St John the Evangelist

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FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT

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Sunday, 30/03/2025

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OPENING SENTENCE OF SCRIPTURE –

You, O Lord, are my hiding place; you preserve me from trouble. (Psalm 32)

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.

KYRIE:

COLLECT

Almighty God,
grant that we, who are weighed down by our sins,
may be relieved and encouraged by your grace;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
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: Joshua 5.9–12, read by Gill Swales

After the Israelites had crossed over the Jordan river, ⁹ The LORD said to Joshua, ‘Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.’ And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. ¹⁰ While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho.

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¹¹ On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹² The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

SILENCE

SECOND READING 2 Corinthians 5.16–21: read by Andrew Ratnam

¹⁶ From now on, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷ So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

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¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰ So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

GRADUAL HYMN

GOSPEL READING –GOSPEL Luke 15.1–3, 11b–32; read by the Rev Chris Wren

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke, Chapter 15, beginning at verse 1  

Glory to Christ our Saviour

¹ All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ ³ So he told them this parable: ¹¹ ‘There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. ¹³ A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴ When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.

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¹⁶ He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” ²⁰ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹ Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

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²² But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe – the best one – and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate. ²⁵ Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷ He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.”

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²⁸ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” ³¹ Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”’

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel

Praise to Christ our Lord.

SERMON

In the passage we have read from Chapter 5 of the 2^nd letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, “…if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation…” and that, “… in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself… and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” These words are awe inspiring, world transforming and challenging to us who seek to follow Christ. When we then link these words to our Gospel passage telling the familiar parable of the prodigal, or lost, son and the fact that today is not only the 4^th Sunday in Lent but also Mothering Sunday, we find that a message of profound and challenging truth is being offered to us and to our world.

Whilst for many Mothering Sunday is a joyous celebration of motherhood and family life, we must also recognise that for many this is a very difficult day. If you have longed for motherhood and this has proved impossible; if you are a mother who has lost a child; if you have suffered abuse within the family, then this is not a day for celebration and our thoughts and prayers are with you in your longing, your pain and your grief.

So, how does all this speak to us and to our world today. Whatever our experience of family may have been, that experience is part, not the whole, but part, of what makes us who we are – our identity. Similarly, the prodigal son’s journey back home, to where he belongs, begins “…when he came to himself ….” (Luke 15 v 17). In other words that journey back to his place of belonging begins, and can only begin, when he realises who he really is, how and where he finds his true identity. His journey home begins when he recognises his need and where that need can be met. And that’s true for us too.

When we open our eyes to the reality of our world as it is, we see that world in its need, we see its brokenness, its division, its need of healing and, yes, its need of becoming a “..new creation.” And what is true for our world is true of each one of us as individuals and as communities. The truth is that we are created of God for relationship with God; that we only discover our true identity – who we truly are and can be – in relationship with God; when we are reconciled to him. And that is precisely, as Paul says, what God in His love for each and all, working in and through Jesus, His Son, offers to us through His life, death and resurrection; “…in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself…” We are each of us loved unconditionally by God and in that love, as we recognise it and take it into our lives, we find our true humanity, we become our true selves.

Then the challenge is to continue the work of Christ in the world, by the working of the Holy Spirit in and through us, building His Kingdom of love, justice, peace and hope for all here where we are.

May the blessing of God accompany each one of us as we journey with Christ through this season of Lent to the cross of healing and reconciliation. 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

On this Mothering Sunday, we thank you for our mother. We praise and glorify you Our God, for your constant presence with us and steadfast love enabling us to nurture all your children across the world.

Abide in our hearts and show us your love.

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We thank you for the body of your Church, Our Mother of Faith, and we pray you will teach us, through your family, how to console and cherish each other as your followers and as family of your beloved Son.

Abide in our hearts and show us your love.

Mother of the Church may your Spirit of Truth enrich our worship and prayer with the light of your wisdom enabling our proclamation of your message of love and hope.

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Abide in our hearts show us your love.

Mother and Father of all families, may the circle of your love close around those whose relationships are broken, where families and children suffer the pain of separation, those who never knew their birth family and those who are in need of your loving assurance and  healing.

May the light of Christ shine into the darkness of injustice and suffering.

May Mary the mother of our Lord teach us how to hold the hurts we absorb from one another with the compassion and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Merciful Father and Mother of the Church accept these prayers for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

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

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