We invite you to take time this Sunday, in families or very small groups of friends, to responsibly share space to worship God together.
If you are on your own, please be assured we are together in the Spirit and if you have needs, or just want to share concerns, please don't be afraid to reach out and share these with the CHS community. Contact details can be found on our church website at: http://www.thechs.org/
If you are on your own, please be assured we are together in the Spirit and if you have needs, or just want to share concerns, please don't be afraid to reach out and share these with the CHS community. Contact details can be found on our church website at: http://www.thechs.org/
Ideas for parents to use with their children at home can be found on this page (click this link).
~ Pastor Tony
(This Sunday we are recommencing All Age Worship, so the service order will be a little different from previous Sundays.)
Scripture Sentence“Offer your very selves to God: a living sacrifice, dedicated and fit for his acceptance.” (Romans 12: 1)
CollectAlmighty and ever living God,you are the author and giver of all good things. Graft in our hearts the love of your name,increase in us true religion,nourish us with all goodness,and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,who lives and reigns
through Jesus Christ our Lord,who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Call to Worship
Jesus knew the path he had to take.
He asked his friends for support
but they failed him.
Jesus found the strength to go on
and do what he knew was right.
As the body of Christ,
we are called to take a similar path,
to a cross of our own and beyond.
God give us the strength we need.
Refresh us and encourage us
so that we do not fail you.
Responses
Leader: Loving Father God,
All: meet us here.
Leader: Jesus Christ,
All: guide us to our cross.
Leader: Holy Spirit,
All: give us integrity
to take up our cross,
today and always.
Opening Hymn of Praise
Water you turned into wine (MP 1362)
Water You turned into wine,
opened the eyes of the blind;
there’s no one like You,
none like You.
Into the darkness You shine,
out of the ashes we rise.
There’s no one like You,
none like You.
Our God is greater, our God is stronger;
God, You are higher than any other.
Our God is healer, awesome in power,
our God, our God.
(repeat verse 2)
Our God is greater . . .
Our God is greater . . .
And if our God is for us,
then who could ever stop us;
and if our God is with us,
then what could stand against?
And if our God is for us . . .
What could stand against?
Our God is greater, our God is stronger;
God, You are higher than any other.
Our God is healer, awesome in power,
our God, our God.
Our God is greater . . .
ConfessionOur heavenly Fatherthank you that you love us and care for us all the time.We know that this week we have not always lived the way you tell us.We have done wrong things and not done all the good things we should have done.Only you can save us,so please forgive usand help us to live as your friends.We ask this in Jesus’ name.Amen
Silence
Forgive us, O God.
Lift up our eyes to see You everywhere.
Draw us out of ourselves to discern Your presence all around.
Give us boldness to proclaim Your works.
Release us from the boundaries we set ourselves,
freeing us to love and welcome others in Your name.
Commission us anew,
in the light of Your forgiveness
to draw attention to You in all of life.
These prayers we bring You,
in and through the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Amen.
Creed
We believe in God the Father, Maker of all things.We believe in his Son Jesus Christ,Lord and Saviour of the world.We believe in the Holy Spirit,giver of life and light. We belong to the Church,God’s family everywhere.Amen.
Introductory Talk for All Age Service
Song
Who breaks the power of sin and darkness?
Whose love is mighty and so much stronger?
The King of glory, the King above all kings.
Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder?
Who leaves us breathless in awe and wonder?
The King of glory, the King above all kings.
This is amazing grace, this is unfailing love,
that You would take my place,
that You would bear my cross.
You would lay down Your life,
that I would be set free:
Jesus, I sing for all that You’ve done for me,
all that You’ve done for me.
2 Who brings our chaos back into order?
Who makes the orphan a son and daughter?
The King of glory, the King above all kings.
Who rules the nations with truth and justice,
shines like the sun in all of its brilliance?
The King of glory, the King above all kings.
This is amazing grace . . .
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
and worthy is the King who conquered the grave.
(x4)
. . . worthy, worthy, worthy.
This is amazing grace, this is unfailing love,
that You would take my place,
that You would bear my cross.
You would lay down Your life,
that I would be set free.
Jesus, I sing for all that You’ve done for me.
Bible Talk (Part 1)
The two Bible passages focus on the
difference between thinking as the world
thinks and the Christian’s challenge to think
as God thinks, and to behave differently.
First of all...
Thinking God's way
Imagine telling one of your best friends
that they are a stumbling block or obstacle!
That’s what Jesus said to Peter.
What's a stumbling block?
Well, an example might be if you imagine it's raining but your friend has deliberately hidden your waterproof coat and umbrella. They are stopping you from doing
what you want, or need, to do.
Jesus wasn’t really being rude to Peter! Jesus
knew that he must soon face his death on
the cross, something that he was afraid of.
It was no help to him when his friend told
him it wouldn’t happen. Peter talked just as
a friend would: he was horrified that Jesus
would think of being killed. What did he say?
“Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22).
But Jesus’ death was exactly what God did
want! God sees and does things completely
differently from how we might think, see or
do things. But then, God has the big picture
− past, present and future. Jesus could see
that Peter was a stumbling block or obstacle,
thinking the way the world thinks and not
the way God thinks. To follow Jesus means
forgetting about ourselves and putting
God first.
Can any of you give me some suggestions as to what
forgetting about ourselves really means?
Living God's way
Paul helps us to understand how to do this in Romans 12.
First of all, forgetting ourselves and putting
God first, affects the way we behave towards
other people. This is the real opposite of how
the world works.
• We are to love each other: and not just
our friends and people we like, but our
enemies too. We are not just to treat our
enemies well, but we are to pray for
them and leave them in God’s hands – we
are not to think bad thoughts about them,
and we are to have no revenge. This is
often a real challenge!
• We are to welcome strangers into our
group, and this doesn’t just mean people
we don’t know who come on a Sunday, or
new people at school but perhaps people
whom others see as strange. Jesus loved
the outcast and the people no one else
did.
• We are to look at how others are
feeling and not just how we are feeling:
rejoicing with those who rejoice and
being sad with those who are sad.
• We are to live at peace with everyone,
and this doesn’t just mean not starting
wars; it means not answering back when
we feel like it, or starting arguments,
or being unkind and so making others
unhappy.
Song
Shout to the Lord (MP1003)
My Jesus, my Saviour,
Lord, there is none like You.
All of my days I want to praise
the wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
tower of refuge and strength,
let every breath, all that I am,
never cease to worship You.
Lord, there is none like You.
All of my days I want to praise
the wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
tower of refuge and strength,
let every breath, all that I am,
never cease to worship You.
Shout to the Lord all the earth, let us sing,
power and majesty, praise to the King.
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
at the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
for ever I’ll love You, for ever I’ll stand.
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
Living like Jesus
Living God’s way is a real challenge. As well
as denying ourselves, Jesus said that to be
his true followers we must take up a cross
and follow him. This doesn’t sound very
comfortable, does it? Jesus never said that
going his way would be easy. Behaving as
God wants is really difficult because the
world notices that we are different.
If I were to walk around carrying a great, big cross on my
shoulder, people would give me strange looks!
But what if they can’t see the actual cross, but we’re still doing
what’s written in Romans 12? People may laugh
at us, or talk about us behind our backs, or
try to trick us into doing wrong things. We
may not be able to be friends with someone
because they would lead us away from God.
Worse, we might get bullied because we’re
Christians, or even persecuted. It might be
really tempting to put the cross down and go
back the other way.
The difficulty of putting God and others first,
and the tough way people may treat us, may
become a stumbling block or obstacle to
stop us following Jesus. So how do we avoid
the temptation to trip over the stumbling
block and not go God’s way?
Here’s Paul’s advice.
• Pray constantly – not just every now
and then. We should make it our aim to
pray whenever we can, especially when
life is hard. And if we're finding it hard
to pray, then we can ask someone else to
pray for us.
• Be patient – when things are going badly.
It’s hard to be in the middle of it but let
God’s hope give you perseverance.
• Keep going – keep holding on to that
cross even when it hurts.
But why should we live this way? What makes
us want to go Jesus’ way? What will make
us stay clinging on when it might be easier
to let go?
What are your ideas that could give a
real encouragement to the rest of us?
"For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done." (Matthew 16:27)
A reward from Jesus means eternal life
with him for ever. So is it worth it?
Song
My Hope is built on nothing less (Cornerstone)
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus' name
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus' name
Christ alone, Cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Savior's love
Through the storm
He is Lord
Lord of all
When darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
My anchor holds within the veil
Christ alone, Cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Savior's love
Through the storm
He is Lord
Lord of all
He is Lord
Lord of all, Christ alone
Christ alone, Cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Savior's love
Through the storm
He is Lord…
When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless stand before the throne
Christ alone, Cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all
Christ alone, Cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all
Christ alone, Cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all.
Offering(Please do bear in mind that as long as we are still able to, CHS is continuing to support various projects and people in need and needs will likely increase during this time. You may want to set aside some money in an envelope every Sunday and bring these to church when we next meet back at ARDA.)
Dedication of our Offering
Blessed are you, Lord God,
from the first of time to the last.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power,
the glory, the splendour and the majesty;
for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the sovereignty,
and you are exalted over all as head.
Wealth and honour come from you;
you rule over all.
Of your own we now give you,
for the good of your Church
and the glory of your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. Thanksgiving and Intercessions
God You love all that You have made,
the world and all its creatures.
Your love gathers and enfolds all things.
Your heart breaks when any part of Your creation suffers.
So God, as our awareness grows of You present all around,
may we be so attuned that we weep where You weep
and our hearts break where Yours is broken.
We offer back this complex, crazy world,
like children offering our broken Lego sets to parents,
asking that You fix it.
God, as a loving parent
You won’t do as we ask
but You will kneel beside us
and patiently show us how to make things better.
You will unearth the wisdom that You created in us
for the healing of the world.
You will affirm us and give us each
a unique part to play in changing the world,
in ushering in Your justice and Your peace.
So, God, prepared to roll up our sleeves and work alongside You,
we pray for world leaders,
that they too may be filled with Your wisdom
and love and Your healing power.
We pray that their eyes, and our eyes,
may be opened to the need to find new ways forward
and the possibilities that abound for honouring all creation
and for building nations where all are valued,
where all matter,
where the economy is modelled on Your divine economy.
We pray for all who live in fear today
and for those whose fears have been realised –
those who mourn loved ones,
those who see no light of dawn after darkness.
We pray too for those
who have given up hoping for different or better.
May we hold out hope and faith enough for the world
and may we live in love.
God awaken us to Your truth and Your light,
to all the opportunities we have of emerging from darkness
fuelled by new energy to make our world,
our church and our neighbourhood
beacons of hope
that is realised in our serving You
by serving one another.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done O God.
In Jesus’ name we pray
Amen
1 God is able and He will never fail.
He is almighty God:
greater than all we see,
greater than all we ask;
He has done great things.
Lifted up,He defeated the grave;
raised to life, our God is able.
In His name we overcome,
for the Lord our God is able.
2 God is with us, God is on our side.
He will make a way.
Far above all we know,
far above all we hope,
He has done great things.
Lifted up . . .
God is with us, He will go before;
He will never leave us,
He will never leave us.
God is for us, He has open arms;
He will never fail us,
He will never fail us.
Lifted up . . .
Lifted up . . .
. . . for the Lord our God is able,
for the Lord our God is able.
May our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died on the cross for you,
give you the courage to forget
about yourself and the courage to take up
your cross and follow after him.
Amen.
