Easter 7 & Ascensiontide
Sunday, 01/06/2025
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SENTENCE FROM SCRIPTURE:
The Lord is King; most high over all the earth. (Psalm 97)
HYMN-
GREETING
Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
SUMMARY OF THE LAW
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this:
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”
The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
SILENCE
God our Father,
we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
ABSOLUTION
God, who is both power and love,
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
GLORIA sung by Sue Turner
COLLECT
O God, the king of glory, hear our prayer:
that as we believe your son Jesus Christ
to be exalted with great triumph to your Kingdom in heaven;
so also we may know his presence with us now,
and to the end of time;
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen
PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD
FIRST READING Acts 16.16–34 , read by David Kerr
16 One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.’ 18 She kept doing this for many days.
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But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market-place before the authorities. 20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs 21 that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’ 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.
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28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ 29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ 31 They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
SILENCE
SECOND READING Revelation 22.12–14, 16–17, 20–21, read by Kate Lidwell
I, John, heard a voice saying to me: 12 ‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’ 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. 16 ‘It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches.
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I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.’ 17 The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. 20 The one who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.
GRADUAL HYMN
GOSPEL READING: John 17, 20-26, read by Rev Chris Wren.
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John, Chapter 17, beginning at verse 20.
Glory to Christ our Saviour
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Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed: ‘Holy Father, 20 I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord.
SERMON
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Last Thursday was Ascension Day, marking that point in the Gospel story, after which there will be no more appearances of the risen Lord Jesus. The disciples have gone through a totally transformative period in their lives. All is changed for them – nothing can ever be the same again. They have experienced the agony of the crucifixion, the joy of resurrection and the appearances that followed – Jesus still with them. And now, from this moment on, the comfort and reassurance of the physical presence of Jesus will no longer be there. This is a point of transition, of moving into a new way of following Jesus, a new way of being His disciples.
They have experienced loss and, among their first reactions must have been a sense of loneliness, of wondering how they could go on, of asking themselves: “What do we do now?” Well, Jesus has told them. He has told them to wait – to wait for the strengthening of the Holy Spirit. And this they do. They pass through this time of transition, of waiting, until, empowered by the Holy Spirit, they take on the task of being the Body of Christ, continuing the work of Christ in this God’s world. And so it is that we have the accounts of the Acts of the Apostles – the stories of Peter and Stephen, of the missionary journeys of Paul and his companions, reaching out into their world with the truth of God’s love for the world and all its people made real in the gift of Jesus, His Son, living dying and rising. One such account – the remarkable story of the jailor in Philippi coming to faith in Christ – we have read as one of our lessons today.
But then, we need to turn to today’s Gospel passage – the prayer of Jesus for those who will come to faith through the message offered to the world by those first disciples – and set that prayer in the context of the whole of chapter 17 where Jesus also prays for those disciples He has journeyed with over these past years and from whom soon He will be parted. When we do, we realise that whatever those first disciples might have felt in that period of transition, of loss, of uncertainty following the Ascension, they were never alone. Jesus was with them, not as they had known Him, but His love and care continued to enfold and strengthen them through that time of waiting, of transition, of movement into all that lay before them.
And Jesus prays for us too, for we today stand in that line, stretching back to those first disciples who reached out with the message of hope into their world, stretching forward from us to all those who will come after.
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So, if we are passing through a time of transition, of waiting, of loss or loneliness; a time perhaps of wondering what do we do now, we know that we are not alone, that we are loved, held, strengthened and valued by the God who is love, who is come to us in Jesus, who has prayed for us and prays for us. And so we go on into God’s future for us, following wherever He may lead.
May God bless us, each one, in our life’s journey with Him.
Amen.
THE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
PRAYERS
Let us pray for the church and for the world.
Heavenly Father, we come before you to offer up our prayers
In Your great love, You sent your Son to redeem us and bring hope to all creation. As we gather in worship, we lift our prayers to You with gratitude and expectation, trusting in Your mercy and faithfulness.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Lord, we pray for our Church during this time of interregnum
We pray for our Primus +Mark, our Bishop +Nick, Jim as Interim Priest in charge and all assisting clergy and laity that they be strong in faith to help us to be united in truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glory in the world.
We pray for the Vacancy Committee as they work together to seek a new Rector who will lead us into the next chapter of our journey. Give them strength, wisdom, patience, your support and prayers at this time.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Loving God, Where there is chaos let us pray for peace.
We pray for all in positions of power that they refrain from abusing those who they govern.
Praying for all places of unrest at this time: Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Syria, Sudan, Myanmar, India, Pakistan and all other areas of our world who are in the midst of warfare and destruction.
We lift up all affected by disruption, as communities rebuild, may Your presence guide them with courage and resilience.
We entrust all who suffer into Your loving hands, and we pray for Your mercy and grace to shine upon them.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Almighty God, who reigns with power and authority over all creation. May Your justice and righteousness prevail in the hearts of all people.
We pray the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Methodist church in Scotland and the Anglican Communion might continue to work together in union, even when we may have differing views.
We pray for all Christians regardless of their denomination, many of which are persecuted for their faith.
We pray for those who, unlike us, cannot celebrate the resurrection of your Son but live in fear.
Let them know they are not alone even in the darkest of times.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
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Loving God, we bring before you the young people of our church and this community. Grant them the courage to face the challenges of life with hope and faith.
Help them discover their gifts and talents, and to use them for the good of others. May they always know your presence in their lives.
We pray for the Provincial Youth Committee as they continue to work for youth representation in our church, for all young people to be seen in their congregations and their voices to be heard at all levels of our church.
We pray for all who are preparing to present at General Synod next week, speaking on topics such as climate justice, youth inclusion and gender justice.
Let what they say empower others take action within our church.
At this time we ask for prayers for all provincial youth leaders who will meet this Friday in Elgin, travelling from all corners of this country as they prepare for the Provincial Youth Week in July and for all volunteers who are preparing for our Summer Club that will be held in this church.
We are thankful for all their time, gifts and talents that they bring before you to help shape and nurture the young people of our church and community.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray now for those in need of your healing touch in our congregation and throughout the world.
We pray for all who suffer in body, mind and spirit. Comfort those in pain and take away their fears.
Eternal God, our Everlasting Father, who holds us in His eternal love. bless families and communities this day, bringing reconciliation where there is division, and unity where there is unrest. Comfort those who are lonely or grieving, and surround them with Your peace.
We remember before you all those who have died these past days.
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Grant them rest and peace, comfort to those who mourn.
We thank you for their lives and for the ways in which they have touched our own.
We also remember those whose anniversary is at this time
We pray that according to your promises they may rest in your eternal kingdom.
May they rest in peace and rise in glory
In your mercy
Hear our prayer
Heavenly Father,
God of Light and hope, look upon us with love,
And fill us with your Spirit:
You loved this world so much that you gave your only begotten Son,
So That we might be saved.
Let us walk beside you out of the darkness into the light
Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together
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.
Do not bring us
to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
BLESSING
Christ the Son of God gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
HYMN –
DISMISSAL
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ. Amen
