Week beginning 9th January 2022

 Sorry this has been posted late.  I will try to do better in future.

John Wesley encouraged Christians to renew their covenant with God. Traditionally this is done at the start of the year.

Prayer:

Mighty God, Holy and strong, We give you all praise and glory.
It is good that we can come together worship you through the power of your Holy Spirit. Bless us that we may feel your presence within our hearts. Amen

Song: Standing on the promises of God

Standing On The Promises of Christ My King - YouTube

Psalm 25:4 – 11

4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.

8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.11 For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity,

though it is great.

Prayer of confession

Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; As Noah was led to build an ark and the magi were led by the light of a star me we led by the Light of the Christ child. Father God forgive us we pray and fill us with your light and lead us and fill our hearts with heavenly joy. Amen

Song: Lead us heavenly Father lead us.

Lead us heavenly Father (hymn with lyrics) - YouTube

Genesis 9: 8 - 17 page

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you  and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.  I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”  And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:  I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,  I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”  So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

A covenant means a sacred agreement or mutual promise between God and a person or a group of people.

So it is by our faith that we can stand on the promise of God

Jeremiah 31:31–34

31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.34 No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Matthew 2: 1 – 12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[ from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,  are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared . 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Song: We three kings.

We Three Kings of Orient Are - YouTube

In the bible readings this morning three things stand out; lets look first at Noah, an obedient man carries out what God asked of him. And God gave Noah a binding contract, a covenant never to flood the whole world again. yesterday we saw a double rainbow in the sky over Bolton. This is a reminder to us and to God of his Promise. Only God knows why Bolton needed a double rainbow, may be it’s all the rain they get in Lancashire.

Secondly Jeremiah. A prophet who was guided by God; he had faithfully proclaimed God's message of coming destruction to Judah for forty years. Now all his warnings and predictions were coming true. Babylon had laid siege to Jerusalem. The fall of the city was imminent. You would think after proclaiming a message that was being fulfilled before their very eyes the people would start to believe Jeremiah. But Jeremiah's message only hardened the hearts of the people. They kept taking shots at him, knocking him down, beating him, leaving him for dead. But Jeremiah kept getting back up. He prevailed despite suffering to be faithful to God's orders. Jeremiah persevered in obedience. Who allowed himself to be led

Third the Magi; We do not know how many there were. They were strangers in a foreign land they may have spoken in their native tongue and other languages possibly Greek and Roman. Remember nobles and kings would have come for advice So Herod secretly met with them, He did not want his advisers to know that he was seeking their knowledge. We do not know how many magi there were, we say three because of the gifts that had brought but the one thing that gets over looked in this narrative is they were guided by God, they were given a sign a star to follow. To day there is a lot of light pollution it is hard to see all the stars. Back them and in some very rural areas of the UK the stars and bright there are around 200 billon trillion of them but it is still possible on a very dark clear night to see around a two thousand. The Magi are to be guided by Just one special star that led to Bethlehem.

What does it take to be a guide? I was a Girl Guide. When in uniform, girls were expected to set an example for other girls who would in turn like to join, to lend a hand, to be of use in the church and community. The G.G. promise in 1969 to my duty to God in other words to be obedient to the will of God. To serve the Queen

A guideuide around a museum, National Trust property or tour guide has to have a bank of information to relay. There has to be a listener to follow the instruction when assembling flat pack furniture, there is a guide to show which bits go where. And what to do with the bit left over.

To be guided some one takes the lead

Guide dogs lead their charge safely, the person has to have great faith in the dog. Learning to ride a horse is led by another either on foot or by rider with a lead rein. A Church minister some times wears a dog collar a symbol of their obedience to being led by God.

The magi were astrologers, magicians. Kings and nobles would want to know the future. In some cultures they were thought of as priests, the Gifts they brought told of the life death end eternal life of the baby Jesus. They bowed down and worshipped him; these men who themselves were revered by others. Recognised this little child as King. God can and does move in mysterious ways.

He never does what we quite expect. When Jesus came, the Jewish people were looking for a king who would lead them and get rid of the Romans. The Jewish authorities would not recognise Jesus as the Messiah, he was not what they were looking for

Jesus was obedient to God in every aspect. God wants us to put our faith in him to follow him learn from him and to share His love with others. God promised eternal life through Jesus. Jesus asked to be remembered by sharing in holy Communion, giving us foretaste of the heavenly banquet prepared for all people’s.

To day is our covenant service. The day we give our promise to follow Jesus, to be obedient to His call. Allowing our selves to be led. When we had a pet shop an old lady had a dog and she was complaining that it was pulling so Jonathan offered to take it for a walk; what the lady really meant was it was not willing to walk and she was having to pull it. The dog was reluctant to walk with Jonathan but it walked better when he smelt the doggie treat. Unlike the dog, God does not bribe us, he waits until we are willing to be led. The next hymn talks about deciding to follow Jesus. You may already do so, but if you are making up your mind, the last verse asks will you decide now. After our next hymn we will go in to the covenant prayer where you make your promise to God. This prayer is not said lightly. It is your promise to God.

Song: Bind us together Lord

Bind us Together (With Lyrics) - YouTube

Lord God Holy Father Since you have called us through Christ Jesus to share in this gracious covenant: we take upon ourselves with joy the yoke of obedience, and, for love of you engage ourselves to seek and do your perfect will. We are no longer our own, but yours.

I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;

Put me to doing; put me to suffering; Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, Exalted for you, or brought low for you; Let me be full, let me be empty; Let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

Matthew 26: 26 - 28.

26 While they (the disciples ) were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then Jesus took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Song: Take my life

Take My Life and Let it Be (Tune: Mozart/Nottingham - 6vv) [with lyrics for congregations] - YouTube

Benediction 

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.