SUNDAY 9TH AUGUST 2020

This short act of worship has been prepared for you to use if you are unable to attend church. If you are well enough why not spend a few moments with God, knowing that other people are sharing this act of worship with you

Opening Prayer

I come this day to worship You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Open my heart, to receive Your love, my soul to receive Your Spirit and my mind to know to Your truth. For Your glory.

Amen.

Hymn: Great is thy faithfulness (StF51)

Sing/Read/Pray/Proclaim the words

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

there is no shadow of turning with thee;

thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;

as thou hast been thou for ever wilt be:

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

all I have needed thy hand hath provided.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

sun, moon and stars in their courses above,

join with all nature in manifold witness

to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love:

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Thomas O. Chisholm (1866-1960)

Let us pray together

God of grace, I praise You. I praise You for who You are: creator, faithful, rescuer, and holy. I praise that You even though I cannot be with others to worship You, I can feel that You are here in my heart.

I praise You, for all the blessings You have given me. For family, for friends, for a relationship with You. Help me not to take You for granted.

God of grace, as I worship You this morning, help me to be transformed by Your love, and in the power of Your Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Today’s Gospel Reading: Matthew 14:22-33

Time to Reflect

I am sure we can all relate to Peter. Throughout the gospels we get a picture of someone who does not always think before he speaks, if we take Peter’s confession in Matthew 16:13-20 and think – did he rush his confession of faith or not? Only a few verses later Jesus rebukes him.

And it is the same in this reading. Peter is singled out while the others stay in the boat.

Jesus says to his disciples ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid’ when he walks on the water to the disciples in the boat. Should this have been enough for Peter as it was for the others? No, Peter being Peter, wants to try and walk on the water.

Perhaps, the message today, for us, is one of trust as we journey as disciples through these difficult times? Jesus says to us, as he said to Peter, “Take heart, it is I: do not be afraid”

Take a time to sit quietly

A time of prayer

Almighty God, I come now to pray for Your world. Your world which is full of brokenness, injustice, and inequality. I bring before You the rulers of the world, local or national, and pray that they would remember that all power comes from You.

Almighty God, I pray for your church. I pray that during these times we would unite in worship and service. I pray for my local church, and its ministers/pastors, that they would be strengthened by Your Spirit.

Almighty God, I pray for those known to me and name them before You. And, I pray for myself, that I would be transformed by Your Spirit, and live in the love which You have given me through Jesus.

In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father ……

Sing a verse of a hymn that comes to mind

A prayer of blessing

As this time of worship ends,

and I enter into the storms of life,

and the uncertainties which may come,

may I take heart that Jesus is present,

and ever live for His holy name.

And may the blessing of God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

be with me, and those whom I cherish in my heart, now and always.

Amen.

Original Materials by Matthew Ramsden, Local Preacher from Bolton Methodist Circuit

Hymns reproduced under CCLi 1144191