Call to Worship
You are our God, we come earnestly seeking you.
Our souls thirst for you, with our whole being we long for you.
We come that we might gaze on you, that we might behold your power.
Your loving kindness is better than life itself, our lips shall give you praise.
We will bless you, O God, as long as we live, we will lift up our hands in praise to your name.
Let us worship God, let us sing praise to his name.
A prayer of confession
Life-giving, forgiving God, your Son Jesus challenged people to repent and turn again to follow you.
That challenge, O God, is still relevant for us and for all people.
So at this time we stand before you to confess again our need of your forgiveness and your renewing power in our lives.
Be reassured that to all who truly repent God says: ‘Your sins are forgiven, I will remember them no more.’
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Please read Luke 13.1-9
In Jesus’ time, it was widely believed that sickness and hardship was God’s punishment for sin. Jesus often tried to put the record straight by challenging that view (eg John 9.1-3) but here he uses it to show that God will punish sinners if they fall away from his righteousness.
Jesus is using these calamities as ‘signs of the time’, so he insists that those who died through torture (Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices) were no worse than others, even those who had died a natural death. If the guilty can come to such a grizzly end, so can anyone else. God will judge us all and those who have been unfaithful and do not repent will die the death of the guilty with no chance of eternal resurrection.
None of us know when we will die; so now is the time to prepare yourself for God’s judgement! And our time is short!
In the parable that follows (verses 6-9) we are told that a fruitless tree will be cut down. Judgement is inevitable. The gardener may plead for a little more time. But the time is short. The tree must produce some fruit and quickly. Is the tree to be seen as Judaism or any of the other competing religions of the time? Any punishment inflicted on Israel should serve as a warning of what can happen even to followers of Christ.
A prayer of adoration
At the beginning of a new day, O God, we see your renewing power.
In the growth of the spring flowers, O God, we see your constant provision
for us and all your creation.
In the continuing journey of your Son to Jerusalem and the cross for us, we see the depth and breadth of your love for us, we adore you.
For the presence of your Holy Spirit with us, prodding us to change.
For that same Spirit revealing to us and leading us in your ways of truth and justice, we adore you.
We adore you with our whole being.
Amen.
Concluding Prayer
Dear God,
We thank you for being with us, for the people who support us and help us.
Give us feet that are willing to walk on your path and help us to see the good inside others rather than making quick decisions about them.
Let your love grow in us and help us to pass this love to others.
Amen.
All Over the World the Spirit is Moving www.youtube.com/watch?v=q76GXwxCHJQ
Lord, cleanse me of my sins www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3SvIokyJIg
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT4n1hGjDDg
O for a closer walk with God www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP_KjpYAyZo
