Dear Friends,

I am writing to you from a house full of flowers! The fragrance from the blooms fills each room with the smell of a beautiful garden, and the colours are spectacular! I have used every vase I own, and my collection of blue and white jugs are filled with friendly, yellow daffodils. Every flower is a gift of love from my wonderful collection of friends and family. You see it was my birthday this week, and although I am not able to see many of the folks I love, their presence is made visible by their gifts of flowers and cards, and in some cases cake! One of my birthday cards, all the way from America, says this, ‘Birthdays remind us how good God is.’ How true that is!

The gifts we give illustrate our love for our family and friends. For some the presents speak the words that are hard to say. The bouquet of flowers, the image, and printed message in a greetings card they are all visual representations of feelings and emotions that are hard to articulate. Yet when the person receives those gifts, those unspoken words that have been so carefully wrapped in tissue paper, sealed in an envelope, chosen, and delivered, there are no words to express the gratitude and feelings of overwhelming joy that is felt. To be valued, appreciated, to know your life, your happiness, matters to others, is beyond words. How thankful and humble we silently feel.

In the final days of Lent let us reflect on the great gift we receive everyday – the love of God. We are valued and appreciated, and we do matter in fact we matter so much Jesus was prepared to give His life for us so we might live – so our joy may be complete.

And that is not only the icing, but the meaning, and the candle on the cake of our lives! And that Light shines from here to eternity.

Thank you for all your good wishes, and God bless you all.

Julie Ann

Julie Ann Heath

07801 467348

 

Melbourne URC Sunday – 21st March 2021 (5th Sunday of Lent.)

Morning Prayer.

An opening prayer you may wish to use:

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

(Let us take a moment to be silent and rest in God’s love.)

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever. Amen.

 

Hymn:  Meekness and majesty (Graham Kendrick 1986)

Meekness and majesty, manhood and deity, in perfect harmony, the man who is God:

Lord of eternity dwells in humanity, kneels in humility and washes our feet.

 

O what a mystery, meekness and majesty:

bow down and worship, for this is your God, this is your God!

 

Father’s pure radiance, perfect in innocence, yet learns obedience to death on a cross:

Suffering to give us life, conquering through sacrifice; and, as they crucify, prays, ‘Father, forgive.’

 

O what a mystery, meekness and majesty:

bow down and worship, for this is your God, this is your God!

 

Wisdom unsearchable God the invisible, Love indestructible in frailty appears.

Lord of infinity, stooping so tenderly, lifts our humanity to the heights of His throne.

 

O what a mystery, meekness and majesty:

bow down and worship, for this is your God, this is your God!

 

A time of reflection and confession.

Let us take a moment to look into our hearts and remember those occasions when we wished we had responded differently. Let us share them with the Lord. The Lord knows the truth of our hearts.

You may wish to use this prayer of confession for Lent:

Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin;

Lord, have mercy. Lord have mercy.

 

Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me;

Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

 

Cast me not away from your presence and take not your holy spirit from me;

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

 

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. Amen.

 

 

Bible Reading: Jeremiah 31: 31-34 The New Covenant.

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt – a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

 

Bible Reading: John 12: 20 – 33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came up to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder.

Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

 

Reflection.

I once heard a sermon preached on the notion of hibernation in relation to our spiritual journey. I was reminded of it recently when I was watching a bird fly in and out of the vine which grows up the side of our house. It is often a place where birds build their nests. Within the vine the nest can be securely held, but also protected from the elements. There is a clear view across the lawn down to the pond, or pool, borders of plants, a stack of logs, and a bird table, all providing a ‘supermarket’ choice of food for birds. This particular bird, I’m not sure of the variety, was, I believe, looking for somewhere to make a home – it was preparing for the future.

I know I am a person that guides you to reflect on your personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ – to share your life with Him. I want you to know how loved you are, and not by me just telling you, but by you feeling that sense of peace and joy in your heart that only Christ can bring. I know from personal experience how feeling the closeness of God in your life can make a huge difference. You could say that my life had been in hibernation and suddenly spring arrived. I am sure that many of you have had that experience and feel the same. It says in our reading, ‘for they shall all know me.’

As I’ve said before, I wouldn’t know any of you if it wasn’t for Jesus. I met Him, followed Him, and the path brought me to you. He introduced me to you, and now here we are, together with Christ at our centre. We have made our home in the Vine.

The last year has been extraordinarily challenging. Our life, although the same in many ways, in most it has been unrecognisable. We have witnessed loss and hardship, some more than others, and we shouldn’t underestimate how difficult it has been. The Day of Reflection on March 23rd is a time when we may wish to look back, to consider how we feel, I have included a prayer that might be helpful, but there are other resources available if you need them.

There have been so many sacrifices, but there are signs of hope that our season of ‘hibernation’ could be, even if it is cautiously, and sensibly, slowly unfolding. This could be a time to look up and out, even if it is still through the window, and see what is happening outside.

Each of us has a destiny, a path that God lays out for us to follow. Jesus is there to guide us, and the Holy Spirit is there to encourage us, and that Trinity of love surrounding each of us should give us confidence and courage to step out in faith. We believe in One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let that Divine love enfold you. Let it guide and inspire you as you look out of your window into your community. How can you be that grain, the one that Jesus talks of, the one that brings life? And how can we support one another to be the branches, to be fruitful, in the seasons ahead? What has God revealed to you over these weeks? Where is Jesus leading you? What inspiration has come to you through the Holy Spirit?

Jesus tells us, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.”

Write your thoughts and inspirations down – keep them safe. Pray about them.

And when the time is right, and appropriate, maybe we can share them with each other. Experience tells me that there will be harmony and cohesion. And those grains, those seeds of inspiration, will grow into something beautiful, joyful, truthful, and full of love.

God has a wonderful plan for us be in no doubt! Hallelujah!

 

Hymn: From heaven You came (Graham Kendrick 1983)

From heaven You came, helpless babe, entered our world, Your glory veiled, not to be served but to serve, and give Your life that we might live.

This is our God, the Servant King, He calls us now to follow Him, to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the Servant King.

 

There in the garden of tears my heavy load He chose to bear; His heart with sorrow was torn, ‘Yet not my will but yours,’ He said.

This is our God, the Servant King, He calls us now to follow Him, to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the Servant King.

 

Come see His hands and His feet, the scars that speak of sacrifice, hands that flung stars into space to cruel nails surrendered.

This is our God, the Servant King, He calls us now to follow Him, to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the Servant King.

 

So let us learn how to serve and in our lives enthrone Him, each other’s needs to prefer, for it is Christ we’re serving.

This is our God, the Servant King, He calls us now to follow Him, to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the Servant King.

 

Prayers of Intercession.

Let us take time now to offer our prayers to the Lord. Praying for peace, for the hungry, the thirsty, the frightened and persecuted. For the Church, and our church family, our community, our family and friends, for those that are suffering, for those we have lost, for those that are grieving, and for ourselves.

You may wish to use the prayers below. The prayers were written to remind us how our faith must be earthed in our daily situation and suggests that we include the name of the place we live. I have used Melbourne but please adapt to your own situation.

Living God, we thank you for all you have done for us in Christ.

You have given a new dimension to our lives, a hope and a purpose not of this world,

a taste of eternal life with all the fulfilment that offers, resources to meet whatever challenges we may face.

Lord of life, hear our prayer.

 

We praise you that through faith we are able to glimpse things as yet unseen, that we are part of the great company of your people in heaven and on earth,

that we are pilgrims together in a journey of discovery that we are in Christ.

Lord of life, hear our prayer.

 

But we thank you also that you have given us life in this world that you have called us to serve you in a particular place and time, that we are Christians here in Melbourne.

Lord of life, hear our prayer.

 

We thank you for all this community has to offer, for all the ways we are part of it and all the people who live here.

Help us to work out our faith in this place, offering service to the community in which we are set,

making the Gospel real in our activities, our relationships, our attitudes.

Lord of life, hear our prayer.

 

Living God, help us to anticipate your kingdom, but help us also to keep our feet on the ground, remembering that this begins now and not at some distant point in the future, on earth and not simply in heaven, here in Melbourne as much as anywhere.

Lord of life, hear our prayer.

 

Help us truly to be in Christ, in Melbourne to the glory of your name.

Amen.

 

The Lord’s Prayer.

 

A Lenten Acclamation you may wish to use:

This is love, not that we loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his Son.

He is the sacrifice for our sins,

that we might live through him.

If God loves us so much

we ought to love one another.

If we love one another

God lives in us.                                                                                 1 John 4: 10-12

 

Hymn:  Will you come and follow me (John L. Bell & Graham Maule – Iona Community 1987)

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?

Will you go where you don’t know, and never be the same?

Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known, will you let my life be grown in you, and you in me?

 

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?

Will you care for cruel and kind, and never be the same?

Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare, will you let me answer prayer in you , and you in me?

 

Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?

Will you set the pris’ners free, and never be the same?

Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen, and admit to what I mean in you, and you in me?

 

Will you love the ‘you’ you hide if I but call your name?

Will you quell the fear inside, and never be the same?

Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around through my sight and touch and sound in you, and you in me?

 

Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.

Let me turn and follow you, and never be the same.

In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show.

Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you, and you in me.

 

The Grace.

 

©Mission Praise 2014

©Times and Seasons, Common Worship 2006

©2008 Kevin Mayhew Anglican Hymns Old & New

©Nick Fawcett, Prayers for all Seasons 1998

 

A prayer for the National Day of Reflection.

March 23rd, 2021

 

God of Love,

As we think about all that has changed this year,

help us to trust that you are always with us.

As we remember those who have died,

help us to trust they are at peace with you.

As we reach out to others with kindness and care,

may hope shine out in every heart and home.

Amen.                                                                                                                                  (leicester.anglican.org) Marie Curie

 

Easter Day Sunday April 3rd, 2021

As we look ahead to our Easter celebrations we are hoping to hold a service of thanksgiving in church.

This will be, of course, subject to COVID-19 guidelines, and the decision will have to be carefully reviewed on the days leading up to the service to assess any changes in the risk assessment or in the government’s advice. If that happens you will be notified of any cancellation.

Subject to all things being well, there are just a few things we need to remind ourselves of as we prepare to come to church.

Listed below are some of the things to consider:

• Seating: There will be limited availability due to social distancing measures, so it is essential that you reserve a place with Margaret (01332 862175) before the service.

Please do not attend the service if you, or any member of your household, are showing symptoms. Please do not attend if you have been asked to self-isolate.

• Social Distancing: please remember to keep 2m distance from each other, even outside.
• Face coverings: face coverings MUST be worn in church.
• Hand cleaning: please use the sanitisers provided when entering and leaving the building. They are positioned inside and outside the two main doors to avoid congestion on entering and exiting.
• Track and Trace Forms: Please leave your completed form (which will be on your seat) in the box by the side door on your way out.
• Enter by the main door: you will be guided to a reserved seat using the one-way system.
• Exit by the side door: please leave as quickly as you are able after the service ends. No conversations should take place in church.
• Music: There will be no congregational singing, but there will be some music played during the service.
• Toilets: The toilets are available in the school room. If you need to use the facilities please exit via the side door and return through the front door.
• Prayer and Candle lighting requests: Please let Janet (01332 863445) know of any prayer requests. If you would like a candle to be lit for a loved one or a situation please contact Chris (01332 862814)