{"id":22747,"date":"2024-12-01T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/sunday-worship-1-december-2024"},"modified":"2024-12-01T09:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T09:30:00","slug":"sunday-worship-1-december-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/sunday-worship-1-december-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Worship 1 December 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
 
Today\u2019s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome <\/strong><\/p>\n

Songs, poems, and writing all have multiple ways of interpreting them.  Bono, from the band U2, wrote the song Tomorrow<\/em> about those who had died in the Troubles in Northern Ireland \u2013 the black cars at the side of the road and the knock at the door \u2013 but later realised he\u2019d been writing about his mother\u2019s funeral.  She died when he was just 14.  Generations of Christians have heard another meaning in the song \u2013 about Jesus\u2019 return \u2013 with the final words about opening ourselves up to the love of God.  
Advent has multiple meanings too.  The Church offers us this season where we focus on Jesus\u2019 return at the end of time with readings about preparation and apocalypse.  Yet we light our candles counting down to Christmas and busy ourselves with present-buying, card-posting, and the shock-inducing experience of paying for postage stamps!  <\/p>\n

My name is Andy Braunston and I\u2019m the United Reformed Church\u2019s Minister for Digital Worship.  I live in the beautiful island county of Orkney off Scotland\u2019s far north coast where the weather often means we won\u2019t be coming back until tomorrow!  <\/p>\n

We come to worship thinking about Jesus\u2019 return at the end of time even as we are thinking about our Christmas preparations.  So, let\u2019s join in with our Call to Worship together.<\/p>\n

Call to Worship<\/strong><\/p>\n

Won\u2019t you come back tomorrow, Lord?  There\u2019s much to be done \u2013 sea levels rise, wars wage, the poor are on the move displaced by conflict, persecution, and famine, undeterred by the borders we erect. Won\u2019t you come back tomorrow, Lord?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Won\u2019t you come back tomorrow, Lord?  There\u2019s sickness, corruption, and danger all around us; who will tear down the barriers we erect?  Who will stand up for justice?  Who will bring healing for the wounds and scars of life? Won\u2019t you come back tomorrow, Lord?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Won\u2019t you come back tomorrow, Lord?  Our schools and public buildings are crumbling, governments are in disarray, our civic life is devalued and there\u2019s no sense of direction.  Won\u2019t you come back tomorrow, Lord?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe you won\u2019t come back tomorrow, Lord!  Maybe your silence should inspire us to act to change our world and proclaim your coming Kingdom.  Maybe the needs of our world cry out for us, not you, to act! Help us to make our world fit for you tomorrow Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     Lo He Comes with Clouds Descending<\/em>
Charles Wesley (1758) Public Domain, sung by Maddy Prior
 
Lo he comes with clouds descending,
once for favoured sinner slain!
Thousand, thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of his train:
hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah,
God appears on earth to reign!<\/p>\n

Ev’ry eye shall now behold him,
robed in dreadful majesty,
those who set at nought and sold Him,
pierced and nailed him to the tree,
deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
shall the true Messiah see.<\/p>\n

Those dear tokens of his passion
still his dazzling body bears,
cause of endless exultation
to his ransomed worshippers:
with what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture,
gaze we on those glorious scars!<\/p>\n

Yea, amen let all adore thee,
high on thine eternal throne!
Saviour, take the power and glory;
claim the kingdom for thine own.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Everlasting God come down.<\/p>\n

Lighting the First Advent Candle<\/strong><\/p>\n

And so, we light our first Advent candle reflecting on Paul\u2019s words in the letter to the Thessalonians which we\u2019ll hear a little later on.<\/p>\n

Yearning God,
You draw close, aching to hold us in Your love;
teach us to follow Your paths of justice and faithfulness.
Show us Your ways that we may be strengthened in holiness
as we await our redemption which draws ever nearer. Amen<\/p>\n

Prayers of Approach, Confession, & Grace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eternal One,
we come to worship You today
with the needs of the world and of our own lives pressing upon us;
a world in need of redemption,
warring peoples needing peace,
injustice feeding terror,
and the nations in need of healing.
Everlasting God come down and put things right.<\/p>\n

Approaching God,
as once you came to the poor and excluded,
we long for You to come again;
to remind us of Your ways,
to establish Your Kingdom,
to lift up the poor, 
to send the rich away empty,
and to establish righteousness and justice.
Everlasting God come down and put things right.<\/p>\n

Healing One,
as we yearn for our world to be put right,
we become conscious of what is not right within us,
as well as what is wrong in our world;
give us insight, self-awareness, and the ability to change,
that as we turn back to You we gain the strength,
to see where you have, Everlasting God, already come down,
and how You urge us to put things right.  <\/p>\n

Holy Trinity,
give us the grace to receive the forgiveness you offer
and the courage to forgive ourselves, Amen.<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both our readings today are about hope \u2013 but we may not quite get this at first hearing.  Paul writes to a group of day labourers in Thessalonica who had converted to Christianity longing to be able to visit them again, urging them to grow in love for each other that they may be holy and ready when the Lord comes again.    Our Gospel reading has a graphic description of Jesus\u2019 return \u2013 a description which clearly inspired Wesley in the hymn Lo He Comes With Clouds Descending<\/em> \u2013 offering us hope as our redemption draws near.  So, we pray asking for God to enlighten us as we hear truth proclaimed in ancient words.  <\/p>\n

Prayer for Illumination<\/strong><\/p>\n

How can we thank you enough, O God,
for the ways you reveal Yourself to us?
We perceive You in the natural world and created order,
in ancient words which are ever new, and, above all in Jesus Christ.
Open our hearts and minds now, O God,
that as we hear we may understand and follow.  Amen.<\/p>\n

Reading<\/strong>     1 Thessalonians 3:9-13<\/em><\/p>\n

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.<\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     When the King Shall Come Again<\/em>
\u00a9 Christopher Idle\/Jubilate Hymns Ltd OneLicence A-734713. Sung by Christ Church Woodley Virtual choir & band and used with their kind permission.<\/p>\n

When the King shall come again all his power revealing,
splendour shall announce his reign, life and joy and healing:
earth no longer in decay, hope no more frustrated;
this is God’s redemption day longingly awaited.<\/p>\n

In the desert trees take root fresh from his creation;
plants and flowers and sweetest fruit join the celebration.
Rivers spring up from the earth, barren lands adorning;
valleys, this is your new birth, mountains, greet the morning!<\/p>\n

Strengthen feeble hands and knees, fainting hearts, be cheerful!
God who comes for such as these seeks and saves the fearful.
Deaf ears hear the silent tongues sing away their weeping;
blind eyes see the lifeless ones walking, running, leaping.
 
There God’s highway shall be seen where no roaring lion,
nothing evil or unclean walks the road to Zion:
ransomed people homeward bound all your praises voicing,
see your Lord with glory crowned, share in his rejoicing!<\/p>\n

Reading<\/strong>     St Luke 21:25-36<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus said: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Then he told them a parable:  “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”<\/p>\n

Sermon<\/strong>  <\/p>\n

There\u2019s hope in our world even though it doesn\u2019t seem like it but there again there\u2019s hope in our readings today even though, at first hearing, we may not be entirely convinced!<\/p>\n

It is thought that the first letter to the Thessalonians was Paul\u2019s very first letter.  It was written to a group of day labourers who heard Paul preach and were converted.  As day labourers they\u2019d have had a precarious existence never knowing if they\u2019d get work tomorrow.  Today\u2019s passage reveals various tensions in this early congregation.  <\/p>\n

First, there\u2019s the issue of the coming again of Christ.  Later in the letter, in chapter 5, there is more focused teaching on Christ\u2019s coming; it clearly was a concern for this group of believers.  Indeed, this letter was written long before the Gospels even though we are used to thinking the Gospels were written first.  In fact the letters came firs and then, as the first eyewitnesses of Jesus\u2019 life and ministry were dying, came the Gospels.  It was important, then to make what Luke called \u201corderly accounts\u201d of the stories they had.  They\u2019d not done this before as the task of preaching the Gospel before Jesus\u2019 return was so vital it superseded any other task.  By the time the apostles were dying it was clear the Lord\u2019s return wasn\u2019t imminent.  But at the point where Paul was writing the Second Coming was a very real hope and expectation in the Early Church.    <\/p>\n

Paul didn\u2019t press the fact Jesus had already come to this group of new believers; he didn\u2019t stress the Cross nor what Christ had achieved but, rejoiced in their newfound faith and in the faith that would yet come.  Paul is concerned, with this group of believers, about what Christ will do \u2013 strengthen their love for each other and making them holy and prepared for when Christ comes.  <\/p>\n

Salvation, here then, is a future not a past act.  That\u2019s a tension with contemporary Christianity influenced by a few hundred years of evangelical theology from Wesley onwards where we\u2019re often asked to reflect on having been saved when we responded to Jesus\u2019 call to follow him; yet passages like this, which imply a salvation still to come, are a counterbalance to the idea that we\u2019re already saved.  Like the Kingdom which has come but is still coming, salvation has started but is not complete.   Like Advent when we\u2019re invited to focus on Jesus\u2019 coming again even as we prepare to celebrate his coming amongst us so long ago we live with paradoxes and tensions.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another tension in Thessalonians where Paul uses the term \u2018Lord\u2019 for Jesus Christ.  It\u2019s a term which is widely used in the Christian tradition and is preserved in much of the Church\u2019s liturgy as well as in the New Testament.  It\u2019s so familiar to us we don\u2019t give it much thought.  Yet the term is deeply subversive.  Kyrios<\/em>, or Lord was a term used with great tension in the early Church as at the time Paul was writing the term referred to the Emperor.  So, Christians had to use the term to mean both Jesus and Caesar and the assertion that only Jesus is Lord meant that Caesar isn\u2019t.  Rulers tend not to like hearing that their authority is questioned or limited so this was a political tension for the early believers.  They proclaimed a Kingdom not fully arrived, a salvation not fully complete and a Lord who wasn\u2019t the emperor.  Further, the type of lordship that Jesus was lived was one based on simplicity, weakness, love, and kindness not overbearing male power.  It\u2019s all confusing counter cultural stuff.   <\/p>\n

The most pressing theme, however, in the passage is, as we said at the start, that of hope; <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This is a lot of hope; it\u2019s hope in a future that will transform the present.  Throughout Christian history, ever since we became the Roman official religion, the Church has downplayed hope in the Second Coming as it has concentrated on cosying up to power.  (Tyrants, after all, don\u2019t want sermons about the justice that is to come!)  We\u2019ve left thoughts about the Second Coming to the fanatical fringe of the Church yet, every time we celebrate Communion, we proclaim that \u201cChrist will come again.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Those precarious day labourers were offered hope by Paul; hope that the Lord Jesus would come, hope they\u2019d be ready to meet him, and a hope that through their own discipleship they\u2019d find holiness.  These aren\u2019t bad hopes for us in our day.  <\/p>\n

It\u2019s more of a struggle to see hope in our Gospel reading with all that strange language about Jesus\u2019 return.  It\u2019s very dramatic; we\u2019re not used to fear and foreboding in church these days!  <\/p>\n

The title \u201cSon of Man\u201d is often used by Jesus about himself in the Gospels.  Some inclusive language paraphrases render this \u201cHuman One\u201d but it\u2019s so much more than that \u2013 it\u2019s a title coming from the book of Daniel about one given power and dominion over nations and rulers.  It\u2019s a high Christological title every bit as telling as Paul\u2019s use of \u2018Lord\u2019 but perhaps a little less confrontational as the Romans would have had to struggle to understand it; Jewish hearers, however, would have immediately grasped the allusion.  What\u2019s interesting, however, in the New Testament is the pairing of this title with the idea of suffering.  It\u2019s not all glory; or maybe glory is seen in suffering.   <\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 message of his return is so strange that it\u2019s shaped in very odd language; the literary conventions of his age used such language when speaking of the end of time; it\u2019s not possible to get a more prose like understanding of these events as it\u2019s mystery and imagery.  Once we\u2019re used to the literary style we can focus on Luke\u2019s point \u2013 hope.  There will be painful things, there will be suffering, but there\u2019s hope \u201csalvation is drawing near\u201d.   Christians have been tempted to overlook the hope and take strange byways with this passage; some have been tempted to deny the world and become rather fanatical, others to despair, others yet to withdraw into alternative communities and watch the world go to hell in a hand basket.  Instead, we are to hope.  <\/p>\n

We hope in a better future, we hope in Christ\u2019s return when all shall be put right, we hope in the grace given to us to improve things now.  We hope not in, as Marx put it, an opium of faith to dull the senses, but in the courage, energy, and vision given to us to both proclaim and work for the coming Kingdom.  <\/p>\n

We started the service asking Jesus to come back tomorrow and put all things right; yet we also know that since the Ascension it\u2019s been over to us until Jesus returns.  We may ignore the teaching on the Second Coming as, to be honest, the Church has been waiting for some time.  We may long for the Second Coming as, to be honest, it lets us off the hook. So maybe it\u2019s another tension to live with.  Just as the early Christians had to understand \u2018Lord\u2019 in different ways, just as we know that Advent is about two things at once \u2013 looking back and looking forward, so we must live with a tension about mission.  We\u2019re called to love and embody God\u2019s love in the world.  We\u2019re called to make changes, to make the world more loving, more just, more like the coming Kingdom yet, at the same time, we know these things won\u2019t come until the End.  Until then we\u2019re called to both wait and work, hope and help.  Let\u2019s pray:<\/p>\n

You probably won\u2019t come back tomorrow, Lord, will you?
You probably won\u2019t make everything right tomorrow;
yet as we wait we know that You call us 
to proclaim and embody Your love, Your Kingdom, Your justice, 
and  Your message, today and tomorrow.  Amen.<\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     Come Thou Long Expected Jesus<\/em>
Charles Wesley (1744)  Sung by Lythan and Phil Nevard and used with their kind permission
 
Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.<\/p>\n

Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.
 
Affirmation of Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since its earliest days the Church has proclaimed that:  Christ will come again!<\/strong> In times of despair, doubt, and despondency God\u2019s people have hoped: Christ will come again!<\/strong>   Yet we\u2019ve been waiting a long time.  Advent after Advent we proclaim: Christ will come again!<\/strong> Yet, at the same time we\u2019ve learned to live with views of power and glory where grace is costly and God is at work on the margins, with the weak and despised.  If Christ does come again<\/strong> we\u2019ll see him at work on the edge, with the poor and the least, showing us how to live and love with hope despite God\u2019s silence.  Only when we\u2019ve learnt how to live as Jesus taught will Christ come again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Intercessions<\/strong><\/p>\n

We bring our prayers before you, O God,  that we may wait and work for your coming Kingdom.  <\/p>\n

Eternal One, we thank you for all that is good in our lives;
the beauty of our world, the love we share with friends and family,
the freedoms we enjoy to worship, love, and live as we please.
Yet as we thank You we remember those who aren\u2019t free;
those persecuted for faith, politics, and love;
those living in fear that once precious freedoms will be removed.
Help us, dear God, to hope and help.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Living Lord Jesus, may your joy abound in our hearts 
as we pray, night and day, for your coming reign.  
We may not see the signs in the heavens you spoke about,
but see plenty of signs in our world:
the rise, again, of dictators and those who envy them,
the mass movements of people, war and terror, ecological disaster.
We long for the joy you promise but live in the gloom of our realities.  
Help us to speak truth even when inconvenient,
to lift up those oppressed by life,
and to challenge the unjust use of power wherever we encounter it.
Help us, dear God, to hope and help.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most Holy Spirit, strengthen our hearts in holiness 
as we live and work in a confusing world 
full of pain and praise, tragedy and beauty, failure and glory, 
that we may become blameless before God.
Help us to be alert to the needs of our world, and of our community,
that we may respond to Your call to love 
both as individuals and as a congregation,
showing your life and love as our redemption draws ever near.
Help us, dear God, to hope and help<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Eternal Trinity, be with us this Advent as we look both forward and back,
to pray and work for the coming Kingdom as, with Jesus, we pray,<\/p>\n

Our Father\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Offering<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we hope for better times we know we have to give.  Not just in the frenzy of Christmas where giving can be difficult, but in our day to day lives where we give of our time and our talents as well as of our treasure.  St Paul told us that God loves a cheerful giver, but often we can be a bit grumpy as we give!  We complain about our busyness, our exhaustion and our bank balances yet, despite the grumbling we know there\u2019s joy in giving.  The face of a child on Christmas morning, the thank you of a friend, the kiss of a lover.  And so we give, in joy and sometimes with grumbling, but together God takes our gifts, and our attitudes, and makes wonderful things.  Let\u2019s pray.<\/p>\n

O God, giver of all that is good,
we thank you for the gifts given in this community
kindness to strangers, food to the hungry, 
time to the lonely, a listening ear to the depressed
and the financial gifts to church and charity.
Bless our giving, O God, and bless us,
that through our lives and by Your will,
Your Kingdom will come.  Amen.<\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns<\/em>
John Brownlie (1859 \u2013 1925) Public Domain sung by Chris Brunelle and used with his kind permission<\/p>\n

The King shall come when morning dawns
and light triumphant breaks,
when beauty gilds the eastern hills
and life to joy awakes.<\/p>\n

Not as of old a little child,
to bear, and fight, and die,
but crowned with glory like the sun
that lights the morning sky.<\/p>\n

O brighter than the rising morn
when He, victorious, rose
and left the lonesome place of death,
despite the rage of foes.<\/p>\n

O brighter than that glorious morn
shall this fair morning be,
when Christ, our King, in beauty comes,
and we His face shall see.
 
The King shall come when morning dawns,
and light and beauty brings;
“Hail, Christ the Lord!” Thy people pray,
come quickly, King of kings!<\/p>\n

Holy Communion<\/strong><\/p>\n

May God be with you | and also with you!<\/strong>
Lift up your hearts | we lift them up to God.<\/strong>
Let us give thanks to God.| It is right to give our thanks and praise! <\/strong><\/p>\n

It is right and just, our duty and our joy 
always and everywhere to give you our thanks, Eternal One, 
through Jesus Christ, Your word made flesh.<\/p>\n

We look at the signs of the times 
and see the earth and the heavens shaken 
with the selfishness of human greed,
the drunkenness and dissipation of life and the worries of the world,
yet You teach us to be alert, have hope,  
and to see our redemption drawing near.  <\/p>\n

And so with the angels and archangels
And the whole company of heaven we sing to your praise and glory:<\/p>\n

The Ash Grove Sanctus<\/strong>
Michael Forster \u00a9 1995 Kevin Mayhew Ltd OneLicence # A-734713  <\/p>\n

O holy, most holy, the God of creation,
forever exalted in pow\u2019r and great might.
The earth and the heavens are full of your glory.
Hosanna, hosanna, and praise in the height!
How blessed is he who is sent to redeem us,
who puts ev\u2019ry fear and injustice to flight;
who comes in the name of the Lord as our saviour.
Hosanna, hosanna, and praise in the heig<\/strong>ht!<\/p>\n

In these days of Advent, Eternal One, we wait in joyful hope, 
for the world to change, the Kingdom to come, 
justice to be established, and Jesus to return.
We look back to Bethlehem\u2019s cradle 
and forward to the final consummation of all things
when all creation will be made whole,
the poor lifted up, the hungry fed, the oppressed run free,
and where, in Your presence, we will dance with joy.<\/p>\n

Until then we wait and work for the coming Kingdom,
gaining strength and inspiration at Your table,
where, in obedience to Jesus\u2019 command, 
we show forth His sacrifice on the Cross 
with bread broken and wine poured 
for us to eat and drink.<\/p>\n

For we remember that night, long ago,
when Jesus, gathered with his friends around a table,
and shared in the simplicity of a meal.
During that meal he took some bread, blessed it, broke it,
and gave it to his friends saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cthis is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, 
said the ancient blessing, gave the cup to his friends and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cthis cup is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

As we meet to share in this meal Jesus himself, risen and ascended, 
is here with us – for we are gathered up into the heavenly places. 
Jesus gives himself anew for our spiritual nourishment 
and growth in grace. 
So let us, together, affirm our faith:<\/p>\n

Christ has died!  Christ is risen!  Christ will come again!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Come Holy Spirit, on these gifts of bread and wine,
that they may be, for us, 
a communion with the body and blood of Christ which we share.<\/p>\n

Remind us we are Christ\u2019s body and blood, his hands and feet 
in our world until he comes again.<\/p>\n

Unite us with the whole Church in heaven and earth, 
as we gather here to present our offering of praise and thanksgiving 
presenting ourselves again 
rejoicing in Jesus\u2019 promise to return in glory.<\/p>\n

Through Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
All glory and praise is Yours, Eternal One,
forever and ever, Amen.  <\/p>\n

God\u2019s holy gifts are given for God\u2019s holy people;
let us share and rejoice as we encounter the living God.<\/p>\n

Music for Communion<\/strong>     Creator of the Stars of Night<\/em>
\u00a9 The Order of St Benedict 1959  Sung by the choir of St John\u2019s Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colardo and used with their kind permission.  ONE LICENSE # A-734713   <\/p>\n

Post Communion Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

God of the signs of the times,
you draw near to us in word and sacrament,
to strengthen, renew, and enthuse us with the fire of Your presence.
Give us hope, that as we see our redemption drawing near,
we may abound in love for you, 
for our sisters and brothers we know,
and for those we are called to serve but don\u2019t yet know.
Amen.<\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     Christ is Surely Coming<\/em>
Christopher Idle  \u00a9 1975, The Jubilate Group (admin. Hope Publishing Company)  Reprint and Podcast permission under ONE LICENSE # A-734713  Recording from Jubilate Hymns and used with their kind permission.<\/p>\n

Christ is surely coming bringing his reward,
Alpha and Omega, First and Last and Lord:
Root and stem of David, brilliant Morning Star:
meet your Judge and Saviour, nations near and far;
meet your Judge and Saviour, nations near and far!<\/p>\n

See the holy city! There they enter in,
All by Christ made holy, washed from every sin:
thirsty ones, desiring all he loves to give,
come for living water, freely drink, and live;
come for living water, freely drink, and live!
 
Grace be with God’s people!  Praise his holy name!
Father, Son, and Spirit,  evermore the same.
Hear the certain promise from the eternal home:
‘Surely I come quickly!’ Come, Lord Jesus, come;
‘Surely I come quickly!’ Come, Lord Jesus, come!<\/p>\n

Blessing<\/strong><\/p>\n

May the One who loved you since before the ages began,
the One who became flesh to show you how to live,
the One who burns with a power that drives change,
hold you in love, show you how to live, 
and enable you to change the world,
and the blessing of God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Be with you, now and evermore,
Amen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 Today\u2019s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston Welcome  Songs, poems, and writing all have multiple ways of interpreting them.  Bono, from the band U2, wrote the song Tomorrow about those who had died in the Troubles in Northern Ireland \u2013 the black cars at the side of the road and the knock at … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Sunday Worship 1 December 2024”<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}