Covenant Sunday

 There is an opportunity for you to share in Holy Communion please prepare with a small drink and a piece of bread or biscuit before participating this time of worship.

Prayer. Mighty God, Holy and strong I give you all praise and glory
it is good that I can come before you bless me and others who are participating in this time of worship unite us together through the power of your Holy Spirit that we may feel your presence with in our hearts Amen.

Our first song is: Standing on the promises of God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56e3XFRtmY8

The first Bible reading is taken from the book of Psalms, Number 25, verses 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

Our next song is: Lead us heavenly Father lead us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGsvbqErM2A

Our second Bible reading is taken from Genesis chapter 9 verses 8 - 17

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

can stand on the promise of God.

Our third bible reading is taken from Jeremiah Chapter 31 verses 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 cov`enant 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.”

The next song is: wise men seeking Jesus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM-HzKUEvyY

Our fourth Bible reading is St. Matthew Gospel chapter 2 verses 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.

Our next song is: We three kings.

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

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. Six months ago I 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, maybe 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 that people would start to believe Jeremiah. But Jeremiah's message only hardened the hearts of the people. They kept shouting at him with verbal abuse, physically 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. He allowed himself to be led by God, and was obedient.

Thirdly, The Magi. We do not know how many there. They were strangers in a foreign land, they may have spoken in their native tongue and other languages, possibly Greek and Latin, 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 think of three wise men because of the three gifts that had brought. 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. Today 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 Britain the stars are bright, there are around 200 billion 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 a special star that led to Bethlehem.

What does it take to be a guide? I was a girl Guide when in uniform I was expected to set an example for other girls who would in turn like to join. Part of being a guide was to lend a hand, to be of use in the Church, Community and school. Part of promise I made when I enrolled as a guide back in 1969 was to my duty to God in other words to be obedient to the will of God. To serve the queen.

Have you ever been round a museum, An old house, Or even on a holiday trip? There may be a tour guide, that person has to have have knowledge. But they need to have people who are willing to listen to and follow them them. you may need to follow safety guide lines.

When assembling flat pack furniture there is a guide to show which bits go where.

(But it never says what to do with the bits left over:)

To be The guide, that person takes the lead.

Guide dogs lead their charge safely, the person has to have great faith in the dog.

When Learning to ride a horse It is led by another either on foot or by rider with a lead rein.

Some Church ministers wear Dog collars, a symbol of their obedience to being led by God.

The magi were astrologers magicians kings and nobles. They would want to know the future. In some cultures they were thought of as priests, the Gifts they brought told of the life, death, and 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 the 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 Jesus, to follow Him, learn from Him and to share His love with others. God promised eternal life through Jesus. Jesus asked to remembered by sharing in holy Communion, giving us foretaste of the heavenly banquet prepared for all people.

When we had a pet shop an old person had a dog and she was complaining that it was pulling so my husband 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 as well, but it walked much better with neither having to be dragged or pulling ahead when he smelt the doggie treats. Unlike the dog, God does not bribe us, He waits until we are willing to be led. If you are ready to renew your promise to follow God, or feel you would like to give your life to him then read this next prayer then join in the next hymn.

Do not worry if you do not feel ready It will be here when you are.

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.

Our next song is: Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine also known as the covenant hymn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak2usFe_PSo

Our last Bible reading is from the Gospel of St.Matthew Chapter 26: verses 26 - 29

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.”

Act of communion.

Pause. Ask Jesus to come close to you and enter into you life. Eat, Pause Drink.

Prayer.

Thank you Lord that you have fed me with this sacrament and given me a taste of the banquet prepared for all people. Amen.

The last song is: Take my life and let it be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf11rReeWIs

Blessing

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.

Listen to or sing along, O Jesus I have promised

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNz-33V1V8A

If you do not have a Bible and would like one (in English) please contact us on the blog.

Any other language Bible let us know and we will do our best for you it may take a little time. God Bless Susannah.