‘We are all God’s Children’

Officiant: Revd Hannah Akibo-Betts
Preacher: Krou Assoua LLM

Gathering Music

Welcome

Hannah Akibo Betts

Words from Ecclesiastes.

[Silence]

Hymn: There is a Redeemer (Jesus, our Redeemer)

There is a Redeemer,
Jesus, God’s own Son,
precious lamb of God, Messiah,
Holy One.

Thank you, O my Father,
for giving us your Son,
and leaving your Spirit
till the work on earth is done.

Jesus, my Redeemer,
Name above all names,
precious lamb of God, Messiah,
O for sinners slain.

Thank you, O my Father, …

When I stand in glory
I will see his face,
and there I’ll serve my King for ever
in that holy place.

Thank you, O my Father, …

Melody Green (b. 1946) vv. 1 & 2, Keith Green (1953–1982) v. 3
CCL31580

Hymn: Faithful One

Faithful One so unchanging,
Ageless One you’re my rock of peace,
Lord of all I depend on you,
I call out to you, again and again,
I call out to you, again and again.
You are my rock in times of trouble.
You lift me up when I fall down.
All through the storm your love is the anchor,
my hope is in you alone.

Brian Doerksen (b. 1965)
CCL31580

Confession

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

Psalm 51: 1–4a & 7–9 NIV®

Absolution

Thank you for creating a pure heart within us, O God,
and renewing a steadfast spirit within us.
Thank you that you have taken our sins away
and restored the joy of your salvation within us
and willing spirit, to sustain us.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

Gracious God thank you for your love for us.
We ask that you continue to be in our brokenness and bleeding world.
Bind us as families, communities and nations.
Let us know that we are all your Children:
those who know you and those who do not.
In our diversities, let us know that we are each your creation.

Amen

Scripture Readings

Galatians 3: 16–29

¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds’, meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed’, meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷ What I mean is this: the law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

¹⁹ Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. ²⁰ A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.

²¹ Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ²² But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Children of God

²³ Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. ²⁴ So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

NIV®

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Luke 13: 10–17

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath

¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’ ¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, ‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’

¹⁵ The Lord answered him, ‘You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’

¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

NIV®

This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ our light.

Sermon: ‘We are all Abraham’s Seed

By Krou Assoua LLM

Prayers

The Peace

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us access to his grace.

Romans 5: 1–2a

The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Affirmation of Faith

Let us affirm our common faith in Jesus Christ:

Do you believe and trust in God the Father,
source of all being and life,
the one for whom we exist?

I believe and trust in him.

Do you believe and trust in God the Son,
who took our human nature, died for us and rose again?

I believe and trust in him.

Do you believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit,
who gives life to the people of God
and makes Christ known in the world?

I believe and trust in him.

This is the faith of the church.

This is our faith.
We believe and trust in one God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Holy Communion

The Thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made.
It will become for us the bread of life.

Blessed be God for ever.

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become our spiritual drink.

Blessed be God for ever.

The Lord is here.
His Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

Almighty God, good Father to us all, your face is turned towards your world.
In love you gave us Jesus your Son to rescue us from sin and death.
Your Word goes out to call us home to the city where angels sing your praise.

We join with them in heaven’s song:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

We bless the name of Jesus, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
whose brokenness and suffering makes love real,
who on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying,

Take, eat. This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

After supper he took the cup saying,

Drink from this, all of you, this is my blood given for you.
Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.

This is the mystery of our faith.

Christ has died:
Christ is risen:
Christ will come again.

Therefore, as we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we acknowledge brokenness as a path to truth.
We long for the bread of tomorrow: eternally broken and so able to nourish.
We long for the new wine of the kingdom: continuously poured out that thirst may be quenched.

Send your Spirit on us now,
that by these gifts we may feed on Christ with opened eyes and hearts on fire.
May we and all who share this food offer ourselves to live for you
and be welcomed at your feast in heaven, where all creation worships you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

Blessing and honour and glory and power
be yours forever and ever.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

The Communion

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

Though we are many, we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.

Amen

Hymn: This is my body, broken for you

This is my body, broken for you,
bringing you wholeness, making you free.
Take it and eat it, and when you do,
do it in love for me.

This is my blood poured out for you,
bringing forgiveness, making you free.
Take it and drink it, and when you do,
do it in love for me.

Back to my Father soon I shall go.
Do not forget me; then you will see
I am still with you, and you will know
you’re very close to me.

Filled with my Spirit, how you will grow!
You are my branches; I am the tree.
If you are faithful, others will know
you are alive in me.

Love one another – I have loved you,
and I have shown you ow to be free;
serve one another, and when you do,
do it in love for me.

Jimmy Owens (b. 1930) vv. 1 & 2, Damian Lundy (1944–1997) vv. 3–5
CCL31580

Post Communion Prayer

Eternal Father, we thank you for nourishing us with these heavenly gifts:
may our communion strengthen us in faith, build us up in hope,
and make us grow in love; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Notices

Bible Study with Revd Hannah Akibo-Betts

We had our last Bible Study session with Hannah last Wednesday (17 July 2022). We break for the whole of August and resume in September.

Banns of Marriage

Hymn: Cornerstone

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly trust in Jesus’ name,
but wholly trust in Jesus’ name.

Christ alone; Cornerstone –
weak made strong; in the Saviour’s love.
Through the storm, he is Lord,
Lord of all.

When darkness seems to hide his face
I rest on his unchanging grace,
in every high and stormy gale
my anchor holds within the veil,
my anchor holds within the veil.

Christ alone; Cornerstone …

When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found;
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless stand before the throne.
faultless stand before the throne.

Christ alone; Cornerstone …

Eric Liljero, Edward Mote, Jonas Myrin, Reuben Morgan (2012)
CCL31580

Blessing

Loving Father, may the bread of life always nourish us,
your living water daily refresh us,
the broken Christ always constantly inspire us in our brokenness;
and the risen Lord, unceasingly guide us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

The Dismissal

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ.

Amen