Prepared by Joanne Mead

SUNDAY SERVICE – 11th October 2026

Greetings to all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God calls us to come to Jesus, he calls us to come as we are.  There’s no exclusion criteria.  So, come.  Worship the Lord with gladness and joy.

Singing the Faith 479         Youtube: The King of Love my Shepherd is

The King of love my Shepherd is,

  Whose goodness faileth never;

I nothing lack if I am His,

  And He is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow

 My ransomed soul He leadeth,

And, where the verdant pastures grow,

 With food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,

 But yet in love He sought me,

And on His shoulder gently laid,

 And home rejoicing brought me.

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill

 With Thee, dear Lord, beside me;

Thy rod and staff my comfort still,

 Thy Cross before to guide me.

Thou spread’st a table in my sight;

 Thy unction grace bestoweth;

And oh, what transport of delight

 From Thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days

 Thy goodness faileth never;

Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise

 Within Thy house forever.

Prayer of praise and adoration
Loving and all-powerful God, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Shepherd and our friend – we praise your Holy Name.  You who threw the stars into space, who created the vast oceans and every living thing.  Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, all-knowing and ever-present.  You who walks alongside us through our life journey, through the joys and the sorrows – through the green pastures and the dark valleys, encouraging us to put our trust in you.  You know our joys and our fears, our highs and our lows.  Open our hearts to the message you have for us, in Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen

A Prayer of Confession

Merciful God, in humility we confess that we have not always loved you with our whole heart, nor loved our neighbours as ourselves. We have spoken without kindness, acted selfishly and failed to do the good you call us to do. We allow ourselves to be overcome with fear, despite your reassurance that you will never leave us nor forsake us.  Forgive us, renew us by your grace, and help us to follow the way of Jesus with faithful and generous hearts. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Reading: Philippians 4:1-9

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Final Exhortations

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Reflection

How often do we find ourselves facing a really difficult situation?  We are encouraged to take our problems to the Lord in prayer and things will feel better, are we not?  Often we do pray, sometimes out of discipline, sometimes it’s a desperate cry for help.  Sometimes we’re not sure whether God will listen, whether the answer will come.  Even people who aren’t regular church goers will ask us to pray for them – almost as an additional insurance policy.  It’s quite a difficult act of faith.

It’s something we will all struggle with at some point in our life.  Whatever the nature of our trouble, we pray to a God we cannot see, and we must trust God for the right outcome.  Sometimes in our lives, we have the good fortune to get that real sense of God’s presence alongside us, sometimes we will encounter a situation when we do get that assurance and it’s something truly amazing.  It boosts our morale and strengthens our faith.  Is it always like that?

Paul knew real hardship.  Once a high-ranking Pharisee, he now finds himself a prisoner shackled between two prison guards.  He’s been beaten, mocked, threatened with death and all for the privilege of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  Yet, despite all of that, Paul encourages the Philippian Christians to rejoice in the Lord always.  To let their gentleness be evident to all.  He seems unshakable.

Paul offers that reassurance that the Lord is always near, that neither the Philippian Christians, nor we, should be anxious about anything. Wow!  Have you ever told someone not to worry?  What sort of response did you get?  Sometimes it’s not well received despite our good intentions.  What can make a difference?

The most powerful thing we can share with someone to help them find the faith to trust is often our own experiences.  The everyday situations when we have prayed and those prayers have been answered.  Those accounts can be really helpful to those we encounter on our journey through life.  So I’m going to share one of mine with you today.

What do we pray for?  Often it’s for healing, for more resources, for a better outcome.  A better outcome in our opinion, that is.  Sometimes the most profound answers to prayer come when we leave the outcome to God.  I prayed for many years that my disabled Mum would be spared the pain and suffering and be restored to good health.  The spiral of suffering continued, but when I prayed that God would use the challenging days that I’d faced to help others, that prayer was answered.  I have helped so many people over the last two decades.

At that point in life, I learned a tough lesson – a lesson in not telling God what to do.  Maybe that is what Paul had learned – there would be no miraculous release from the situation in which he found himself, but even in his captivity, his faithful discipleship impacted those charged with guarding him and many who were shackled to Paul came to faith.  Paul’s passion for the Gospel was unquenchable.

God is bigger than our biggest problems, our worst health issues, our deepest financial crisis.  Our new beginning isn’t when the problem goes away, but when we turn to God and invite him to take the helm, to be our shepherd, our Saviour and our Guide.  Nothing could dampen Paul’s passion for the Gospel – not even the chains of captivity.  His prayers for the churches, for the people serving faithfully were passionate and God listened.  Paul’s prayers were prayers for others, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to defeat sin.  He wanted to visit Rome, but in the end Paul has to accept the fate God has for him.

Today we face many uncertainties.  Even as a church, we face uncertainties as resources become more limited and the doomsayers predict the demise of our Methodist Church in the not-so-dim distant future.  What are God’s plans for us?  Is the answer to those prayers for renewal, more children, younger hands to take the helm a bit like my prayers for my Mum to be made well again.  Seemingly no answers, or very modest ones.  Maybe when we turn the prayer around and ask God to use us for his mission, to change us and direct us as he sees fit, our prayers will yield a different outcome?  We need to replace stagnation with transformation.

As we read in last week’s reading from Philippians, Paul counted all he’s had in the past as loss and regarded his relationship with Christ worth more than anything this world has to be offer.  That was Paul’s conviction – to live is Christ, to die is gain and it was that resolute faith he seeks to encourage amongst the Christians in the Philippian Church, and in us today as modern readers of his letters.  It’ s not so much the Church’s mission to use God, but God’s mission to use the us for his purposes, both individually and corporately.

We sing/recite the 23rd Psalm at various milestones in our lives, but do we mean it?  Do we really have that conviction in our heart that the Psalmist talks about in his writing?  It’s time to put God at the helm and give him complete direction of our lives.  The King of Love my Shepherd is.  His goodness faileth never.  I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine forever.  Amen.

Prayers of Intercession – you may wish to hold a cross or a Bible as you pray

Loving God, we look out on a world being torn apart by greed, by hatred, by war.  Sometimes our world feels out of control, with leaders who put their own power before the needs of everyone else.  Our natural world is struggling with the ruthless exploitation of the resources you provided.  We seem powerless to stem the tide of devastation.  We pray for those who seek real peace, real justice, real hope, not through selfish ambition, but humble service to you.  We pray that love will conquer hatred, peace will conquer war and the hope that comes from you will conquer all despair.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord we pray for your church, here and throughout the world.  Help us not to focus on our mission, but to be a part of your mission.  Ignite a passion for the Gospel that you can use to grow your Kingdom, so that we like Paul may realise what it really means to belong to you.  Reignite our mission, not as a church-centred project, but driven wholly by you, so that many more will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

In a time of silence, we remember those who are on our hearts today. [Time for your own personal prayers.]

Lord, hear our prayers for we ask them in Jesus’ name.  Amen

And we share in the prayer Jesus taught us…..Our Father who art in heaven…..

Closing hymn StF 531: What a friend we have in Jesus

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
And what a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer

Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer

Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer

Blessing

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. Amen