APC 28th October 2020          Babushka and Team Hope Shoe Box Appeals
 
Part 1
Welcome and Introduction          
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Midweek worship.  Last week we reflected on what it means to pray “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
One of the lessons we learned was that this phrase is an example of ‘parallelism’ – the second part of the sentence explains or reinforces the first.  That means that to pray for God’s Kingdom to come, is to pray that this world and the experience of all its inhabitants will become a bit more like what it currently is in heaven.  People in heaven are always happy, they live in harmony. There is no pain or suffering there.  So if we pray this prayer and really mean it, we are asking God to bring about these realities in our world and in the lives of the people around us.  But perhaps even more importantly, when we pray this prayer, we are offering ourselves to God to be willing to be the answer to our own prayers.
The pandemic that we are living through has given all of us a deep realization of the devastating effects of sin on this world, for ultimately that is the source of all viruses and diseases that cause illness and even death.  So as we pray this prayer each week, God sets before us the challenge – what can we do to help relieve the suffering or bring God’s light and hope to someone else even in the midst of the difficulties we are facing?
The answer to that question will look different for all of us.  For some of us it will mean getting the groceries for an elderly parent every week.  
For others it will mean coaching a sports team to enable our young people to maintain their physical and mental well-being.
For some of us it will mean having the courage to keep putting ourselves on the frontline caring for people in schools, shops, hospitals and residential care homes.
For many of us it may be as unglamorous as cleaning down the counters in the kitchen and wiping the door handles around the house or spending extra time with our children to keep them entertained and happy during this next 6 weeks of restricted activities.
The point is that all of life is spiritual and every day God gives all of us opportunities to let His Kingdom come in any number of small but significant ways as we get our eyes off ourselves and focus on how we can help the lives of the people around us.
So in light of that, this morning I want to bring your attention to two opportunities for how you and I can bring a little bit of God’s Kingdom into the lives of other people through the Babushka and Team Hope Show Box Appeals.  These are two charities that Arklow Presbyterian Church has had a close association with over many years.
Since 2006, the charity Pashli have shared God’s love and care at Christmas in Belarus by distributing wrapped shoeboxes filled with simple gifts for elderly ladies called ‘Babushkas’ and senior men called ‘Dedushkas’.  In a country that has been deeply affected by political unrest and the Chernobyl disaster this appeal has made a significant difference in the lives of many elderly people by reminding them that they are special and that someone else in the world is thinking about them.  If you would like to prepare and send a shoe box this Christmas to a senior citizen in Belarus then please download this form (HOLD UP) from our church website or the link on our Facebook page and follow the instructions.  Please note that the last date for receiving boxes is the 10th of November.
 
Another way you and I can bring a little of God’s Kingdom to the lives of others is to partner in the work of the charity Team Hope.  Founded in 2010, Team Hope work in 14 countries across Africa and Eastern Europe to help children affected by poverty or marginalisation.
They are best known for the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal which is an annual campaign where thousands of individuals in Ireland donate shoeboxes filled with gifts to be given to children affected by poverty in Africa or Eastern Europe. It is an opportunity to share a little joy and excitement with children who live in circumstances where these can sometimes be in short supply. They also help set up and support self-sustaining projects for the communities where the shoeboxes are distributed.
This year as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions, the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal has moved online.
It is unfortunately not possible to send gift-filled shoeboxes from Ireland this year, so Team Hope is asking churches, schools, families, friends, communities and businesses to ‘team up for Team Hope’ by donating gift-filled shoeboxes online for children affected by poverty.  This will involve designing a personalised shoe box online and donating Euro 20.  This will enable local partners in many regions of the world to purchase and make up the gift filled shoe box that you have designed for thousands of children living in some of the poorest parts of Africa and Europe.
So how can we get involved in this? Well sit back and enjoy this year’s Team Hope Video to find out..

TEAM HOPE VIDEO
 
Part 2
Over the years there has been a fantastic response to these Shoe Box Appeals by so many of you in our church family.  Most of our world lives in conditions of great poverty.  At a time when this pandemic has made us acutely aware of how much freedom and all the privileges we normally enjoy, what better way to show our solidarity with the poorest people of our world than by getting involved in these shoe box appeals again this year. 
Let’s be the answer to our own weekly prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 
Let us pray…
 
Prayer
Heavenly Father we remember the impact that COVID-19 has had both in Ireland and also on vulnerable communities across the world.  We thank you for all the schools, businesses, families and individuals in Ireland that are sharing your hope with others through the Babushka and Team Hope Shoe Box Appeals and through the work of so many other charities. We ask that the overseas partners of Pashli and Team Hope would be kept safe as they are provided with all the resources necessary to distribute shoe boxes to so many people.  We pray for the safe delivery of these shoeboxes into the hands of children and the elderly in Africa and Eastern Europe and the difference they will make to all who receive them. We pray that through these gifts that people will know how much they are loved by you and by other people.
Finally Father we pray for the ongoing impact of COVID-19 in the countries where shoeboxes are given out. We ask for this virus to end soon and for the social programmes and sustainable development projects that support the families of children and the elderly to resume at their normal capacity. Thank you for your provision of strength, patience and resources during this season.
Thank you for all your love and all that we have and can still do despite the most recent Covid 19 restrictions.
Help us even in the midst of our own trials to think about the poorest and most vulnerable in our world.  Show us what it will mean for each of us to make a difference.
This we ask in Jesus’ name.
Join with me as we say the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully 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.
 
Closing Words
Thanks again for logging on everyone.  I do hope you enjoyed finding out about the Babushka and Team Hope Shoe Box Appeals.  Don’t forget to tune in again on Sunday when we will be reflecting on what it means to pray, “Give us today our daily bread.”  In the meantime as always, let me lead you in a benediction after which I invite you to share in saying the Grace together…
 
Benediction
Loving God, lead us out into the world, renewed in vigour, in hope, in faith and in purpose.  Send us back to live and work for you, sharing your love and living your life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever more Amen.
 

APC 25th October 2020         
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
 
Welcome and Introduction          
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Sunday morning worship.  Thank you for all the encouraging comments you have sent me about last week’s Harvest service and the Midweek reflections.  Today we return to our short series looking at the Lord’s Prayer.  Today we will be thinking a little more about what it will mean for us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
But first let’s take a moment to pause and to talk to our heavenly Father, let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Lord of all, we praise you for our universe with its infinite fascination, for our world with all its wonder, for our countryside and all its beauty, for life itself in all its incredible variety.
 
Loving God, hear our prayer,
 
There is so much that gives us pleasure, that offers us fulfilment, that captures our imagination, that challenges and inspires, that gives us cause to look forward with anticipation and that speaks to us of your great love.
 
Loving God, hear our prayer,
 
Forgive us for so often abusing all you have given- for spoiling your world, for failing to appreciate it as we should, for losing our childlike sense of wonder and enquiry, for treating it as ours by right rather than entrusted as your gift, for being blind to your loving hand moving behind it all.
 
Loving God, hear our prayer,
 
Open our eyes to the countless blessing and inexhaustible riches you have so freely given, and help us to show our appreciation by being faithful stewards of your creation.
 
Loving God, hear our prayer,
In the name of Christ, Amen.
 
Join me as we say the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully and sincerely 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.
 
Introduction to Kids Video
It’s been lovely over the last few months to see so many of our children in church and to see them really listening and watching the videos we’ve shown them with great interest and producing some amazing colouring in pictures.  Well, we don’t want you to be left out now that we’re back online, so starting today each Sunday we will be having a slot just for you and afterward you can print off a colouring sheet from our church website to help you remember what we’ve learned and to have some fun!  So if your kids aren’t beside you right now, why not pause the recording and call them in to watch a Puppet called Douglas explain what it means to pray…And at the end of this video I’ve a few words to say to the children so don’t let them rush away. (END Part 1)
 
Kid’s Video     Douglas Talks -
Talking to God - A Sunday School Lesson about Prayer
Link         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG9uy0WtK98
 
(BEGINNING PART 2)
Kid’s Talk Summary
Isn’t it wonderful to know that God loves us and even though he knows everything he still wants us to share everything with Him.  So, don’t be afraid, even though you can’t see Him God is real.  He made you and He loves you.  Talk to him about everything.  Tell Him how much you love Him.  Say sorry when you feel bad about something.  Thank Him for all the good stuff He’s given you and tell him about your day and the good things in your life and the things that you are worried about or finding difficult.  Oh and don’t forget to be quiet and listen.  You might just feel God speaking to you or feel Him helping you or giving you a good idea about something.  I’ve put a colouring sheet on the church website about prayer for you.  So if your mam or dad hasn’t printed it off yet now’s the time to gently ask them to pause this recording and go and print it for you.  Hope you’ve enjoyed today.  Don’t forget to tune in again next Sunday.  Bye for now…
 
Colouring Sheet Link
https://coloringhome.com/prayer-coloring-page
 
Introduction to the Bible Reading
 
Bible Reading
 
Genesis 3 v 8-20     The Fall of Humanity
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”
20 Adam[c] named his wife Eve,[d] because she would become the mother of all the living.
 
Romans 8 v 18-27           Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
 
Revelation 21 v 1-4             A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
 
Reflection               “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.” (Part 2)
 
On Wednesday we began our reflection on the third line of the Lord’s Prayer – “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  We learned God’s Kingdom comes when people trust in Christ and receive the Holy Spirit.  We also discovered that this phrase is an example of parallelism-the second phrase explains the first.  That means, God’s Kingdom comes when people care for each other and the world like they currently do in heaven.
 
All of which is true and hugely positive.  The problem is that when we try to match these spiritual truths with the experiences of our lives we are left with some difficult questions.  That’s what I want to focus on this morning- If God’s Kingdom has already come in Jesus Christ, then why do we still experience so much frustration in our own personal lives, why do we still see so much suffering throughout the world, and what can we do about it?
 
We see some of the answers to these questions played out on the pages of scripture.  The creation account in Genesis not only gives us a picture of how the universe came into existence, it also provides us with a framework to explain why there is so much in this world that is imperfect and painful.
 
The story of Adam and Eve explains that sin is like a virus that has infected the universe.  So while the universe and everything in it is inherently good because it was created perfectly by God, it has been broken, tainted and damaged because of the effects of the first human couple’s attempts to despise the kindness and authority of God.
 
So the battles with temptation that we face and the suffering that we see in the world around us ultimately are not the fault of God.  They are as a consequence of the virus of sin that has infected all of us and all of the world.
 
At this point someone who claims to be an atheist will say, “I can’t believe in God because I see so much suffering in the world!”
 
Well, let’s say for a moment God doesn’t exist.  That doesn’t remove the existence of suffering.  Whether God exists or not does not explain suffering.  That means God can’t be blamed for its existence.
 
But what He could possibly be blamed for is not caring. 
 
So for me a better question is “If God is God and is both loving and all powerful, then why doesn’t he do something about suffering?  Why doesn’t He intervene and remove it?  And if His Kingdom has come, why do we not see more evidence of that reality?”
 
The gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the answer.  It provides us with the wonderful message of hope that God does care.  He has promised to restore the brokenness of our world, including our relationship with Him.
Having said that, it’s important to understand that God’s plan to redeem the universe, to restore it to its former glory, is an unfolding one.  Like all plans, it has a timeline.  Christ coming to earth to live and die and rise again is only one part of that plan in one position of God’s timeline.  The whole plan will not be completed until Christ comes to earth for the Second time. 
 
So until that day, it is true to say that Christ’s Kingdom has come but it has not yet come in all its fullness.  What we currently experience is only a little taster of what is to come.  It’s a bit like having a new house built.  You can have a look in the showroom to see what the finished house will be like.  The experience is
good, it’s real and it’s exciting.  But it’s just a foretaste.  You’ll have many more of those experiences as your own house is built.  You’ll be able to watch the foundations being laid, the walls going up, the electrics being wired and the walls being painted.  The day your fireplace and kitchen are installed will be really special, but as good as it will feel, none of this will compare to getting the keys and walking in to enjoy your finished home.
 
In a similar way we do now experience the reality of God’s Kingdom coming to earth.  When we trust in Christ, God does place His Holy Spirit within us.  The Holy Spirit does give us the power to change our lives for the better.  At times God does answer our prayers miraculously.  Yes we can experience these things as realities and sometimes they are amazing, but they are only a first taste of the perfect Kingdom that Jesus will set up when He returns.
 
Until then, the job isn’t finished and parts of the walls will still be broken.  So until Christ returns none of us will be perfect.  The influence of the world, our own human weakness and the devil will still try to trip us up.  We will still struggle every day and in every way to become more like how God wants us to be.  Some days we will feel we’ve taken 3 spiritual steps forward and other days we’ll think we’ve taken two steps back. 
 
So that’s why we need to pray this prayer.  We need to pray that God’s Kingdom will come in the lives of our family and friends and in our own lives, because God does answer prayer and He does give us times of great joy and surprise.  But, as we pray this prayer, we must try and keep a balance between two extremes.  One extreme is forgetting who we are and that God’s Kingdom is come.  So we don’t believe, we don’t pray, we don’t expect God to hear and answer even in ways that we cannot explain.  The other extreme is that we expect too much.  We expect now what is only promised in the future at the fulfilment of the Coming of the Kingdom.  So we become disillusioned when people we pray for aren’t healed.  We get angry when God doesn’t provide for us in ways that we expect.  We get frustrated when our prayers aren’t answered miraculously as we had hoped and believed.
 
Therefore when we pray it must always be with the humility, “Let not my will but Thine be done.”  We must remember that until Christ returns, God’s rebuilding of our lives is not yet complete.  There will still be times when the work seems slow or when outside forces are doing all they can to bring the project down.  We must trust that God’s plan will never be stopped even when it’s hard to see it.
 
But what’s true for us personally is also true for the whole of creation. 
 
For God’s plan is not only to restore us to Himself, but also to restore the entire universe to the perfection that existed at the beginning of creation.  That is the hope we have in Christ.  That is what the gospel is about.  The fact that God came to earth in Christ Jesus 2000 years ago proves that God is a God who cares.  Since Christ has returned to heaven it is our responsibility as God’s representatives on earth to do all we can to carry out his plan of rebuilding while we can.  So when we pray this part of the Lord’s Prayer it is never an excuse for inaction.  When we pray that God’s Kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven, we must always be willing to be the answer to our own prayers.   
 
That means that we must continue to search for cures for cancer, we must continue to reduce our carbon footprint and do all we can for the environment, that’s why we must champion the cause of the poor, the migrant, and those who suffer injustice, that’s why we must teach people that they need to repent and believe in Christ if they are to be reconciled to God.  We do this because this is what God is like. And because His plan is to restore us to Himself and to restore this world to its former glory.
Look I don’t know why God doesn’t come now and do all this immediately.  I don’t know why He doesn’t just cause the Corona Virus to burn out without the need for a vaccine.  I don’t know why His plan for the redemption of the universe is only a promise and not yet a reality.  I don’t know why he calls us to be part of bringing in His Kingdom when He could easily do a much better and quicker job Himself.  C.S. Lewis reckons it’s because if He was to intervene now in every event of suffering we would have no freedom and life would be a practical nonsense.  Some believe the delay gives more of us an opportunity to become God’s friends.  I don’t know. 
 
This side of heaven I may or may not get the answer to my prayers and my questions.  But what I can be certain of is that God has promised that one day when the current heaven comes to earth and the new perfect universe is formed that we will receive a new resurrection body and we will live and enjoy the beauties of the new and transformed universe without any hint of suffering or sorrow or pain.
 
In the meantime it is our job to keep on praying that this perfect Kingdom will come and to do all we can to encourage people to trust in Jesus and to make this world a little more like heaven for all of its inhabitants.
 
Whether that means digging a hole that a village may receive fresh water, inviting someone to church so that they can hear about Jesus, giving financially so that others may get food and education or visiting someone who is sick so our comfort may speed their healing.  In all these ways and many more, God’s Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.
 
So let me conclude…
 
 
Conclusion
 
When we pray, “May your Kingdom come, may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we are echoing the prayer of many Jews throughout the centuries who longed to be living when the Messiah would come.
 
When we pray this prayer, we are asking the ascended Christ to send His Holy Spirit into the lives of other people.
 
When we pray this prayer, we are asking God to help ourselves and other people to live more and more like Jesus.
 
When we pray this prayer, we must be remember we live in the era of the ‘now but not yet’.  We must not expect too much or too little from God and must humbly submit to His will.
 
When we pray this prayer, we must be prepared to be the answer to our own prayers so that by our actions God’s Kingdom may come in the lives of others just a little bit more like it will be in heaven.
 
Prayer
 
Loving God, we pray for those who are denied access to the things in life we take for granted – food and clothing, work, a basic education, proper housing, mobility, health, companionship, love, human rights, liberty, freedom of speech, justice, peace.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
Prosper the efforts of all who fight for their rights, all who labour to give them help and hope.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
Loving God, we pray for those who feel themselves denied access to you, separated by guilt, doubts, past mistakes or lack of faith.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
May all who seek your presence, all who ask for your forgiveness, and all who long for your love find in Jesus Christ the Way, the Truth and the Life.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer,
In the name of Christ, Amen.
 
Take a moment in silence now to pray for one or two people you know who need God’s help….
 
We offer all these prayers 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.  Please do spend some time in quiet over the next couple of days and ask yourself, what do the words, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” mean to you?
 
Unfortunately with the new restrictions we are unable to meet for church services for the immediate future.  So for the next while I’m planning to have online reflections on Sundays and on Wednesdays to keep us encouraged and in spiritually good shape.  We’ll be looking at the Lord’s Prayer and in between having the odd special service. 
 
At the end of November we will be entering the wonderfully reflective season of Advent.  This Wednesday I will be sharing a couple of ways that we can get involved in helping God’s Kingdom come in the lives of children and elderly people throughout the world as I share with you an update on the Babushka and the Team Hope Shoe Box Appeals.
 
Let me also encourage you for the last time to be generous in your financial support of our two chosen Harvest charities- Purple House Cancer Support and The Arklow Lifeboat.  You can contribute using the church Bank details that you will find on the church website.  Just remember to mark your transaction for ‘the Harvest’.  Alternatively you can ring Aleida our treasurer and organise an alternative method of payment that would be more suitable for you.
 
So there’s lots to look forward to.  So let’s keep positive and keep on tuning in. 
 
Due to the Covid restrictions we have been unable to publically congratulate Emily on her retirement and thank her for all the years of service as our Clerk of Session.  Similarly we have been unable to publicly thank Brian for all his years of service as an elder as he steps back from that role too.  So in the meantime on your behalf our new Clerk Edna Crammond and myself presented Emily and Brian with a beautiful plant for their garden, appropriately named ‘the Burning Bush’, and a beautiful set of tables for their dining room.  Pictures of these are on the church website and can also be viewed for a few moments at the end of this service. 
 
But for now, let me lead you in a Benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction   
Living God, we have come to you to seek your help offer our worship and declare our faith.  Now we go for you to work for your Kingdom proclaim your love and make known the good news of Jesus Christ.  Go with us and grant us grace to serve you even as through Him you have served us…And
 
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.”
 

Click the link below to download pictures for the children to colour in

​APC 21st October 2020         
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
 
Welcome and Introduction          
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Midweek worship.  Thank you for all the encouraging comments you have sent me about the Harvest service.  Today we return to our short series looking at the Lord’s Prayer.  We’ve been reminded that God is like a perfect parent, we can come to Him anytime and we know that he will listen to us because He loves us.  But He is also in heaven.  He is different and so much greater than us.  So we must hallow or respect His name.  That means believing that He is real, remembering that He sees and hears all we say and do and being willing to praise and honour Him by the way that we worship and the lives that we live.  Today we will be thinking about what it will mean for us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
But first let’s take a moment to pause and to talk to our heavenly Father, let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Almighty and most wonderful God, unsearchable and inexhaustible, greater than we can ever imagine, higher than our highest thoughts, enthroned in glory and splendor, we come to give you our worship, to offer our praise and to make our confession, recognizing that your ways are not our ways, you’re your thoughts are not our thoughts.
 
Lord have mercy on us…
 
Forgive us our misplaced pride and arrogance – we have been full of our own importance, preferring our ways to yours, imagining we know all there is to know about you, trusting in our own wisdom instead of your guidance, setting ourselves up in your place.  But your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.
 
Lord have mercy on us…
 
Forgive us our narrow vision and our closed minds- we have tied you down to our own understanding, closing our hearts to anything which challenges our restricted horizons, losing sight of your greatness, failing to listen to your voice or the voice of others, refusing to accept that others beside ourselves have insights to share.  But your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.
 
Lord have mercy on us…
 
Almighty and most wonderful God, remind us that you have always more to say, more to reveal and more to do.  Open our eyes, our minds and our hearts to who and what you are.  Remind us that your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.
 
Lord have mercy on us…
 
And so fill us with awe and wonder, joy and thanksgiving, praise and worship, now and for evermore, Amen.
 
Join me as we say the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully and sincerely 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.
 
Introduction to the Bible Reading
 
Bible Reading
 
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations conspire[a]
    and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 “I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
    and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of iron[b];
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
 
Isaiah 9 v 6-7
 
6 For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.
 
 
Reflection       “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.”
 
Today we are going to look at the third line of the prayer that Jesus taught his friends to pray. “Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Before we can understand what it will mean for us to pray this prayer, we need to understand what this phrase would have meant to the people it was originally spoken to – the disciples of Jesus.
 
To begin with these early followers of Jesus would all have been Jewish.  Being from a Jewish background they would have been very familiar with the concept of Kingship and the long-standing religious and political debate running throughout their nation’s history – Should Israel have a King?
 
You see, in Israel, the country that Jesus grew up in, there were many periods when the people had no earthly King.  At that time most people thought, “God is the King of the whole world.  He’s in charge of everything.  We don’t need a human person to rule over us.”  So for long periods of time Israel was governed instead by Judges.
 
But as the years went by, many people in Israel began to think differently.  They began to say things like, “Well, even though God is our King, many people aren’t living the way God wants.  Many of the other countries around us have a King and they want to fight us.  Without our own King we are spiritually and politically vulnerable.  Maybe if we had our own King, then He could make sure people obeyed God.  The King could also organise us better to help us to win the battles if our enemies come to fight us.”
 
Eventually God gave the people of Israel what they wanted and allowed them to have a King.  For years Israel had Kings.  Some of them were good.  Some of them were bad.  But no matter how hard even the good Kings tried, they could never get the people to always obey God.  Sometimes the people would obey God for a time and God would reward them.  But then they would forget about God and start doing things that made God angry.  Then God would come and discipline them so that they would realise they were doing wrong and change their ways.
 
During this time, God communicated with His people by giving special messages to certain people.  These people were called ‘prophets’.  The prophets would tell God’s messages to the people of Israel.  Often in these messages, God would promise that one day He would send a very, very special King called the Messiah.  When this Messiah came, He would bring God’s Kingdom to earth.  In fact, He would actually set up God’s Kingdom in people’s hearts so that they would be able to love and obey God in a way that they had never really been able to before.
 
Eventually God did send this special King, this Messiah.  His name was Jesus.  Jesus was God’s special King on earth.  He lived on earth.  He taught people lots of things about how God wants us to live.  He showed people the way God wants us to treat each other by the way that He lived.  He died on the cross.  He came back to life again.  He went back up into heaven where He now reigns and rules as the King of the earth.  One day King Jesus is coming back to earth to judge the whole world and to set up God’s New kingdom called the New Heaven and the New earth.  In that Kingdom, everything will be perfect and people will live happily together forever.
 
When Jesus told his friends to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” he was talking about this whole idea of God’s Kingdom that we have just been talking about and which they would have been familiar with.  Of course unlike us, the disciples did not have the benefit of hindsight.  It would take them many years to understand that Jesus was the promised Messiah and to understand what His Kingdom was really like.
 
But for now all I want us to see is that when Jesus told his followers to pray Thy Kingdom come, they would have had some understanding of the promises that God had given to His people that one day He would send a special King who would bring God’s Kingdom to rule in their lives in new and better ways.
 
Another important clue to what this phrase would have meant to the disciples comes from an understanding of their language and culture.
 
One of the languages Jesus and his friends spoke was Hebrew.  Hebrew is the language many people in Israel still speak today.  In Hebrew, people often repeat a phrase twice.  This is called ‘parallelism.’  When they do this, the second thing they say explains or reinforces the first thing they have said.
 
So for example the Psalmist says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet.  It is a light to my path”.  Jesus often used this style of language in His teaching.  For example in Matthew 19 he says, “Many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first.”
 
So when Jesus tells his friends to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” that is what he is doing.  He is using parallelism.  He is saying, “Pray that God’s Kingdom will come.”  “Pray that God’s will, will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
 
You see, that’s what God’s Kingdom is.  It is not just a place but it is a place where God’s will is done perfectly.  It’s a place where people always do what is right and what makes God happy.  It’s a place where no one suffers and everyone is treated fairly.
 
So when we pray, “Lord may your Kingdom come” we are really saying “Lord let people on earth obey you and love each other the way people do in heaven.”
 
This is why Jesus came.  He came to bring in a New Era of God’s Kingdom on the earth.  You see, before Jesus came to earth people did not have the Holy Spirit living in them all the time.  That’s why they could never really love and obey God consistently, even if they had a human King who was spiritual.  So for centuries the Jewish nation were waiting and hoping for the day when Jesus, the Messiah, God’s Heavenly King would come.
 
When Jesus did come, He died, He rose again and He went back to heaven.  Even though He is sat down in heaven today, Jesus is still busy.  One of the things He does now is this.  When someone is so sorry for the wrong things they do that they want to change; when they believe that Jesus died for them and when they ask Jesus to come and be the King of their lives, Jesus hears the prayer of their heart and He sends His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) to live in that person.
 
The Holy Spirit will then motivate that person to want to stop doing and saying things that hurt themselves and others.  The Holy Spirit will give that person a new desire and a new ability to actually start living in ways that are good and kind.  In this way, Jesus sets up His kingdom in that person’s life.  Other people around will feel the positive effects of these changes.
 
So while people in the past longed for God’s Kingdom, in the present God’s Kingdom does actually come to earth when people trust in Jesus and when Jesus motivates and helps them to obey God’s ways.  When people start living more the way God wants, the way people in heaven are living, God’s Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.
 
So to pray, “May your Kingdom come, may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” is to say to God, “Lord, let more people trust in Jesus.  Let their lives be changed by you so that they live more like the people in heaven.”
 
It is also to pray, “Lord, continue to help me to change by your Holy Spirit so that I might live more like the people in heaven too.”
 
Perhaps you have been struggling for years to be a better person or to give up a particular habit but you just cannot seem to do so.  Could it be that you don’t have the Holy Spirit living in you?  Why don’t you cry out to God and ask Him for the gift of His Spirit – invite Him to come and take up the reigns of your life.
 
Maybe you have already done that years ago, but presently you’ve been neglecting your relationship with God or deliberately refusing to go God’s way.  Perhaps you have grieved the Holy Spirit and don’t sense His presence or His power in your life.  Then don’t waste another moment, fall on your knees and confess your sins to God.  His forgiveness and His refilling with His presence and power are only a prayer away.
 
And lastly, who are the people who you know and care for at home or in work who desperately need the Holy Spirit in their lives?  Why not take some time this week and pray for them, asking that God would have mercy on them and come and set up His Kingdom in their hearts and lives.
 
 
Prayer- Teach us to Pray
 
Lord God our Father, like the apostles of old we ask, “Teach us how to pray”
 
Teach us the secret of prayer – when to speak and when to keep silent, when to accept and when to keep on seeking, when to persevere and when to let go.  Like the apostles of old we ask, “Teach us how to pray”
 
Teach us the power of prayer – its ability to challenge to encourage to transform all of life.  Like the apostles of old we ask, “Teach us how to pray”
 
Teach us the blessing of prayer – its ability to teach, comfort and strengthen.  Like the apostles of old we ask, “Teach us how to pray”
Teach us the potential of prayer – its ability to help us express our worship, discover your will and hear your voice.  Like the apostles of old we ask, “Teach us how to pray”
 
Teach us the joy of prayer – its ability to convey your forgiveness, to reveal more of your love, and open up new experiences of your presence.  Like the apostles of old we ask, “Teach us to pray”
 
Lord God our Father, hear our prayer so that all we do and ask and think may give you the glory that is rightfully yours.
 
Take a moment in silence now to pray for one or two people you know who need God’s help….
 
We offer all these prayers 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 third line of the Lord’s Prayer.  Please do spend some time in quiet over the next couple of days and ask yourself, what do the words, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” mean to you?
 
Unfortunately with the new restrictions we are unable to meet for church services for the immediate future.  So for the next while I’m planning to have online reflections on Sundays and on Wednesdays to keep us encouraged and in spiritually good shape.  We’ll be looking at the Lord’s Prayer and in between having the odd special service. 
 
At the end of November we will be entering the wonderfully reflective season of Advent.  This Sunday we will be thinking some more about what it will mean for us to pray for God’s kingdom to come and really mean it.  I will include a video clip for the children and we’ll post a printable colouring page for you to download to help them learn the lesson for the day.
 
Let me encourage you to be generous in your financial support of our two chosen Harvest charities.  You can contribute using the church Bank details that you will find on the church website.  Just remember to mark your transaction for the Harvest.  Alternatively you can ring Aleida our treasurer and organise an alternative method of payment that would be more suitable for you.
 
So there’s lots to look forward to.  So let’s keep positive and keep on tuning in.
 
In the meantime, let me lead you in a Benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction   
Almighty God,
your ascended Son has sent us into the world
to preach the good news of your kingdom:
inspire us with your Spirit
and fill our hearts with the fire of your love,
that all who watch our lives and hear your Word
may be drawn to you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
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.”
 
 
 

APC 18th October 2020 Harvest Celebration (Online)
 
Part 1              Michael
 
Welcome and Introduction  
 
Good morning everyone and welcome to our very special Harvest Celebration.  I want to begin today by passing on our deepest sympathies to Dorothy Mclean and all her family.  Sadly Dorothy’s father passed away recently.  Dorothy has been back and forwards to England over the last number of months but now that she is returned home, I wanted to take this opportunity to pass on our deepest condolences from our church family.  Please do keep Dorothy, her mum, Stuart, Joseph, Orla and the wider family in your prayers at this time.
 
Today we meet to thank God for all his goodness to us and also to remind ourselves that because God has been so generous to us we must share with others.  Today we will hear particularly about the work of two local charities- Purple House Cancer Support and the Arklow Lifeboat.  I hope that all of us will take this harvest opportunity to generously support the work of these two organisations.
 
 
But to begin I want to read you the words of a Psalm.  Psalm 67 is a beautiful song written by one of the Israelites during one of Israel’s harvest festivals.  Let’s listen to its words as we join together today to offer our praise to God for all His goodness to us…
 
Call to Worship      Psalm 67        
Lord God, Be gracious to us and bless us
Make Your face shine on us so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
Then the land will yield its harvest;
and God, our God, will bless us.
God will bless us
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
 
Introduction to Kid’s Praise
Let’s join together in singing God’s praise as our children’s choir lead us in the harvest hymn “All Things bright and beautiful.”
 
Kid’s Choir      All Things bright and beautiful         (VIDEO)
 
 
Part 2              Michael
 
Introduction to Opening Prayer
 
Boys and girls that was just lovely.  Thank you so much for leading us so well in our praise to God.  Now let’s take a few moments to talk to God.  Let us pray…
 
Opening Prayer
 
Almighty and eternal God, we rejoice today in the greatness of your love and the fullness of your provision.  We come together surrounded by the fruits of your creation, the rich variety and the plenty of another harvest. 
 
Once more you have blessed us, and we thank you.
 
Receive then our worship- for your giving and sustaining of life, for the constancy of the seasons, for the regular pattern of day and night, for the wonderful riches of our world.
 
Once more you have blessed us, and we thank you.
 
Receive also our praise for the human labour that is part of our harvest – the preparing and sowing, the cultivating and growing, the reaping and packaging, the transporting and selling.
 
Once more you have blessed us, and we thank you.
 
Eternal God, we thank you that you allow us to work hand in hand with you, nurturing and gathering in the fruitfulness of your creation.  Help us to recognise the responsibility that involves and so to be faithful stewards of all you have given.  So may our lives as well as our words offer to you our joyful praise and heartfelt worship.
Once more you have blessed us, and we thank you, Amen.
 
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
 
We are so blessed to have so many young people in our church family.  We’re all in for a real treat now as the boys and girls lead us in saying the Lord’s Prayer together…
 
Kid’s Lord’s Prayer                (VIDEO)
 
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.
 
Part 3              Michael
 
Boys and girls that was very special, thank you.  I can’t believe how well those of you who are much younger can read.  You are obviously working very hard in school!  We’ve been blessed over this Covid 19 period with some beautiful choir pieces and solos online and in church.  So I’m delighted that Alison and our virtual choir will now lead us in the beautiful harvest piece, “Come ye thankful people come.”
 
 
Virtual Choir    Come ye thankful people come      (VIDEO)
 
Part 4              Michael
 
Introduction to Bible Reading
 
In the Old Testament we discover that God instructed his people the Israelites to stop at various points in the year and to bring him a portion of their Harvest as a ‘thank’ offering.  He also gave them instructions not to harvest right to the edge of their fields but to leave some of the crop for the people who were poor so that they could share in the harvest.  Listen to how this is recorded in Leviticus Chapter 19 v 9 and 10.
 
 
Bible Reading         Leviticus 19 v 9-10
 
9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.”
 
 
All Age Talk            “Why do we celebrate Harvest?”
 
Has anyone here ever seen the TV series or read the books called “Horrible histories”?  Finding out about what happened many years ago in different parts of the world can be really fun and interesting.
 
History is really important.  What happened in the past always shapes what things are like in the present and what happens today will shape what things will be like in the future!
 
Today we have gathered online to have a special Harvest Thanksgiving Service.  The reason we do that has a lot to do with history! 
 
You see, thousands of years ago, God told a group of people called ‘the Israelites’ to hold 2 Special Celebrations every year.  Do you know what they were called?  Well to help us remember I have brought two familiar food items with me this morning.
       
Fruit Pastilles- The first festival took place in April and was called the “Feast of the First Fruits”.
 
Time Out-  The second festival took place in June and was called the “Feast of Weeks” and to celebrate it the people were allowed a whole day off work!
 
At that time in history most of the people were farmers.  During these two Festivals they brought God some of the food and animals and drink that they had been producing during the year.  They brought bread and wine and cows and sheep and they gave them to the Priest who then said a prayer to ask God to accept the gifts that they had brought.
 
It might seem like a strange thing to do, but at that time in history, in that culture, this was the Israelite’s way of saying ‘thank you’ to God for sending the sun and the rain to help their crops and animals and grapes for the wine to grow.
 
People who are Jews around the world today still continue to celebrate these two festivals every year.
 
About 2,000 years ago the Christian church began.  It was started mainly by Jewish people who believed that Jesus was the Son of God.
 
Over the years, the Christian church realised that they too needed to have a Special Festival every year in order to say ‘thank you’ to God for all the food and things he provides them with.
 
That’s why we are having a special online harvest festival today.
We have met to sing, to pray, to remember all the good things that God has provided for us over the past year, and to say a big “Thank You” to God for all that He gives us every day.
 
As Christian people, there are many reasons why it’s really important for us to maintain our tradition of a Harvest Festival?
 
For one thing, it forces us to stop in our busy lives and to actively remind ourselves that ultimately everything we have including our food and drink comes from God.  It would simply be rude of us not to stop and say thank you to God for all that He gives us.
 
Apart from having a church service, there are also other ways that we can show God that we really do appreciate everything that He gives us in our lives?
 
Before we eat anything we can quietly pause and inwardly say ‘thank you’ to God.  We can do our best to look after the environment and try our best not to waste things but to make things last. We can talk to God regularly and thank Him for all the good things He gives us.
 
There is one other ancient harvest tradition that we try to keep alive in our Church Services.
 
In the Feast of Weeks one of the instructions God gave the Israelites was that when they gathered in the crops in their fields they were not allowed to cut the grain at the edges of the fields. And if they dropped some stalks of grain they weren’t allowed to pick them up again.
They did this so that poor people could come along after the harvest was over and gather up enough grain to make bread to keep them alive.
 
Telling His people to follow this tradition was God’s way of reminding His people that because He had shared the sun and rain with them to make their crops grow, they ought to share their harvest with people who were poor.
 
In the same way, throughout its history, the Christian church has always made sure that at every Harvest Service there is a collection to help other people who are in need. 
This year as a church we have decided to have a collection for two local charities.  The first is Purple House Cancer support in Bray and the second is the RNLI Arklow Lifeboat Station.  So that you can understand a little more about these two charities and how the money you give to them will be used, I have invited two representatives of these organisations to send us a short video presentation.  So without further ado let me introduce you to Mr Conor O’Leary who is the Manager for Purple House and Mr Tommy Annesley who is the Chair of the Arklow Lifeboat Committee.
 
3 VIDEO PRESENTATIONS-  
 
Conor O’Leary    Manager Purple House Cancer Support (Promo)
 
                           Purple House Covid Impact (Video)
 
Tommy Annesley    Chair of Arklow Lifeboat Committee (Video)
 
Part 5              Michael
 
Harvest is a time for thanking God for all the food and good things He gives us.  Harvest is a time for sharing with others. Let me encourage you to be generous in your financial support of these charities.  You can contribute using the church Bank details that you will find on the church website, just remember to mark your transaction as for the Harvest Appeal.  Alternatively, you can ring Aleida our treasurer and organise an alternative method of payment that would be more suitable for you.
 
Introduction to Prayers for Others
 
As well as many children we are also blessed by the number of fantastic teenagers that we have in our church family.  It’s been such a shame that with Covid restrictions it’s been almost impossible to be able to get them together but we do look forward to being able to do that again in the future.  But I’m just delighted this morning that some of our teenagers and some of our younger children are going to lead us now in prayers for others.  So let’s pray…
 
 
Prayer for Others                   (VIDEO)
 
Prayer 1 (Zander Crammond)
 
Thank you God for farmers like my grandad and dad who grow crops for us to eat, Amen.
 
Prayer 2 (Chloe Crammond)
 
Thank you for the tatoes and the carrots and the beans, Amen.
 
Prayer 3 (Magnus Coelho)
 
Dear God, please be with the fishermen who give us fish to eat.  Also protect the people who work for the RNLI as they go out sometimes in stormy weather, Amen.
 
Prayer 4 (April Prestage)
 
Dear God, thank you for the lovely weather, trees and flowers.  Please help us to be more careful with your world and not to create too much pollution, Amen.
 
Prayer 5 (Jasmin Quintin)
 
Thank you for our friends and family.  Keep them safe and well.  And help the doctors and nurses to look after everyone who is unwell.
 
Prayer 6 (Patrick Anderson)         
 
God we thank you for all that you have provided for us and all that we enjoy.
Help us to share what you have given us with people who are in need.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
Prayer 7 (Roisin Quintin)              
 
Today we thank you for all the staff working in Purple House.
We pray that through all their efforts people who have lost family members from cancer would find comfort, healing and the encouragement they need to still enjoy life despite their loss.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
Prayer 8 (Joshua and Matthew Theron)              
 
Today we also thank you for all the staff who work so that we can have a lifeboat here in Arklow.
Thank you for all the work they do and for how many people they have helped over the years.  Please continue to provide all the resources they need to keep this service running.  Please keep all the crew safe as they risk their lives to save the lives of others.
 
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
In Jesus’ name we ask it.  Amen.
 
Part 6
 
Closing Words and Introduction to Virtual Choir
 
It’s just so great to see and hear so many of our young people leading us in prayer.  Our huge thanks to you and to your parents for helping us with that.
I really do hope you have enjoyed our Online Harvest service this morning.  It’s been many weeks in the making and it’s been a real team effort.  I’m so proud of everyone who has taken part and who has enabled the service to be so special.  I would like to give a special thanks to our new Clerk of Session Mrs Edna Crammond – Edna thank you for brightening up my office this week for the recording with your beautiful flowers and vegetables.  A huge thanks also goes to Isabelle Fenton who stitched lots of the prayers together on her computer.  Well done Izzy.  Special thanks also to Tara and Emma for coordinating the prayers and to Alison and all the members of our virtual choirs for the lovely music.  Thanks to our charity representatives Conor and Tommy for sending me on their little recordings.  And last but not least, thank you so much to Dave Hendry who had to put over 10 different videos together in order to give us what we have enjoyed this morning.  Let me encourage you to be generous in your financial support of these charities.  You can contribute using the church Bank details that you will find on the church website.  Just mark your transaction for the Harvest Appeal.  Alternatively you can ring Aleida our treasurer and organise an alternative method of payment that would be more suitable for you. Don’t forget to log in again on Wednesday morning when we will be reflecting on what it means to pray “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
 
Do stay logged on as in a moment, I want to invite you to join in and sing together as Alison and all the members of our virtual choir lead us in the wonderful harvest hymn “We plough the fields and scatter”…
 
But just before that, let me lead you in a Benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction   
 
May God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the source of all goodness and growth,
pour his blessing upon all things created,
and upon you his children,
that you may use his gifts to his glory and the welfare of all
people, and….
 
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.”
 
Closing Praise   We plough the fields and scatter         (VIDEO)
 
 
 
 

The Arklow Presbyterian Church Bank Account details can be obtained by clicking the link below.
www.arklowpresbyterianchurch.com/get-information.html

​APC 14th October 2020          “Hallowed be your name.”
 
Welcome and Introduction          
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Midweek worship.  On Sunday we began our new series looking together at The Lord’s Prayer.  As we reflected on the opening line, “Our Father in heaven,” we discovered some wonderful insights to help us in our own personal prayers.  Today we will be thinking about what it will mean for us to pray, “Hallowed be your name.”  But first let’s take a moment to pause and to talk to our heavenly Father, let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Sovereign God, great and wonderful, almighty and all-powerful, in grateful praise we bring you our worship today.
We praise you that you are greater than our minds can grasp – higher than our highest thoughts, beyond expression in words.
In grateful praise we bring you our worship today.
We praise you that you are the source of all that is and has been, that you are at work in our world and in our lives, always seeking to fulfil your purposes, never resting until your will is accomplished.
In grateful praise we bring you our worship today.
We praise you that you came to our world in Christ, and that through Him you come to us again, revealing your love, renewing our faith, showing your mercy, giving us life.
In grateful praise we bring you our worship today.
Forgive us that we have not always appreciated who you are and all you have done – despite all the signs in creation we have doubted your existence, despite all your provision we have failed to give you thanks, we have not kept our first sense of wonder at your greatness, we have not given you praise that is rightfully yours, we have presumed to limit you to our own expectations. We have been closed to your Holy Spirit’s prompting, we have kept Christ at arm’s length when His challenge has disturbed us.  Yet you have shown mercy to us, constantly reaching out to forgive and renew.
In grateful praise we bring you our worship today.
Come to us now as we worship you today.  Through your loving mercy give us guidance for the days ahead.  Help us to grow stronger in faith, more committed in discipleship, more faithful in the service of Christ until that day when He is all in all.
In grateful praise we bring you our worship today to the glory of your name, Amen.
Join me as we say the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully and sincerely 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.
 
Introduction to the Bible Reading
 
Did you know that there are actually two records of the Lord’s Prayer found in Holy Scripture.  On Sunday we read the version that is recorded in Matthew’s gospel and today we look at the recording in Luke.
 
Bible Reading         Luke 11 v 1-4
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
 
Reflection                       “Hallowed be your name.”
Last Sunday we began our new series on the Lord’s Prayer by reflecting on the opening line – “Our Father, who art in heaven”.
We learned that God is like a perfect parent who wants the best for us and whom we can talk confidently to, about anything, anytime and anywhere.  We also learned that because God is so special and so perfect that we should respect Him and give Him the honour that He deserves.  This brings us nicely to the second line of the Lord’s Prayer which is our focus for today, “Hallowed be Thy name.”
The Greek word ‘Hagios’ translated here as ‘hallowed’ means to be set apart, to be separate or different.
When something is really special to us we say that it is “Hallowed”.  For example, if a sports stadium was a really famous and special one, we would say that the grass on the pitch was ‘hallowed’ turf.  You might have a china teapot or a baptismal gown that is ‘hallowed’.  It is special because it has been in the family for generations and you feel a responsibility to care for it and look after it so that it can be passed on to your own children.  When Jesus teaches us to say to God, “Hallowed be your name,” He is reminding us of taking time to pray, “God, help me and help people in the world to Honour and respect you”.
But what will it mean practically for us to give God’s name the honour and respect that He deserves?
Very often when a new baby is born the parents will give the baby a name because the name has a special meaning.  Do any of you know what your name means?  Conor means “Lover of Dogs.”
When we talk about God’s name, we mean everything about God- His character.  What He is like.  So when we say to God, “Hallowed be your name” what we are really saying is, “God everything about you is really special and we want everyone to respect You.”
But how can we make this concept a reality in our own lives?  And how can we be an influence for good on the people we rub shoulders with so that they may also begin to hallow God’s name?
Well the first thing we must do if we are to hallow God’s name is to believe wholeheartedly that God is real!  It saddens me deeply that in today’s society it seems to be a badge of honour and intelligence to believe that there is no such thing as God or to say, “I’m just not sure if God is real or not!”
The Psalmist says, “The fool says in his heart that there is no God.”  But why is it foolish to refuse to believe that God is real?
Well for a start, look at the world around you!  Look at the amazing mountains, the sky, the sun, the creatures, the flowers and trees, the beaches and the sea.  Think about the vast array of stars and galaxies.  Think about the order of the systems by which nature functions.  Think about the complexity and the wonder of the human body and its genetic code. 
Now imagine that wrist watches had never been invented.  You are walking along a beach when suddenly your eye catches something sparkling in the sand.  You pick it up and there find a beautiful gold object with a strap, a glass face with tiny needle-like hands one of which is circling at precise intervals making a ticking noise as it goes along.  You turn it over and remove the back.  Inside there is an intricate system of wheels and cogs turning in complete synchronisation.  Then you turn to your friend beside you and say, “Isn’t it amazing what the rain and the sun and the water and sand has created?!”  Or do you turn to them and say, “Wow, I don’t know what this is but somebody really intelligent must have made it!  I hope these make it to full production soon!”
Let me be frank.  If you don’t believe in God, or if you are sitting on the fence saying, “I’m not sure if I believe in God or not” you are deliberately refusing to believe all the evidence that He has provided in the world around you of His existence.  You may think you are being very clever or even very modern and mature in your thinking.  But let me advise you that you are actually being very stubborn and foolish.  You have no excuse.  To hold to the view that God does not exist is not an intellectual position to be proud of, it is a dangerous and foolish belief which will keep you from knowing the greatest relationship that life can give you and isolate you from the greatest source of love and power to help you be the person you have always wished to be.
Listen, as C.S. Lewis’ wonderful book the Screw tape letters remind us - the devil is real.  He will do everything that He can to keep you from believing in God, even when he subtly whispers in your ear- “You really are very clever, after all, this is what most intelligent individuals believe these days.”  Don’t listen to him.  If you do you will not only regret it in this life but you will regret it for all eternity in the life that is to come.
If we are to honour God in our lives we must begin by believing that He is real.  And as Tim Keller suggests in his book ‘The Reason for God’, let us not be afraid as Christians not only to have our own beliefs challenged by others but to challenge our atheist friends politely but robustly to examine why they hold the position that they do in the light of all that screams in the world around us of the existence of our Creator.
To hallow God’s name begins with believing that He is real.
But something else is necessary for us to hallow God’s name.  In addition to believing that God exists, we must also understand what He is like.  God’s ‘name’ is His character and if we are to honour Him, we must know what He is like.
Looking at the wonder of the world around us not only points us to the fact that God exists it also gives us some clues as to what He is like. 
The intricacy and beauty of creation and the natural systems or laws of physics that operate in the universe show us that God is wise and intelligent.  A flash of lightening and the crash of waves show us that He is powerful and strong.  The provision of nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables for the needs of all living creatures remind us that God is loving and caring. 
Beyond that, I will be the first to admit that we are at the mercy of God to reveal Himself to us if we are to understand what He is like.  Thankfully, that is exactly what God has done.  Throughout the centuries from the creation of the world, God has chosen to reveal Himself and to explain His nature to people.  Principally this has happened through the nation of Israel.  God chose a nation of people to explain His character and ways to so that they in turn could be a light to the other nations.  That means they could show the other nations in the world what God was like.  So when we read the OT Scriptures, the nation of Israel are a light to us.  For as we read the History of their nation, we discover what these people learned about God and what guidelines He gave them for living and worshipping Him. 
But the greatest and clearest way that God has revealed Himself to the world is when He decided to come to earth Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is God come in human flesh.  There is more evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than for most other historical figures including Julius Caesar.  In other words, Jesus Christ definitely lived on earth just over 2000 years ago.  Secondly, when the normal criteria that are used to decide if an historical document is reliable are applied to the 4 biographies of the life of Jesus what do we find? 
We discover that there is much more evidence that the gospels are reliable sources than for many other works of literature that we consider to be reliable.  In other words, Jesus definitely lived and the 4 gospels are reliable accounts of his life.  So believing the gospels and doubting Davinchy is not just a cop out by the unintelligent.  It is by far the more scientifically accurate and more intellectual response to accept the reliability of the gospels and to leave the books of Davinchy to the genre that they are- Works of Fiction which make great cinema viewing.
When we read the gospels we discover that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God.  God come in human flesh.  So when you study His life and teaching you are discovering what God is like.  And what do we find?  He healed the sick.  He raised the dead.  He stilled a storm.  He forgave sins.  He had compassion on the people that society despised.  He died on the cross and rose from the dead so we could be forgiven and brought back into a friendship with God.  He went back up into heaven and sent out His Holy Spirit.  That same Spirit now lives in all who trust in Him.  Christ’s Spirit guides us, comforts us, warns us and empowers us to turn from ways that are wrong and to live more and more each day in ways that are right and good.  He taught us many ways of how to live life in all its fullness.  Ways which often contradict the wisdom of our age.
Perhaps you are finding it hard to believe in God.  Perhaps you struggle to talk to Him regularly.  In one sense there is no shortcut answer to this.  Rather let me encourage you to go for walks and deliberately take in the beauty and the wonder of the world around you.  Let me encourage you to read books on the wonder of the human body and of the universe.  Let me encourage you to turn off your laptop, set down your Financial Times and give the same time that you give to these things to the reading and study of the library of books that we know as the bible (Hold up Bible).  Don’t just get it second hand from me or someone else as to what God is like and how you can know Him.  You are an intelligent individual.  You can read and can understand the bible for yourself.  You are responsible to God for how seriously you take that! 
I am amazed at how much emphasis we put on academic study and achievement both personally and for our children and yet we spend so little time in the study of Theology- the study of God.  What could be more important?  I mean what will it profit you or your family if you gain the whole world but lose your soul? 
I will never forget the story that Canon J John tells about the day he was invited to a Business Man’s breakfast.  He was seated beside a man considered to be an economic giant in the business world.  During their conversation at the table, the man waxed lyrically about all his achievements and turned to J. John who he hoped was suitably impressed.  J. John thought for a moment and then responded with these words.  “Sir, you are indeed an economic giant but you are a spiritual minnow!”
Sometimes we need to be shocked into the reality of our situation!  If we want to honour God we need to believe that He exists.  If we want to give Him the respect that He deserves, then we need to make the time to find out what He is like.  That means we need to make church a priority, and we need to make every effort to read and study the bible for ourselves.  Jesus said, to whom much is given, much will be required.  We have bookshops in Dublin and we can go online and order a huge array of fantastic books to help us understand the bible more accurately.  Let me encourage you not to remain a spiritual minnow but to make it your lifetime goal to become a spiritual giant.
It has been my experience and therefore it is my deep conviction that if you are willing to make the effort to discover what God is really like, He will show you.  He will draw your heart and passions out in renewed affection towards Him and your life will be changed for the better in the deepest and most meaningful ways.  As this happens, the prayer, “Hallowed be your name” will become a reality in your life and not just words from your lips on a Sunday morning.
To hallow God’s name means to give Him the respect and place in our thoughts and lives that He deserves and to desire for this to happen in the lives of others also.
To do that we must believe that He is real.  To do that we must take the time to understand what His name or what is His character is like.  This comes through the prayerful study of nature and the Holy Scriptures.
But there is a third thing that we must be willing to do if we are to be able to pray this prayer without hypocrisy.  To hallow God’s name we must cultivate an awareness that we are always in the presence of God.  Important as it is to believe in God, to study His word to discover what He is like, and to meet together regularly for worship, we must forever resist the temptation to keep God confined to one little part of our lives – the times when we are praying or singing in church, or whatever.  The truth is God is everywhere at all times.  Therefore all of life is spiritual.  “Hallowing His name” then will also mean learning to practice the presence of God.  God watches how we drive the car.  He sees how we treat the waitress in a restaurant.  He knows how we complete our tax return.  He is aware of how we speak to our children or our spouse.  He is beside us when we are watching the TV or trawling through the Internet.  He is seated at our Board Meetings and is an extra player on our hockey team.  Training ourselves to practice His presence, reminding ourselves that God is in us, with us and around us, will enable us to cultivate a holy respect for ourselves, and for the way we treat other people.  As we learn to do that we will be hallowing God’s name.
There remains one final ingredient in reverence. Hallowing God’s name means believing He exists, making the effort to understand what He is like and learning to view all of life as lived in God’s presence.  But we may have all these things and still not have reverence.  To all these things must be added obedience and submission.  In his Catechism, Martin Luther asks, “How is God’s name hallowed among us?”  His answer is, “When both our life and doctrine are truly Christian.”
In other words, God’s name is hallowed among us when our convictions and our practical actions are in full submission to the will of God.  This doesn’t mean that we live perfect lives.  Such a thing is impossible.  But it does mean that we pray and ask God to help us to live right and have the right attitudes.  It does that mean that we say sorry when we have done wrong and that we are willing to repent on a regular basis.
To believe that God exists, to understand what God is like and what His will is through prayer and scripture reading, to be constantly aware of His presence and to be willing to obey Him in every area of our lives- this is reverence and this is what we pray for when we say, “Hallowed be your name.”
May God by His Spirit, give each of us the desire and ability to pray this prayer.  May He increasingly enable us by His Spirit to give Him the reverence that His nature and character deserve...
 
Prayer for others
Lord Jesus Christ, the way the truth and the life, we pray today for those who seek the truth- the truth about themselves, about others, about this world we live in, about You.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who study and research into the working of the universe, the deep mysteries of life, the complexities of this world, the mechanics of science.  Give them insight and humility, patience and understanding.
We pray for those in mass media – journalists, reporters, photographers, cameramen, editors of news bulletins and newspapers, presenters and program-makers, authors and script writers- all those who in different ways have the power to shape public opinion.  Give them honesty and integrity, courage and perception.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for theologians, preachers, evangelists and individual Christians, seeking to understand more about the reality of God and to communicate this to others, responsible for leading others to a greater knowledge of your love.  Give them vision and dedication, vision and open-mindedness.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who cannot face the truth, who find it too challenging, too depressing, too frustrating or too frightening to contemplate.  Give them courage and help, hope and perseverance.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray too for those who deny the truth, twisting and distorting it, leading others astray, blind to right and wrong.  Give them honesty to recognize their mistakes, and grace to amend them.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray finally for those who work to help people come to terms with truth, counsellors, psychiatrists, ministers, workers, doctors, philosophers.  Give them compassion and sensitivity, understanding and inspiration.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 
Take a few moments to bring your own prayers for people on your mind to God…
Lord, we offer you all these prayers in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, 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 second line of the Lord’s Prayer.  Please do spend some time in quiet over the next couple of days and ask yourself, what do the words, “Halowed be your name” mean to me? 
 
Unfortunately with the new restrictions we are unable to meet for church services for the immediate future.  So for the next while I’m planning to have online reflections on Sundays and on Wednesdays to keep us encouraged and in spiritually good shape.  We’ll be looking at the Lord’s Prayer and in between having the odd special service. 
 
At the end of November we will be entering the wonderfully reflective season of Advent.  Each Sunday I will include a video clip for the children and we’ll post a printable colouring page for you to download to help them learn the lesson for the day.
 
Do tune in at 10am this Sunday for a very special online Harvest Celebration.  Our Sunday school have been working very hard behind the scenes to provide us with some beautiful prayers and songs.  So thanks to the children and to Tara and all the parents for that.  We’ll also be hearing personally from representatives of the two charities that we will be supporting this year.  One from Purple House Cancer Support in Bray and one from the Arklow Lifeboats.  Let me encourage you to be generous in your financial support of these charities.  You can contribute using the church Bank details that you will find on the church website or you can ring Aleida our treasurer and organise an alternative method of payment that would be more suitable for you.
 
So there’s lots to look forward to.  So let’s keep positive and keep on tuning in.
 
Do stay online at the end of this recording to listen to a beautiful song reminding us of the amazing truth that God is a perfect parent to us and loves us so much.
 
In the meantime, let me lead you in a Benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction   
Go now and hallow God’s name.  Not just through your words but what you do and who you are.  May others as they meet with you, meet with Christ and know His living presence for themselves.  Amen.
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.”
 
 

APC 11th October 2020          “Our Father in heaven.”
 
Welcome and Introduction          
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Sunday morning worship.  Today we’re beginning our new series as we spend a few weeks looking together at The Lord’s Prayer.  This morning we will be reflecting on the opening line, “Our Father in heaven.”  And discovering what we can learn from this about our personal relationship with God.  But first let’s take a moment to pause and to talk to our heavenly Father, let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Eternal God, we come once more to this familiar place at this familiar time, even if we can’t see all the familiar faces!  We come as we have come so many times, to listen, to join together in well-loved prayers, to listen again to well-loved words of scripture and to encourage one another with our well-loved benediction.
 
Eternal God, we thank you for all that is familiar; all that has become so much part of our lives.  But save us we pray, from ever becoming over-familiar – over-familiar with you, so that we lose the sense of awe we should feel in your presence; over-familiar with one another, so that we lose sight of the worth in each one of us; over-familiar with our faith, so that we come to see only what we expect rather than everything you would show us; over-familiar with the world about us, so that we fail to glimpse your hand at work in the wonder of creation.
 
Speak to us through all we know and love so well.
 
Eternal God, open our eyes again to your greatness, our hearts to one another, our lives to all your people in every place, and our souls to the work of your Kingdom across the world.  Deepen our insight, increase our love, enlarge our vision, widen our horizons.
 
Speak to us through all we know and love so well.
 
And so, inspired by all that you have done, all you are doing, and all you have yet to do, may we worship you more truly, and serve you more faithfully, to the glory of your name,  Amen.
 
Join me as we say the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully and sincerely 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.
 
Introduction to Kids Video
It’s been lovely over the last few months to see so many of our children in church and to see them really listening and watching the videos we’ve shown them with great interest and producing some amazing colouring in pictures.  Well, we don’t want you to be left out now that we’re back online, so starting today each Sunday we will be having a slot just for you and afterward you can print off a colouring sheet from our church website to help you remember what we’ve learned and to have some fun!  So if your kids aren’t beside you right now, why not pause the recording and call them in to watch a Puppet called Douglas explain what we are saying when we pray the Lord’s Prayer together in church…And at the end of this video I’ve a few words to say to the children so don’t let them rush away.
​
(BEGINNING PART 2)
Kid’s Talk Summary
Isn’t it wonderful to know that God is like a perfect mam or dad.  We know that He loves us and wants to be our friend.  It doesn’t matter how young you are you can talk to God.  That’s called praying.  Over the next few weeks we’re going to learn much more about how we can talk to God.  I hope you talk to him.  Maybe you could make a little video telling us how you’re getting on with that and what God means to you or even what you find difficult about talking to Him.  Just remember He loves you and you can talk to Him any time anywhere about anything.  Hope you enjoyed tuning in today and don’t forget there’s a colouring in sheet on our church website that mam or dad can print off for you. That way you can have fun while mum or dad or your brothers or sisters are watching the rest of this service!
 
Colouring Sheet Link
http://www.supercoloring.com/coloring-pages/christianity-bible/lords-prayer (Sheet Number 7 - Doodle)
 
Introduction to Bible Reading
 
Bible Reading         Matthew 6 v 1-13
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’
 
Reflection               The Lord’s Prayer- “Our father in heaven”
 
The older I get, the more I realise that during our lives we never get our ‘L Plates’ down.  There are always new things for us to learn.
 
Jesus was always teaching his friends new things about God.  That’s why his friends were called ‘disciples’.  The word disciple means, ‘a learner’.
 
One of the best ways to learn something is to watch someone else do it.  For example, if you want to learn how to knit, the best way is to watch a friend doing it and then have them watch you to see what you are doing well and to show you where you are going wrong.
 
As Jesus’ friends watched him, they saw him do one thing a lot.  They saw Jesus do this by Himself, they watched him do it with friends, they observed him doing this in the Synagogue and before any big decision.  And like all faithful Jews, the disciples saw Jesus do this in the morning, at dinner time and at night.
 
Of course we are talking about prayer.  The amazing thing is that even though He was the Son of God, Jesus still prayed often.  Since the disciples spent so much time with him over a 3 year period, just from watching Jesus, they would have learned that prayer must be something that is important.
 
As well as watching someone do something, another good way of learning is to ask questions.  As Jews, Jesus’ friends knew that talking to God is important, but to be honest, it seems that they still didn’t really know how to do it.  Or perhaps looking at Jesus’ life and the things he did, they probably felt that His prayers were more effective than their own!
 
So, one day one of Jesus’ friends was very brave.  He stuck up his hand and he asked Jesus, “Lord, can you teach us how to pray?”
 
What do you think Jesus said?  Do you think he was cross that one of his friends asked that question?  Do you think he said, “Haven’t you been paying attention!?”
 
No!  Jesus was really pleased that his friends had asked this question.  Because now Jesus knew that prayer was something the disciples were struggling with.  Now He could help them to learn how to pray.
 
You know we are just like Jesus’ friends.  If we are honest, most of us find it hard to pray.  It’s hard talking to someone you can’t see.  Sometimes we don’t know what to say!
So it’s good for us to be honest and say to God, “Lord Jesus, please teach me how to pray!”
 
In order to teach his friends how to pray, Jesus actually said a prayer.  The good news for us is that 2 of Jesus’ friends, Matthew and Luke, listened to Jesus’ prayer and wrote it down.  You can find it in Matthew and Luke’s gospel.  The shorter version which is in Luke is probably the most ancient and most accurate, but both versions are used in the worldwide Christian church.  This prayer is called ‘The Lord’s Prayer’.
 
Since lockdown I think we have all become more conscious of our own frailty and our need of God’s help.  Therefore I thought it would be good for us to take a few weeks thinking about our relationship with God.  Hopefully as we look at the Lord’s Prayer together all of us will feel encouraged to talk to God and to learn a little bit more about what that might look and feel like.  And if you’ve been to the Prayer Course over the last few weeks, don’t worry, this is all completely new material and will enable us to go even deeper in our understanding of Jesus’ famous prayer.
 
This morning I want to draw our attention to the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer and see what lessons we can learn.  Jesus says to his disciples, “When you pray begin with these words… ‘Our Father who is in Heaven’.”
 
This is a very short and very simple phrase, but if we take a few moments to stop and think about it, we will soon discover that it teaches us some really profound and very encouraging things about God and about the relationship we can have with Him.
 
The first lesson we can learn is that
 
1      God is a Father to us:
 
Here Jesus says that when we talk to God we can call Him ‘Father’.  The word he uses is the word Aramaic word ‘Abba’ which literally means ‘Dad.’
 
I wonder what you think God is like?  Some people think that God is like Santy.  He’s just there to give us whatever we want.  He can never say ‘No’ to our wishes.  But of course that is not true.  God knows better than we do about our lives.  Often He may say ‘No’ to us about things we thought would be best for us.  It may be ‘No’ to a particular job, or dream or ‘No’ to a particular relationship or a certain course of action.
 
Then of course some people think God is like an angry Gard or an angry teacher.  They feel that He is always watching out for us to make a mistake so that He can bash us or punish us in some way.  This too is a completely wrong picture of what God is like. 
 
By telling us that we can call God “Daddy,” Jesus reminds us that God is like the best parent in the world.  He made us.  We are special to him.  He loves us very much.  He wants to listen to us.  He wants to help us.  He is thrilled when we take time out to sit down and talk with Him and also when we shoot off silent prayers in the middle of a busy day.
 
So the first lesson we can learn from Our Lord’s Prayer is simply this- we don’t need to be afraid of God.  We can go to Him and talk to him just as we might go to our best friend or a good parent.  When we go to God we can be certain that He will give us a sympathetic and a listening ear.
 
“Do you have a right image of God, do you understand how much He loves you?”
 
 
2      God is ‘Our’ Father:
 
The second lesson the Lord’s Prayer teaches us is that God is ‘Our’ Father.  Jesus doesn’t teach us to say “My Father”.  In fact the words, “I, Me, Mine” aren’t found anywhere in the Lord’s Prayer.  You know, sometimes people think God belongs to them- to their particular church or to their particular country.
 
The truth is God doesn’t belong to anyone.  God is the Father of all humanity.  Because of that, He loves everyone He has made.  He longs for everyone He has made to get to know Him and to love Him.  And because God is the Father of all humanity we need to remember that means to some extent that we are all brothers and sisters.  It doesn’t matter if we are black or white, rich or poor, what country we come from or what language we speak.  We are all part of the family of the world that God has made and loves.  That means we need to respect and appreciate each other and the differences between us.  It means we need to try our best to love and forgive each other and to live in peace with each other rather than fighting and squabbling.
 
“Do you ever think that you have a closer access to God than someone else?”  “Is there someone who for whatever reason you are thinking badly about?  Is there someone you are refusing to accept is made in the image of God just as much as you?”  “Is there someone that you need to pray for and start loving again, because that is the way God feels about them?”
 
Because of the fact that He is the Father of all humanity I believe God listens to the prayers of anyone who honestly seeks to talk to Him.  The story of Cornelius in the book of Acts is a great example of this truth.  Even before he became a full blown Christian who had the Holy Spirit living inside him, Cornelius prayed and God heard and answered him in quite miraculous ways.  So let’s not be too quick or arrogant to write people off.
 
But at the same time, we also know that when someone turns to Jesus and invites them into their lives they become an adopted child of God in a whole new way.  I know this is true because that was my experience.  Growing up I attended church willingly every week for nearly twenty years.  I was baptised and confirmed but if I’m honest, I never really talked to God like I talk to my friends.  But all that changed instantaneously when one evening I knelt at my bedside and invited Jesus Christ to enter my life in a real and living way.  When I got up from that prayer I didn’t feel any different but boy did I realise in the weeks and months to follow that God had answered my prayer.  From that day until this, my relationship with God has been totally different.  I go to church because I want to.  I talk to God like I’m talking to you now.  I’m more conscious of living right and I think I’ve become a much less selfish individual.  While God has always been my Father, before I became a Christian he was like a distant father who I never saw.  But since the day Christ entered my life, God has been like a father who is always by my side ready to listen and wanting to share every aspect of my life.
 
What about you?  Is God like a distant parent or is your relationship with him close and living and real?
 
3      God is our Father ‘in Heaven’:
 
The last lesson I want to share with you from the start of the Lord’s Prayer is this, even though God is a Father to us, who loves us and wants us to be best friends, He is still ‘in heaven’.  That probably means a number of things.  It of course reminds us that as well as being present everywhere at once by His Spirit, God also lives in His Special Kingdom.  There He sits on the throne and rules the world. 
 
It also reminds us that even though we are made in God’s image and we can reflect His good character, at the same time God is different to us.  He is so much better than us.  He is so much wiser than we are.  He is much stronger and more powerful than anything we can make.  That means as well as being able to talk to God as if He is our best friend, we also need to really respect Him.  That’s why Jesus tells us in the second line of his prayer to say, “Hallowed be your name.” 
 
When something is really special to us we say that it is “Hallowed”.  For example, if a sports stadium was a really famous and special one, we would say that the grass on the pitch was ‘hallowed’ turf.  When Jesus teaches us to say to God, “Hallowed be your name,”  he is reminding us of taking time to pray, “God your name is very special”.
Very often when a new baby is born the mam and dad will give the baby a name because the name has a special meaning.  Do any of you know what your name means?  Erin fro example means “a girl from Ireland”.
When we talk about God’s name, we mean everything about God- His character.  What He is like.  So when we say to God, “Hallowed be your name” what we are really saying is, “God everything about you is really special and we want everyone to respect You.”
You know that’s a really important lesson for us about how we should pray.  It’s great to know that we can come boldly and confidently to God like a young child will burst into its father’s study or a young pup will jump onto its owner’s lap.  But it’s also really important for us to remember just who we are approaching when we pray and to do so with appropriate reverence and respect.
We need to come to God humbly, confessing our sins, and with a genuine desire to listen to His advice and a sincere commitment to doing what He says.  If we don’t, the reality is we will make God sad and even cross.  If we are disobedient or disrespectful or ignore him for long periods, we may in fact be forcing Him like any loving parent to have to discipline us.
 
How that discipline will show itself in our lives I’m not quite sure but if we stop long enough to think about it, we may just realise that the hand of our God is heavy upon us because He is trying to get our attention or teach us a lesson that we really need to learn. 
 
So when we pray our Father “in heaven” it’s a reminder that we should respect God.  We need to be willing to do what He says. He deserves our weekly worship and all the praise that we can give.  If we find that we are losing interest in Him, then we need to stop and be really honest with Him and try to get our relationship with Him back on track.  The story of the Prodigal Son reminds us that God stands with open arms just longing for us to pray to Him again.
 
Conclusion:
 
In life, we are always learning.  One of the most important lessons is how to pray.
 
Jesus shows us how to pray in the Lord’s Prayer.  It begins, “Our Father who is in Heaven”.
 
Here Jesus reminds us not to be afraid to come to God.  He is a perfect Father who loves us and longs to share conversation with us.
 
Here Jesus teaches us a lesson we are quick to forget.  God is not ‘my’ God.  He is ‘Our’ God.  No one has a monopoly on Him.  He loves everyone He has made and hears the prayers of all who seek Him sincerely.  But when we place our trust in Jesus our relationship with God becomes much more intimate than we had ever thought possible.
 
Here Jesus shows us that while we should approach God confidently because He loves us, that we should do so with the greatest respect.  We should not be too familiar with God.  We must remember that He is different to us, so much greater and wiser.  We must approach Him with respect, with a willingness to obey and with the praise and worship He deserves.
 
Prayer for others
Lord we pray for our government and for the members of NPhet.  Help them to work well together and give them great wisdom in knowing how we can best keep people safe and at the same enable as many people as possible to maintain their livelihoods.  Help us as individuals and as a nation to be as supportive and understanding of them as possible in these days of very difficult decisions.
Lord we thank you for all our ministers and church members who are doing their best to continue to provide online services.  Thank you that we have had many weeks when we have been able to meet in church.  Help us to accept these recent changes and to stay close to you and to each other through these online interactions.
We thank you for the many people working on a vaccine to provide immunity against Covid-19. We pray that they would continue to make quick progress to find a safe and cost-effective result.
We pray that in your mercy just as viruses in the past have burned themselves out, that you would cause this Corona virus to do the same.
We think especially for the people that increased restrictions will hit the hardest both financially and emotionally.  We pray too for those people who are elderly or have underlying health issues who are most likely to feel afraid.
Lord give us great wisdom to know how to help and support those who are most vulnerable in these days.
We pray especially for hospital workers and ask that you might give them courage and strength for every day.
We thank you that our schools and colleges have been able to stay open both physically and online.  Continue to give wisdom, courage and patience to all teaching and support staff and grant that these services will continue to be a blessing to all the students who benefit from them.
Lord thank you for the continued blessings that we enjoy despite the difficulties that we face.  Thank you for food and clothing, for good homes, for the beautiful part of the world that we live in, with so many places to walk and so much beautiful scenery to enjoy.  Thank you for our pets, for Xbox and Internet and for how we can keep in touch with family and friends through modern technology.  Thank you for each other and the relationships we can enjoy.
We remember again all those who are sick and those who are coming to terms with the loss of someone they have loved.  Lord as we draw near to you, please draw near to us and give us all the help and grace that we need.
Take a few moments to bring your own prayers for people on your mind to God…
Lord, we offer you all these prayers in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, 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 opening line of the Lord’s Prayer.  Please do spend some time in quiet over the next couple of days and ask yourself, what do the words, “Our father in heaven” mean to me? 
 
Unfortunately with the new restrictions we are unable to meet for church services or for bible studies or face to face meetings for the next few weeks.
 
But we still have the internet and we still have Zoom.  So don’t despair.
 
For the next while I’m planning to have online reflections on Sundays and on Wednesdays to keep us encouraged and in spiritually good shape.  We’ll be looking at the Lord’s Prayer and in between having the odd special service. 
 
At the end of November we will be entering the wonderfully reflective season of Advent.  Each week I will include a video clip for the children and we’ll post a printable colouring page for you to download to help them learn the lesson for the day.
 
Next Sunday we’re going ahead with our online Harvest Celebration.  I know that some of the Sunday school children will be taking part, we’ll have some wonderful choir pieces from all ages in our church, and we’ll be hearing personally from representatives of the two charities that we will be supporting this year.  One from Purple House Cancer Support in Bray and one from the Arklow Lifeboats.  Let me encourage you to be generous in your financial support of these charities.  You can contribute using the church Bank details that you will find on the church website or you can ring Aleida our treasurer and organise an alternative method of payment that would be more suitable for you.  Oh, and I might just squeeze in a little scriptural reflection about Harvest as well!
 
So there’s lots to look forward to.  So let’s keep positive and don’t forget to tune in again on Wednesday morning when we’ll be reflecting on what it means to pray, “Hallowed be your name”.
 
Do stay online at the end of this recording to listen to a beautiful song reminding us of the amazing truth that God is a perfect parent to us and loves us so much.
 
In the meantime, let me lead you in a Benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction   
Do not worry about anything in life-
what you’ll eat, or what you’ll wear.
Look at the birds of the air,
or the flowers in the field.
If God takes such good care of such transient things,
how much more can you depend on God to care for you?
For you have a Father who loves you,
a Father who knows all your needs.
So don’t be afraid.
Instead, live lives of love and generosity,
storing up your treasure in heaven
instead of here on earth.
 
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.”

APC 4th October 2020            “Love always perseveres.”
 
Welcome and Introduction           Michael
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 perseveres?” 
 
As we begin today on behalf of us all I would like to pass on our deepest condolences to Lisa and Clive and to all the family of Hilda Crammond who passed away during the week. 
Hilda was such a faithful servant of God and of our church here in Arklow and she will be sadly missed by us all.  Please do keep the family in your thoughts and prayers at this time.
 
Let’s begin by reminding ourselves why we are here – because God has called us to worship Him, to experience His presence and to receive the help that only He can give.
 
Call to Worship
In the midst of our failures,
We stand in God’s grace.
In the midst of our struggles,
We boast in our hope through Christ.
In the midst of our suffering,
We claim the endurance given by the Holy Spirit.
In every part of our lives,
The love of our Divine Creator has been poured into our hearts.
Let us be open to this love as we join together in worship.
Let us pray…
 
 
Opening Prayer
Living God, we thank you that you are a God of love and compassion, slow to anger and full of mercy, a God of infinite patience, infinite goodness, infinite care, with infinite time for each of us.
 
Living God, help us to make time for you.
We thank you that though we so often fail to make time for you and so often fail to make time to serve you, yet you are always ready to receive us, to accept us, to respond to us and to help us in our time of need.
 
Living God, help us to make time for you.
 
Teach us to create space in our lives for you, for one another and for ourselves.  Help us to measure time not by our standards, but by yours, and so may we live our lives as you would have us lead them.
 
Living God, help us to make time for you.
 
In the name of Christ we pray…
 
Join me as we say the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully and sincerely 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      Genesis 29 v 14-30
Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel
After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, 15 Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”
16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah had weak[a] eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. 18 Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”
19 Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.”
22 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. 23 But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. 24 And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant.
25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”
26 Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27 Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.”
28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. 30 Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.
 
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 perseveres” 
 
For most of us modern life is so fast paced.  The society we live in is so instant.  There can be many benefits to this.  I love nothing more than an instant coffee or instant noodles.  Wifi gives us instant access to any information and enables us to instantly contact any of our friends in any part of the world.  24hr shopping means we can pick up our bread and milk at any time of the day or night and a simple swipe of our phone gives us instant access to our bank account when we want to make a purchase or check our balance.
But there are downsides to all of this.  One of them is that because we can access everything so easily we can fall into the trap of assuming that all of life should be easy and that good things should always come quickly to us without much effort.  This can lead to a runaway approach to problems.  When the going gets tough, when we don’t like what we’re feeling, when people aren’t meeting our needs or fulfilling our desires, the temptation is to run out rather than seeing things through or taking the time and effort to resolve the issues.
There are so many areas of life where people are more likely to give up today than they were even twenty or thirty years ago.  In the past it was common to stay in one job for life.  Today a Millennial is likely to do 12 different jobs in their lifetime.  In the past it was very rare for people to get divorced.  Today there’s probably about a 45% chance of a marriage ending in divorce.  In the past people were more likely to commit to one sports club or organisation for life.  Today it’s common for people to try many different sports or to move around from club to club.  In the past it was more common for people to spend countless hours mastering a particular skill or trade.  Today many of those skills are on the decline because people just don’t have the time or the stick-ability to become a master of the art.  Sadly there is an ever increasing rate of suicide as people even decide to give up on life.
Now I’m not saying that there is never a time to give up.  We all know that in the past people have remained in abusive work or marriage situations where they were miserable because of a twisted religious or societal pressure that it was always the done-thing to have a stiff upper lip and keep going.  One of the huge positives of the modern world and the attitude of the younger generation is that they are willing to make changes and to try something new rather than settle for a miserable existence.
If we’re suffering from burnout one of the kindest things we can do is to love ourselves.  As difficult as it might be, that will involve swallowing our pride and admitting that we can’t just keep on trying to juggle all the balls of life while ignoring ourselves.  It might mean taking time off, it will certainly mean making changes and above all it will mean creating time in our week for us to rest and do things that make us laugh and that we enjoy.
But there is also great benefit in learning the art of perseverance.  There are so many examples in life when it is a good thing to be able to keep on keeping on, even when we don’t feel like it.  So how can we develop this characteristic in our lives? 
Well I think one of the most important things is to learn to love.  When we love something we are more likely to persevere.  It’s my love for my two dogs that helps me to get out around 7.00 am and take them for a walk when I’d much rather just pour myself another cup of coffee and put on a slice of toast.  It’s my love for my children that keeps me driving them to hobbies and activities, that keeps me working to provide for them and to make the necessary sacrifices so that they can have what they need.  It’s my love for people that enables me to keep in contact with them, trying to encourage them and that enables me to face a blank page every week in the church office as I begin another sermon.  It’s our love for a teacher that keeps us interested in a subject at school.  It’s our love for a subject or a personal interest that motivates us to stay on in a job when the going gets tough or the hours are long.  In the current climate, however difficult we’re finding it, it’s our love for other people that motivates us to keep on sanitising, wearing masks, completing e-forms and keeping our distance when we’d much rather just not bother because of the inconvenience.
There are a number of practical takeaways from all this.  If you’re a young person thinking about what you might do in the future my advice is simple- follow the path of the things you are good at and the things that you love.  You will spend most of your life working.  If you choose a field you love and have a natural interest in, you are more likely to enjoy it and to be willing to persevere on those days when it’s just not as exciting.
Don’t marry for money or because of someone else’s expectations.  Marry for love.  That said, the sparks of first love easily fade for all of us over time.  So love needs to be worked at every day.  Time needs to be carved out in a busy month to keep love alive.  If we really love someone we will try our best to work it out and not give up at the first sign of difficulties.
Some people are easy to love.  Others, let’s face it, are extremely difficult.  It’s a challenge for all of us to learn to live with difficult people.  But God calls us to love even our enemies because that’s what He does.  You see, we forget that we too are sinners.  We often go about doing our own thing with no real concern for God.  If God was to treat us as we deserve, He would simply give up on us.  But He doesn’t because He made us, we’re His children, and He loves us.  Sure, He must often weep at the way we ignore Him or treat one another, but He never gives up on us.  Despite all that he knows about us, God sent Jesus to die on the cross to take the judgement we deserve and to offer us complete forgiveness for free.
You know, they say that 7 days without prayer makes one week!  When I feel my love for God growing weaker, when I feel like giving up on ministry, when I couldn’t be bothered dealing with difficult people anymore, when I’m tempted to just let the kids do whatever they want or not turn up at rugby training for a week, I get on my knees and I pray a simple prayer… “Lord, show me your love.” 
In the quiet, God brings me to the foot of the cross.  There I see Jesus dying for me and hear His words dripping with grace, “father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”
And the longer I sit, the more I feel my heart strangely warmed.  The more I sense the love of God filling my spirit.  And in that moment I feel myself receiving a strength and motivation that is supernatural.  And that’s what helps me to keep on keeping on.
I’m convinced it is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that will enable us to persevere in the areas of our lives where we feel like throwing in the towel.
It’s the knowledge of God’s deep love for me, that enables me to love myself enough to hear His voice whisper – “Michael are you looking after yourself too?”
That’s something of what I feel St Paul means when He says, “Love always perseveres.”
So let me ask you as I’ve asked myself this week.  What is God saying to you when you hear the words, “Love always perseveres?”
Where do you need the love of God to empower you not to give up?
Where do you need the love of God to inspire and motivate you to care for yourself?
Let us pray…
 
Prayer for others
Lord, we pray for our government leaders.  Please continue to give them wisdom, energy and strength as they seek to make policies to guide us through these difficult times.
We thank you for the many people working on a vaccine to provide immunity against Covid-19. We pray that they would continue to make quick progress to find a safe and cost-effective result.
We pray that in your mercy just as viruses in the past have burned themselves out, that you would cause this Corona virus to do the same.
We continue to ask for energy, strength, perseverance and safety for all those working in hospitals and in all essential services and industries where there is a high degree of contact between people.
We ask you to draw near all those we know who are sick at this time bringing them courage and comfort and all the help that they need.
We remember those who mourn.  We think especially of the family and friends of Hilda Crammond.  We thank you for the example of faith that Hilda has given us and ask that in their loss that you would bring great comfort to her family at this time.
Lord we thank you for the faithfulness of Emily Kearon over nearly 20 years as our Clerk of Session.  We thank you also for the faithfulness of Brian as an elder.  As they step back from these roles we pray that they may know how grateful we are for their commitment to you and to our church.  May they enjoy many more healthy and happy years together.
We pray for the many harvest services that will take place this month, including our own.  We ask that through them we would be reminded to be thankful to God and generous in sharing his blessings.
We remember our Moderator, Rev David Bruce, as he embarks on his first Presbytery Tour of Down.  As he preaches in various churches and engages with civic officials give him wisdom and make him a great encouragement to everyone he meets. Keep him safe in that work as well.
We thank you for our chaplains who are serving in the Forces and in prisons. Give thanks for those using their gifts in very specialized and often demanding situations. 
We pray for the people these chaplains minister to, both those who value the Christian support they receive and those who have a limited knowledge of faith. Pray that the chaplains would be able to show and share faith in all these situations. 
We pray for the officers of the General Council Standing Committee as they deal with annual items of business; assessments and stipends etc. and report to the Council for decisions. Pray especially for the Financial Secretary, Clive Knox and the Support Services Committee Convener, David Thomson.
We remember Profs Stafford Carson (Principal) and Gordon Campbell (Principal Designate), as they lead tour training College in Belfast, having to make challenging decisions for the well-being of the College and its staff and students in these exceptional times.
Take a few moments to bring your own prayers for people on your mind to God…
Lord, we offer you all these prayers in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, 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 reflecting on the truth that love never gives up.  Ask God to fill you with his love and power to keep going and to give you wisdom to know best how to care for yourself.
 
Just a little reminder that our midweek bible study meets again tomorrow night from 7pm to 8pm in the church.
 
Unfortunately due to the Covid Restrictions imposed on Dublin Emily and Brian’s family are unable to travel to Arklow.  So we are postponing the presentation to Emily and Brian for all their faithful service over the years.  Edna behind the scenes has taken over duties as our new Clerk of session and we will officially welcome her when travel restrictions are lifted.
 
On Sunday 18th October we will be celebrating Harvest.  At that service we will be hearing brief reports from the two charitable organisations that we have agreed to support this year.  That’s Purple House Cancer Support and the Arklow Lifeboat.  So please do put that in your diary.
 
The Sunday School hopes to restart a week or two after the Harvest service.  Tara will be emailing all parents with the details of how that will operate and with our new registration forms.  We are still looking at the possibilities for the Youth Group.  We had provisionally booked bowling in Wicklow but unfortunately the bowling alley in Wicklow rang us to say they were having to close.  Further details for the other activities will follow in the days to come.
 
Next Sunday we will be staring a short series on Prayer as we look at the Lord’s Prayer together.  I think all of us have been increasingly aware of how much we need the Lord’s help in these days so I hope you find this series will be a real help in encouraging you in your own prayers.
 
With changes to government guidelines we are now able to have two pods of up to 50 providing each pod is separate and socially distancing of 2m is maintained within each pod.  This will enable us to have more than 50 people in total safely accommodated between our church sanctuary and the hall.  So in short, we are now allowed a few more people than 50.  The same rules of socially distancing, hand sanitising, wearing face masks and pre booking apply.  So don’t forget, if you’re coming to church, to send Aleida a text by Friday evening at the latest.
 
Do stay tuned at the end of this recording to listen to a beautiful song reminding us of the mysterious truth that it’s often as we persevere through the difficult days of life that God shapes us and moulds us more into the likeness of His Son. 
In the meantime, let me lead you in a Benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction   
Living God, go with us on our journey of faith – revive us when we grow weary, direct us when we go astray, inspire us when we lose heart warn us when we turn back.  Keep us travelling ever onwards a pilgrim people, looking to Jesus who has run the race before us and who waits to welcome is home.
 
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.”