SUNDAY WORSHIP AND SERMON

HYMN: O GOD OUR HELP IN AGES PAST

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

Let us pray. O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 121

I lift my eyes up to the hills
from where is my help to come?
My help comes from the Lord
the maker of heaven and earth
He will not let your heart be moved
and he who watches over you will never sleep
The Lord himself watches over you;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand
The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
it is he who shall keep you safe.
The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in,
from this time forth forevermore.

A Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Therefore from one person ... descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’ (11-1, 8-10, 12)

A Reflection The Reverend William J. Eakins

We have just returned from an adventure that took us to a strange and wonderful land that many of us had never seen before. We followed in the footsteps of intrepid explorers like Amundsen and Scott who risked their lives to trek the frozen landscape of Antarctica to be the first to set foot on the South Pole. And on our journeying to and from the Seventh Continent we have sailed across the Drake Passage, the famously turbulent waters between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. These waters recall the pioneering circumnavigations of Magellan and Drake, waters dared by whalers on their way to and from hunting expeditions and by clipper ships carrying the fortune hunters of the California Gold Rush.

What motivated those intrepid adventurers of old? Why didn’t they just stay home enjoying the safety and security of the places they were born? What has motivated us to undertake our journey? Why were we not content to stay home? Staying home might have been safer than going on an expedition, albeit a luxury expedition to the Antarctic. And yet we went anyway. Why?

Perhaps it was because we, like other adventurers before us, trusted that the risks of leaving home, the familiar and the known, are surpassed by the joys and satisfactions of discovering and exploring new and different places. Furthermore, we trust that although our travels might occasionally cause us some discomfort, it is a price worth paying and that in the end we are going to be safe and we are going to be happy we made the journey.

I suggest that the way we think about travel says a great deal about our attitude toward life. We can regard life as an intriguing adventure that will lead us into the discovery of new and uncharted territory or we can regard life’s unknowns and uncertainties as a fearsome threat.

If we see life as full of threats, we will want to play it safe, look out for Number One and protect ourselves as much as possible from life’s risks and dangers. What makes the difference between seeing life as a threat and seeing life as an adventure is faith. Self-confidence and self-reliance are important; they can only take us so far; they may not stand up to the disappointments and disasters that will come our way. Faith, enduring faith, is putting our trust not in ourselves but in God.

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” says the Scripture text we have heard just now. God promised our spiritual ancestor Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. Believing that promise, Abraham set out from his homeland and began a journey into the unknown not knowing where God would lead him.

We who are Abraham’s spiritual heirs have also received God’s promise, the Gospel promise that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. The outstretched arms of Christ on the cross speak to us of the breadth and depth of God’s love, and the empty tomb of Easter assures us that God’s love cannot be defeated. That Good News is our anchor in the storms of life and gives us the courage and strength to see life as an exciting adventure into the future God has in store for us. Who knows what might lie ahead?

Faith in God’s promises has inspired believers
to stand up to tyrants
to speak truth to power
to challenge old preconceptions of race, gender, right and wrong
to reform governments and systems of justice
to undertake ministries to feed the poor and care for outcasts
to establish missions, schools, colleges, and universities
to deal with addiction and depression
to cope bravely with debilitating illness
to trust that there is life after divorce
to find solace at the deathbeds of loved ones
to give sacrificially to make the world a better place.

So I leave you with a prayer that has been attributed to Sir Francis Drake after whom the sea we have recently crossed is named:

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little,
when we have arrived safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas
where storms will show us your mastery,
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

To that prayer of faith, let us say. Amen.

Solo: Calon Lan Rhiannon Herridge

Nid wy'n gofyn bywyd moethus,
Aur y byd na'i berlau mân:
Gofyn wyf am galon hapus,
Calon onest, calon lân.
Calon lân yn llawn daioni,
Tecach yw na'r lili dlos:
Dim ond calon lân all ganu
Canu'r dydd a chanu'r nos.
Pe dymunwn olud bydol,
Hedyn buan ganddo sydd;
Golud calon lân, rinweddol,
Yn dwyn bythol elw fydd.
(Chorus)
Hwyr a bore fy nymuniad
Gwyd i'r nef ar adain cân
Ar i Dduw, er mwyn fy Ngheidwad,
Roddi i mi galon lân.
(Chorus)

I seek not life's ease and pleasures,
Earthly riches, pearls nor gold;
Give to me a heart made happy,
Clean and honest to unfold.
A clean heart o'erflow'd with goodness,
Fairer than the lily white;
A clean heart forever singing,
Singing through the day and night.
If I cherish earthly treasures,
Swift they flee and all is vain;
A clean heart enriched with virtues,
Brings to me eternal gain.
(Chorus)
Morn and evening my petition,
Wings its flight to heaven in song;
In the name of my Redeemer,
Make my heart clean, pure and strong.
(Chorus)

The Prayers

Let us lift our prayers for ourselves, for those we love, and for the world about us to God, the maker of heaven and earth.

For the leaders of every nation, that they may seek the wisdom that comes from you.
Lord, hear our prayer.

For this fragile planet, our island home, that we may treasure its beauty and preserve its resources for generations to come.
Lord, hear our prayer.

For courage and hope to meet life’s challenges.
Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who are sick in body and in spirit and those we now name ..... Heal and sustain them.
Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who have died and those who mourn ..... Hold them in your loving care.
Lord, hear our prayer.
O Lord our God, accept the fervent prayers of your people; look with compassion upon us and all who turn to you for help; for you are gracious, O lover of souls, and to you we give glory, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

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 trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil
For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen.

The Blessing

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all
evermore. Amen.

HYMN: THE LORD MY GOD MY SHEPHERD IS