Weekly Bible Notes Ordinary 9
Year C, Colour = Green
Introduction
This Sunday we move into my favourite time in the church liturgical calendar. The weeks after Pentecost and Trinity Sunday are called "ordinary time." Easter festivities are over and there are no more razzle dazzle festivals until Advent when we prepare for Christmas. From now on we go liturgical green and I feel that this is the beginning of summer. But Ordinary Time is a strange word, for there is nothing ordinary about it. From now on we will hear the teachings of Jesus week after week inspiring us how to live and when we do this we are anything but ordinary, perhaps this should be called 'Extra Ordinary Time!' In the hum drum activities of our ordinary lives we encounter God challenging us to bring something special, something sacred into the ordinary. Our daily lives becomes prayers, offered to God as we realise the meaning of those words written by the Apostle Paul in Romans 8
‘We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.’
Here was a man who endured shipwrecks, torture and imprisonment, yet he saw that when he trusted God, then God was at work co--operating with him in all these circumstances to bring about good. So we must all learn to listen to God in the ordinary stuff of our lives, because it is through the mundane events of the daily routine that God speaks.
This week we read about the Centurion who asked for his servant to be healed. You will recall that there was a remarkable instant understanding between the gentle Prince of Peace and the hardened Roman soldier. Perhaps Jesus recognized in the Centurion his own discipline and willingness to serve others. We know from the words the Centurion sent via messengers that he saw Jesus as a “man of authority” who could command even life or death. And there was sympathy and respect between these two unlikely allies. Now Jesus could have refused to deal with a representative of the Roman Army which was the instrument by which the people of his own land and religion were kept in subjection. Any move to rebel against Roman authority was crushed ruthlessly and viciously by the Roman soldiers. Did Jesus turn away from the grief-stricken Centurion on political grounds ? No he did not. As always, Jesus’ generous and spontaneous sympathy for any human is to be our model.
Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 96
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray
Almighty God, you have built your Church on the foundation of the apostles and prohets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Join us together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may become a holy temple, acceptable to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Faithful God, whose covenant love is new every morning: open our eyes to your wisdom and give us grace to keep faith with all your creation; through jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you, mercifully accept our prayers and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace, that in the keeping of your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Common Worship
God of truth, help us to keep your law of love and to walk in ways of wisdom, that we may find true life in Jesus Christ your Son. Common Worship Additional Collect
First Bible Reading 1 Kings 18:20-21, 30-39
20-21 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.
30-39 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
Second Reading Galatians 1:1-12
Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and sisters with me, to the churches in Galatia: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Paul Called by God I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reading Luke Chapter 7 Verses 1-10
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
Post Communion Prayer
Eternal Father, we thank you for nourishing us with these heavenly gifts: may our communion strengthen us in faith, build us up in hope, and make us grow in love; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary
A little while ago there was a survey done of the streets asking people to comment on some scriptural passages which they were told were from the Koran. The folks reverted to normal prejudice and expressed their distaste for the things which were quoted. Ten they were told it was from the Bible and they were shocked and surprised. One of those passages comes from the Book of Kings which we have had read today. The problem is that we have not read it because those who decided upon the lectionary didn't want us to read it
Its all a bit too convenient to leave off the last verse of the story in 1 Kings 18 this week. Those who selected the lectionary went as far as verse 39 but left off the all important verse 40 in which we read
‘Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.’ Mass murder of 450 prophets from another religion is not what we expect from our Biblical leaders like Elijah.
Perhaps its not the thing that we described too carefully in a family service, but there is little reason to exclude it from the lectionary. We do well to remember passages like these when we are told that other faiths are violent and encourage murder. In many passages in the Old Testament we read about the Israelites justifying the extermination of their enemies without mercy because ‘God told them.’ Much of this should be regarded as war crimes, crimes against humanity or even genocide. No religion is better than another when it comes to using their God as an excuse for savage butchery.
Then we read the passage from the New Testament and thank God we see a different attitude altogether from Jesus. He describes a Roman soldier as having a better faith than he had found anywhere among the ritually clean Jews.
In the passage from Galatians today. Paul says ‘
If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,
let them be under God’s curse!
We need to appreciate what was going on which led to this outburst. Paul has taken up the same inclusive Gospel which characterised the ministry of Jesus. Paul challenged the Christians that their God was too small, because they were insisting that everybody had to become Jews. The Apostle Peter had known this to be true following a vision when he had come to realise that he ‘must not call anyone impure or unclean’ Acts 10. He entered into the home of a centurion in the Italian Regiment called Cornelius in Caesarea Philippi and said
“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism
but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.
Peter had learned about a Gospel which overcame his prejudice and we are told that he willingly ate with unlean Gentiles. However he went back on this when some Jewish leaders sent by James came from Jerusalem. Peter began to succumb to per pressure and separated himself in acts of downright hypocrisy.
We tend to think of the Apostle Paul as an intolerant bigot, but we need to understand what is happening that it was he who challenged Peter and everybody else who narrowed God down to one nation or tribe. Paul knew that the faith of Jesus did not belong to one nation but the entire world and he called curses upon anybody who taught differently It was because of him that Christianity grew across the world and stopped being a Jewish sect.
God’s love is not restricted and it bursts through human barriers of race, religion, gender and class, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male or female, all are on in Christ Jesus. Every person is created by God and every individual bears an imprint of the divine nature, they are made in God’s image. We might think that we are all very different but humanity is all one family and every person is God's "offspring"
In him we live and move and have our being. As some of
your own poets have said, ’we are his offspring’ (Acts 17:28).
God is the father of every family and it from God that every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. (Ephesians 1:14–15) (Ephesians 3:14–15).
It is important for us to try and catch a glimpse of this understanding of God because it changes our language and behaviour. It is no longer acceptable to speak in terms of ‘them’ and ‘us’ because our God is the same God who created them ! God "created all things in heaven and on earth" (Colossians 1:16). Moreover the Bible is clear that this same God is going to "reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven" (Colossians 1:20), This includes Roman Soldiers who ate the time were the occupying force, who do we think is beyond God’s salvation?
We have no idea how God will do this, like the Trinity which we thought about last week, we do not understand it we just accept that what God says is good and true. However we should not be surprised that God’s love is for all people, the perfect sacrifice of Jesus was not for a privileged few but "for the entire cosmos"
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for
ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2).
Charles Royden
Meditation
The story of Elijah and the slaughter of 450 prophets of Baal this week is enormously challenging. This is just one of many sacred texts in the Bible where God commands his own people to exterminate their enemies without mercy. In Deuteronomy 7 we read
‘Thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them nor shew mercy unto them.'
In 1 Samuel 15 God even killed king Saul because he spared the Amelekite king Agag. Samuel then hewed Aga in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
We should be honest, these are war crimes, crimes against humanity and against God, even though those who committed these crimes believed that God was telling them to do it. Such misguided behaviour is not the preserve of Judaism or Christianity, seemingly every religion has past or indeed present behaviour of which it should be ashamed. Some religions have fanatics who behave in atrocious ways, other religions are intrinsically evil in themselves, either in whole or in part. However, sometimes it is easier to recognise the bad in the faith of others than it is to acknowledge it in our own. The good news today comes in the Gospel reading where Jesus shows a different way, Jesus crosses the boundaries of race, culture and religion. There are a multitude of ways in which we can choose to divide and separate ourselves from one another; race and religion, gender, sexuality, economic level, educational level, geographic location, political affiliation, and generation. Any differences can be a source of competition and conflict – and so it has been throughout history. Jesus shows us how to cross these boundaries because God is God of all – even a Roman occupying soldier. When we recognise this we understand that all life is sacred and we are all God's children. Charles Royden
Hymns
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
Creator God, you call us to love and serve you with body, mind, and spirit through loving your creation and our sisters and brothers. Open our hearts in compassion and receive these petitions on behalf of the needs of the church and the world.
O God, living Lord, you are the author of faith. Engrave on our hearts the gospel revealed in Jesus Christ and brought near to us by your Holy Spirit, that we may attest to this faith in lives that are pleasing to you that others might be drawn close to your loving presence. Lord God you moved in the lives of Elijah and Elisha and we ask that you would move also in our lives. May we listen for your voice, and speak your prophetic word in our world. Empowered by your Spirit, grant us the courage we need to trust, listen, speak, and accept your commission to be your faithful servant people. Amen.
Lord Jesus help us to serve and minister to all people, just as your mission of love and mercy extended to all. May we not only seek out those we love, or those who also love us, or those who are like us, or those who show us their appreciation. Help us to go to those we dislike and fear, those who attack or fear us, those who are different, those who seem to just take and give nothing back. And may our service join with that of others so that we might help change our world into a better place where your children live in peace.
May your wisdom teach our minds, open our hearts and challenge our apathy to find solutions to the conflicts and self-created threats in our world. May your love release our energies, ignite our abilities and inspire our action to heal those who carry the scars of abuse, war and disease, to comfort those who grieve the loss of loved ones or opportunities, to restore the ones who have failed or fallen, to nurture the life that breaks out in every person and every part of our planet.
We offer our prayers ahead of the EU Referendum
God of truth, give us grace to debate the issues in this referendum with honesty and openness. Give generosity to those who seek to form opinion and discernment to those who vote, that our nation may prosper and that with all the peoples of Europe we may work for peace and the common good; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
God invites us to hold the needs of our sisters and brothers as dear to us as our own needs. Loving our neighbors as ourselves, we offer our thanksgivings and our petitions on behalf of the church and the world. Lord God, friend of those in need, your Son Jesus has untied our burdens and healed our spirits. We lift up the prayers of our hearts for those still burdened, those seeking healing, those in need within the church and the world. God of mercy and healing, you who hear the cries of those in need, receive these petitions of your people that all who are troubled may know peace, comfort, and courage.
Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
Eternal God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, the strength of the wills that serve you; help us so to know you that we may truly love you, so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom. Pope Gelasius’ prayer book 7th or 8th century
In the rush and noise of life, as you have intervals, step within yourselves and be still. Wait upon God and feel his good presence; this will carry you through your day’s business. Reinhold Niebuhr, twentieth century
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Author unknown
Lord of the Universe look in love upon your people. Pour the healing oil of your compassion on a world that is wounded and dying. Send us out in search of the lost, to comfort the afflicted, to bind up the broken, and to free those trapped under the rubble of their fallen dreams. Sheila Cassidy
Make us true servants to all those in need, filled with compassion in thought, word and deed; loving our neighbour, whatever the cost, feeding the hungry and finding the lost. Lord, make us healers of body and mind; give us your power to bring sight to the blind; love to the loveless and gladness for pain, filling all hearts with the joy of your name. From One Worship
Today, O God, let us know your power to make us strong, your counsel to make us wise, your grace to make us holy and your glory to bring us into your presence. Amen.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
"Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.
If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die."
Additional Material
Commentary
In movies, if you hear a cop announce that he has only one week to retirement, then you know he is doomed to be shot by the bad guys within minutes. Likewise, if it is a war film and two guys are sharing a dug out (and it really doesn’t matter if it is a Vietnam film or one about the first World War) if a chap pulls out his wallet and shows the other chap a picture of his beautiful wife and new baby son he hasn’t seen yet, then you know that he is going to stop a bullet and make the hero really, really angry. Stock-characters you see, behave in predictable ways and do predictable things to show off the heroism of the major characters in a movie. Life, though, is more complicated and that is why there is a genuine ring of authenticity to the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Roman centurion. For this centurion is full of surprises !
The centurion is a role model, there are issues of ritual purity to deal with. Jews of that time considered the homes of gentiles to be unclean. If Jesus understands that he is to enter the house, then the centurion has put his guest in a position of ritual defilement. Was this the reason that he sends word to Jesus to tell him that he doesn't actually have to come to the house. While the Jewish elders had proclaimed the centurion "worthy," his friends say that he considers himself "not worthy," which is said twice.A Roman centurion was in charge of about 100 men. He had complete authority over those men and he recognises Jesus as having similar authority. For these reasons Jesus "marveled" (thaumazo) at the centurion. Quite often, thaumazo is used to express the emotions of others as they witness the mighty deeds of Jesus. Here, however, it is Jesus who marveled and was amazed and was astonished.
The Gospel story is packed with details which Luke conveys with his usual economy. If you had to write a story about a centurion you might make him a tough, regimental sergeant –major type. Perhaps you would expect him to be ruthless and demand toughness from his men. You might expect him to be fairly impatient of the religions of the country occupied by his army. William Barclay quotes the ancient writer Polybius for the qualifications looked for in centurions, “They must be not seekers after danger but men who can command, steady in action and reliable. They had to be men of integrity and courage”.
This centurion was a man full of unexpected character traits. We learn, for example, that he was on very good terms with the Jewish elders. The Jewish leaders tell Jesus, “He is worthy… for he loves our nation and he built us our synagogue.” We don’t get told how he helped: did he get permission for them to build, did he lend labourers, did he give money? We do not know, but understand that this man was interested in the One God, and was willing to assist in His worship. His sympathy is in strong contrast to the contempt with which most Roman regarded the Jews and their religion.
We are told that the centurion had heard about Jesus, so we must assume that it was of Jesus’ spectacular healings and miracles that news had spread. So when the centurion’s slave fell ill, it was to Jesus he sent. We think of slaves as menials, toiling in the kitchen or working on the land, but actually they filled all kinds of positions within Roman households, doing accounts, teaching the children, or acting as scribes. The slave may well have been a key part of the centurions’ domestic life, but more than that we are told that the centurion didn’t just find him useful, he was dear to him. So in a few words we have a very sympathetic portrait of a powerful Roman man.
What this story seems to me to be about was not only Jesus’ wonderful power to heal, which we meet in many forms in the Gospel, but about the way the man surprised Jesus with his humility. In the story the normal expectations are turned upside down. The Centurion cared about his slave enough to go to great lengths to give him a chance to live. The centurion employed the Jewish residents of Capernaum to intercede with a healer for him. That healer was not even a famous, important member of the priestly caste, someone with recognised status, but merely a young rabbi, without rabbinical family connections, from an obscure province. We might expect that the Roman would summon Jesus in a lordly fashion if he wanted Him. But no, the centurion makes it clear that he recognises Jesus as a man of great spiritual power.
Jesus must have agreed to see the slave and set off with his friends and the usual crowd of curious onlookers. Perhaps Jesus was intrigued by this unusual request from an army leader. Perhaps the disciples were nervous, for after all the Romans could turn violent and nasty if their will was crossed. But then the story took a stranger turn for Jesus was intercepted with more messengers, this time friends of the centurion. They delivered his message. Understanding the message depends on appreciating the tremendous weight placed upon hospitality in Middle Eastern cultures. The person who enters the house as a guest is deemed to honour the house with his presence – visiting a house is a gift to the owner. Jesus is addressed by the Romans, the ruling caste with great respect as “Lord”. That alone would have been shocking to the people who heard it. The centurion expresses respect for Jesus “ I am not worthy to have you come under my roof” and “I did not presume to come to you”. There must have been gasps as the people heard his words relayed by his friends to Jesus in a public street.
Then the most surprising thing of all happens. The centurion states that it is not necessary for Jesus to physically meet the slave. The roman used his own experience of power and authority to express his belief in Jesus’ spiritual power. Alongside the power that Jesus had, the centurion felt humble. Yet it was he who had many men under his command, he who had weapons and armour and the trappings of rank. Jesus had none of these visible symbols of authority, but the centurion recognised power in Jesus. We can understand why Jesus was gobsmacked by the unexpected humility of this man. The centurion for all his power, with the full weight of the Roman empire behind him, knew that only Jesus could harness God’s spiritual power to heal. Beside that power he felt humble. That is what humility really is. It is a true knowledge of what we humans are in relation to God. We may prop ourselves up with wealth, status, jobs of importance within politics, commerce or industry. But in the end we are all merely humans and we are weak, vulnerable and needy.
Humility has got a bad press as a virtue. It is seen as being grovelling and a sign of weakness. In an age which is devoted to image, self-confidence is all, and it is seen as a fatal flaw to admit dependence on anything and anyone. But the centurion was willing to humble himself. He cared so much for his slave that he was willing to plead with Jews to intercede for him with Jesus. He knew himself to be unworthy of a visit from Jesus to his home. He saw himself in relation to God and recognised his own insignificance. In the eyes of the world the centurion was important, but he knew the truth. And the truth was his salvation
Humility is a powerful thing, if it is used wisely, as a lens through which to view ourselves in relation to our creator. It is a courageous thing, because it strips away the things that we use to pad our fragile egos with: the social status, the wealth, the pride. We are then left with just our souls speaking to God in honesty and with the dignity only of being lived and valued by God. Humility is a key tool in our salvation. In recent times we sometimes admit the prayer of humble access which we say as we come to the Lord’s Supper. But we need it, or a form of words like it, to remember that we are not worthy to come to the Lord but that we are welcome. Not because we are sufficiently righteous or important, we are there because God loves us and wants to embrace us as honoured guests at his table.
Humility means handing our sense of our personal power or importance over to Him who truly has the real power. It means offering ourselves to God’s providence and being willing to wait upon His will for us. There is a kind of liberation in humility, a freedom from self which is one of the great ideals of the Christian life. Jesus said if any one will follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Jesus teaches us that self denial is the road to spiritual fulfilment. And the first step along that road to recognise in honesty who we are and how far, how very far we have to go to follow our Master. Amen
Meditation
Sometimes the characters who encounter Jesus are merely sketched in the Gospel writers. They are stick men and women who feed Jesus the right line and then disappear into obscurity of history. The centurion in today’s reading from the Gospel according to St Luke is very different. We learn a great deal about him and he leaps from the page as a very interesting character indeed. The centurion confounds our expectations about the kind of emotions we might expect from a seasoned soldier in an Army of occupation. He has made himself liked and respected by the local population; he has shown respect and sympathy for their religion; he has helped them practically in building their place of worship. He also displays a surprising love for his slave. W are told not that the slave was useful to him but that he was dear to him. The centurion was willing to beg for help from a rabbi with a reputation as a healer. In al his dealings with Jesus, the centurion shows the most remarkable humility. Although how Jesus heals is a mystery to him, as it is to us, the centurion showed unwavering belief in Jesus’ power to heal, and before that power the centurion acknowledged his own unworthiness. Jesus was astonished by the Roman soldier’s faith and respect. The centurion saw. With the clarity of the outsider, that Jesus was infused by power from God, and knew that alongside that power, earthly authority was meaningless. The centurion’s wisdom and humility secured for him the healing of a person he cared for. We need humility to recognise our own unworthiness before God, This is the first stage in our spiritual healing. Joan Crossley
Hymns
(Westminster Abbey) MP 73
1 Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and corner-stone,
Chosen of the Lord, and precious,
Binding all the church in one,
Holy Zion's help for ever,
And her confidence alone.
2 To this temple, where we call thee,
Come, O Lord of Hosts, today;
With thy wonted loving-kindness
Hear thy servants as they pray;
And thy fullest benediction
Shed within its walls alway.
3 Here vouchsafe to all thy servants
What they ask of thee to gain,
What they gain from thee for ever
With the blessèd to retain,
And hereafter in thy glory
Evermore with thee to reign.
4 Laud and honour to the Father,
Laud and honour to the Son,
Laud and honour to the Spirit,
Ever Three, and ever One,
Consubstantial, co-eternal,
While unending ages run.
We come as guests invited (Passion Chorale) MP 723. Communion Hymn
1 We come as guests invited
when Jesus bids us dine,
his friends on earth united
to share the bread and wine;
the bread of life is broken,
the wine is freely poured
for us, in solemn token
of Christ our dying Lord.
2 We eat and drink, receiving
from Christ the grace we need,
and in our hearts believing
on him by faith we feed;
with wonder and thanksgiving
for love that knows no end,
we find in Jesus living
our ever-present friend.
3 One bread is ours for sharing,
one single fruitful vine,
our fellowship declaring
renewed in bread and wine:
renewed, sustained and given
by token, sign and word,
the pledge and seal of heaven,
the love of Christ our Lord
Come he faithful, raise the anthem (Neander) MP 103 HP 813
Come ye faithful, raise the anthem,
cleave the skies with shouts of praise;
sing to him who found the ransom,
ancient of eternal days,
God of God, the Word incarnate,
whom the heaven of heaven obeys.
Ere he raised the lofty mountains,
formed the seas, or built the sky,
love eternal, free, and boundless,
moved the Lord of Life to die,
fore-ordained the Prince of princes
for the throne of Calvary.
Trust him, then, ye fearful pilgrims;
who shall pluck you from his hand?
`
pledged he stands for your salvation,
leads you to the promised land.
O that we, with all the faithful,
there around his throne may stand!
Laud and honour to the Father,
laud and honour to the Son,
laud and honour to the Spirit,
ever Three and ever One,
consubstantial, co-eternal,
while unending ages run.
All people that on earth do dwell (Old 100th) MP 20 HP 1
All people that on earth do dwell,
sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
him serve with fear, his praise forth tell,
come ye before him, and rejoice.
The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
without our aid he did us make;
we are his folk, he doth us feed,
and for his sheep he doth us take.
O enter then his gates with praise,
approach with joy his courts unto;
praise, laud, and bless his name always,
for it is seemly so to do.
For why? the Lord our God is good;
his mercy is for ever sure;
his truth at all times firmly stood,
and shall from age to age endure.
To Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
the God whom heaven and earth adore,
from men and from the angel-host
be praise and glory evermore.