APC 13th September 2020 “Love always trusts / believes all things.” Welcome and Introduction Good morning everyone and welcome to our Sunday morning worship. Today we’ll be asking ourselves - what did Paul mean when he says “love always trusts and always believes all things?” Let’s begin by reminding ourselves why we’ve tuned in – because God has called us to worship Him, to learn from Him and receive His help. And so as always let’s take a moment to talk to God, let’s pray… Let us pray… Opening Prayer Almighty and loving God, we thank you for the assurance we have that you are always with us, that in you we will find help and strength in times of trouble, that whatever we face you will always be there to reach out and save us. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. We thank you that you are present not only here but everywhere, that no one is outside your love and no place beyond your concern. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. We thank you that you hold firmly to us, even when we try and struggle from your grasp. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. We thank you that your mercy never runs dry despite our repeated faithlessness. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. We thank you that your patience is never exhausted, no matter how many times we let you down. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. So now we worship you, you who alone are God, worthy of praise and honour. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. We come with gladness and thanksgiving, joy and celebration. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. We come in awe and wonder, hope and faith. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. We come to make our confession, offer our petition and bring our intercessions. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. Almighty and loving God, take our faith, weak though it is. Kindle the sparks of life within us and fan a new flame of love within our hearts; and so may we set out into another week with renewed purpose, resolved to live and work for you, in the assurance that you are with us, now and always. Great is your faithfulness from one generation to another. Thanks be to God, Amen. Join with me as we say the Lord’s Prayer together The Lord’s Prayer On Screen (All say together) Our Father, which 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. Bible Reading 1 Acts 9: 19-31 (Barnabus ‘believes’ in Paul) Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. 23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. 26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,[a] but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. Bible Reading 2 1 Corinth 13 v 4-7 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. Short Reflection “Love always trusts / believes all things” “When I am down, and, oh, my soul, so weary When troubles come, and my heart burdened be, Then, I am still and wait here in the silence Until you come and sit awhile with me. You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains You raise me up to walk on stormy seas I am strong when I am on your shoulders You raise me up to more than I can be.” “You Raise Me Up” was composed by an Irish-Norwegian duo known as ‘Secret Garden’, performers of primarily instrumental music. The music was composed by Rolf Lovland. The song was originally written as an instrumental piece, with parts of the melody drawing on inspiration from Londonderry Air, which is the tune used for Danny Boy. Lovland performed the song the first time at his mother’s funeral. He noted “there’s something about the song people are embracing – which becomes emotionally strong. I believe people think of it as a song they use for their own stuff.” The melody was originally titled “Silent Story”. When in studio, the original mix was made with the violin. Lovland then approached author and songwriter Brendan Graham to write the lyrics. Graham is said to have finished the song that very night with no rewrites needed. The song was first performed in 2002 by the group, with Brian Kennedy, serving as lead singer. The song was released on the Secret Garden album ‘Once in a Red Moon’. When Brian Kennedy became ill and unable to tour, Jan Werner Danielsen, a Norweigan singer took his place and later recorded the song with the group. The release had moderate success but did not chart. In 2003, Producer David Foster was introduced to the song and decided on an up-and coming young musician Josh Groban, to record the song. Groban’s version made it to #1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart in early 2004 and remained there for six weeks. This version was nominated for a 2005 Grammy Award. When Groban performed the song at the 2004 Super Bowl, on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and various other television appearances, the song gained national and international exposure. In 2007, Groban appeared on the BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do, and soon after charted in the UK. There have been over 125 covers of this song over the years and my personal favourite is the one sung by the Irish singer Brian Kennedy. But the person who made it famous was the singer Josh Groban. ‘You raise me up’ is not specifically a Christian song but it’s been a song that over the years I have turned to again and again when I have been going through ‘stuff’. Perhaps Rolf Lovland was recalling his mother’s encouragement when he composed this music for her funeral. Perhaps Brendan Graham was thinking about all the friends and mentors in his life when he added the lyrics. For Josh Groban, the song has spiritual significance for he says that it is God who raises him up. I begin with this introduction because I believe this is exactly what the apostle Paul is referring to when he reminds the Corinthian Christians that ‘love believes all things’ or as it’s often translated, ‘love always trusts’. Of course, Paul is not saying that love is naïve or gullible. He is not advocating that we should never stop to make wise judgements especially when we get phone calls from a complete stranger asking us to send them our bank details! He is not saying that we can believe and act anyway we want. No, God is real, the bible is His word and the guidelines for living that we find in its pages are wise and will help us to get the greatest enjoyment out of life and our relationships. What Paul is saying is that love trusts God, love believes that He has our best interests at heart even when the dark clouds come. Even when church life is painful as it was for the Corinthians, we need to trust that God will help us through. Do you know, for me the Christian church has been the place where I have received the greatest encouragements and the deepest hurts. I’ve also lived long enough and sat in enough front rooms and beside hospital beds to know that some of life is just painful. There are things that have happened in my life and the lives of people I’ve walked with and things that I see happening in our world today, which, if I’m honest, at times make me question my faith. I call these things my ‘coffee shop’ moments. What I mean by that is this- If I said, “I’ll meet you at Costa at 11.00am”. By 11.30am you still haven’t arrived. At 11.45 there’s still no sign of you. By 12 noon I realize you aren’t coming. At that moment I don’t know why you haven’t shown up but I know there must be some explanation. In that moment I don’t suddenly think, “right that’s it, our friendship is over”. I go back to what I do know about you and realize that there must be some genuine reason you couldn’t make it and weren’t able to get in touch. In the same way, there are many things in my life and many things I see in the world around me where it seems as if God hasn’t shown up – my ‘coffee shop’ moments. In those times I go back to what I do know about God. I try to visualize Jesus on the cross and I remember that it cost Him very dearly to restore me to Himself. I look at the beauty of the world and consider all the seeds, fruits and vegetables that grow. All of these things remind me that God loves us and cares deeply about us. I try to remember some of the promises of God. Especially where he says that a day is coming when Christ will return. On that day I will have many genuine questions to ask Him and I believe in mercy He will give me the answers. But I know that ultimately, however long the delay, God has promised to bring redemption to this entire universe – to put it back into the perfect state it had at the beginning. And on that day, He will judge the world in righteousness and every wrong will be righted for those who failed to receive justice on earth. This side of heaven I won’t get answers to some of the questions I have, but I know without any doubt that God loves me, that He is good and fair and kind. I know that He has promised to right all wrongs and to restore this universe to its former glory. That, for me, is enough to keep me wanting to be His friend. That’s what I think Paul means when he says, “Love believes all things”. Love takes God at His word and trusts that however much circumstances or other people may be telling us otherwise, God is good, God is love, and He is ultimately for us, not against us. When we exercise this love, we will find God raising us up to overcome our sorrow, to find healing for our hurts, to find the energy to wash our hands and don our face coverings one more time. But there’s something else in Paul’s words. In fact, given the circumstances which led to Paul writing this phrase, I think this is probably the primary lesson Paul is teaching when he says, “love always trusts” or “love believes all things.” Given the divisions and internal fighting within the Corinthian congregation it was tempting for people to just give up on each other. It was tempting for people to allow the hurts and the hypocrisies that they had experienced to cause them to stop interacting with each other, to stop including certain individuals or even to walk away from church altogether. So Paul writes to them to say, you’ve got to keep believing. You’ve got to keep looking for the potential in one another. You’ve got to keep trusting that people can change and that there will be better days ahead. Commenting on this passage the commentator William Barclay says, “We make people what we believe them to be. If we show that we do not trust people we may make them untrustworthy. If we show people that we trust them absolutely we make them trustworthy.” History is full of inspirational stories of how people have fulfilled their potential because someone believed in them despite all the odds or signs to the contrary. Two examples are the lives of Helen Keller and Emily Blunt. When Helen Keller was just nineteen months old, she developed an illness that resulted in both blindness and deafness. As Helen grew into a young girl, she and her family became increasingly frustrated with her inability to communicate and her violent outbursts. Not knowing what to do, Helen’s parents consulted Alexander Graham Bell, who worked with the deaf. He suggested they hire a young woman by the name of Anne Sullivan as Helen’s teacher and mentor. This decision changed Helen’s life forever. After establishing what would become a lifelong friendship, Anne began to teach Helen the alphabet by finger-spelling the sign language letters into the palm of Helen’s hand. The most challenging lesson was to help Helen make the connection between a word and a concept. The world-changing breakthrough happened when Anne pumped well water into one of Helen’s hands while finger spelling the word water onto her other one. At that moment, Helen understood that a word represented a concept or a thing. Soon, Helen began recognizing the letter combinations and this lit a fire within her soul. From that point on, Anne had helped Helen develop a relentless desire to learn. With Anne’s help Helen soon learned how to read Braille, write, and even started trying to speak. With her newfound love for learning, Helen began to have a strong desire to attend college. Although she experienced many trials and hardships along the way, she didn’t allow her physical challenges to set her back from dreaming big and then acting on those dreams. In 1903 she published ‘The Story of My Life’ at the age of 22. It has since been widely published and is still in print in over fifty languages. It was adapted into the famous Tony award winning play and Oscar winning Hollywood film both entitled ‘The Miracle Worker’. In total, Helen Keller wrote 12 published books during her writing career. In 1904, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and in so doing became the first deaf blind person to earn a bachelor’s degree. In 1915 along with George Kessler, she founded the Helen Keller International. This organization combats the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition throughout the world. Today, it is active in 22 countries and ranks among the most effective charities in the world with its programs benefiting millions of people. Helen Keller was a member of the Socialist Party and actively campaigned and wrote in support of the working class from 1909 to 1921. She was a vocal supporter of women’s right to vote and their right to birth control and campaigned for equal rights for black people. In 1924, Helen Keller began work for the American Foundation for the Blind, which she continued for more than 40 years. She devoted much of her later life to raising funds for the organization. Today it is a leader in expanding possibilities for more than 20 million Americans living with vision loss. Helen Keller was a world renowned speaker. She travelled across the world making appearances and giving motivational speeches. Many of her speeches are preserved in the Helen Keller Archives owned by the American Foundation for the Blind. In 1964, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States. In 1965, she was one of the 20 women who were elected to the National Women’s Hall of Fame at the New York World’s Fair. In 1999, the TIME magazine included Keller in its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Her appearances around the world drew considerable attention to the plight of people with disabilities in the countries she visited leading to improvement in their conditions. Her life story, achievements and speeches continue to be a source of inspiration to millions of people across the globe. But none of this would have been possible without the influence and intervention of someone who ‘believed all things’ and who ‘always trusted’ in the innate potential of all humanity. I wonder how different Helen Keller’s life would have been if a blind teacher called Anne Sullivan had not dedicated her life to helping Helen succeed? The second inspiring story about the power of ‘love always believing’ comes from the life of Holywood actress Emily Blunt. Blunt was born in Wandsworth, London. Before Blunt was getting nominated for Golden Globes and landing leading roles on the stage and big screen, she could barely carry a conversation with her classmates: Between ages seven and 14, Emily had a major stutter. As she told W magazine, "I was a smart kid, and had a lot to say, but I just couldn't say it. It would just haunt me. I never thought I'd be able to sit and talk to someone like I'm talking to you right now." When asked by a journalist – “So what happened?” Emily said this… “It was a combination of a few things. One was just growing out of it. Another one was gaining some kind of confidence. I had a really amazing teacher at that age, when I was 12, and he was really kind and helpful and encouraged me to be in the class plays, which previously I had no interest in being in ‘cause I couldn’t talk. He said, “Well, why don’t you try it in a different voice? Try to do a funny voice or an accent. Maybe that would help.” But it really did, I was actually able to speak fluently. Once you’re able to hear yourself speak fluently, albeit in a ridiculous accent, you gain the confidence to think this could happen again and again. It was easier after that night, of that school play. It all became a bit easier.” Emily has gone on to win a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and was nominated for two British Academy Film Awards. She is best known for her roles in the comedy-drama The Devil Wears Prada, the science fiction films Looper and Edge of Tomorrow , the crime thriller Sicario (2015), the mystery thriller The Girl on the Train , the horror film A Quiet Place and the musical fantasies Into the Woods and Mary Poppins Returns. Like Helen Keller, we are left wondering what would have become of this stuttering child if it hadn’t been for the love of a secondary school teacher who never stopped believing and always trusted that Emily could overcome her speech impediment and be on the stage. It would have been so easy for people to write off both of these now famous women. How easy it is for us to do the same in the Christian church. When conflicts arise, or things don’t go the way we want it’s so easy to start judging and stop loving. We stop giving people the benefit of the doubt. We expect others to fail, we think they won’t respond the way they should, we doubt if they will keep their promises, we suspect their motives and intentions. We analyze every remark, anticipate being offended and rehearse our responses in our minds. But this is not love and sadly when we live like this, there are consequences. Above all, it costs us friendship. Even when we do it to protect ourselves from being hurt, when we doubt others, we close the door to developing deep relationships and strengthening the bonds of Christian fellowship. Ultimately to live with these attitudes is an offense against God. To doubt people is to doubt the power of God to change people. It is to doubt God’s promise to complete the work He begins in us to make us more like Christ. When we refuse to believe in one another and trust in our potential in Christ, we question God’s work and think of Him as someone who begins and then forgets. Love says Paul is radically different. It “believe all things.” That means that we give others the benefit of the doubt. It means that we expect the best. It means that we are able to overlook the offences and failure of others. It means we believe that over time we can commit ourselves to one another. “Believing all things” means that we are willing to trust one another. Let us love one another here this morning. Let’s trust others to come through for us when we need them. Let us trust one another’s motives. Let us trust that others have our best purposes in mind. Let us trust that other are looking out for us. Let us believe that God is at work is the lives of other. Let us see the innate potential in others. Let us open ourselves to others, not fearing being hurt or let down, but being willing to endure momentary offences and failures in light of what God is doing in each of our lives. Let me finish by quoting again the words of William Barclay who said, - “We make people what we believe them to be. If we show that we do not trust people we may make them untrustworthy. If we show people that we trust them absolutely we make them trustworthy.” When times are difficult, let us look to God to raise us up to keep trusting Him and in His plans and purposes for us. And through our encouragement and prayers let us raise one another up to be all that that God wants us to be. Prayer for others Living God, we pray for those people who have lost hope – in their dreams, their circumstances or in life itself. Lord of all hopefulness, hear our prayer. We pray for those who have lost the hope of finding a partner or of raising a family, the hope of going to college, university or further studies, the hope of finding a home or any permanent roof over their heads, the hope of securing employment or a use for their skills. Lord of all hopefulness, hear our prayer. We pray for those who despair of seeing freedom, justice, peace or reconciliation; those who despair of finding adequate food and clothing, those who despair of receiving help and healing. Lord of all hopefulness, hear our prayer. We pray for those who have given up on life – those with terminal illness, who have lost the will to keep fighting; those whose spirits have been crushed so that they can no longer bounce back; those who want to take their own lives because they have lost all hope; those so afflicted by starvation and disease that they cannot carry on. Lord of all hopefulness, hear our prayer. Living God there is much despair in our world, and for many there seems little reason to hope. Reach out we pray to all whose belief in the future has been destroyed, and grant new dreams where the old have died, rekindled purpose where confidence has been undermined, support when there seems to be nothing left to hold on to, and hope that one day your Kingdom will come and your will be done. Lord of all hopefulness, hear our prayer. In the name of Christ, Amen. Closing Words It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today. Thanks again for logging on. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s reflection on the nature of Christian love. Please do spend some time in quiet over the next few days asking the Lord to encourage you to believe in yourself. Ask Him also to give you the gift of encouragement so that you might learn to always look for the potential in other people. Last Monday we began our midweek bible study. It was a fantastic evening as we explored the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer together using the video series called the Prayer Course by Pete Greig. If you missed last week you can catch it online by searching the Prayer Course online or on our website and clicking on Session number 1. Even if you missed last week you are more than welcome to attend this week. It will be in the church again tomorrow night from 7pm to 8pm. The premises will have had a deep clean, hands will be sanitised on entry and exit, we will be socially distanced and all participants are asked to wear face coverings. If you would like to come to the bible study please let Philip or myself know in advance. Even if you can’t come to the bible study for the whole year, it would be fantastic to see as many of us make time to come to this amazing course. It will inspire all of us to go deeper in our prayer as individuals and as a community of God’s people. At our session meeting this last week we agreed to the phased opening of a number of our activities. Sunday School and Youth Fellowship hope to start back at some point in October once the teachers and youth leaders have had time to be trained and discuss how our programs might be run safely within the current restrictions. The Wednesday Club and Coffee Doc will begin after Halloween holidays and the Friday club will start in January. We will give you further details in the days to come. Next Sunday we will be thinking about how love always protects and we will be celebrating the baptism of Luke Redmond. It will be fantastic in these difficult days to be able to share in such a happy occasion. There are 13 people in the baptismal party which leaves us 37 further spaces for anyone else who wishes to attend. So if you would like to attend church next week please book in early so you will not be disappointed. Next Friday evening is the final deadline so that we can arrange the seating on Saturday morning. Stay tuned at the end of this recording stay tuned to listen to the wonderful voice of Pete Groban as he sings “You raise me up”. In the meantime, let me lead you in a Benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together… Benediction Gracious God, send us back into the world with your eyes rather than ours. Help us to see not only the bad but the good, not simply the ugly but the beautiful, not just the worst but the best. Help us to see around us the seeds of your Kingdom and to nurture them lovingly until that day comes when your will is done and you are all in all. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and for evermore, Amen.”
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