Gathering

We have come to worship God, the living God, who calls prophets and teachers to bear witness.

We have come to praise God, the almighty God, who answers the forces of hatred and hurt with the power of grace.

We have come to worship God, all-gracious God, who chooses you and me and everyone in this world, to receive and carry the Word of life and hope.

Hymn

Confession & Words of Assurance

Before God we confess that we have been reluctant to speak out clearly, naming the injustice we see and declaring God’s vision. We confess our reluctance to receive our calling as God’s people, made by God and chosen as witnesses to God’s dream of justice and joy. Remind us, God, that You have made us for Your service and recharge us with Your Word. Renew us, God. Grant us courage to live out Your Way of peace and grace.

Siblings in Christ, God is always with us, always forgiving us, always encouraging us to be better disciples. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing!

Story Time

Scripture

Jesus Rejected In Nazareth

Luke 4¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read,¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

²³ Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

²⁴ “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.²⁵ I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Sermon

 Prayers

Loving God, encourage us to believe in You and in ourselves so that we may carry out the work You would have us do.

We pray for the planet You made. Where there is war bring peace, and guide people through storms, droughts or any challenging situation. Help us look for ways to improve the environment and live in the harmony You envisioned for us all.

We pray for the people of the world, may they know Your grace in their lives.

We pray for those who are ill, dying or supporting someone through these times. May they find comfort knowing that Your loving arms are waiting for them and for those left behind, give them the knowledge that You are there for them too.

We pray for our church in a time of change. Some people are hurting, some are languishing, some are bored, some are desperate to hear the Good News. Help us all to focus on Your uniting love.

All of these prayers and so may more we pull together and pray the prayer tradition has taught us…

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.