Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish. Our Church Services today are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'. If you're unable to be with us in person, you can find resouces below for worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Be Still for the Presence of the Lord"
Today's Gospel
John 17: 1-11Jesus Prays for His Disciples
Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”
Reflection
A really powerful passage today where Jesus prays for the Father, His disciples and followers and also Himself. It is sometimes known as “The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus Christ” It is in essence divine conversation between Jesus and The Father on the eve of His death on the cross.
The prayer is a passionate example of the love Jesus has for his followers and His desire for unity of believers, both at that time and also and after He has gone. It is a prayer for lasting unity among His followers. As believers ourselves, this prayer can give us confidence that though Jesus and the Father we are watched over as we continue to proclaim His gospel message. We can continue to feel the power of Jesus and His presence in our daily lives.
In this divine petition, Jesus starts by recognising the divine authority of the Father and glorifying Him before praying for His own glorification as His time draws ever nearer. Not only is He looking at His death and resurrection, but also He is looking to His Ascension and asking God to reinstate His former glory at the right hand of the Father.
When He prays for His disciples, He is calling upon God to sanctify them and protect them from the devil. But He doesn’t stop there, for He goes on to ask the Father to embrace all believers, that we too may be one with the Father and Jesus. He is assuring us that if we love Him, believe in Him and are true to Him, then we can be one with Him.
In this way, Jesus is praying for unity that can come not only through a deep love for Jesus but also for one another. That we should love one another as He loved us. That will, at some stage, probably involve us making some sacrifices along the way. There will be times when we have to give up our personal wants and desires for the benefits of others. That may be some of our possessions, our time or views in order to acknowledge the needs of others. It’s a love that’s about taking the time to understand and acknowledge our differences and our diversity so that we can all work for a common objective of building God’s kingdom.
Jesus prays that we too can know the love and protection of the Father and have the courage to face the many challenges we may encounter in our lives so that we can be set aside for God’s purpose. Paul
Our Prayers
Heavenly Father, thank you that you glorified Jesus Christ your son,
That through Jesus we are invited to believe in You and glorify You.
Thank you that you love us and that,
through our belief in You ad love for each other,
we may become one with you and Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Our final hymn this morning is "God is Working His Purpose Out"
Notices
Next week we celebrate the Christian festival of Pentecost, so our service times are rather different to the usual. Please see the poster below for details -
