True WorshipToday’s Gospel reading is from John, Chapter 2 verses 13-22. Jesus goes to the Temple. The Temple was familiar ground to Jesus. We know he’d been there before. However, this visit provoked an angry outburst from him. The Temple Courts, the outskirts of the Temple, were full of traders selling cattle, sheep and doves ready for sacrificing in the Temple. Then there were tables of money-changers waiting to change the pilgrims money into the special Temple coinage needed to pay the Temple tax. These traders were there to provide necessary services, but it seemed their original good intentions were lost in the pursuit of personal gain. The house of prayer had become a busy, bustling place where the Temple seemed to have been forgotten and where businessmen lining their pockets had become the norm.Jesus took stock and reacted. He drove out these ‘self-centred’ traders in scenes of chaos and disbelief. Jesus was so infuriated that God was not the centre of people’s thoughts that he was driven to the point of what religious scholars and the Church would later call ‘righteous anger’, but it was anger all the same.John has Jesus here at the very beginning of his ministry, purifying the Temple from sin. But, there is a lot more to this story. On the back of this scene, Jesus suggests that true worship will no longer be dependent upon the Temple - a very radical idea at the time. The Temple, he says, will be destroyed and re-built in three days. The Jews think he is talking about the physical building, but he is referring to himself. The incarnation marks a new place for God. A building is a building, but the people now have God walking alongside them in the form of Jesus. God is now alongside people, within people, not waiting for them in a building! Jesus is claiming nothing less than the reconstituting of the entire worship of God’s people around himself.Today, we are used to this idea. We know that the people are the body of Christ, the Church. We know that we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the place where God dwells both for individuals and corporately. However, this would have been a radical and blasphemous suggestion at the time. In truth, even today, many people are still obsessed with the centrality of church buildings over and above listening to Jesus’ teaching. Thus, many people are faced with a great challenge.If we are temples of God, I wonder what Jesus would find if he suddenly came to his temple today? Would our inner temples be places of holiness and awe where God is honoured and worshipped? What’s at the very core of our being? What about the outer courts, the place where the money-changers were, the interface with the outside world? What is going on there for us? What would Jesus find there? Are there things Jesus would want to drive out of our lives, drive out of his temple? Are we God’s house or are we a place of selfishness and chaos? Would we rather put God in a building so we don’t have to answer these questions?Jesus was angry when he went to the Temple building because people had lost their focus on God and seemed to be more focused on themselves, either making money or just mechanically doing what they thought was expected of them to stay on the right side of God. We know that Jesus calls us to worship one God and to put our neighbours before ourselves. If we’re honest, we know exactly what Jesus hopes to find in God’s temple, in each one of us and in his Church, the body of Christ. The question is, will he find it?Jesus comes to his temple today and every day, to each one of us. He comes to purify, to heal, to nurture and to love. What we need to do is allow him to enter our inner and outer courts, inviting him to make the changes necessary for us to become the place where God is honoured and worshipped, the place where God truly dwells.With every blessing,Christian
Lord, direct our thoughts, and teach us to pray. Lift up our hearts to worship you in spirit and in truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.’ (Psalm 19:14)Hymn: Christ is our Cornerstone...1 Corinthians 1: 18-25Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. Let us us confess our sins remembering before God the times when we have fallen from temptation into sin:Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be: that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Eternal God, give us insight to discern your will for us, to give up what harms us, and to seek the perfection we are promised in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.John 2:13-22Please see the Message from the Minister.Let us turn to the Lord in prayer:We pray for St Peter’s Church and the church throughout the world, that we will be known as your disciples by the love we show to one another;We pray for the world, that we will learn to live in peace and to take our stewardship duties seriously;We pray for our friends, families and neighbours - that relationships will thrive and community spirit will grow;We pray for people who are sick or suffering, and for those on our hearts and minds today, that they will know our Lord’s healing presence;We pray for the departed, remembering all who mourn.Let us pray for the coming of God’s kingdom in the prayer that Jesus taught Peter and all of us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.Hymn: Lift high the Cross, the love of Christ proclaim...May Christ give us grace to grow in holiness, to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him; and may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and remain with us always.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Mark 8 v34b)This saying goes against what most people believe both inside the church and outside the church. Many people want to put themselves first and they try to make it sound alright by saying, they are putting their family and friends first. But this is not what Jesus wants from us. Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan to explain to us that even if someone is our enemy and they need help then we should give that person help.In the world that Jesus is calling us to, there is no them and us, there is just us. We are all in this together whether we like it or not. This is not easy, it is always a challenge and can bring us pain and suffering just as it brought pain and suffering to Jesus.Wherever there is suffering the crucified Christ is always present suffering with his suffering brothers and sisters. There is no exception, Christ doesn’t take sides he is always present where suffering happens whether we think of the victims of war in Ukraine, Gaza or Israel, or the suffering in our Accident and Emergency Departments, to name two obvious types of suffering but also with those who are being bullied and abused, the list is endless.If you are suffering, Christ is with you even when you can’t feel his presence, he is there. In this sense the crucified Christ is still suffering as if he is on the cross and will go on suffering as long as we, his children, feel pain of any kind in the world. This is where the call to us to join him in caring for others is so important. By showing the compassion of God by the way we treat those around us we become an extension of the Divine Compassion and Love. We become the hands, the ears, the eyes and the voice of Christ to each other and those we meet in our daily lives.It is also the fact that as we live a life of care and compassion we are being evangelists in the world. It is by our actions that people are brought to faith or sadly put off, please remember that. Yes people may have questions but it is by example that people can then begin to copy what they see and begin the journey of discipleship. This process of care, compassion and conversion never stops and will not stop until all are brought to Christ. That may seem impossible but like many things that seem impossible it progresses one by one, step by step. Our job is not to complete the task but simply to carry it forward. In the end it is all in the hands of God, we are simply being invited to be his helpers.So let us go from here and truly be disciples of Christ. Amen.Andrew SSL
Lord, direct our thoughts, and teach us to pray. Lift up our hearts to worship you in spirit and in truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.‘The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live for ever!’ (Psalm 22: 26)Hymn: At the name of Jesus...Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Romans 4:13-25Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. Let us confess our sins remembering before God the times when we have fallen from temptation into sin:Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be: that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Almighty God, by the prayer and discipline of Lent may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings, and by following in his Way come to share in his glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Mark 8:31-38Please see the Message from the Minister.Let us turn to the Lord in prayer:We pray for St Peter’s Church and the church throughout the world, that we will be known as your disciples by the love we show to one another;We pray for the world, that we will learn to live in peace and to take our stewardship duties seriously;We pray for our friends, families and neighbours - that relationships will thrive and community spirit will grow;We pray for people who are sick or suffering, and for those on our hearts and minds today, that they will know our Lord’s healing presence;We pray for the departed, remembering all who mourn.Let us pray for the coming of God’s kingdom in the prayer that Jesus taught Peter and all of us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.Hymn: It is a thing most wonderful...May Christ give us grace to grow in holiness, to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him; and may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and remain with us always.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
