Hymn – Amazing Grace
- Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.
- ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!
- Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come:
’tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
- The Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.
- Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease:
I shall possess, within the veil,
a life of joy and peace.
- The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
the sun forbear to shine;
but God, who called me here below,
will be forever mine. (by John Newton, 1779)
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
All: And also with you
Loving Lord,
Fill us with your life-giving,
joy-givingr peace-giving presence,
That we may praise you now with our lips,
and all the day long with our lives
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Cast your burden upon the Lord
All: And he will sustain you
Create in us clean hearts, O God
All: And renew a right spirit within us
Cast us not away from your Presence
All: And take not your Holy Spirit from us
Give us the joy of your saving help
All: And sustain us with your life-giving Spirit
Blessed be the Lord day by day
All: The God of our salvation, who bears our burdens.
We have a moment of quiet, to call to mind the things we
Have thought, said and done which we know grieve the God
who loves us
Come, let us return to the Lord and say:
All: Almighty God
Long-suffering and of great goodness
I confess to you.
I confess with my whole heart
My neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments
My wrong doing, thinking and speaking:
The hurts I have done to others,
And the good I have left undone.
O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you;
And raise me to newness of life;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May the God of love and power
Forgive us and free us from our sins,
Heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
And raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
We praise God for his love and forgiveness with:-
Hymn – My Song is Love Unknown
- My song is love unknown,
my Savior’s love to me,
love to the loveless shown
that they might lovely be.
Oh, who am I,
that for my sake
my Lord should take
frail flesh and die?
- He came from his blest throne
salvation to bestow,
but such disdain! So few
the longed-for Christ would know!
But oh, my friend,
my friend indeed,
who at my need
his life did spend!
- Sometimes they crowd his way
and his sweet praises sing,
resounding all the day
hosannas to their King.
Then “Crucify!”
is all their breath,
and for his death
they thirst and cry.
- Why? What has my Lord done?
What makes this rage and spite?
He made the lame to run,
he gave the blind their sight.
Sweet injuries!
Yet they at these
themselves displease
and ‘gainst him rise.
- They rise and needs will have
my dear Lord made away.
A murderer they save,
the Prince of life they slay.
Yet cheerful he
to suff’ring goes
that he his foes
from death might free.
- In life, no house, no home
my Lord on earth might have;
in death, no friendly tomb,
but what a stranger gave.
What may I say?
Heav’n was his home
but mine the tomb
wherein he lay.
- 7 Here might I stay and sing;
no story so divine,
never was love, dear King,
never was grief like thine.
This is my friend,
in whose sweet praise
I all my days
could gladly spend! (by Samuel Crossman – 1623 to 1684)
Our First Reading is from – Acts Chap: 1
6 When the apostles met together with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time give the Kingdom back to Israel?”
7 Jesus said to them, “The times and occasions are set by my Father’s own authority, and it is not for you to know when they will be.
8 But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After saying this, he was taken up to heaven as they watched him, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They still had their eyes fixed on the sky as he went away, when two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them
11 and said, “Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”
12 Then the apostles went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is about half a mile away from the city.
13 They entered the city and went up to the room where they were staying: Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Patriot, and Judas son of James.
14 They gathered frequently to pray as a group, together with the women and with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.
This is the word of the Christ
All: Praise to you oh Christ
Our Second Reading is From – John Chap: 17
1 After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you.
2 For you gave him authority over all people, so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him.
3 And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
4 I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do.
5 Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.
6 “I have made you known to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your word,
7 and now they know that everything you gave me comes from you.
8 I gave them the message that you gave me, and they received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me.
9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those you gave me, for they belong to you.
10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine; and my glory is shown through them.
11 And now I am coming to you; I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. Holy Father! Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one just as you and I are one.
This is the word of the Christ
All: Praise to you oh Christ
Sermon
Service
The readings are about service to others and not of greatness.
Jesus had ascended the disciples had lost their leader, but He was to send the Holy Spirit.
Before he left he prayed for them so that they could spread love and forgiveness.
These 12 ordinary men were given the strength to set the standards.
We too are small in number but each small good deed helps to spread the Gospel
We are to Love God and our neighbour and remember He is always with us.
Amen
Hymn – I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
- I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene,
and wonder how he could love me,
a sinner, condemned, unclean.
Refrain: How marvellous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! How wonderful
is my Saviour’s love for me!
- For me it was in the garden
he prayed: “Not my will, but thine.”
He had no tears for his own grief’s,
but sweat-drops of blood for mine.
Refrain: How marvellous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! How wonderful
is my Saviour’s love for me!
- In pity angels beheld him,
and came from the world of light
to comfort him in the sorrows
he bore for my soul that night.
Refrain: How marvellous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! How wonderful
is my Saviour’s love for me!
- He took my sins and my sorrows,
he made them his very own;
he bore the burden to Calvary,
and suffered and died alone.
Refrain: How marvellous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! How wonderful
is my Saviour’s love for me!
- When with the ransomed in glory
his face I at last shall see,
’twill be my joy through the ages
to sing of his love for me.
Refrain: How marvellous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! How wonderful
is my Saviour’s love for me! (by Chas. H. Gabriel – 1856 to 1932)
Let us declare our faith in God.
All: We believe in God the Father,
From whom every family
In heaven and on earth is named.
We believe in God the Son
Who lives in our hearts through faith,
And fills us with his love.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit
Who strengthens us
With power from on high.
We believe in one God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Prayers and Intercessions
Prayers for King Charles III
Through this tritium of prayer we ask God’s continuing blessing on our new King Charles 111
Prayer
O God, to whom every human power is subject,
grant to your servant our sovereign Charles 111
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 Family
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.
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
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the wisdom of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to make us wise to understand your will.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the peace of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to keep us confident of your love wherever you call us.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the healing of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to bring reconciliation and wholeness
where there is division, sickness and sorrow.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to equip us for the work which you have given us.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the fruit of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to reveal in our lives the love of Jesus.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the breath of your Holy Spirit,
given us by the risen Lord.
We ask you to keep the whole Church, living and departed,
in the joy of eternal life.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
All: Generous God,
hear our prayer,
and make us one in heart and mind
to serve you with joy for ever.
Amen.
We gather our thoughts and prayers in the words our Saviour gave us
All: Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed by your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as 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 for ever.
Amen.
Hymn – In heavenly love abiding
1 In heavenly love abiding,
no change my heart shall fear;
and safe is such confiding,
for nothing changes here:
the storm may roar without me,
my heart may low be laid;
but God is round about me,
and can I be dismayed?
2 Wherever he may guide me,
no want shall turn me back;
my Shepherd is beside me,
and nothing can I lack:
his wisdom ever waketh,
his sight is never dim,
he knows the way he taketh,
and I will walk with him.
3 Green pastures are before me,
which yet I have not seen;
bright skies will soon be o’er me,
where darkest clouds have been;
my hope I cannot measure,
my path to life is free;
my Saviour has my treasure,
and he will walk with me. (by Anna Letitia Waring-1823-1910)
The Blessing
Praise God who loves us.
All Praise God who cares.
May God, who gave birth to all creation, bless you:
may God, who became incarnate by an earthly mother, bless you:
may God, who broods as a mother over her children, bless you.
May almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever
All: Amen.
Hymn – How lovely on the mountains (Our God Reigns)
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil
And keep us in eternal life.
All: Amen
© 702211.