with Revd. David Burrow
Jesus, our King - Video Service
View directly in youtube here.
Part 1
Hymns & Songs:
MP 109 'Crown him with many crowns'
neither version stick to the words in Mission Praise – so just go with it!
MP 41 'At the name of Jesus'
Or here is an alternative if you simply want to become engrossed in worship...
'At The Name of Jesus' - Amber Trent | Christ For The Nations Worship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu6yqBmuVT4
Part 2
Hymns & Songs:
MP 457 'Make way, make way, for Christ the king' – Graham Kendrick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alCQ7fb0hEA
Part 3
Hymns & Songs:
MP 162 'From heaven you came'
'When I needed a neighbour, were you there, were you there?' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fExR7eOhJO0
Part 4
Hymns & Songs:
MP 932 'Standing on the promises of Christ my King'
MP 393 'Joy to the world'
Or for a BIG production -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDmIddF7DfQ enjoy the fake snow
Transcript
*Not always exact to the words of the videos
Sunday the 22nd of November is the day we celebrate Jesus Christ as King. The Church’s year begins on Advent Sunday as we begin to look forward to the coming of Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem and, having travelled through Lent, Holy Week, the resurrection, the Ascension and Pentecost, everything comes to a climax this Sunday as we celebrate the truth that one day Jesus, having returned to claim his people will reign not just in heaven, or on earth but over the whole of creation.
In his book, ‘Equipping the Saints’, John Wimber, a famous church leader from the United States, wrote,
‘We should always come to worship prepared for an audience with the King. And we should expect the Spirit of God to work among us.’
To worship the King means to get up close and personal.
God is present. God inhabits the praise of His people and when we praise God all heaven can break out in our lives.
Are you ready for an audience with the King?
Prayer:
As we draw together in worship, let us remember that we are in the presence of a King, not a king for whom we have to dress up and grovel to, but a King who loves us. Come Holy Spirit; come, enter this space, enter our hearts and minds and draw us into the presence of our King, the King of kings. Amen
Psalm 95:1-3
O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Jesus, the Lamb upon the throne is the King of creation.
Hymns & Songs:
MP 109 'Crown him with many crowns'
neither version stick to the words in Mission Praise – so just go with it!
MP 41 'At the name of Jesus'
Or here is an alternative if you simply want to become engrossed in worship...
'At The Name of Jesus' - Amber Trent | Christ For The Nations Worship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu6yqBmuVT4
Photo by OC Gonzalez via Unsplash
Prayers:
In our humility, we come to the one God, in whose image we are made.
In our humanity, we come to the one God who became human.
In our hope for the future, we come to the one God who can forgive us.
In our weakness, we come to the one God who gives strength by his Spirit.
In our togetherness, we come to the one God who is the perfect communion of three persons in one.
In our honesty we confess our need for forgiveness.
Stillness
Create a clean heart within me, O God, so that it may become your chosen shelter and the resting place of your Holy Spirit.
I hold the Cross of Christ before me, before and within my heart, and I pray to you, the living God of the universe, may the light of lights come into the darkness in my heart so that I may live in the power of Your love.
Lord I come to you. Let my heart be changed, renewed, flowing from the grace that I’ve found in you.
Unveil my eyes, let me see you face to face; and know your love as you live and reign in me.
Lord, renew my mind as your will unfolds in my life, living every day in the power of your love. Hold me close, draw me to your side, be my King as your Spirit leads me and your love enfolds me.
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymns & Songs:
MP 457 'Make way, make way, for Christ the king' – Graham Kendrick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alCQ7fb0hEA
In our reading from Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is speaking to his disciples on the Mount of Olives two days before his final Passover meal: this passage comes at the end of a group of Jesus’ sayings concerned exclusively with the coming of God’s Messiah in judgement. Jesus had told his disciples that the Temple was going to be destroyed. When Matthew wrote his Gospel, the Romans had destroyed it, so Matthew was already looking ahead to other prophecies of Jesus being fulfilled and Jesus returning in glory with all his angels.
Read Matthew 25:31-46 ‘Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me’.
When you hear the word ‘king’, what kind of picture comes to mind? Is it a worldly king like Henry VIII who happily abused his power for his own ends? He had the power of life and death over people, and he used it. How does all this fit with Jesus, whom we celebrate today as King? Many of our images of kings are decidedly unhelpful when we consider Jesus’ kingship. Jesus often spoke of servanthood and he showed this by washing the feet of his friends. He served all who were, ‘the least of these’. Jesus was a king who cared about the poor, who recognised their need and was on their side against those who abused and exploited them.
Jesus was a King who knew the reality of being a refugee, of hunger and thirst, of being abused and threatened with death. In the last week of his life he suffered the symptoms of extreme stress in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was taken a prisoner and ultimately, he hung naked on the cross.
Jesus was a man who was acquainted with sorrow and knew the pain and suffering of the life of the poor in 1st century Israel. Is this a picture of a King?
Jesus told his followers that when they looked at the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner they were looking at him, their King. When we look at the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner do we see Jesus? Do we recognise our King who tells us:
“What you do for the least of these, you do for me.”
When my Mum and Dad met the Queen, they received a letter with lots of rules about what to say and what to do. There are rules as to how you approach royalty. Thankfully, it’s changed over the years. You don’t get thrown in the Tower of London if you get it wrong, or your head removed from your shoulders with an axe if you accidentally, or even on purpose, insult our royal family, although you might still in some countries. But how do you approach a King who identifies with the poor and the outcaste? Our approach, says Jesus, is seen in how we treat, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner.
Jesus is very interested in our motivation: Do we look to help the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner out of a sense of duty because we expect a reward? Or do we look to help because in them we see Jesus? Is our real motivation love? Love for others because Jesus loves us.
Duty for reward OR love for love?
Our King is the one who comes to us in the very least of people and how we treat them shows what we think of Jesus! “What you do for the least of these, you do for me.”
Now, enter the Judge in Matthew’s picture of the final judgement with all the nations gathered before him. All of whom are to be judged on their response to those in need.
How do you feel about this picture? In fact, how do you feel about judgement and judges? And I’m not talking about Strictly Come Dancing or Bake-Off judges. I guess how you feel depends on your experience. If you have ever been accused of a crime you didn’t commit and were judged innocent you praised the judge. If it was the other way round you would demand justice.
Judging is never easy. How do we know what people are thinking or what their motivation is?
When Jesus says he will divide people like a shepherd separated the sheep and goats it’s scary stuff if you end up with the goats. But thank God for Jesus’ warning.
Always look to see where Jesus, the King of kings is going to be. He will be with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner.
Remember too, who our judge is. He is our shepherd who knows his sheep and although we might have problems telling the sheep from the goats, Jesus doesn’t. He is the Judge who humbled himself, left the glory of heaven and came to earth to serve humanity. Our Judge loves us, he is the judge who died for us and everyone who believes in him will not perish but will, like Jesus rise to everlasting life.
The Day of Judgement is not to be feared for those who not only recognise Jesus as King but who also recognise him in the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner and act to ease their suffering.
Today’s gospel reading is all about action. Not, ‘what books did you read about the poor?’, or ‘which statistics did you look up about the number of people in prison or hospital?’, but what did you do? Wherever you are in society, your life matters. And those who are the most abused and overlooked, their lives matter the most. For any of us who find ourselves in a privileged position, how we treat those with less privilege than us is the defining feature of our lives and our discipleship. Jesus, our King, clearly says, ‘Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me’.
Photo by Hugo Fergusson via Unsplash
Hymns & Songs:
MP 162 'From heaven you came'
'When I needed a neighbour, were you there, were you there?' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fExR7eOhJO0
Prayers of Intercession: with thanks to the Vine at Home which is compiled and produced by Twelvebaskets copyright © Twelvebaskets 2020
During our prayers of intercession we will hear a very short reflection, and then pause.
Please offer your own prayers, thoughts and reflections to God during the pauses.
If it’s helpful, you might like to get a notebook and pen or pencil to write or draw your ideas and thoughts as you pray.
Or you might simply like to close your eyes to avoid distractions.
Let us pray.
Christ our King, enthroned on the cross, bearing insults and torments, by your pain and your story, may true peace reign.
[Pause]
Bless and guide your body, the Church, that we may exalt you and share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
[Pause]
Christ our King, you endured the scoffing of leaders and ridicule from bystanders.
Rescue us from the grip of darkness and cynical abuses of power. Strengthen all who strive for justice and peace.
[Pause]
Christ our King, still our hearts to know your presence and share your peace. Bring us to declare that you are our righteousness.
[Pause]
Christ our King, in lonely agony you bore the pains of the world. Be with all who are desolate and afflicted, whose world is shaken. Be a present help, O Lord, in times of trouble and give courage and strength to all who live in fear.
[Pause]
We bring these, and all our prayers, in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Please add your own prayers for the world, the Church, our nation and community and your family and friends (and yourself!). Praying for Jesus to reign as King in each of these areas and in people’s lives would be a good prayer to offer.
Photo by Johannes Plenio via Unsplash
Blessing:
May the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you and give you peace.
Amen
Hymns & Songs:
MP 932 'Standing on the promises of Christ my King'
No lyrics but watch that pianist go!
MP 393 'Joy to the world'
Or for a BIG production -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDmIddF7DfQ enjoy the fake snow
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