Sunday 14th 2021 virtual Service.

Holy Holy Holy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIHD40CZY34

Prayer

Though the darkness hide thee Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see.

O Holy One, I call to you and name you as eternal, ever-present, and boundless in love. Yet there are times, O God, when I fail to recognize you in the dailyness of my life. Sometimes shame clenches tightly around my heart, and I hide my true feelings. Sometimes fear makes me small, and I miss the chance to speak from my strength. Sometimes doubt invades my hopefulness, and I degrade my own wisdom.

Holy God, in the daily round from sunrise to sunset, remind me again of your holy presence hovering near me and in me. Free me from shame and self-doubt. Help me to see you in the moment-by-moment possibilities to live honestly, to act courageously, and to speak from the wisdom you give me. O Holy one take away my guilt and sin I ask this in your Holy name. Amen

Psalm 103:10-12

10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve   or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,   so great is His love for those who fear him;12 as far as the east is from the west,   so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

What a friend we have in Jesus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi1-5kmbkyQ

Our Daily Bread 28^th February 1998. By: David C Egner.   During the Cold War, I directed several study tours of Europe. Our itinerary took us from Amsterdam to Berlin, which meant that we had to go through Communist East Germany. At the border we had to show our passports, have our luggage examined, and let the guards check the bus. We waited about 3 hours for clearance. “Remember,” one official told me, “there is no American Consulate in East Germany, so do not lose your passports or entry papers.”

Talk about feeling unwanted! The message was clear: We’ll gladly take your money but we don’t want you. We felt the animosity until we left.

As a Christian, I sometimes feel that way about this world—that I just don’t belong. The Scripture makes it clear that as believers in Christ we are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). We are citizens of a far better land (v.16). As much as we may love our native country, we’ll never feel totally at home down here—and we shouldn’t.

How do we cope with being pilgrims who are just passing through? By looking to Christ and following His example. He was also unwanted in this world. When He left His home in heaven to enter our humanity, He became the ultimate pilgrim. One day He will welcome us home.

The words “Pilgrim through this barren land “ come to mind.

The author of the next hymn; William Williams was born at Cefn-y-coed, near Llandovery, Wales in 1717. Williams’ plan for his life was to study medicine, but he quickly abandoned that idea at the age of twenty as he was powerfully touched by God’s Spirit. Howell Harris, a well-known travelling evangelist of the day, was stirring up the people of Talgarth, a small community in central Wales. So one Sunday morning, Williams decided to go over to the churchyard and hear Harris’ preaching for himself. The evangelist was standing on a flat tombstone, warning all who came out of church that day that there was much more to following Christ then just sitting in a pew. Williams heard the message and decided that he needed to give the remainder of his life to the Gospel, and from that point forward, became obedient to his call, believing the country of Wales to be his parish. Over the next forty-three years, Williams travelled over 95,000 miles serving as a circuit rider/preacher for the cause of Christ! Before he died in 1791, Williams wrote 800 hymns, all in Welsh, and to this day, he is known as “The Watts of Wales,” referring to the great English hymn-writer, Isaac Watts. Other church historians call Williams, the “Sweet Singer of Wales” or the “Poet Laureate of the Welsh Revival”…this circuit-riding preacher/poet who knew the power of music to bring a spoken message to life. In 1745, William Williams composed the text to a new revival hymn he entitled: Arglwydd, arwain trwy’r anialwch (Strength to pass through the Wilderness).  As he travelled across Wales, this hymn became one of the more familiar songs of the revival that was sweeping across the countryside at the time. By 1771, Pe­ter Will­iams, a fellow Welsh revivalist (no relation to William Williams) translated the hymn into English, changing the first line of the song from “Lord, lead me through the wilderness” (which is the literal translation of the Welsh version) to the words we now sing: “Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah.” D. C. Egner

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT4n1hGjDDg

Have you ever read John Bunyan's The Pilgrims progress. The original book was written in 1628. the book was  mainly written while Bunyan was imprisoned in his home town of Bedford, England. Bunyan was a Baptist preacher in an era of English history when the Anglican Church was the only legally allowed church. Because Bunyan was a nonconformist preacher (meaning not licensed by the state church), he was imprisoned for twelve years, eking out a living for his family by making shoelaces. While in prison, he also secretly carved a flute from a table leg. For more than two centuries after its publication, The Pilgrim’s Progress ranked just behind the King James Bible as the most common and important book in evangelical Protestant households. It has been translated into more than two hundred languages, including eighty in Africa alone.

 The hymn recalls the words of Hebrews 11:13: "...and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth as written by Bunyan. But sadly I was so put off singing Who would true valour see, as it was sung at a slow drawn out pace, we had to sing it at most school assemblies. Being young I did not understand what it is about. The book was in old English,( no help what so ever to a dyslexic ) confusing was a hobgoblin, I now know it was a mischievous evil sprite. A foul fiend is another word for the devil. Christian in the book carries his guilt as a heavy load on his back. Carrying guilt as a burden is still relevant to day, many of us for get that we can ask God to help and forgive us, our faith is a journey, it takes courage to be a believer in Christ. I came upon this animation film of “The Pilgrims progress” on line and I found it helpful. And I hope you will enjoy it. Please do not feel you have to watch it in one go, it is something that you can come back to throughout the week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncPGwWIX2PE

Here is a copy of the hymn

John Bunyan's Original Version	1906 The English hymnal Version
1. Who would true valour see,	1. He who would valiant be
Let him come hither;	′Gainst all disaster,
One here will constant be,	Let him in constancy
Come wind, come weather	Follow the Master.
There’s no discouragement	There’s no discouragement
Shall make him once relent	Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent	His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim.	To be a pilgrim.
2. Whoso beset him round	2. Who so beset him round
With dismal stories,	With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound;	Do but themselves confound——
His strength the more is.	His strength the more is.
No lion can him fright,	No foes shall stay his might,
He’ll with a giant fight,	Though he with giants fight:
But he will have a right	He will make good his right
To be a pilgrim.	To be a pilgrim.
3. Hobgoblin, nor foul fiend	3. Since, Lord, thou dost defend
Can daunt his spirit;	Us with thy Spirit,
He knows he at the end	We know we at the end
Shall life inherit.	Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away,	Then fancies flee away!
He’ll fear not what men say,	I’ll fear not what men say,
He’ll labour night and day	I’ll labour night and day
To be a pilgrim.	To be a pilgrim.

Hebrews 11; 1 – 16 New International Version

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”  For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

To be a pilgrim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFPlKnyiwK4

Some us may have been on a pilgrimage, When my late father was a Methodist minister in the 1970’s he took a groups of people from different churches in his circuit on a pilgrimage to a village of Oberammergau in beautiful Bavaria in Germany

In 1633 the Oberammergau villagers promised to perform the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ every tenth year, in so far as no one was to die of the plague anymore. The villagers were answered by God and therefore in 1634 the first Passion Play took place. The promise has been kept until today. 2020 the Passion Play had to be postponed for two years due to the corona-pandemic. The 42nd Oberammergau Passion Play will now take place from 14 May to 2 October 2022. most folk that live in the village take part. Some churches and individuals go on pilgrimage in this country, one of the many places is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, commonly known as either Holy Island or Lindisfarne. It is a tidal island off the north-east coast.

The Holy Island is always an adventure. There is only one road and that is covered twice a day by the North Sea. Many visitors will attempt the Pilgrims Way, the ancient route across the sands marked by wooden posts. If you intend on walking this route and haven’t done so before, please contact someone at the Castle or the Island Heritage Centre. You will need to know the times of the tide and the safest times.

I went on a one day pilgrimage by myself across Ilkley Moor. Sheep crossed my path I found myself reciting the 23^rd psalm The Lord is my shepherd as I went.

I ended up at a monastic site, and was greeted by a young man in his late 20’s He was doubting whether he should take his vows he felt he was to old, I was doubting whether Methodism was right for me after some personal turmoil, out come of our talks and prayers one of the things I felt I was being led to say to him was that he was the right age as the older congregation would not think as too young. He went on to be an Ordained Catholic priest and with his advice I went to do my local preaches training I walked back full of the Holy spirit with joy in my heart. My burden indeed was light. If you are on or contemplating a pilgrimage take courage as your staff Which ever country you are in. whether for a few hours or weeks. May the Holy Spirit ever be your guide.

My Faith it is an oaken staff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFPlKnyiwK4

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always on your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face. May the rain fall soft upon your fields.
From now until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.