amen.

We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.

Generous God,

we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.

We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better.

Lord, come to bless us