26/05/2019: A New Beginning

CALL TO WORSHIP:            Psalm 148:1-5,7-13

Praise the Lord!

1 Praise the Lord from heaven!
Praise God on the heights!
2 Praise God, all of you who are his messengers!
Praise God, all of you who comprise his heavenly forces!
3 Sun and moon, praise God!
All of you bright stars, praise God!
4 You highest heaven, praise God!
Do the same, you waters that are above the sky!
5 Let all of these praise the Lord’s name
because God gave the command and they were created!

 

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all you ocean depths!
8 Do the same, fire and hail, snow and smoke,
stormy wind that does what God says!
9 Do the same, you mountains, every single hill,
fruit trees, and every single cedar!
10 Do the same, you animals—wild or tame—
you creatures that creep along and you birds that fly!
11 Do the same, you kings of the earth and every single person,
you princes and every single ruler on earth!
12 Do the same, you young men—young women too!—
you who are old together with you who are young!

13 Let all of these praise the Lord’s name
because only God’s name is high over all.
Only God’s majesty is over earth and heaven.

Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

New Testament Reading:             Romans 1:1-7

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

    • Another reading to look at: Acts 11:1-18.

Aldersgate Sunday – and the celebration this week:

    • Faith is a work of God in us, which … makes us completely different people in heart, mind, senses and all our powers…”

[Martin Luther’s Preface to the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (1552)]”

    • “…But Aldersgate is not just about the past, or just about John Wesley. His experience, so memorably and vividly expressed in his journal, demonstrates the difference it makes knowing God for ourselves. When one least expects it, even when things haven’t turned out the way we hoped or when we feel we’ve heard it all before, there can be change. Change happens when we share the story. Wesley experienced this when someone else read to him Martin Luther’s Preface to Romans. Just as John Wesley felt his heart ‘strangely warmed’, we too can be refreshed and inspired by sharing our faith stories with each other.

[https://www.methodist.org.uk/media/4339/2850_aldersgate_feast_of_faith_material_-

_why_aldersgate.pdf]

Question:

What story can you tell?

God bless this week.

Rev.Tim