Service for 15/11/2020

Posted by Barbara Nadin on 13 November 2020

Fairmount House,    Ashby de la Zouch

November 2020

 

Dear Friends,

I hope you are all keeping well? I can’t believe two weeks have passed since our service in church.

The familiar routine of lockdown is back in play here at Fairmount. This time we are concentrating on decorating one of the rooms in the house, although we have spent a considerable amount of time gathering up leaves in the garden. I love the colours! As I have mentioned before, we have a large fig tree in our garden, and the leaves have turned a soft, buttery yellow. When they lie there on the lawn, curled up at the edges, they look like open hands lying on the ground waiting to be filled. Yes, I know that is me being romantic and imaginative, but there we are!

Our house is nearly a hundred years old, so it isn’t straight forward when you come to decorate – there is always some unexpected discovery to catch us out. Then there is my imagination to contend with! You see I am trying not to buy new furniture but reimagine the pieces we already have in a different way. I am inspired by the notion of upcycling and recycling rather than sending items to the tip. This, of course, is a good idea but as all ideas someone has to make them work. ‘Barry!’ you hear me call, on numerous occasions. I believe that is why my dear husband has developed selective hearing. Sometimes he pretends he hasn’t heard my cries, and yet he can identify the sound of the kettle boiling, and the rattle of the biscuit tin, from down the garden!

Seeing something in another way isn’t always straight forward, it involves change, and change isn’t for everyone. In changing something you can risk losing some of the item’s original appeal but on the other hand, with the right help, you can preserve the history of a piece but give it a fresh role and purpose. We can witness this by watching the numerous television programmes that cover this topic, but can we do this for ourselves? It takes a shared vision, imagination, time and skill, of course, and in my case a Barry, but what was once an old, tired cupboard is now a stylish piece of storage which compliments the décor of the room perfectly.

We too can feel tired, and we can be unsure of our purpose at present, but as the television programme, ‘The Repair Shop’ shows us, things can be restored. We are here to support each other in this time of change. We, as a church, look differently, with our doors shut again, but we are still devoted, and we know that Jesus’ love is constantly restoring and reviving us.

You may want to put the kettle on now to celebrate what a friend you have in Jesus, and, of course, all the friendships we share in our church family.

See you soon!

Love & blessings

Julie Ann

 

Julie Ann Heath

07801 467348

01530 414549

 

Melbourne URC               Sunday 15th November 2020       Morning Worship.

Hymn: O Lord my God! (Translation: Stuart K Hine)

 

O Lord my God!

When I in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hand hath made;

I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed:

Then sings my soul,

my Saviour God, to thee,

how great thou art! How great thou art!

Then sings my soul,

my Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art! How great thou art!

 

When through the woods and forest glades I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul……………..

 

And when I think that God, his Son not sparing, sent him to die – I scarce can take it in:

That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin:

Then sings my soul………………

 

Saying Sorry to God – A prayer you may wish to use.

My God, for love of you I desire to forsake all sins by which I have ever displeased you;

And I resolve by the help of your grace to commit them no more;

And to avoid all opportunities of sin.

Help me to do this, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us remember that when we come to God with a repentant heart, and confess our sins, we will be forgiven:

May God who loved the world so much that he sent his Son to be our Saviour forgive us our sins and make us holy to serve him in the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

Psalm 95 

O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving and be glad in him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth and the heights of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands have moulded the dry land.

Come, let us worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is our God; we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

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.

 

Bible Reading: Matthew 25: 14-30 The Parable of the Talents.

“It will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them The man who had received the five talents brought the other five, ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents See, I have gained five more.’

His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

The man with two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

Take the talent from him and give it to one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

 

Reflection.

You will have heard this parable many times before, and sometimes when we have heard something before we don’t always listen fully the second time, or third, fourth or even fifth, it can, as is often said, ‘wash over us’, we know this one I can hear you saying, and yet with Jesus’ parables it would be, in my opinion, a missed opportunity to not engage with Jesus’ words.

The chapter before 25, chapter 24, has the heading in my bible, ‘Jesus teaches on the Mount of Olives.’ Verse 3, says this, As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?’

You see Jesus had just left the temple with the disciples and referring to the temple buildings, he tells them that ‘not one stone here will be left on another, everyone will be thrown down.’ 

As you can imagine this statement shocked the disciples, so no wonder they came up to him later privately to question him on what he had said. You may want to read Jesus’ reply for yourself but it is in the context of the disciple’s questions that the parable we read today sits.

Reading this parable again made me feel uncomfortable. It made me ask myself – what kind of servant am I? What would I have done in this situation?

This parable, a story of a master, his servants and money, (By the way, a talent, I understand, was worth several hundred pounds.), like all good stories, has a beginning, a middle and an end.      

The master is going on a journey and he decides to leave his property and money behind, and he trusts his servants to take care of his cash. Note how he distributes the money based on the ability of each servant. (How often have we been told by wise folks that God never gives us any task to do that we can’t cope with. )The master in our story clearly knows the ability of each of his servants, no one is left out - every servant is given some responsibility. Each is given an amount of money to care for.

This is where I begin to feel uncomfortable. How would I have responded to this task? What would I have done with the money? Where money is concerned I am cautious, this is because there has been a time in my life when money was scarce, so in some ways I can sympathise with the servant that buried the money. He didn’t want to take any risks. He didn’t want to be held accountable for losing someone else’s money. He didn’t want to gamble. He had probably experienced how people act when they lose money. He also had some strong opinions on his master behaviour. He was afraid of him. So surely it is fair enough to take the safe option and bury the money? That’s if we are talking about money of course.

Stories about the acquisition of money and property tend to catch people’s attention so I would suspect this story engaged the disciples’ interest. Money was, and remains to be, precious, and yet as all parables, this story has many layers. The currency of God’s kingdom is precious too but it isn’t money – it is love. God’s love is so precious and so powerful that it is without end. The most wonderful quality about love is that the more love you share, the more there is. There is no need to bury it in the ground, there is no need to be afraid of losing it - Jesus employs us to share it. And I choose the word employ for a reason. For those of us who have chosen to respond to God’s call, to follow Jesus, it is our job to tell of this love. I don’t believe there is a set job description for how each of us should carry out this job, this commandment, to love – we have to discover that for ourselves, but Jesus’ commandment applies to us every day. It is our responsibility. Who else is going to speak to others, through word and action?

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’

‘I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.’ John 15

Let us read Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians 5: 1-11:

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

‘Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.’

St. Paul’s words are true for me too. My experience of meeting you all has been one of warmth and kindness. It has been such a hopeful experience. Thank you for encouraging me. Thank you for inviting me to be part of your church family. Thank you for your generous welcome. Your appreciation of my ministry and my friendship has been transformational – it has built me up. If your openness and love has had such an impact on me, and Barry, what more can we do together, to express Jesus’ gift of love, faith and hope to others? Let us have the courage to share the treasure not bury it! Amen.

 

Hymn: Take my life (Frances Ridley Havergal)

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee;

Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

 

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love;

take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

 

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King;

take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.

 

Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold;

take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

 

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine;

take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.

 

Take my love; my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store;

take myself, and I will be ever only, all, for Thee.

 

Prayers of Intercession.

Please use this time to pray for each other, for those we know to be suffering, the world, our community and yourself.

The Lord’s Prayer.

 

Grace.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

And the love of God,

And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,

Be with us all evermore.

Amen.

 

Hymn:  May God’s Blessing (Cliff Barrows)

May God’s blessing surround you each day,

As you trust Him and walk in His way.

May His presence within guard and keep you from sin,

go in peace, go in joy, go in love.

 

©Mission Praise

©New Patterns for Worship – The Archbishop’s Council 2002

© Life Application Study Bible

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