Sunday after Ascension – Ansley Church

Hymn – Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small,
in all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth Thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
all praise we would render, O help us to see
’tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee!

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. (by Walter C Smith – 1824 to 1908)

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-giving 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 Jesus, My Saviour

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

What is the message Jesus is leaving with the Apostles on the Mount of Olives?

He was telling them, that he would not be with them physically, but with them spiritually.

While Jesus was talking to them, they asked the question, “When would the kingdom be handed back io Israel”? For they thought the kingdom was a physical thing and not a spiritual thing.

Before in John Chap: 17 Vers: 1 to 11, Jesus had told his disciples that he was not praying for the world, but for them. He was also trying to explain to them that He was before the word and He was with God and God was with Him.

What a hard thought to take in!

Jesus also said it was only through him that you can attain eternal life.

If we go back to our first reading, when Jesus was taken up into heaven, how would you feel watching that happen?

It would take some understanding. Then to find two men standing by them and telling them to go back to the other Apostles and tell them whathad happened. They went back to Jerusalem to the room where they all met to pray.

Peter, John, James and Andrew, Phillip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alpphaeus, Simon the Patriot, and Judas son of James. Also at the gathering was Mary Jesus’ mother, other women and Jesus’ brothers.

They as a group, gathered to pray and that is what we are doing today and many others across the world will be doing the same.

The message throughout the reading is, He may not be visible but He is with us.

As we sing “Immortal Invisible”, the words say all that the readings are telling us.

In using the words of the hymn to link together the theme of the readings, and to believe in something we cannot see, however we know that He is our saviour and our way to God is through Him to eternal life.

Without Jesus’ resurrection we would not have a church today, so, the Hymn ‘The Church One Foundation’ tell us this and ‘To God be the Glory, tells us that it is only through Jesus, that we can reach God.

The final hymn ‘Bind us Together Lord’ tells us what Jesus wants us to do and that is to live together in harmony.

Amen
.

Hymn – The Church’s One Foundation

The church’s one foundation

Is Jesus Christ her Lord;

She is his new creation

By water and the Word.

From heaven he came and sought her

To be his holy bride;

With his own blood he bought her,

And for her life he died.

Elect from every nation,

Yet one o’er all the earth;

Her charter of salvation,

One Lord, one faith, one birth;

One holy name she blesses,

Partakes one holy food,

And to one hope she presses,

With every grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder

We see her sore oppressed,

By schisms rent asunder,

By heresies distressed,

Yet saints their watch are keeping;

Their cry goes up, “How long?”

And soon the night of weeping

Shall be the morn of song.

Mid toil and tribulation,

And tumult of her war,

She waits the consummation

Of peace forevermore;

Till, with the vision glorious,

Her longing eyes are blest,

And the great church victorious

Shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union

With God the Three in One,

And mystic sweet communion

With those whose rest is won.

O happy ones and holy!

Lord, give us grace that we

Like them, the meek and lowly,

On high may dwell with thee. (by Samuel John Stone (1839 – 1900)

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

During the intercession this response is used:

Lord, m your mercy

All: Hear our prayer.

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.

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