SUNDAY -14th JUNE 2020:  REV. ANDREW DART

Sadly, we are still unable to meet in our buildings for worship and so we have prepared this sheet for you to use at home.  Although the Government has announced a possible lifting of some of the restrictions on the use of Church buildings, the Methodist Church  do not anticipate any changes to the present situation  and will review the matter at the Annual Conference which meets at the end of this month.   A version of the following service can be found on the Circuit website: www.lambethmethodistcircuit.org.uk and a recorded Service will be available on the Southwark and Deptford Circuit website from 10:30 a.m. on Sunday
www.southwarkanddeptfordcircuit.org.uk

START WITH A MOMENT OF SILENCE
This is the day that the Lord has made
Let us rejoice and be glad in it

HYMN:                 O Lord my God (StF 82)

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;

Chorus:
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 he gentle breeze;  Chorus

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:  Chorus

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home- what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!  Chorus
                                                                    Stuart K. Hine (1899-1989)

PRAYER
Let us pray together
Living Lord, we gather together across time and space to worship you; united by the words we read; united by our love for you. We celebrate your awesome majesty, your holiness, and your amazing love. We acknowledge you as Lord of our lives. We sing your praise and we bless your name. Living Lord, we give thanks for all that you have done in our lives and pray that we will continue to be open to your work in us in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING:
Exodus 19:2-8 
² They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. ³ Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: ⁴ You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, ⁶ but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.’ 

⁷ So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸ The people all answered as one: ‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING: 
Matthew 9: 35 – 10: 8
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. 

TIME TO REFLECT
Every year we tell the story of Jesus... through Advent to Christmas... through Lent to Easter... through the Easter season to the Ascension and on to Pentecost when we celebrate the birth of the Church and the coming of the Spirit.  And it’s a glorious story... full of challenges and hard choices and wonders, and betrayal and suffering.  And it’s a story that ends with joy, hope, forgiveness and new life. 

But today the story has been told and we move back into what the Lectionary calls “Ordinary Time”.  The story’s been told but it hasn’t ended.  In many ways it’s just begun.  You and I, together with all those who worship across the world today... whether we’re reading and reflecting on written Services like this one, or sharing in Streamed Services on the internet, or gathered in households for prayer, or alone in our homes... we are the Church, and we live in ordinary time... we live with the joyful knowledge of the resurrection, and there is work to be done.

In our Gospel reading it was compassion for those in need that moved Jesus to commission the twelve disciples and send them out to help with the work.  He sent them out to those who needed the message of hope, to those who needed healing, and he sent them out to love and bring healing to those whom society considered untouchable and unlovable – the outsiders and the outcasts.  To such as these the disciples were called to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God.

And it’s the same today.  Our buildings may be closed but the people are still here. For some the needs are obvious, for others they are hidden, invisible to casual observation.  And society still has its outsiders and outcasts.

Healing takes many forms – physical, emotional, mental, spiritual.   There are people who need our prayers. There are people who need us to reach out to them ... to hear a friendly voice on the phone or receive a card or a letter or a ‘hi’ across the internet.  There are people who need more practical help. Some encounters will be easy and pleasant... others will not.

So, as the Church year moves once again past Trinity Sunday and back into ordinary time, we’re reminded afresh that every day is a new beginning.  Our buildings are closed but the Church is not, and Jesus, filled with compassion, is still calling workers to the field  to proclaim the Kingdom of God in word and deed.  And the field to which he calls us is all around us.

Take a time to sit quietly

A TIME OF PRAYER
Our Father in heaven we lift our world to you today, knowing that you have called us to do so and knowing that you care about even the smallest detail of that world.

We lift to you all who suffer today at the hands of others, through war, greed, the abuse of power, or the abuse of words. May they find you standing with them, giving them strength. May they find your people upholding them and giving them a voice, that your love may be seen and known.

We lift to you all those who find themselves in positions of authority today, whether it be by choice, or because their skills have been recognized and needed, or because there is no one else available. May they seek wisdom in the right places and have the humility to know when they need help.

We lift to you all who suffer today as a result of this pandemic; through sickness, through the loss of loved ones, or through the exhausting workload of caring for others.  May they know comfort, healing, reassurance and hope.

And we lift to you all those known to us personally who are in need today … (name them) … May they find grace, healing, and blessing.

We bring all these prayers in the name of Jesus who taught us when we pray to say …

The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father ……

HYMN:                 Behold the Servant of the Lord  (StF 546)
1. Behold the servant of the Lord!
I wait thy guiding eye to feel,
To hear and keep thy every word,
To prove and do thy perfect will;
Joyful from my own works to cease,
Glad to fulfil all righteousness.

2. Me if thy grace vouchsafe to use,
Meanest of all thy creatures, me,
The deed, the time, the manner choose,
Let all my fruit be found of thee;
Let all my works in thee be wrought,
By thee to full perfection brought.

3. My every weak, though good design,
O’errule, or change, as seems thee meet;
Jesu, let all my work be thine!
Thy work, O Lord, is all complete,
And pleasing in thy Father’s sight;
Thou only hast done all things right.

4. Here then to thee thy own I leave,
Mould as thou wilt thy passive clay;
But let me all thy stamp receive,
But let me all thy words obey:
Serve with a single heart and eye,
And to thy glory live and die.
                                       Charles Wesley (1707-88)

A PRAYER OF BLESSING
May the One who makes all things new fill us with grace, hope, peace and joy that together we may live and work to God’s praise and glory in our world. Amen.
                                                                                  Original Materials by Mary G Elms