Shipley Church Self-Service

Sunday 31st May 2020 Whitsun

Thought for the week – Peace be with you.

Whit Sunday marks the moment when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples after Christ had ascended to heaven. They experienced a mysterious and supernatural phenomenon of awesome power, accompanied by signs of fire and wind, that gave them new powers of divine authority enabling a lasting relationship with God and the beginning of a life-long process of transformation into the likeness of Christ. A dramatic event, difficult for us to contemplate or to imagine. Jesus also appeared to them, and he said, “Peace be with you”. (John 20. 19-23) This was an enduring and inner peace, unhindered by the world’s strife (John 14.27). John Rutter’s “Gaelic Blessing”, written in 1978 for a choir wishing to give a farewell gift to their musical director, takes its text from an inscription found on a stone in a remote place in Ireland and speaks solely of Peace: “Deep peace of the running waves to you; Deep peace of the flowing air to you; Deep peace of the quiet earth to you …etc. and ends with, Deep peace of Christ to you.” 

Hymn for the Day

 Like a mighty river flowing

Like a mighty river flowing;

Like a flower in beauty growing;

Far beyond all human knowing,

Is the perfect peace of God.

Prayers

We pray for the eventual reopening of our church, which for many is a comfort and inspiration that we get from coming together to worship God and to pray. It’s a building that connects us to both past and present, and acts as the beating heart of our neighbourhood. 

Download the attached file (top right on the web page) for the Readings and Collect for today