Worshipping at Home 9th April 2023
Home Worshipping 

9th April 2023

Welcome to Home Worshipping 9th April 2023!

Bible Reading

This week’s bible readings:

Colossians Ch.3 V.s 1-4

John’s Gospel Ch.20 vs. 1-18     


The empty tomb’ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance


So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped round Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.  (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.



Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ At this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus. He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary. ’She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’). Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Thought for the Day

How often do we get a shiver up our spine? Maybe it is a piece of music; a first glimpse of natural beauty; meeting a particular person; an awe-inspiring event; possibly a potentially disastrous event. Alternatively, perhaps we get that strange sensation but there is no explanation for it. Whichever it may be I would like to you to consider adding something rather different to your own list and that is the realisation of a particular truth.
 
To set the scene have you ever experienced the early hours of dawn out in the open air. Birds singing in the dark; the almost imperceptible lightening of the sky, even on a rainy morning; the sudden chill that often comes with dawn even after a warm night; the notion that in one sense nature is reawakening to greet the dawn but conversely other parts of nature are retreating from the light into safe havens. A beautiful and inspiring, yet sometimes disconcerting, time of day. A realisation that creation has its own cycles of life that will prevail despite the interference of man. Also a time when we might suddenly experience an unexpected chill up our spine.

Now let’s put ourselves in Mary Magdalene’s shoes in today’s bible reading from John’s Gospel. I have to confess that I cannot stand up and read this passage from the bible without experiencing a spine-chilling shiver. 

There is so much raw emotion and innocent truth in the text that we could almost be there ourselves as eyewitnesses. The passage starts in the early morning pre-dawn darkness the coolest part of the day.

But then things warm up very quickly! Suddenly Mary has an awful realisation that the tomb entrance is open. It doesn’t sound as if Mary even checked what had happened but either instinctively knew that Jesus’ body was no longer there. There was so much breathless urgency as totally distraught she rushed back from the open tomb to tell Simon Peter and the un-named beloved disciple. She blurted out the words ‘they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put him! How much of a shiver must have gone up Mary’s spine when she realised the awful truth. Then the two disciples race to the tomb and found the linen grave cloths just lying there as if Jesus body had just de-materialised leaving them behind.

They returned home thoroughly bewildered. I wonder what was going through their confused and distressed minds. Mary just stood and wept by the tomb and then had another spine-chilling moment as she stooped to look inside and saw two angels. As if that wasn’t enough she started to tell the angels that someone had taken her Lord’s body away; where and how would she find him? It would have been enough surely to make most of us pass out with fright as she turned round and found a stranger stood behind her.

She thought maybe this was the gardener and that possibly he might have been part of this mystery or at least know where Jesus’ body had been put. At this point just as we are totally immersed in her grief and confusion the man said her name and in total shock she realised it was the Lord speaking to her in the same manner as he always had and with the the same recognisable voice.

He gave her a message for the disciples and there was then no doubt as to his identity. Once again she rushed to the disciples with the news; “I have seen The Lord” she exclaimed. At this point I can barely finish reading the passage – so many spine-chilling moments building up to the awesome final truth ‘Mary really has seen the risen Lord and I know that in my heart I have too! I hope that you feel the same on this Easter morning when you hear John’s Gospel. Amen

Let us Pray

Heavenly Father we give thanks that you sent your dear Son Jesus Christ to dwell with us in human form so that we might learn the truth of your will for us and discover the way to salvation in our earthly life. We give thanks for his sacrificial death in banishing the powers of darkness and evil; we give thanks for the revelation of his resurrection giving us the sure and certain hope of eternal life with you at the end of time. Through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you. 
Amen

Lord Jesus we often wonder if you are there beside us; we often think that all is lost; but then we look back at the events of that first Easter and we know for certain that you are always there alongside us no matter how confused or doubtful we feel. May we experience the joy of Mary and those first disciples as we continue to discover you just when and where we least expect. 
Amen

Prayer for the interregnum of the Parish of Beaudesert with Henley and Ullenhall (to be said during intercessions).

Almighty and everlasting God as we travel together through this period of interregnum we thank you for your everlasting love for us. Give us strength to accept this time of change and send us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with encouragement and hope for the future. We ask that you will help us to share responsibilities growing in faith and love with one another. We look forward to the appointment of a new Rector and believe you will send us a priest best suited to your disciples in this parish and who will encourage many to join with us on our journey of faith.
Amen 
The Blessing

God the Father, by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead, strengthen you to walk with him in his risen life; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you always.


Amen

 The Collect Prayer

God of glory, by the raising of your Son you have broken the chains of death and hell: fill your church with faith and hope; for a new day has dawned and the way to life stands open in our Saviour Jesus Christ.


Amen

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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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