This act of worship at home is based on the Nottingham Trent Valley Methodist Circuit Service held at Trinity Methodist Church, with material produced by Judi Smart, Tim Baker, Trevor Pratt, Twelve Baskets and the Methodist Church.

StF 347 Crown Him with many crowns - Worship Band Version | New Scottish Hymns Band

Prayer
Great God, universe-maker and life-giver:
Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour: we worship you.
Nearby God, touching and embracing God, God within: we worship you.
God of promise, God of hope, God of new beginnings: we worship you.
We ask your forgiveness for things we’ve done wrong; for words we’ve spoken that weren’t right; for thoughts that shouldn’t have happened; for resentments we have held.
Forgive us and change us we pray.
Faithful God, loving God of grace, forgiving God: you do forgive us 
We worship you.

​Song What a beautiful name - The official Lyric Video for "What A Beautiful Name"  Hillsong Worship​

Song I will worship (StF 54) By David Ruis, Stoneleigh Worship

Message
The ascension is one of the great moments in the Jesus narrative, where we see many witnesses experience a miraculous moment, and a calling – a calling to follow. Let’s reflect on N T Wright’s words as he unpicks what this momentous event might mean for us today:

'First, it is obvious that without the resurrection of Jesus the evangelists would never have had a story to tell. Thousands of young Jews were crucified by the Romans. Very few of them are even mentioned in our historical sources, except as a grisly footnote. Even those who think the evangelists were in fact very clever inventors of llarge-scale fictions designed to revive a Jesus movement that might not otherwise have survived the death (and continuing deadness, so to speak) of its founder are bound to admit that even within these cleverly designed myths the resurrection plays the vital role in opening the question up again, so that what looked like defeat, like yet another failure of a kingdom-dream, was in fact a victory.'

'The resurrection, in short, is presented by the evangelists not as a ‘happy ending’ after an increasingly sad and gloomy tale, but as the event that demonstrated that Jesus’ execution really had dealt the deathblow to the dark forces that had stood in the way of God’s new world, God’s ‘kingdom’ of powerful creative and restorative
love, arriving ‘on earth as in heaven’. That is why the bodily resurrection matters in a way that it never quite does, even to the devout who insist that they believe it, if all one is interested in is a kingdom ‘not of this world’.
The resurrection is, from Mark’s point of view, the moment when God’s kingdom ‘comes in power’. From John’s point of view, it is the launching of the new creation, the new Genesis. From Matthew’s point of view, it brings Jesus into the position for which he was always destined, that of the world’s rightful Lord, sending out his followers to call the world to follow him and learn his way of being human. From Luke’s point of view, the resurrection is the moment when Israel’s Messiah ‘comes into his glory’, so that ‘repentance for the forgiveness of sins’ can now be announced
to all the world as the way of life, indeed, as they say in Acts, as The Way.'

'It is the resurrection that declares that the cross was a victory, not a defeat. It therefore announces that God has indeed become king on earth as in heaven. Luke’s Ascension story is commonly misunderstood, but its proper emphases ought to be clear. Heaven and earth are now joined in the person – in the risen body! – of
Jesus himself. The one who sits in heaven is the one who rules on earth. He therefore sends out his followers, equipped by his own spirit, to celebrate his sovereignty over the world and make it a reality through the founding of communities rescued by his love, renewed by his power, and loyal to his name. Jesus’ followers, equipped with his spirit, are to become in themselves, individually and together, little walking temples, rescued themselves from sin through Jesus’ death, and with the living presence of God going with them and in them.'

'Jesus is the true Temple, now ruling the world as the one who was crucified; his followers, as Paul would explain more thoroughly, constitute the fuller version of the same thing, so that the dwelling of the living God is now spread increasingly across and around the world, again evidenced not by coercive or violent power, but by the rule of love.'
 (Taken from  'How God Became King' by Tom Wright)

So where does the Ascension story leave you, today?
Spend a few moments reflecting on these ‘big questions’, and perhaps find someone you trust to talk about these questions (or others that have arisen for you) during this week.
- How can we live out the gospel in our own lives?
- How does the story of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension change how we live today?
- Are we, as a church, living up to the possibilities of this story? Are we sharing this story widely and passionately enough?​

Song Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) - Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) - Hillsong United lyrics​

Prayers of response and concern
Listening God: we have many concerns for others and the world in which we all live, your people and your world. In prayer we place before you our thoughts born out of compassion, sadness, and sorrow. Out of anger, frustration and disappointment. Out of fear and uncertainty, hope and longing; a desire for a just and fair world.
Understanding God, receive our prayers.
Help us, we ask, to be your answers to prayer. 
May we live to your glory.
 Amen.

Lord’s Prayer 
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be 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.

Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.​

StF 568 Alleluia! Sing to Jesus -  by William Chatterton Dix Performance © 2021 Joy and Ruth Everingham 

 Where You go, I’ll go (I will follow) - Music video by Chris Tomlin performing I Will Follow. (P) (C) 2010 Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords. All rights reserved.

Blessing 
May Christ the Lord, who lived, who died, who was raised from the dead
And who has ascended into heaven, travel with you.
May the Christ who is amongst, around and within us strengthen you in your calling,
And hold you in your grief.
Amen.​
​

​Welcome – ‘exploring a vision of hope and healing’. This act of worship has been prepared by the Rev Christine Fox for you wherever you are at this moment.
​Both our readings today give us a vision of hope and healing – one very practical in which a man is healed who had given up hope of being healed,  and the other a vision to give hope to the persecuted Christians in John’s later years. 

Call to worship and gathering prayer 
Come if you’re healthy, come if you’re hurt.
Come if you’re hopeful, come if you’re sad.
Let God’s light shine upon you.
Let God’s life fill you.
Let God bring you healing and hope today.

God of light and life,
you see all our problems and our pains:
help us to open our hearts and minds to you,
to receive your healing and forgiveness,
and to learn how we can bring hope and healing to others.
Amen.
(From Roots)

Reflective exercise leading into thanksgiving prayer – Take a blank sheet of card or paper, on one side write down some of the light things you see in your life and/or the world and on the other side some of the dark things you see in your life and/or the world,.
Time of prayer – offer what you’ve written to God; share if you wish maybe one from the light side as a one sentence thankyou prayer 
(then offer chance to share from dark side as a request to God. – to lead into 
Intercessions – ‘leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations’ prayers for others based on uses of herbs…. 

Bay leaves – have been shown to reduce inflammation – pray for someone who suffers from arthritis or other inflammatory conditions

Eucalyptus A natural antiseptic that can be used for respiratory problems. Pray for someone who suffers from asthma, or from recurrent coughs, colds or chest infections, or long-Covid.

Fennel: Helpful in the treatment of alcoholism. Pray for someone who is struggling with this or some other addiction.

Lavender A gentle sedative and relaxant, especially in the treatment of headaches and insomnia. Pray for someone who is suffering from these or other symptoms of stress.

Rosemary A stimulant, and can be used as an anti-depressant. Pray for someone who is depressed, or recently bereaved.

 Thyme Helpful for those who are convalescing. Pray for someone who is recovering from an operation or illness. 

Lords Prayer 
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be 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.

Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.

Sending out prayer - 
Glorious God, you shine your light
into the dark places of our lives and of our world.
Gentle God, you touch us with your healing love and make us whole.
We ask you to be with us and shine through us this week,
and use us to bring hope and healing to others.
Amen.

This act of Worship at Home has been prepared by Gary Long.
​Today we will be thinking about: being open to the varieties of divine revelation and religious experience,  greeting diversity with hospitality and not fear,  being willing to expand our faith through encounters with otherness. 

Prayer
We come to worship our wonderful God, through Christ Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Abba – Father, Amma – Mother,

• We come to find your forgiveness and your love.
• We come to share our joy and our faith.
• ​​We come together to experience your power in our lives.

Fill our worship with the power and love of your Spirit infilling our lives and over-spilling in exuberant joy. Send the gifts of your Spirit today so that we may build each other up to better grow your Community of Love within this congregation and in this place.
In the name of our Lord, Jesus the Christ
Amen.

​Prayer: Praise   StF 838 Responsive reading   [Psalm 148] 
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;  praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,  for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever – he issued a decree that will never pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,  you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,  stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,  you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women, old men and children.

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his splendour is above the earth and the heavens.
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,
    the praise of all his faithful servants,
    of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

Lords Prayer 
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be 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.

Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.

Prayer:  Confession - transformation
Gracious God, 
We know how different our lives ought to be when we have come to know Jesus.
We want to say sorry to you, because we know that often, these differences are not seen in our lives.

Because of our hope in Jesus, we know we can be very bold.
Lord, forgive us when we are timid about showing that we belong to Jesus.

We know that your plan is for us all to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus.
Lord, forgive us when we do not want to change.
 
We know that because we are working for God, we should keep doing what you ask and not give up.
Lord, forgive us when we do not stick to the tasks that you give us. 

Thank you that because of your love shown to us in Jesus,
we can be forgiven and have a new start.
We are forgiven, loved and free.

Help us to put our confidence in you rather than in our own strength,
so that we may love as you love us, and grow more like Jesus.

Amen.

Introduction to theme & readings:  Theme:  Embracing diversity
God loves diversity.
Today we will be thinking about: being open to the varieties of divine revelation and religious experience,  greeting diversity with hospitality and not fear,  being willing to expand our faith through encounters with otherness. 
The church should embrace diversity, whether ethnically, racially, theologically, or sexually. Embrace does not always mean acceptance of all behaviours and opinions, but it means openness to the other’s experience.
There are two readings and two talks.  The 1st reading is from John's gospel.  We are at the Last Supper.  Judas has just left to go and betray Jesus.

Talk 1
If you knew you were about to die, what would you tell the people you love? What cherished hope or dream would you share? What last, urgent piece of advice would you offer?
In our Gospel reading this week, we hear Jesus’s answer to this difficult question.  
Judas has left the Last Supper in order to carry out his betrayal, the crucifixion fast approaching, and Jesus knows that his disciples are about to face the greatest devastation of their lives.   So he gets right to the point.  No parables, no stories, no pithy sayings.   Just one commandment.  One simple, straightforward commandment, summarizing Jesus’s deepest desire for his followers: 
“Love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

Let's just reflect on what Jesus doesn’t say.   When death comes knocking, and he has only a few hours left to communicate the heart of his message to his disciples, he doesn’t say, “Believe the right things.”   He doesn’t say, “Maintain personal and doctrinal purity.”   He doesn’t say, “Worship like this or attend a church like that.”   He doesn’t even say, “Read your Bible,” or “Pray every day,” or “Preach the Gospel to every living creature.”  
He says, “Love one another.”   That’s it.  “Love one another.”  
And so often we’ve made a mess of this commandment over the last two thousand years.   New Testament scholar D.A Carson said: “This new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, and yet it is profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice.”

When I look at my own life, it’s not too hard to explain why I, and possibly you, fail to follow Jesus’s dying wish.  Love makes us vulnerable, and I’d rather not be vulnerable.   Love requires trust, and I’ve been let down so often. Love spills over margins and boundaries, and I feel safer inside my comfort zone.   Love takes time, effort, discipline, and transformation, and I am just so busy – or is it lazy?      
And yet Jesus didn’t say,  “This is my suggestion.”    He said, “This is my commandment.”   Meaning, it’s not a choice.  Not a matter of personal preference; it’s a matter of obedience to the one we call Lord.  
But what does Jesus mean by this command to love?   Does love obey decrees?  My guess is, most of us would say no.   Shaped as we are by Hollywood, or Jane Austen novels, or romantic poetry, we usually think of love as spontaneous and free-flowing.   We fall in love.  Love is blind, it happens at first sight, it breaks our hearts, and its course never runs smooth.  

Even if we put clichés aside, we know that authentic love can’t be manipulated, simulated, or rushed without suffering distortion.  Those of us who have kids understand full well that commanding them to love each other never works.  The most we can do is insist that they behave as if they love each other: “Share your toys.” “Say sorry.”  “Don’t hit.”  “Use kind words.”   But these actions — often performed with gritted teeth and rolling eyes — aren’t the same as what Jesus is talking about.  

Jesus doesn’t say, “Act as if you love.”   He doesn’t give his disciples (or us) the easy “out” of doing nice things with clenched hearts.  He says, “Love as I have loved you.”  As in, genuinely.  As in, the whole package.  Authentic feeling, deep engagement, generous action.  

So, is Jesus asking for the impossible?   Maybe he is.   G.K Chesterton once wrote that "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult and left untried."  
Imagine what would happen if we all took this commandment of Jesus’s seriously?  If we obeyed orders and cultivated “impossible” love?  I ask these questions fearfully, because I don’t know how to answer them - even for myself. 
I mean, I know fairly well how to do things.  I know how to help at the Foodbank.   Or bring dessert to the church pot luck.   Or donate to my favourite charities.  

But do I know how to love as Jesus loved?  To feel a depth of compassion that’s gut-punching?  To experience a hunger for justice so fierce and so urgent that I rearrange my life in order to pursue it?   To empathize until my heart breaks?  
Do I really want to? 
Most of the time I don’t face up to the challenge.  I want to be safe.  I want to choose the people I love based on my own affinities and preferences — not on Jesus’s all-inclusive commandment.   I want to keep my circle of concern small and manageable.   Even there love is hard work and challenging, even among people we love – just ask a couple who have been married for decades!

Charitable actions are relatively easy.  But cultivating my heart?  Preparing and pruning it to love?  Becoming vulnerable in authentic ways to the world’s pain?   Those things are hard.  Hard and costly.
And yet this was Jesus’s dying wish.  Which means that we have a God who first and foremost wants every one of his children to feel loved.  Not shamed. Not punished.  Not chastised.  Not judged. Not isolated.   But loved.
But that’s not all.  Jesus follows his commandment with an exhilarating and terrifying promise: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.”   Love is the litmus test of Christian living.  Our love for each other is how the world will know who we are and whose we are.   Our love for each other is how the world will see, taste, touch, hear, and find Jesus.  It’s through our love that we will embody Jesus.

I can’t speak for you, but this makes me tremble. 

What Jesus seems to be saying is that if we fail to love one another, the world won’t know what it needs to know about God, and in the terrible absence of that knowing, it will believe falsehoods that break God’s heart.  That the whole Jesus thing is a sham.  That there really is no transformative power in the resurrection.   That God is a mean, angry, vindictive parent, determined only to shame and punish his children.   That the universe is a cold, meaningless place, not a place shot through with love.  
This is the power we wield in our decisions to love or not love.  The responsibility we shoulder, whether we want to or not. 
  
But here’s our saving grace: Jesus doesn’t leave us alone and unsupported.  We are not direction-less in the wilderness.  He gives us a road map, a clear and beautiful way forward: “As I have loved you.”   Follow my example, he says.  Do what I do. Love as I love.  Live as you have seen me live. 
Weep with those who weep.   Laugh with those who laugh.  Touch the untouchables.  Feed the hungry.   Welcome the child.   Release the captive.  Forgive the sinner.  Confront the oppressor.  Comfort the oppressed.  Wash each other’s feet.  Hold each other close.  Tell each other the truth.   Guide each other home.
In other words, Jesus’s commandment to us is not that we should wear ourselves out, trying to conjure love from our own easily depleted resources. 
​
Rather, it’s that we're invited to abide in the holy place where all love originates.   We can make our home in Jesus’s love — the most abundant and inexhaustible love in existence.   Our love is not our own; it is God’s, and God our source is without limit, without end.  There are no parched places God will not drench if we ask.  Our call is to mirror God’s love for us. 
“Love one another as I have loved you.”  For our own sakes.  And for the world’s.

Talk 2
How wide do you cast your net of love?  More significantly how wide should you be casting your net of love?
Our passage in Acts answers that question for Peter in one specific situation – but one with implications all the way down to us here today. 
    • Is salvation restricted to a small group or are the gates of salvation wide open?  Do we, in practice, experience our faith as limited to those like us.? Do we prefer our brand of spirituality, our type of church, our culture, ethnicity?  Do we assume that our traditions, - what we hold dear spiritually - are the fullest expressions of divine wisdom and handiwork? 
    • In fact, God is generous in revelation and salvation, and loves everyone. Our ways are not God’s ways. There is a “wideness in God’s mercy” that far exceeds our own.
In the reading from Acts, Peter is defending breaking down barriers between Jews and Gentiles. 
    • The Gentiles were considered by some early Christians as inferior and unworthy of the early church’s message and mercy.  In telling of his encounter with Cornelius, Peter proclaims that all are chosen, not just one nationality or way of worship and lifestyle.  This statement is not arbitrary but the result of divine inspiration.  God has given Cornelius and his family a full portion of the Holy Spirit and Peter affirmed these former “outsiders” as full-fledged members of the emerging Christian movement. 
    • Acceptance is not grounded in homogeneity or uniformity of ethnicity or religiosity but in divine blessing.  In accepting Cornelius as fully part of the Christian way, the emerging faith is acknowledging that diversity is a gift of God and that God will be revealed in a variety of ways, according to culture, ethnicity, and personal experience. 
    • God’s love embraces everyone, and if God’s love embraces everyone, then every person is first-class in the church and in the world.
Story:
A man took his new gun dog on a trial hunt. He shot a duck and it fell into the lake. The dog ran across the water, picked up the duck and ran back with it to his master. 
The man couldn’t believe his eyes. He shot another duck and again it fell into the lake and, again, the dog scampered across the water and brought it back to him. 

When he got home, the man asked his neighbour to go hunting with him the next day, but he didn’t tell his neighbour anything about the dog’s ability to walk on water. As on the previous day, he shot a duck and it fell into the lake. The dog ran across the water and got it. 

His neighbour didn’t say a word. Several more ducks were shot that day and each time the dog raced across the water to retrieve them and each time the neighbour said nothing. 

Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, the dog owner asked his neighbour, "Have you noticed anything different about my dog?" "Of course," replied the neighbour, "But I wasn’t mentioning it out of politeness. Your dog doesn’t know how to swim. And if it can’t swim, it’s no good as a gun dog."

How often do we reject people or think them inferior to us because they look different, or they act differently or they think differently from us? How often do we think that only people who believe exactly what we believe are acceptable to God?
Every sermon needs a “so what”:
    • The “so what” here is that God loves diversity 
    • We should be open to varieties of divine revelation and religious experience, and greet diversity with hospitality and not fear.  Be willing to expand our faith through encounters with otherness. 
    • The church should embrace diversity, whether ethnically, racially, theologically, or sexually. 
    • Embrace does not always mean acceptance of all behaviours and opinions, but it means openness to the other’s experience.
No one and nothing is unclean. 
    • No place is without divine revelation, if we believe God to be omnipresent and omni-active – present and active everywhere. 
    • Earlier we read Psalm 148, in which the Psalmist proclaims a world of praise. In its own way, everything praises God – the breaching whale and the nesting osprey, the grasshopper lingering on a backyard flower, the Muslim bowing in prayer, the faithful Catholic praying her rosary, the scholar poring over texts, the young child at play. 
    • All things, at their deepest, praise God by their very being. 

Today’s readings invite us welcome all, embrace the diversity that God has created. 
    • They invite us to action, practical expressions of love. 
    • We live in a world where no one is truly a stranger. We are all children of God’s energy of love, and bound together as companions on our fragile planet. 
    • Each moment can be saving, for as we save one soul, help one person, we contribute to God’s world-saving quest.
Amen.

Prayers for others
Loving God,
We rejoice in your love, we rejoice in your promise of a new heaven and a new earth. While we await that we pray for our world.
We pray for our country as we still try to work out the effects of Brexit and continue to learn to live with COVID. We also pray for those countries yet to have many people vaccinated. Help us to share so that the world maybe safe.
We pray for a world full of war and hatred where there are many tears- may you bring your love. Help us to love even our enemies and to serve you.
Merciful God we pray for your church that we may show your love for one another and to your world. In Jesus name. Amen

Prayer of Offering, Dedication & Thanks 
Loving God, Father & Mother of all that is. 
Thank you for the many good gifts you grant us, especially your love shown in Jesus.
Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us day by day.
Thank you that we are called to be your children - to grow more like you every day.
We bring our offerings to you and ask that you bless them.
We bring our gifts and talents to you and ask that you bless them.
We bring our lives to you and ask that you bless them.
Amen.

Blessing
May the God who raised Jesus from the dead fill you with new life,
May the love of Jesus fill every moment of your existence, 
May the Holy Spirit breath her power into every fibre of your being.
Amen.

This act of worship, has been prepared for you by Colin Firbank for use where ever you are. 
Call to worship: 
O, come, let us worship and bow down before the Lord our maker
You, Lord, are our God, and we are the people of your pasture, the sheep of your hand.
 O, come, let us listen to the voice of the Lord.
 You, Lord, are our God, and we are the people of your pasture, the sheep of your hand.
 As we explore the idea of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, we consider how we are ‘in safe hands’.

Prayers of Praise and Confession and Lord’s Prayer
Loving God, we praise you for the realities of Easter which we continue to celebrate, realities that make such a difference to life – the victory of good over evil, love over hate, life over death, the turning of weakness into strength, fear into courage, doubt into faith, a new beginning where it seemed like the end, new hope where there had seemed despair, new confidence where there had been confusion.
Teach us to live each day as your Easter people.
We praise you that Easter is not just about events long ago, but about life now, not just about others, but about us, not just about one thing, but everything.
Teach us to live each day as your Easter people.
Help us, we pray, to live each day in the light of Easter, with its joy bubbling up in our hearts, its laughter shining from our eyes and its message always on our lips. So may others, seeing the difference it has made to us, discover the difference it can make to them,
Teach us to live each day as your Easter people, to the glory of your name. Amen

Confession –
Loving God, we are here in the name of Christ, to confess our faults and failings, to acknowledge our unworthiness of your love, to seek your mercy and forgiveness, and to ask for renewal in our lives.
Lord of life, hear us.
 Receive our confession and ourselves as we come before you. Cleanse and restore us through the love of Christ, and strengthen us through the inner power of your Holy Spirit.
Lord of life, hear us
So may we serve you better and live to your glory.
Lord of life, hear us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Lord's Prayer
Our Father........

Reflection – ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.’
The shepherd and the sheep are images which go all through the bible. When you walk or drive through the British countryside at present you will be aware of sheep with their new-born lambs in the fields and on the open hillsides. There may not be a shepherd or farmer in sight. During the lambing season they could have been very busy and will constantly keep checking how things are but they do not need to be with the sheep all the time. You may have spent holidays in some countries where you do see shepherds with their sheep. They are looking after them and guiding them to places for food and drink. It is understandable why the image of the shepherd and sheep has come to describe the relationship between God, and Christ, and people. 
In the verses before our reading Jesus had talked about ‘being the good shepherd; the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep’. Among the people who had listened to this were some who said, ‘He has a demon! He is mad! Why do you listen to him?’
The response which follows is given a precise time and location. It was winter and was at the Festival of the Dedication of the Temple. It is also known as the Festival of Lights – Hanukkah. Jesus was walking in Solomon’s Porch, a place where people walked to pray and meditate. Rabbis strolled there as they talked to their students and expounded the doctrines of the faith. These were the people who would have asked the questions. Jesus replied that he had told them but they had not listened to his voice and understood. His deeds should also have made it obvious. What he did was a fulfilment of promises.
Many people have responded to Jesus’s teaching and, when they have found themselves in difficult positions, have wanted to celebrate his love. This story of Ethel Mulvaney and other women prisoners of war shows something of what this means.

Because Christ rose.
Ethel Mulvaney was a Canadian working with the Red Cross in Singapore when it fell to the Japanese on February 15th, 1942. She was interned in Changi Jail. As the first Easter approached she petitioned the Prison Commandant for permission for a group of women to sing in the courtyard (so that all could hear) on Easter morning.
‘Why?’ demanded the officer.
‘Because Christ rose from the dead on Easter morning!’ she replied.
‘Request denied’, he barked, ‘return to your compound.’
This drama of request and refusal was made twelve times as Easter drew nearer. Each time, Ethel Mulvaney suffered the same rough manhandling. Then, to their utter astonishment and joy, the day before the Sunday, came the order over the loudspeakers: ‘Women prisoners may sing for 5 minutes in courtyard No. 1 at dawn tomorrow.’ For 5 precious minutes the women praised God in song for the raising-up of Jesus. In that hell they sang of their hope and of what was a fact in their experience. Silently, they filed back to their compound.
As they passed a gateway a guard stepped up to Ethel, and from inside his brown tunic he drew out a tiny orchid. Handing it to her he whispered in broken English: ‘He is risen indeed!’
  Anon – No Empty Phrases compiled by David Hilton 

Sermon Revelation 7 v 17 ‘The Lamb will be their shepherd’
In this passage people worshipping before the throne of God come from all countries and have endured great suffering. Despite the fact that they have been victims of violence they wave the palm branches in their hands. They receive the promise that ‘they will not hunger nor thirst any more, neither sun nor any scorching heat will burn them, because the Lamb will be their shepherd and lead them to the springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ Many people have found comfort in this passage. There is a spiritual promise here, the ultimate satisfying of the hunger and thirst of the human soul. Jesus promised this in his ministry.
‘Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully.’ (Matthew ch 5 v 6)
‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will never be hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’ (John ch. 6 v 35)
We must also remember that for many people in the early church this promise would have physical meaning. They knew what it was to be ill-fed and hungry. They knew what thirst was. For them heaven would be a place where hunger was satisfied and where thirst was quenched. The greatness of the passage is that out of its promise a person can take that which their heart most yearns for. It is the promise that in Christ is the end of the world’s hunger, the world’s pain and the world’s sorrow.
Although Revelation looks ahead it was important for people at the time to see evidence of Christ’s love in action and this is what the followers of Jesus wanted to do. The reading from Acts is important in this context. The story was about Tabitha. She was highly respected for all the time she spent doing good and helping the poor – a sign that she was already filled with God’s spirit. She became ill and died. Her friends heard that Peter was nearby and asked him to come. He prayed and was able to help her up. The story witnesses to the life-giving power of the resurrection faith. Peter always insisted that this power of healing and life-giving is Christ’s. Christ’s resurrection power fills his disciples and through them fills the world. 
In our world today we hear examples of how God’s power is apparent as people respond to the needs of others. 

Prayers of intercession
God of all nations, in faith and with trusting perseverance, we pray for those suffering as a consequence of the policies and decisions of their leaders; for those living in war zones; for those fleeing their countries; for those battling with the effects of climate change; for those left with less than they need to survive; for those whose daily lives are controlled by others.
Lord Jesus, be with them through their ups and downs, 
and wipe every tear from their eyes

We pray for those who work in caring professions; those suffering from exhaustion; for those feeling demoralised; for those they aim to support and minister to; for those waiting for help and treatment; for those in the last stages of their life.
Lord Jesus, be with them through their ups and downs, 
and wipe every tear from their eyes

We pray for the church throughout the world; for leaders who have lost their way; for those ministering in divided communities; for those in places where the church is marginalised, persecuted or simple deemed irrelevant.
Lord Jesus, be with them through their ups and downs, 
and wipe every tear from their eyes

We pray for the young people of our world; for children traumatised by war and violence; for those whose abuse goes unreported; for those sitting exams; for those struggling to find their way in the world.
Lord Jesus, be with them through their ups and downs, 
and wipe every tear from their eyes

And we pray for one another; and entrust to you those things that worry us; those situations we feel helpless in; those decisions that burden us; those losses that overwhelm us.
Lord Jesus, be with them through their ups and downs, 
and wipe every tear from their eyes. Amen.

Blessing:
Loving Lord, we have come to you, to seek your help, offer our worship and declare our faith.
Now we go for you, to work for your kingdom, proclaim your love, and make know the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Go with us and grant us grace to serve you, even as through him you have served us. Amen

Our Gospel lesson is one of the most dramatic of the post-Resurrection narratives. John 21 captures the powerful rehabilitation and re-consecration of Simon Peter, the Big Fisherman. At the heart of the story is Peter, the bold and brash, who made wild and wonderful promises, only to fall short in the moment of truth, when he acted as if he did not even knew Jesus. We would like to be critical of Peter, but, in our heart of hearts, we know how often we have done the very same thing.

Let us pray together

God of all, we come to proclaim your greatness, to sing of your might and to declare your majesty. We lift up our hearts and voices to praise you for all you have accomplished in Christ.
We come to praise you for your faithfulness, your amazing grace and forgiveness.
We come to acknowledge Jesus as our Saviour and master – the way, truth and the life.
We praise you for the constant presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As we worship you today, draw us closer to you and to Christ.
Merciful God, we are ashamed of our weakness and faults, selfishness, pride and envy, the feeble discipleship and the shallowness of our faith.
Help us to live as your people, worthy of our calling and bring you honour. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prayers adapted from Nick Fawcett’s ‘Prayers for all seasons’,

A time of prayer
All knowing God, we thank you for our calling as your disciples. We acknowledge that your love is beyond our understanding. So we pray for those who feel that they are unworthy of your love…
May they be touched afresh as Peter was touched and restored by Jesus.

Lord God, we pray for those whose faith is tested daily due to poverty, persecution or any other difficulty.
May they have the courage to trust in Jesus.

We pray for those too who find Christian faith not relevant, those who are searching you in other things.
May they be moved by the Holy Spirit to ‘know’ you as St. Paul knew on the road to Damascus. 

We pray for the leaders of nations, church leaders and, our Queen and the royal family.
May they have your wisdom and discernment to act responsibly and work for the good of all.

We ask all these prayers in confidence and in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father …

A prayer of blessing
Gracious God, 
take our faith, flowed though it is,
our love, poor though it may be,
and our commitment, for all its imperfections,
and use us in your service
to make known your gracious purpose,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer taken from Nick Fawcett, Prayers for all seasons, book 2, p. 655, no. 309