St John the Evangelist

OPENING SENTENCE

The Lord has made known his victory in the sight of the nations.

HYMN

GREETING

Alleluia Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

He has given us new life and hope

by raising Jesus from the dead.

COLLECT FOR PURITY

Almighty God
to whom all hearts be 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 Jesus 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

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.

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

May the God of love and power
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by his Spirit
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.

GLORIA
sung by Billy Dewar Riddick

COLLECT

O God,
from whom all good things arise:
grant such grace to those who call on you,
that, by your inspiration,
we may ponder those things that are right,
and by your guidance, do them;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen

FIRST READING
ACTS 10: 44-48
read by Amie Byers

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So, he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.

SECOND READING
1 JOHN 5:1-6
read by Kay Solaja

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

HYMN

GOSPEL READING
JOHN 15:9-17
read by Rev Chris Wren

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John chapter 15 beginning at verse 9

Glory to Christ our Saviour.

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

SERMON

I had an email notice not so long ago about our General Synod this year which will take place virtually on 10^th and 11^th June. How things have radically changed since Covid and it got me thinking of the various synods that I had attended over the years, and their significance. For me the most significant General Synod that I attended was without a doubt the one in Armagh in 2015. At the synod in Armagh, as you can well imagine, there were many different speakers and visitors throughout the three days of Synod, but one visitor and speaker stood out for me in particular. This person you might know is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd Eammon Martin.

Archbishop Martin said that when he was being ordained Archbishop, he was asked to choose a motto. He took about eight mottos with him on retreat and prayerfully spent time seeking the right motto for him and his ministry. He chose as his motto: “Sing to the Lord a New Song.” Ever since that, he said: I’ve been troubled by my own motto and I’m not sure what it means to me.” He wondered if this new song was a call to conversion for each one of us every single day. Then he wondered, if the new song was to have new words or even a new melody. Then along came Pope Francis and he put down a challenge to people to try doing things in a new key – then his motto’s meaning, relevance and significance seemed to dawn on him – the new song has the same words and indeed the same melody but it is sung in a different key – a new key! This new key he went on to say was a missionary key. He said: “We are challenged to get out there with the message of the Gospel: to get out to the messiness of people’s lives, to go to the reality of where they are living. We’re in the present and we’re called to sing a new song in a new key.”

To sing a new song in a different key I believe is a challenge for our church today- we need to go out and invite people to come and see the love of Christ. To go out and invite people to come and see, in other words to do mission. As we go out and invite people to come and see – we need to have at the core of our own lives another motto-one that features in our gospel and in our epistle today – the motto is to love one another as I have loved you. This motto to love one another is a constant and consistent theme in Scripture.

In Romans we are called -Be devoted to one another in love.” To be devoted to someone or something involves more than a casual commitment. It is not sporadic or shallow. Our devotion to one another in love is to be deep and consistent and persevering. In the book of Ephesians, taking the message wording it says “Keep company with God and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of Himself to us. Love like that.” Love one another as Jesus loved you. In the book of Peter, we are called to love from the heart. “Love one another deeply, from the heart.” Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

To love one another deeply is not as easy to do at times as it sounds. Linus in the Peanuts cartoon says ‘I love mankind- it’s people I cannot stand.’ There are, if we are all honest, people that are difficult to get on with and love whether they are in our workplace, in our family circle, or in our church community. We don’t always get along- we may have been hurt by their actions or words or we may have hurt others by our actions and words and be persona non gratia in their eyes. We are all human, we all fail, we all disappoint, we all hurt people intentionally or unwittingly and to love deeply is to apologise where appropriate and draw a line under things and move on, bearing no grudges and keeping no record of wrongs. Love promotes forgiveness and forgiveness is something everybody needs.

Love one another deeply – love one another deeply from the heart – just like Jesus. Our love for one another must not be conditioned by how people respond. Jesus loves us totally, whether we are good or bad or different. Our love must have that quality too. It is costly love and such love for one another is not an optional add-on to our lives. It is the central core value of the Christian life. You cannot be a follower of Christ without such love.

A new commandment I give to you – to love one another. Someone may ask: “Why did Jesus call the commandment new. What is new about it?” In one sense, there was nothing new about it. The command to love others went back to the Old Testament, and the imperative to love your neighbour as you love yourself. But Jesus gave it a new, enhanced, enlarged meaning. The disciples were to love the way Jesus loved them. We are to love one another the way Jesus loved us and loves us, still. His love – is a sacrificial love, a suffering love, a self-giving love, a love that took Him to the cross – it is the kind of love that he wants to characterize our love for one another. It is not just that we are to love each other. We are to love as Jesus loved us. “A new commandment I give you.” It is a directive from our God to live out the love of Jesus in our relationships in our marriages, our families, our church, and beyond. His love for us is to be the pattern of our love for one another.

Another thing to notice is what Jesus says is that our love for each other will be our greatest witness to the world of the genuineness of our faith in Him. The main evidence, that we belong to Christ, and the main evidence, that we are growing in His grace and character, is the quality and measure of our love for one another. William Barclay said that more people have been drawn into the faith and fellowship of the church by the kindness of real Christian love than by all the theological arguments in the world. And more people have been driven from the church by the hardness and ugliness of “so-called Christianity” than by all the doubts in the world.

It is not that theology is irrelevant, or that matters of doctrine are unimportant. That is not the case. Orthodoxy – right belief – matters. It does matter what we believe but Jesus Himself said that the way the world will know that we are His followers is by the love we show to one another. We can have all your theological ducks lined up in a row. We can make sure all your doctrinal i’s are dotted and all your t’s are crossed. We can believe all the right things. But if we neglect or refuse or otherwise fail to love one another as Jesus loved you, Jesus said that the world outside the church will conclude that our faith is phony, that our faith is not real. Or, maybe they will say: “If that is what Christians are like, I don’t want to be one. This is how people will know that we are Jesus’ followers – by the love we have for each other.

What love does? Love has to go beyond words and warm feelings. It is something you do. The word “love” is a verb. It is an action verb. Ask yourself this: If we are supposed to love one another as Jesus loved us, how did Jesus love? The answer: He showed His love by what He did. He showed His love in His actions. He didn’t just talk about love. He incarnated love. He embodied love. Everything He did was motivated by love and infused with love. His suffering and death on the cross were expressions of love. To love one another as Jesus loved us means that we’ve got to put our love into action. How do we do that? What does love do? Love cares for the needs of others. Love helps a neighbour who is in a jam. Love takes a meal to someone who is sick or runs errands for someone who isn’t able to drive. Love doesn’t just do random acts of kindness whenever the spirit moves, love performs intentional acts of kindness as part of a lifestyle of love. Love treats all persons with respect and dignity. Love contributes generously to ministries helping the hungry, the sick, the poor, and homeless. Love reaches out to the person who is lonely or hurting, and takes time to listen. Sometimes just listening can be a powerful act of love. Loving one another is all about action, and this action need not be something huge – it can be a small act of love. Let me conclude with a true story of love in action within a family.

A father took his eight-year-old daughter Helen and his five year old son Brandon out to do a little shopping. As they reached the shopping centre, they noticed a big sign that said, “Petting Zoo.” The kids jumped up in a rush and asked, “Daddy, Daddy. Can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?” “Sure,” he said, flipping them a two euro coin before entering the hardware store. They bolted away, and he felt free to take his time looking for a saw. A petting zoo consists of a portable fence erected in the centre with about six inches of sawdust and a hundred little furry baby animals of all kinds. Kids pay their money and stay in the enclosure enraptured with the squirmy little creatures while their parents shop.

A few minutes later, the father turned around and saw Helen walking along behind him. He was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. He bent down and asked her what was wrong. She looked up at him with those giant limpid brown eyes and said sadly, “Well, Daddy, it cost four euros. So, I gave Brandon my two euros” Then she said the most beautiful thing he ever heard.

She repeated the family motto. The family motto is “Love is Action!” She had given Brandon her two euros, and no one loves cuddly furry creatures more than Helen. She had heard and seen “Love is Action,” and now she had incorporated it into her little lifestyle. It had become part of her. What do you think the father did? Well, not what you might think. As soon as he finished his shopping he took Helen to the petting zoo. They stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon.

The father had two euros burning a hole in his pocket; he never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it. She knew the whole family motto. It’s not “Love is Action.” It’s “Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!” Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive. When you love, benefits accrue to another’s account. Love is for you, not for me. Love gives; it doesn’t grab. Helen gave her two euros to Brandon and wanted to follow through with her lesson. She knew she had to taste the sacrifice. She wanted to experience that total family motto. Love is sacrificial action.

Our motto from Christ today is love is action. It is a sacrificial action. Jesus’ motto for us is love one another as I have loved you. When we love in that way then we will sing a new song in a different key and our love will reach out to others and invite them to come and see. Amen

NICENE 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,
eternally begotten of the Father,
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

O Holy Spirit, Giver of love
fills us with life afresh
that as you love, so may we love
and do what you would do.

Help us Lord,
to love one another

God, you are love,
and all of us are held in your infinite love.
Strengthen all that restores us in your image
and make us worthy of our calling
as your sons and daughters.
Help us not to create you in our image
but instead clothe us with Christ-like qualities
of love, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness and mercy.

Help us Lord,
to love one another

God, your love is patient and kind,
may the church clear way any barriers
which prevent your love flooding it.
Wash away all that is selfish and negative,
control our tongues and our cruel thoughts
and help us to build strong loving foundations.

Help us Lord,
to love one another

God, your love is forgiving and restoring.
Your love is a love that keeps no record of wrongs
but always hopes and trusts.
We pray for those people
who are riddled with guilt or failure,
that you will remind them
of your forgiving and renewing presence
and of your unconditional love.

Help us Lord,
to love one another

God, love is your gift to us,
we give thanks for those
who have so freely shared your love with us.
We give you thanks for our families and friends
and pray for all who are in any way deprived of love
that you will draw significant others into their lives,
offering them the richness of your love.

Help us Lord,
to love one another

God, love is your mark of healing and grace.
We think of all the people known to us suffering
with frailty, weakness, illness and depression.
Lord, you know them all by name,
draw near with your calm and peace.
Touch them with your power and gentleness.
May you be present in their darkness and pain,
and as deep calls to deep, bring them inner quiet and hope.

Help us Lord,
to love one another

God, love is your word
we pray for those who doubt your promises
in difficult times of bereavement,
unemployment, unrest and suffering.
We ask that you will enfold them in your love,
fill them with your strength and peace,
and restore their trust in your living presence and word.
We remember those who mourn today the loss of a loved one.

Help us Lord,
to love one another

God, your love is a generous love,
inviting us to care and share with others.
We remember our brothers and sisters
in different parts of the world,
struggling with natural disasters, civil war,
poverty, oppression and corruption.
We pray especially for India in their Covid crisis,
and ask that they will receive
all the medical supplies they need.
We think of Yemen,
struggling with poverty and starvation
and ask that they will receive food and aid.
We remember Afganistan, Syria, Palestine and Hong Kong
and pray for peace and stability.
We pray for ourselves that in this week of Christian Aid
we might have generous and sacrificial hears.

Help us Lord,
to love one another

God love is your call to us,
asking us to deny ourselves
take up our cross and follow you.
Help us to surrender all to you in love,
and allow you to influence and direct our lives
that we might grow more like your children
in faith and love.

Help us Lord,
to love one another

God you are love,
We lift to you our families
and those whom we hold dear
thanking you for all their love.
May we cherish that love
and may we never take your infinite love, O God, for granted.
Merciful Father accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord
who taught us to say 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 for ever. Amen.

HYMN

BLESSING

God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
strengthen you to walk with him in his risen life;
and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
be among you and remain with you always. Amen

DISMISSAL

Go or stay in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

In the name of Christ,
Alleluia! Alleluia!