Welcome to our first on-line worship service. It's been designed to be to be followed through at any time, but we will try and gather at our normal time at 11am on Sunday. The service will be followed by virtual coffee via zoom at 12.15pm -1pm (have a go, it'll be a great experiment - make a coffee and then click on this link to join). There isn't a structure to the service, but I offer you some readings, some songs, some prayers, a sermon and a related interactive/craft activity (you might want to share what you have done via your pastoral group leader, the church whatsapp or facebook congregation group)
It's Mothering Sunday so a good time to remember who we are and where we have come from. On Mothering Sunday we celebrate family, show our appreciation for the women in our lives, think about and thank God for our 'Mother Church' (sometimes the church that planted our own, sometimes our home church - perhaps where we grew up or came to faith) and we praise God, our perfect parent - both Mother and Father to us, who despite what we have done, despite our running away, always welcomes us back with open arms.
We would normally give out daffodils on Mothering Sunday, but as we are not meeting we are not able to do that, however, don't forget to show your appreciation for the women who are part of our church congregation - those who are mums and those who are not, those who care for us unconditionally, those who love us more than we can imagine and make delicious food. Those who lead and those who care....... God made them all and celebrating them can only be a good thing. In one of the activities I sent out during the week it shows you how to make daffodils - you could make some flowers - search on youtube, there are all sorts of ideas - and send church a photo or give them to your mum or a neighbour or friend.
This service is based on the verse I have been reflecting on since the news that we couldn't gather came through on Monday night - Psalm 137:4 - How do we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? This week has been spent trying to work that through for us as a church who thrive on contact and love meeting together. How do we stay together as family in this time?
It all starts by keeping in touch and coming together in corporate online worship is part of that. As we come together today don't forget to keep in touch with one another, remembering our verse of the year from Romans 12 - if we are all part of one body we need to make an extra special effort at this time to keep connected to one another.
Don't forget to share the grace at the end of the service......!
Here are some resources for you to use as part of your worship this today:
Click on the photo on the left you will find a reflection on Psalm 46. You might want to read Psalm 46 before or after it.
The link below is a playlist of songs from youtube to listen to and join in with. You might want to spread them out as you access the other resources. We often in the service start with 3 songs, have one before the sermon and then one right at the end, so you might want to split them up like that.
Here's Vic with the notices
Our sermon is based on Psalm 137:1-4
And the song referred to at the end of the sermon.....
You can access some prayers for Mothering Sunday here
And a reflection and prayers for the Coronavirus here
And for the younger members of our congregation (or for those who like lego) here is the story of the prodigal son (which was meant to be our theme today). If you are feeling really creative you might want to make your own photo/video story from one of the stories Jesus told and we could perhaps share it at our next service.