StF 58 Lord, I come before your throne of grace
Lord, I come before your throne of grace; I find rest in your presence and fulness of joy.
In worship and wonderI behold your face, singing what a faithful God have I.
What a faithful God have I, what a faithful God.
What a faithful God have I, faithful in every way.
Lord of mercy, you have heard my cry;
through the storm you’re the beacon, my song in the night.
In the shelter of your wings, hear my heart’s reply, singing what a faithful God have I.
Lord all sovereign, granting peace from heaven,
let me comfort those who suffer with the comfort You have given.
I will tell of your great love for as long as I live, singing what a faithful God have I.
Opening prayers
Some people prefer traditional ways to address God, but our prayer of adoration today addresses God as Mother.
Approach:
Come, Mother God, come as an enfolding, nurturing presence.
Come as steadfast love to hold us.
Come, Mother God, come as an enabling, strengthening force.
Come as tough love to let us go.
Come, Mother God, come as friend and comforter, healing our wounds, walking our way.
Come as wounded healer to make us whole. Amen
Confession:
Forgive those things we’ve done that have caused you sadness, and those things we ought to have done that would have brought you joy. In both we have failed ourselves, and you.
Bring us back to that place where our journey began, when we said we would follow wherever you would go.
Take us back to the cross and lead us once again from there to where you would have us be, so that we may become a blessing to all we meet on this road. Amen.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
This is his gracious word: ‘Your sins are forgiven’. Amen. Thanks be to God.
———————-
We don’t speak often of Mary in our Methodist Churches, but some of our sisters and brothers in Christ will be celebrating the feast of the Annunciation in just a few days’ time (25thMarch). So, for Mothering Sunday, here are a couple of readings to contemplate on the relationship between Mary and her son.
- Compassion Mark 3:20-21, 31-35
Then Jesus went home; 20and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’
31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters*are outside, asking for you.’ 33And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ 34And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’
It was said of Jesus, ‘he has gone out of his mind’ but what provoked this? I wondered about the following – but you may have other thoughts!
- He had left a good secure business behind to become a wandering preacher with no reliable income
- Increasingly, he found himself at variance with many of the religious and community leaders
- He kept very strange company
- He seemed indifferent to the verdict of polite society
The family concern here is evident: they display loyalty, compassion and protection for someone they love very dearly. They have come to take him home. Yet, although the family was important to Jesus, his first priority was to God, and in showing a new way of relating.
Relationships in the new kingdom should be like a family based on loyalty and commitment to the common goal. So what kinds of relationship are being nurtured in our Churches?
StF 496 God, beyond our dreams
God, beyond our dreams, you have stirred in us a memory,
you have placed your powerful spirit in the hearts of humankind.
All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
in our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth.
God, beyond all names, you have made us in your image,
we are like you, we reflect you, we are woman, we are man.
God, beyond all words, all creation tells your story,
You have shaken with our laughter, you have trembled with our tears.
- Heartbreak John 19:25-27
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
Most parents like to hear good news concerning their children. Few expect to outlive their children; and I have yet to meet grieving parents who do not find this one of the harshest pains in life.
At the beginning of Luke’s gospel, amid all the rejoicing at the birth of this special child, Mary was to hear strange news from Simeon:
This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposedso that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too. Luke 2:34f
The film, The Passion has a poignant flash back scene, where the cross-carrying Christ stumbles and falls on the Via Dolorosa. In her mind’s eye, Mary sees the young Jesus, playing a childhood game and he trips; instinctively she runs towards him.
At Calvary, Mary experienced the fulfilment of that startling prophecy given all those years earlier. Pain and suffering are hard enough to bear, but where it concerns your child – however old – it must be well-nigh impossible. And yet Mary remains with her son.
In such a dark and difficult moment, Jesus takes time to offer consolation to his mother by committing her to John’s care. What might this story offer us in terms of hope and comfort, and a way to experience deeper relationships with one another?
Prayers of intercession
Today, I will be praying through our Preaching Plan;
for each Church, and for all who long to gather there.
For those who hold power and authority
and who must seek to make impossible decisions.
For those whose family relationships are good and strong,
and for all who never knew real love.
For those living rough on the streets,
for parents struggling to feed children,
for refugees, for all who sit alone.
In these uncertain days, Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
StF 119 God of Eve and God of Mary
God of Eve and God of Mary, God of love and mother-earth,
thank you for the ones who with us shared their life and gave us birth.
As you came to earth in Jesus, so you come to us today;
you are present in the caring that prepares us for life’s way.
Thank you that the Church, our Mother, gives us bread and fills our cup,
and the comfort of the Spirit warms our hearts and lifts us up.
Thank you for belonging, shelter, bonds of friendship, ties of blood,
and for those who have no children, yet are parents under God.
God of Eve and God of Mary, Christ our brother, human Son,
Spirit, caring like a Mother, take our love and make us one! Fred Kaan (1929-2009)
Hymns
All hymns are from Singing the Faith; the links underneath will take you to a You Tube version.
Prayer of Approach
Donald Hilton (compiler), Seasons and Celebrations: Prayers for Christian Worship(Birmingham: National Christian Education Council, 1996), 99
Prayer of Confession
John Birch, The Act of Prayer (Abingdon: The Bible Reading Fellowship, 2014), 49
Service compiled by Revd Rose Westwood (18.03.20)
Worship at home 