Welcome to our service today. We continue our series on finding peace as we walk through the roadmap out of lockdown and today Simon reflects on Romans 7:7-25.
We have a Church Meeting at 12.15pm on zoom after the online service. The link is here.
This is a chance for us to share and discuss the opening up plans, to celebrate what is already going on as well as share information about finances and discuss, pray and look ahead together to the future. All members are encouraged to attend if they can and non-members are welcome too. If you cannot get on zoom, information will be shared with you in the usual ways after the meeting.
Next Sunday:
We are joining with our Baptist Family for a streamed YouTube service from Baptist Assembly at 10.30am (note earlier time) followed by zoom communion at 12.15pm. The sermon will start at approximately 10.55am and is brought by Shane Claiborne, Christian activist and author from Philadelphia in the US - he will be very much worth listening to. The service will be available for afterwards if you are not able to join in on the morning.
We will put all the links on this blog ready for next week, along with words for communion, but for those who like to be ready in advance the Sunday service will be found here:
A Children’s Programme will be live from Thursday 13 May throughout Baptist Assembly. For children under 7 see www.baptist.org.uk/littlestream and for over 7s see www.baptist.org.uk/bigstream. If you click on the links you will find some resources you will need to participate in this fully which you might want to prepare in advance.
Coming up:
Sunday 23rd May - Online service with sermon/in person family service at 11am
Sunday 30th May - In person service at 11am replicated online. This may be outside dependant on weather.
Sunday 6th June - Online service with sermon/in person family service at 11am
Bible Study:
We will be starting a new Monday evening Bible Study series (5 weeks) on zoom at 8pm starting tomorrow, Monday 10th May. "Together for good" - Growing happiness and wellbeing in our community.
Re-opening mid week:
We open mid week from the 17th May. For more details of activities see the website here
Baptist Assembly:
Baptist Assembly Online – 13-16 May 2021
"We are very excited that, being an online event this year, Baptist Assembly 2021 can be made available to all, offering a unique opportunity to bring a large number of people together to join in worship, prayer, Bible study and consideration of current issues. The sessions will be free for anybody to join via our website – but register to join us and we’ll send you all the links you’ll need in advance. See our website for more about the weekend’s programme, including seminar topics, information about our keynote speaker Shane Claiborne, and registration. We hope you and your church family will be able to join us during the weekend"
Link to sign up www.baptist.org.uk/baptistassembly
Worship
Call to worship
As we gather to worship God, let us remember that he is a Holy God. Let us prepare our hearts as we come before a Holy and righteous God. He is Elohim (God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who separated the waters and created the earth where we live). 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.' He will be what he will be.
'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.'
(Quotations from Revelation chapter 4).
Songs for Today
Here are the songs. As usual, you may want to save the last two for before and after the sermon.
Making Good Choices
Watch Kid President talk about how to make good choices (this was filmed around the time of the 2016 US election, but in an election week, and in general life, it is as relevant as ever!)
How do you make good choices?
Jesus said 'I have come to bring life, and life in all its fulness' (John 10:10). The life of awesome choices Kid President talks about is first made awesome by making the choice to follow Jesus and to look to him in how to make good choices.
When I (Claire) was growing up, a lot of my friends used to wear WWJD bands (What Would Jesus Do?), reminding them that whenever they made a choice, it is good to ask what would Jesus do in that situation and it helps to make a good choice.
Why not have a go at making your own WWJD band today. The simplest version would be to get a strip of paper and decorate it with the letters WWJD? band and anything else you would like to include and then tape it round your wrist. You might have more creative ideas than that though! Here is a picture of my band, you can probably make a better one!
Prayer
We pray for life in all its fullness
We pray for our world
For places where there is no sign of peace
Where fullness is finding the basic necessities
Where fullness is finding help for those suffering with Covid-19
We thank you for people working for a better world
We pray for healing for this world
We pray for life in all its fullness
We pray for our community here in New Addington, in Croydon, wherever we are
That we might be a community that shines your light
Where fullness is a shared life that we could never explain
We thank you for the places and people we can trust
And pray that everyone can find a space that’s right for them
We pray for life in all its fullness
We pray for ourselves
For what we do – and what we avoid
Where life in all its fullness has been difficult to find,
We thank you for our lives and the opportunity to explore
And pray that we can all live lives that fulfil us
We pray for life in all its fullness
For our world, for our community and for ourselves
Amen
Sermon
Our Sermon today is based on Romans 7:7-25. You can read it here
Here is the prayer that was mentioned at the end of the sermon.
Blessing
Jude 1:24-25
'To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.'
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