Worshipping at Home 22nd January 2023
Home Worshipping 

22nd January 2023

Welcome to Home Worshipping 15th January 2023!

Bible Reading

Matthew’s Gospel Ch4 vs.12-17



Jesus Begins to Preach


When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali – to fulfil what was said through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’


From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’



Thought for the Day

Have you ever been asked to make a very important and urgent announcement and wondered where to start. Well I know that I have been in that position myself in both business and in private life as well and a lot of thought is required. The problem I found was that I knew what I was to announce would have far reaching implications for a lot of people but if I tried to tell them everything in one go it would be too much to take in and the main message would become obscured. On the other hand if I didn’t say enough then people might disregard my words as being uninteresting or irrelevant.

So it was a case of trying to pick out the really essential points to get across as briefly as possible and yet in an interesting and attention grabbing fashion.

Today’s bible reading from Matthew’s gospel is a similar example. A huge change was on the way and Jesus himself was the man to bring it about but in a completely unexpected way that would be quite foreign to most of his audience. He needed to get immediate attention and so he had to speak in a fashion that people of that time could relate to. So firstly he needed to stress that the same creator God that the Jews had recognised all their lives would be central to his message. “The Kingdom of heaven is arriving” he proclaimed.

The Jews of that era knew that he was referring to the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of heaven was just a way of saying Kingdom of God without actually saying the word God). In other words this was a huge announcement of something much bigger than man himself could bring about.

Jesus was speaking and acting just like a prophet such as John the Baptist had been doing before he was locked up in prison. So as well as introducing the all-powerful creator God as a key part of the action he put the message across in a way to which the Jews were accustomed. If he had gone any further and talked about the upheaval to come in their lives and that the Jews would no longer have God’s favour all to themselves; even more so that in the end Jesus himself would die an ignominious death then they surely would have become very confused indeed.

I guess you might be thinking that this passage has nothing to do with us in this day and age and that it is purely a piece of history. But actually God hasn’t changed at all since then and the Kingdom of heaven (or The Kingdom of God) is still on the way to becoming overwhelmingly established here on earth.

There is still a story to tell – an announcement to be made time and time again both in words and in action and it’s down to us. Also if we are to be part of the fellowship of disciples who continue to usher in this new Kingdom then we still need to repent – not to feel sorry for ourselves or to do penance but to change direction in our lives and face firmly and squarely back to God. To start living our lives in a Christlike fashion based upon love and peace. Prophecy through words and action indeed! 

Amen

Let us Pray

Lord Jesus, it sounds so easy to repent – to simply turn back to you but every time we try it seems that something gets in the way; or something changes our minds without us realising; or other pressing circumstances grab a higher priority in our list of things to pray about. We have learned today that repenting was first on the list of priorities that Jesus pronounced when he started to preach; we have learned today that the Kingdom of God is still coming to this earth and that there is no time to spare. 

Dear Lord fill us with your spirit and grant us wisdom and perseverance that we may turn to you without hesitation or delay and become your true disciples living a life of love and peace in fellowship with all our your creation.
The Blessing

Christ the Son of God gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among us and remain with us always.


Amen

 The Collect Prayer

God of heaven you send the gospel to the ends of the earth and your messengers to every nation; send your Holy Spirit to transform us by the good news of everlasting life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

If you have any thoughts, questions or concerns, please contact us

Henley in Arden The incumbent/priest in charge John Ganjavi
telephone 01564 792570 or email Incumbent / Priest in charge

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I believe if you keep your faith, you keep your trust, you keep the right attitude, if you're grateful, you'll see God open up new doors.
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