Welcome
Welcome to our ‘Church at Home’ service for 19th July 2020, on this page you will find prayers, readings, hymns and a short video message to help you to worship God this morning wherever you are. Today we are continuing our series helping us to think about the lesson we can learn at this moment as we journey out of lockdown.
Call to Worship – 1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.”
Hymn 488 – As the deer pants for the water
Opening Prayer
Father God,
by your mighty power
you exalted your dearly beloved son
into to the heavens,
that he might prepare a place in your kingdom of glory
for all who love you.
Merciful Lord,
Lead us and uphold us,
so that we might follow
the holy steps of Christ’s life here on earth,
and may enter with him into your everlasting rest;
that where he is,
we might be also;
through the one who made us worthy,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Reading – psalm 84 (NIV)
For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Children’s Talk & SOng
Watch Andrew’s talk from Super CSSM and the song that follows (starts at 10.34). Go to Scripture Union Ireland to catch up on all of this year’s Super CSSM.
Reading – Revelation 5:6-14 (NIV)
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Sermon – Longing for heaven
A prayer of thanks for God’s presence with us on the journey
Faithful God,
we pause on this unexpected and unchosen path,
somewhere between our Mizpah and Shen,
to raise our Ebenezer stone,
declaring ‘thus far has the LORD helped us.’
You have been present with us on this journey –
sometimes guiding reliably,
like pillar of cloud by day,
sometimes spectacularly illuminating,
like pillar of fire in the night;
always providing like you did daily manna in the wilderness,
drawing forth faith one day at a time.
At times we have looked for you,
in earthquake, wind and fire,
but like Elijah at Horeb, mountain of God,
you have spoken in the gentlest of whispers,
and we have found it enough.
Like Samuel in the night,
or Mary in the garden,
we have known you speaking our name,
calling us to learn from you,
to follow you to places
to which we have never been before.
And you will be present with us as future days unfold.
You say,
‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’,
and we reply with fresh confidence,
‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’
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,
continue to equip us with everything good for doing your will,
keep on working in us what is pleasing to you,
through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
Hymn 449 – crown him with many crowns
Closing Prayer (Romans 15:13)
May the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Blackrock 