Sunday 7 April 2024
Second Sunday of Easter
Welcome!
We know not everyone who is part of Westwood Church is able to be in church on Sunday morning however, we thought it would be good to offer some excerpts from the Sunday morning service. Where we can, we offer parts of the service in text and audio, whichever works best for you. If you want to plug in headphones to your computer, tablet or mobile phone now is a good time to do it ! If you want to offer some comment or feedback just use the comment box at the end of this post.
Scripture
John 20: 19 – 31
Acts 4: 32 – 35
Praise – Now the green blade
Prayers
In your presence Lord Jesus, let us gather with hearts united, held together in the bonds of faith and by spirit of unity. The early believers were of one heart and mind, sharing all they had, creating a community built on love.
As we enter this sacred space, let us embrace the spirit of generosity and love, just as the early Christians did in Jerusalem. May our worship be a reflection of this fellowship and unity – where no one claimed private ownership, but all things were held in common.
In this sacred moment, let us open our hearts to the movement of the Holy Spirit,
who changes us, little by little, in the image of Christ, and holds us together in love. We come, not as individuals alone, but as a community, where the needs of one are met by the abundance of another.
Gracious and merciful God, we come before You with humble hearts, acknowledging the doubts that linger within us and the moments when our faith wavers. In the stillness of your house, we confess our shortcomings and seek Your forgiveness.
Like the disciples in the locked room, we sometimes find ourselves paralysed by fear – fear of the unknown, fear of inadequacy, and fear of the challenges that lie ahead. We confess that there are times when we demand tangible evidence, seeking assurance in what we can see and touch rather than trusting in the unseen reality of Your love and grace.
Lord, forgive us for the times we have struggled to fully trust in Your resurrection power. Forgive us for the moments when we’ve allowed doubt
to overshadow the profound truth of Your victory over death.
Let us worship in unity, offering our hearts, minds, bodies, souls, and possessions, knowing that in our shared devotion we encounter the presence of the risen Christ. May our offering be a testimony to the boundless hope, joy, grace and faith that unites us. One body, one family, gathered in love.
Hear us as we join in the words of the Lord’s Prayer saying…
Our Father who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.
Address
The Believers share their possessions.
Like every parent I taught my kids that they had to learn how to share; sharing is an important part of being in society, being human, living alongside our neighbours and, if the kids could learn how to share it might stop the awful bickering and squabbling that totally does your head in !!!
There is not one of us here who does not understand the importance of sharing, so when we read, in Acts Chp 4, of the believers sharing their possessions, we immediately and inevitably feel this is a good thing, a positive thing, the right thing for them to do. What we read in Chp 4 is almost a repeat of what we read at the close of Chp 2 – the believers sharing their belongings, selling their property and possessions to distribute the funds according to the needs of each person.
This deepening sense of fellowship the believers are enjoying seems to have developed remarkably quickly. This insight we have of being in Christian community comes in the aftermath of Pentecost – that’s just seven weeks on from Easter and the Resurrection events. That said, some of the time line between Pentecost and the passage in Chp 4, which Mark read for us today can be a little vague.
The believers have been meeting in the Temple, they worship together in the Temple and eat together in each other’s homes. They enjoyed the goodwill of all the people. I’m assuming there was something very attractive about the nature of their fellowship and care for each other as each day the Lord added to their number. Being part of this fellowship meant that you were going to be cared for and supported. And I suppose that the other side of that coin is that the selling of property and possessions was a clear sign of commitment to a message and a cause. So, Joseph, known as Barnabas, is highlighted for his generosity and commitment selling a field he owned, while Ananias and Sapphira are highlighted for their dishonesty and failing in their commitment.
We often, very often, emphasise that Jesus exercised his ministry to the poor and outcast of society – people who have nothing. Yet, in these early days of the Christian faith it is not the poor who are the focus. People who have property and land to sell are people who are relatively well off, the middle classes and upper classes of society. It was no accident that Peter preached in the Temple because that was the place where they could focus on those who had the financial means to sustain the life of this new and growing Christian community. I am in no way doubting that the Apostles absolutely believed the message of the Good News but they were also shrewd enough to have a plan, or the common sense to know, that they needed people with the means through which to continue Christ’s ministry. The community of faith that grew up after the resurrection, because of the resurrection, had to find a way of shaping itself and surviving and it did that in the best way it knew how. Indeed, it was not unfamiliar to them.
Jesus was an itinerant preacher, he travelled from town to town, village to village with his group of disciples. Judas Iscariot was in charge of the communal purse. Jesus and his disciples fed and sustained themselves on the donations they received from those they had helped and from the women, some of whom were wealthy merchants in their own right, who believed in Jesus message. Would Jesus have been able to carry out his ministry at all had it not been for those of means who supported him and his disciples?
In a time, as we are now in, where the Church of Scotland (and other churches) is aware that we need to find the means and model and pattern for sustaining its Christian ministry we naturally return to the roots of the Christian faith which we read of in the scriptures. And I think when we do that something becomes apparent.
It is very clear in the New Testament, before and after the Resurrection, that those of means who sold their possessions, their homes or land did so, so that the Gospel of Good News could be preached and the presence of the living God experienced through miracles and wonders and healings. The Gospel was the only thing that mattered.
And this then is the tough question. When we do our fundraising or put our offering in the plate or let the bank take care of our standing order, what is it that you think you are supporting? Is it the preaching of the Good News and an experience of the Living God, or are we just keeping our doors open? Is the focus on us or on the work of the Gospel?
Praise – Longing for light
Prayers for Others
Gaza Aid Convoy – World Central Kitchen
Just when we think things can’t get any worse – they do. Seven aid workers die in an Israeli attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy taking aid to starving Palestinians. What Israel describes as a grave mistake is described by the WCK founder as a targeted attack. And the outcome is that shipment of aid is suspended. Palestinians continue to starve; punished for simply being Palestinians. Of course, we remember the millions in Gaza who are at the mercy of Israel forces and Israeli decisions but we also remember the families of grieving aid workers who have lost their lives – experienced aid workers, experienced in the military who know the protocols, who know the importance of communication, who didn’t get this wrong. Aid workers who were doing the right thing in the right way at the right time in the right place and yet…
Lord hear us in our prayers for grieving families, for starving Palestinians, for Israeli Forces and leadership and the increasingly questionable decisions being made. Hear our prayers…
Taiwan – earthquake
From man-made humanitarian disaster to natural disaster – we remember those who strive to make sense of their situation in the aftermath of a significant earthquake in Taiwan. Hundreds have been trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings; some have lost their lives. It is in these most challenging of times that community is so important, the desire to see another person’s need and offer what we have, to care and listen, to love and offer compassion and build a place from which life can start over again. We pray Lord that communities local, national and international may find it within themselves to support and sustain those in greatest need. Lord hear our prayers…
Scotland – Assisted Dying Bill
Father in Heaven, who gave us the gift of life, who has shown us that death is the gateway to a new life, we face once again the question that we never seem to be able to answer; the right to end one’s own life. We can see that unnecessary suffering may be spared, we can see the dangers it opens up to those who are vulnerable, and we can see how challenging it is to get the balance right – and we won’t always get it right because life is complicated and the decisions are complex. When we don’t know the right way to go, we look to you for guidance. Where do love and compassion, pain and suffering meet and how do we resolve the dichotomy they create for us? Lord hear us in our prayers…
Praise – How often we like Thomas
The Grace
And now… May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, now and for evermore. AMEN.
A very good service lots to think about in Gazza and the Twain earthquake.