Worship, prayer and Bible resources
Sixth Sunday of Easter - Year B
Liturgical Colour - White
Introduction
At the start of a wedding we often use the words from 1 John 4:16
'God is love and those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them'
These are beautiful words and they are important not just at weddings. They express the conviction that love and God are interchangeable terms. When we experience real love, then we experience God. Giving and receiving love are divine acts. When we share love with others we experience God, love makes God present. This is something which Jesus showed un his life as he loved people and encouraged us to love.
It is love which lies at the heart of the universe, the power which holds all things together.
Opening Verses of Scripture Psalm 51:17
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart He
will not despise.
Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray
Risen Christ, by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples: help your Church to obey your command and draw the nations to the fire of your love, to the glory of God the Father. Common Worship Shorter Collect
God our redeemer, you have delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your Son: grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
God of mercy as we rejoice in the resurrection of your Son, the Bread of Life, feed us with your plenty and increase in us compassion for the hungry; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Methodist Worship
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear that we to
pray, and give more than either we desire or deserve. Pour down upon us the
abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience
is afraid and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask,
save through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord; who
is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever. Amen. Methodist Worship
First Bible Reading Acts 10:44-48
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who
heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were
astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the
Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with
water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." So he ordered
that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to
stay with them for a few days.
Second Reading 1 John 5:1-6
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
Gospel Reading John 15:9-17
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.
Post Communion Sentence
God our Father, whose Son Jesus Christ gives the water of eternal life: may
we thirst for you, the spring of life and source of goodness, through him
who is alive and reigns, now and for ever. . Amen
Commentary
In my sermon today I will invite you to focus on just a small part of the
passage from the Gospel according to John. After Jesus has given his Great
Command “love one another as I have loved you”, he goes on to exhort his
followers that they should “bear much fruit”. The words continue the
metaphor, begun at the start of chapter fifteen, of Jesus as the True Vine.
In this imagery, Jesus was drawing upon the writings of the prophet Ezekiel
(15:1-8). The language of the vine and the useless branches would thus have
been familiar to Jesus’ listeners, but what is new is that Jesus identifies
himself as the Vine, from which all life and fruitfulness stems. Scholars
argue a great deal as to what that word “fruit” means. I have chosen to
consider only one aspect of being fruitful Christians: of living out the
Gospel in loving practical service to God and to our sister and brother
humans. But we must note that we serve, not because it makes us feel good or
to impress others, but because we are branches of the True Vine and because
we depend on that Vine, our thoughts and actions do not glorify ourselves
but Him. Being fruitful Christians is entirely rooted in being prayerfully
dependent on the inspiration of God, in every aspect of our lives and work.
Coming as it does, straight after Jesus’ injunction to love one another, I
take the phrase to mean that Jesus is warning us that love is not just about
feeling, but acting upon that feeling. It is no good loving your child, if
you don’t also feed it, clean it or relate to it. Love is what you do, not
merely an emotional state. Jesus’ own ministry was a combination of healing,
praying, teaching and serving. We must strive for a similar balance in our
service to God. Joan Crossley
Meditation
Julian of Norwich had a lot to say about love. Her book “Revelations of
Divine Love” was based on her mystical experiences which began with a grave
illness in 1373. She experienced a series of mystical “showings”, visions,
which were later written down by her admirers. Her visions are of God’s
surpassing love for us, and present a tender, intimate portrait of Jesus
that many find profoundly moving. She lived in an anchorites cell, but
seekers after spiritual guidance could come and consult her through a
window. Her advice was always practical and pithy as well as deeply rooted
in God’s word. In our time Julian’s words resonate with us, perhaps far
better than they did in her own time, when the Church taught that God was
prone to anger and inclined to punish. This is what she wrote: 'There is no
wrath in God….It is the most impossible thing that can be that God would be
angry, for wrath and friendship are two opposites.' Does it change your
perception of God, if you view Him as a friend? Not as Lord, Master,
Teacher, Saviour (although of course God is all these things too!) but
seeing God as a friend brings Him very close to us indeed. Real friends are
interested in the details of our lives, they do not mind sharing our darkest
thoughts and are companions in our worst times. God wants to be that kind of
friend to us, but we often distance God, by pushing him on to a throne far
away. Joan Crossley
Hymns
Mine eyes have seen the glory
Give me joy in my heart
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
Lo, he comes with clouds descending
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
-
Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian,
-
if it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die
“O Fountain of Love, love Thou our friends and teach them to love thee
with all their hearts, that they may think and speak and do only such things
as are pleasing to thee. Though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
St Anselm
From Prayers from the Ark, the Ox’s prayer.
“Dear God, give me time. Men are always so driven! Make them understand that
I can never hurry. Give me time to eat, Give me time to plod. Give me time
to sleep. Give me time to think. Amen Carmen Bernos de Gasztold
“O Saviour Christ, we beseech you, when the wind is boisterous and our faith
weak, and we begin to sink although we wish to come to You. Stretch out Your
hands, Lord, as you did to Your fearful disciple and say to the sea of our
difficulties, “peace, be still”. Amen Dean Vaughan
O Beauty, so ancient and so new! Late have I loved you though you were
always with me. You call to my heart. You burst through my deafness. You
scatter my blindness. I draw breath at your fragrance. My heart pants for
you. My soul hungers for you. You touch me and I am consumed at the thought
of your peace. St Augustine, 354-430
Loving God, when we grow weary, undisciplined or unexpectant and cease to
pray, help us to see that prayer is not a burden or demand but your precious
gift. Remind us of all who pray with us on earth and in heaven and of Jesus
Christ our great High Priest, who ever lives to make intercession for us.
Then with faith reawakened, hope restored and love renewed, turn us again to
share in the ministry of prayer for the salvation of all people, for this is
both our calling and your longing. Amen. Leo Osborn
Additional Material
Commentary
Self-Expression / Self-control
This week we were blessed with a visit from the Riding Lights Theatre
Company, who performed a play called “Saving Grace”. The play cleverly
interwove the “pilgrimage” of a writer to Wesley’s birth place in
Lincolnshire, during the dark days of the Second World War, with scenes from
the life of Wesley. There were many wonderful things about the play, but
most striking for me was honest portrayal of Wesley’s character, based on
the family’s letters and journals.
In an age such as our own where self-expression and self-fulfilment are
almost seen as duties, it was extraordinary to be confronted by a man who
strove so hard for self-discipline. We were shown that Wesley was strongly
influenced in this self-dedication by his mother Susannah. All his life
Wesley struggled to subdue his weaker side, to control any needs or desires
which would imperil the work to which he had committed himself. Such
determination to be better, to grow in self-control must command our
respect.
By the end of the play, I found myself loving Wesley, because despite his
best intentions, he remained, like each of us, a flawed individual. These
lapses from perfection, far from spoiling Wesley’s image, make him
endearingly fallible and human. Surely what is significant is that Wesley
strove consistently to rise above his faults and that God chose not a
perfect man, but a good man, to be His instrument. And that Wesley, through
self-denial, study and prayer, did his best to keep the instrument of self
fit for God’s purpose. Joan Crossley
Meditation
Grace
“The grace or love of God, whence cometh our salvation, is free in all, and
free for all.... It is free in all to whom it is given. It does not depend
on any power or merit in man; no, not in any degree, neither in whole, nor
in part. It does not in anywise depend either on the good works or
righteousness of the receiver; not on anything he has done, or anything he
is. It does not depend on his endeavours. It does not depend on his good
tempers, or good desires, or good purposes and intentions; for all these
flow from the free grace of God; they are the streams only, not the
fountain. They are the fruits of free grace, and not the root. They are not
the cause, but the effects of it." John Wesley
As followers of Jesus we live in a relationship of love which we seek to share with others. This sharing of love is God's mission - our calling is to work in partnerships, based on trust and respect, offering mutual support. The nineteenth century idea that we should encourage people from other cultures to be just like us, the British, have now gone. The paternalistic model of mission abroad and at home has been replaced by one more mindful of the traditions of other societies and respectful of what is valuable within them. We now recognise that in giving to and interacting with mission partners, we are also fortunate recipients. St. Paul wrote to the Church in Rome: "I long to see you that I may impart some spiritual gift to make you strong - that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." (Romans 1:11-12). So it is with the worldwide Church today - we have much to learn from each other and then to share with others.
Prayers
God of power, may the boldness of your Spirit transform us, may the
gentleness of your Spirit lead us, and may the gifts of your Holy Spirit
equip us to serve and worship you, now and always. Amen
I am no longer mine but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom
you will: put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you
or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be
full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely
and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now,
glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am
yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in
heaven. Amen
Govern all by your wisdom, O Lord, so that my soul may always be serving you
as you will, and not as I may choose. Do not punish me, I beg you, by
granting what I wish or ask if it offends your love which should always live
in me. Let me die to myself, so that I may serve you; let me live for you,
who in yourself are the true life. St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Hymns
I've got Joy
Love divine, all loves excelling
Forth in thy name