{"id":3310,"date":"2020-05-22T16:56:31","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T06:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3310"},"modified":"2023-05-20T20:27:14","modified_gmt":"2023-05-20T10:27:14","slug":"sunday-sermon-24-05-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3310","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Sermon 24-05-2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Service Easter 7 May 24 2020 (Yr A)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Leighmoor UC<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Possible hymns<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TIS 137: For the beauty of the earth<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TIS 675: Lord, the light of your love is shining (Shine Jesus shine)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TIS 152: Joyful, joyful we adore you<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TIS 147: To God be the glory<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TIS 699: A new commandment<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TIS142: Glory be to God the Father<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TIS 755: You shall go out with joy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Prayers of Adoration and Confession<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Glory-filled God,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We come before your radiance in prayer.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Your glory brought into being all of creation,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Your glory was announced on the night of Jesus\u2019 birth,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Your glory was evident in Christ\u2019s resurrection, and ascension.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

To you be all glory.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We thank you for another day.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In a world that is far from safe-may we never take a day, or hour, for granted.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you for the gift-and glory-of life.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We thank you for the music of birdsong,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Of the tinkling of laughter as children steer past on bikes and skate boards.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, we know we have let you down,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

we have let others down,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

and we have let ourselves down.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Forgive us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Grant us a spirit of courage, of hope, of compassion.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Help us to become the people you created us to be.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

(silence)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

God is love.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Through Christ our sins are forgiven.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks be to God.<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Take hold of this forgiveness<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

and live our lives in the power of the Spirit.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Amen.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Bible Readings<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Acts 1: 6-14<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 68: 1-10, 32-35<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1 Peter 4: 12-14, 5: 6-11<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

John 17: 1-11<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sermon: Love\u2019s radiance<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

(John 17: 1-11)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In the story, The Whisper Test<\/i>, Mary Ann Bird writes:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I grew up knowing I was different, and I hated it.\u00a0 <\/span>I was born with a cleft palate, and when I started school, my classmates made it clear to me how I looked to others: a little girl with a misshapen lip, crooked nose, lopsided teeth, and garbled speech.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When schoolmates asked \u201cWhat happened to your lip?\u201d I\u2019d tell them I\u2019d fallen and cut it on a piece of glass.\u00a0 <\/span>Somehow it seemed more acceptable to have suffered an accident than to have been born different.\u00a0 <\/span>I was convinced that no one outside my family could love me.\u2019 There was, however, a teacher in the second grade whom we all adored- Mrs Leonard.\u00a0 <\/span>She was short, round, happy- a sparkling lady.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Annually we had a hearing test.\u00a0 <\/span>Mrs Leonard gave the test to everyone in the class, and finally it was my turn.\u00a0 <\/span>I knew from past years that as we stood against the door and covered one ear, the teacher sitting at her desk would whisper something, and we would have to repeat it back-like \u2018The sky is blue\u2019 or \u201cDo you have new shoes?\u2019 I waited there for those words that God must have put into her mouth, those seven words that changed my life.\u00a0 <\/span>Mrs Leonard said, in her whisper, \u201cI wish you were my little girl.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

-I wish you were my little girl.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In John 17, Jesus said, \u201cI glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.\u00a0 <\/span>So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier, in John 13, Jesus, speaking about glory, said: \u201cNow the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.\u00a0 <\/span>By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s glory shines whenever we do loving things.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

-or God\u2019s glory is revealed in acts of love.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

(repeat)\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Glory and love are soul mates.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Glory.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We speak, indeed sing, of God\u2019s glory, or \u2018glory to God.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But what is it?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What does the word \u2019glory\u2019 really mean?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

And what are we trying to get across when we give glory to God?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Oxford Dictionary to glorify-means to make glorious, invest with radiance, and with dignity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s part of what we \u2018do\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n