​StF 331 ​King of Kings Majesty

​Prayer
A prayer of adoration
Lord God, you uphold those who are falling and raise up those who are bowed down. In our weakness and weariness we come in to your house. Lift our eyes and broaden our horizons that we may set our minds on the things which are above, in the peace and joy of your presence and worship you with glad and praising hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession
Lord God, we know that we have not always been truly thankful of your gift of Jesus to our lives and we have not always followed his example – forgive us. And even though sometimes, life is complicated, choices are difficult and we face hard decisions. Help us to choose the right way. Help us to see the truth. Help us to follow the way you have shown us in Jesus For this we ask in his name. Amen​

Readings: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 NIV Translation ​

​Message -The Indescribable Gift

​Intersessions (From the Methodist Church Worship at Home website)
We represent God, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ our Saviour. We pray today for those struggling in the aftermath of the pandemic with mental health, bereavement, economic downturn, and … (name your situation). We have lost family members and friends, and as a nation we have lost any economic stability we thought was possible. May we be salt to those around us.
In the name of Christ. Amen

We pray for the results of global warming throughout the world: forest fires, mud slides, flooding, higher than usual temperatures, volcanic eruptions and much more. May we be salt to those around us.
In the name of Christ.  Amen

​StF 586 Here Is bread, Here is Wine

​Dismissal and Blessing
God, whose overflowing grace has blessed us all our days, we give ourselves to you again. Use us for your kingdoms sake and grant us that peace, beyond our understanding, which guards our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ our Lord.
And may the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you always. Amen

Opening prayer
Loving Lord, we come to worship you. We come as we are - with all the that has happened in the past week, We come as we are with our joys and with our worries. Help us to be still and to know that you are present with us. Amen. ​

​Prayer 
Loving Lord, we thank you that you are with us, through all the different situations in our lives.
Those times when our lives are filled with joy and celebration: you are with us.
Those times when we face difficulties and problems: you are with us.
In a moment of quiet: thank God for something from this past week.
(Pause)


Loving Lord, we are, sorry for the things that we have done wrong this week. 
For the times we have hurt others by our words and actions,
For the times we have not done something that we should have.
For the ways that our lives adversely affect the environment.
Forgive us
(Pause)
God’s grace is so amazing, his love so embracing, that he forgives us when we say sorry.
And he calls us to follow Him.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

​Reading
I wonder if you know the phrase “talk the talk, and walk the walk”. It is about not just being able to say, but also live out what we say. Do our lives - and our speech - reflect our faith …. in the places where we live, work and meet with others?
Read what James says in his letter : James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a

​Message

Your Preparation for prayers for others
On a piece of paper write down the headings.
You may wish to use different colours for each area.
Our world
Our nation
Our neighbourhood
Our church
Me.
Under each heading note down things that come to mind, celebrations and concerns, people or situations. You may use words, symbols, pictures as your prayer. ​

​Prayers for others
In our prayers bring to mind those situations that you have heard of seen - on the TV, radio or social media.
Those situations or people known to you.
After each phrase there will be a time of quiet to bring those things you have written down to God.


We pray for our world: 
for places where there is conflict and warfare,
for places affected by fire or flooding, for areas being impacted by climate change,
For the leaders of our world - that they would act with integrity and wisdom.
Lord, we pray for our world.
(Pause)


We pray for our community here in Wollaton.
For our businesses, schools and colleges, and the health service.
Lord, we pray for our community
(Pause)




We pray for  our church here at Kingswood,
For our minister, stewards and all those involved in the work of this place.
for those met here today and those at home.
For those who are going through challenging times and those who are unwell,
Lord, we pray for our church.
(Pause)


We pray for ourselves.
We bring to you the week ahead: the things that we look forward to in anticipation,
The things that we look forward to in apprehension.
Help us to live wisely, gently and to be peacemakers.
Lord, we pray for ourselves.
(Pause)


Loving Lord. We bring our prayers. Amen

​The 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.

​STF 707: Make me a channel of your peace

​Blessing
May we know God with us in today and in the coming week,
May his love enfold us, his peace calm us, and his grace fill us with hope.
We go in His name to live out his message in our world. Amen.

​Do things sometimes turn out more complicated than you thought?
​Do you come to church to be given questions or answers?
Have you ever found that asking the right question is more important than trying to find the answer? 

​Opening 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.

​StF 272 From heaven you came, helpless babe

Prayer: Praise
Eternal and loving God,
Mother and Father of all that is: you are the source of all life the origin of all wisdom the well- spring of all grace,

Your days are without end your creation is infinite your loving mercies without number, your boundless goodness reaches to the depths of our being.

We depend on you: we remember your gracious care of us, your unsparing love for us, and to those who have gone before us.

We tell your story in every generation: God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God of Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

You are our God, ahead of us, leading us, guiding us and calling us, God of a pilgrim people, your Church.

You are the Lord God, the all-wise, the all-compassionate, the all-loving. To you we lift up our hearts. We worship you, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

​Confession
Let us pray.
God of mercy, hear us as we confess our sins. For the sin that has made us slow to learn from Christ, reluctant to follow him, and afraid to bear the cross:
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, forgive.

For the sin that has caused the poverty of our worship, the formality and selfishness of our prayers, our neglect of fellowship and the means of grace, and our hesitating witness for Christ:
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, forgive.

For the sin that has led us to misuse your gifts, evade our responsibilities, and fail to be good stewards of your creation:
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, forgive.

For the sin that has made us unwilling to overcome evil with good, tolerant of injustice, quick to condemn, and selfish in sharing your love with others:
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, forgive.

SILENCE

Have mercy on us, O God, in your constant love; in the fullness of your mercy wash away all our guilt, and cleanse us from our sin.​

Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. Give us the joy of your help again and strengthen us with a willing spirit. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just. He will forgive us, cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and renew us in his love. Therefore to all who truly repent this is his gracious word: 'Our sins are forgiven.'
Amen. Thanks be to God.

​StF 471 Lord, I come to you

​Introduction to reading
Do you come to church to be given questions or answers?
Have you ever found that asking the right question is more important than trying to find the answer?
When someone has a problem my first instinct is to solve it for them. But I have found, by experience, that is seldom the best thing to do. Sometimes people do want things sorted for them but often they just need to talk. Or to get to the solution themselves. Asking the right questions is generally the most powerful way to find out what they want.
Today we are doing questions! See if you find yourself asking any questions as you read this passage from from Mark.

Reading: Mark 8:27-38

Message
Do things sometimes turn out more complicated than you thought?
They do for me. I play table tennis. As I am now retired I thought I would help out in the running of the local league. They recently asked for volunteers to fill a vacancy as League Secretary. I have plenty of experience of taking minutes, preparing agendas and so on, so I put my name forward. There were no other volunteers and so I was 'elected'.
I should have looked more carefully! There is a role of 'Minutes Secretary' so all the things I thought I would be doing are already being done by someone else. My new role was much different, and more challenging, than what I thought I volunteered for.
This passage – very familiar and seemingly straightforward at first glance - is actually full of ambiguity and challenge.
We will go through the passage and look at what it might mean and how it might be understood. Then a a brief run through of some of the many questions that face us from the passage.
'What do people think of me?' Jesus asks.'
The disciples say that the people's answer is that Jesus is a prophet. Is this really all the disciples said in reply to this question? I’m speculating here, but I wonder if the disciples also offer Jesus some of the harsher answers they’ve picked up during their travels: “Some people say you’re a fraud. A heretic. A demon. A madman.” “Some folks think you’re a traitor to Rome.” “Actually, a lot of people don’t care who you are.”

Who do you say I am?
The disciples own, Peter's, answer is that Jesus is the Messiah. With his second question, Jesus asked his followers to put aside other people’s interpretations, and say what they thought. It’s not enough, he implies, to recite the creeds, the traditions, the theologies, the abstractions. It’s not sufficient to rely on other people’s answers. At some point, our faith must become personal. Intimate. Description must yield to commitment. Who do you say that I am?

What did Peter mean by Messiah?
There were different interpretations, ways of understanding that title at the time. The basic meaning is 'Anointed One' - someone consecrated by God for a particular task. This would include being given the power and authority to get the job done. But, did the task cover physical or spiritual deliverance? Was it to take place as part of history or as the 'end times'?
Jesus calls himself 'Son of Man' or [lower case] son of man.
Again the phrase has different meanings. They range from 'a human being/everyman', me – or as the Queen might say 'one', to a semi-divine being with authority from God [For example in Daniel 7:13–14 where 'one like a son of man' receives authority, glory & sovereign power]. But the phrase is less politically charged than Messiah. There is less, 'baggage' in meaning – but still some. Jesus explains the meaning for him. Jesus possibly reflects the suffering servant from Isaiah 53 in his understanding.
'Take up your cross.'
What did this mean to Jesus' followers before his crucifixion? People bore crosses to execution, but clearly he didn't expect everyone to actually carry a cross through their daily living. It may have been a metaphor for carrying burdens through human life. But probably implied more than just that.
​
Life and Soul.
The same Greek word is translated either 'life' or 'soul' within a few verses in our reading. So how does the different translation affect our understanding. Clearly the translators, because they had to to, made a decision. What does 'save life' and 'lose it' mean in this context? I believe the purpose of passage is to set out clearly the choice Jesus is putting before his disciples & hearers – and us! What is expected of them, what might happen to them and to give them the chance to respond positively. And, as we read it today the choice is put before us.
We will now consider a few questions which may have an implication for our lives.

• How do you mainly see Jesus? Human, divine, both? Prophet, Messiah, Christ, Son of God, Son of Man, God?

• 1. Who we think Jesus is will determine how far we’ll go in following him.
  2. How large or tiny a cross we'll bear in his name.
  3. How fearlessly we’ll profess him to a world that needs the love and healing he offers.
  4. How humbly we’ll repent of the church’s failures, and begin again to be Christ’s hands and feet to those in need.
  5. How boldly we’ll dedicate ourselves to sharing the paradoxical gospel of the cross, the resurrection and the ascension.
• What kind of Messiah do you want?

• 1. Would you prefer a Messiah who aligns more easily with your social background, your political stance, your cultural expectations, your spiritual goals?
  2. Is the Jesus you follow a Jesus who dislikes the same people you dislike?
  3. Values the same comforts you value?
  4. Cherishes the same life goals you cherish?
  5. Or is he the Jesus who once made Peter flinch in shame?
  6. The Jesus of humility and surrender? Self-denial and sacrifice? Death and resurrection?
• What voices in your life try to deflect you from the Way of Jesus?

• 1. There are so many calls on our time, so many expectations. So many different priorities.
  2. Like Peter, sometimes our limited understanding can lead us away from the Way – from following Jesus.
  3. Sometimes we need to take a step backwards, or sideways, out of the main flow of our life so that we can consider which of those calls are helping us know and love God better. Which are helping us love others better. And which are not.
• In what ways might you be called/challenged to 'take up your cross' in your life today?

• 1. This is a question which no-one but you can answer.
  2. Often, we shy away from the obvious needs in front of us.
  3. But sometimes we take on too much. It can be right to leave it to someone else.
  4. There are times when addressing the immediate need means that we don't get round to trying to stop the problem from happening in the first place. We give money to help poverty overseas, but don't support efforts to change the unfair trading conditions that cause it.
  5. We need to pray carefully and ask God so that we take up the right burdens for us.
• Is the totally self-giving love of Jesus something into which I could fully commit myself?

• 1. Maybe you have been fully committed for years. Maybe, like me, you need to re-commit yourself from time to time.
  2. So, I ask you today to take some time this week to reflect on committing yourself fully for the first time, or re-committing yourself, to the wonderful God we know through Jesus. Whose Spirit we can know in our lives day by day. Amen.

StF 563 O Jesus, I have promised ​

​Prayers for Others: responding to the call
Loving and Gracious God, Mother and Father of all that is: Having heard the gospel proclaimed, having heard your call, we come to you, together as your children. We come as those called by you, not for our sake only, but for the sake of all our fellow men and women. We come to pray for the church, those we know and love, and the world.
For the world we ask:

• that your love, justice and mercy will inform the judgement of those in high office.
• that wisdom and compassion is granted to anyone who has to make decisions affecting the lives of others.
• that those who lives are driven by hate may have their lives touched and transformed by the love of Jesus.
• We especially pray today for the struggle in Afghanistan.
• We bring before you the COP26 summit asking that you grant wisdom and courage to those making decisions affecting the future of our planet.
  Lord of life, hear us in your love.

For those we know and love we ask:

• that you will call them closer to you and that they will respond to that call.
• that you will comfort and support those who hurt.
• that you will bless them with joy and hope.
  Lord of life, hear us in your love.

For the church we ask:

• for the grace to keep us faithful to our calling.
• to be saved from a shallow understanding and weak commitment

into the profound depths of your love.

• for a new and more powerful calling
  to take us to the next stage of our journey with you.
  Lord of life, hear us in your love.

For ourselves we ask:

• that you will guide us in our lives as individuals and in our common life as a congregation.
• That you will fill us with your Holy Spirit to share your love and spread your message to those we meet.
  Lord of life, hear us in your love.

As you challenge us with your call, we commit ourselves to respond, to act, to love our neighbour.
And so, out of the Father's glorious riches may he strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith.
And I pray that, being rooted and established in love, we may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. And to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

​Lords Prayer – Modern
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 476 One more step along the world I go

​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.

​A prayer of adoration
All-inclusive and ever-loving God,
we praise and adore you.
With you there is no south or north,
no east or west – no borders.
You care for each one of us.
You are a healing God, who heals us
wherever and whenever we need your touch –
whether in body, mind or spirit.
We look upon you now,
our hearts ablaze with love for you.
Amen.