Christ the King
Christ the King Sunday
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.
Your Weekly Church Notices
Scripture
Colossians 1: 11 – 20
Luke 23: 33 – 43
Praise – Be still for the presence
Prayers
Father God, for Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God, we offer you our praise and thanks. In Him we know You in Your fullness, a loving and compassionate creator, the One who reconciles us to each other, restoring that which is broken and ruptured.
Thank You Lord God, for Jesus’ message of hope, His steadfast living out of all You are; for the Spirit, which draws us into new communities of compassion and healing.
We thank You for human companionship, which builds up and restores the soul.
We thank You for people around us who show us the way of the kingdom of God.
For those who care for us when we are sick and delight us in so many ways by being just who they are. And for the random kindness of strangers which turns the ordinary into a moment of joy and meaning.
Living God, in the stillness of Your presence we know ourselves in new ways.
We see more clearly where and when we have failed to love with the love of Christ. We have compromised when we should have stood firm, and judged others by standards to which we rarely hold ourselves.
We have been quick to anger and slow to love. We have not lived as people who know the kingdom of God is among us.
Loving God, You have given us confidence to turn back to You as forgiven people,
through the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Your Son Jesus. Like prodigal children we are ready to begin again and like the loving parent in the story Jesus told, You are watching for us to return and ready to take us into Your arms. In the stillness of Your presence may we know ourselves in new ways, as loved and accepted and forgiven.
You give us of yourself, in all your fullness, and through our offering, and in this time of worship, and in our daily living, we give of ourselves fully to you Lord.
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 man formerly known as “Prince” was the quip I saw on Facebook. You will, of course, know who I’m referring to; Andrew Mountbatten Windsor formerly known as Prince Andrew. We were assured by Royal commentators that it was impossible to remove the title “Prince” as it was a birth right. But it just goes to show how much the Royal Family are trying to distance themselves from the problems Andrew is creating. Problems which have followed them for a few years now.
It is not easy being a Royal. There is always controversy, comment, opinion, scrutiny and criticism knocking at your door if you are a Royal. And if you are thinking that the Queen, Elizabeth II never courted such controversy then sadly that’s not entirely true. For some she could never be Queen Elizabeth II of Scotland because Elizabeth I was only ever Queen of England and Ireland, not Scotland.
And that’s the way it has been the world over for thousands of years. Even in ancient Israel of Old Testament times, God’s people felt that they wanted to be the same as other nations and have a King and Royal family of their own. So, they set themselves on such a path and choose for themselves a King. We might be familiar with the names of some of them like King Solomon – remembered for his Wisdom; King David – once a shepherd boy who became a just and fair leader of his people but blotted his copy with an act of adultery and then murder. But there were others, most famously King Herod who was cruel, greedy and vain. The old Jewish saying, “It is better to be a pig than Herod’s son” was coined in the aftermath of Herod executing his sons in case they might try to take his throne. Herod was insane in his jealousy.
It is hard to explain therefore, why the bible would want to portray Jesus as a King. It is not a title that paints a consistent picture of what we might expect Jesus to be like, will he be kind or cruel, honest or deceitful, above reproach or a real scoundrel, honest in his dealings or just a bit shady, wise or foolish?
Luke depicts Jesus as a King in a way that calls us to completely re-think what we understand King-ship to mean and to re-think who we believe Jesus to be. On the cross Jesus is crowned, the ring of thorns placed on his head, the pain and mockery of which is hard to bear. Yet from this place of suffering is able to offer his neighbour, a man sentenced to death as a common criminal, a place within His Kingdom. They are each suffering, they are each broken, one no different to the other, apart from hope and faith in God’s love for each and every one of us. Gone are the worldly expectations of unchallenged royal power to be replaced with the obvious “powerlessness” of Jesus on the cross, as powerless as the criminals next to him, as powerless as we all are in the face of life’s events, its twists and turns and unpredictability.
Through all the shouting voices and the baying of the crowd the only true dialogue that takes place is between Jesus and that criminal who sees in Jesus the undeserved suffering of an innocent man, and asks Jesus that he be remembered when Jesus comes as King. Jesus responds with the promise of Paradise.
The Kings of ancient Israel, and for that matter, our own Royal family, were and are flawed human beings. Jesus, God’s son, the Word made flesh, was not flawed, but he was broken and subjected to the sinfulness of the human race that is borne out of our flawed humanity. He knows injustice, he knows pain, he knows what it is to be human and has experienced it all first hand; and at our hand. He meets us in our broken condition, He embraces us in our misery.
When that day comes, and it will come, because it comes to us all, when we are asking ourselves, is there not something better than this, is this all that life is about, is it just an endless round of toil and strain, deception, broken promises and the ugliness of abuse, when we are done following those who grab at power or wealth or status we might look for someone who can find, who has found, a way through the darkness and the brokenness. We will look for someone who only seeks to lift us from our misery. We will seek a King who comes as a suffering servant.
Remember me when you come as King.
I promise you will be with me in paradise.
Praise – From Heaven you came
Prayers for Others
On this Christ the King Sunday we remember that Christ’s kingship does not shy away from the agony of the cross, the vulnerability of the incarnation, the risk and betrayal of human relationships in times of danger and threat.
Christ our King, as we prayers for others, we commit those we pray for into your hands for you know the frailties and troubles of human life.
We pray then with compassion for those who hurt and fear and cry today
because they have been let down by systems or circumstances or the ones they love. Where hearts are broken and spirits are crushed, where hope is gone and dignity has been stolen; Lord bring healing…
We pray with love for those who are lonely or in pain, and for those who care for family and friends in times of need. We acknowledge the stress of being a carer
and the sometimes-conflicting feelings of those who are cared for. Bring comfort and encouragement, dear Lord, to situations of conflict, and rest for those who bear the heaviest burdens. Lord, hear our prayers…
We pray with faith for those we love the most, and for those who have no-one to offer a prayer for them. May Your presence surround and bless them today and always. May they know they are loved and known and seen by You. May your love reach into the most distant of hearts and bring them peace. Lord, hear our prayer…
For those who grieve the loss of one they have loved, we pray especially that You will encourage them with loving memories and a confidence in Your loving purpose, which holds all souls in life. May we all take comfort from Your words,
“Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Lord, hear our prayer…
We give You thanks for the witness of those who knew and followed You as their Lord and King, and have shown to us what it means to be a follower of the Christ.
May they know of our grateful love for them, now and always. And may our witness to Christ inspire generations to come to follow their Lord and King, Jesus Christ.
AMEN
Praise – Colours of Day
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.