Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Fifth Sunday of Easter. Our Church Service this morning at St Agnes' is at 9.15, and St Thomas' service is at the slightly later time of 11.30.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "New Every Morning is the Love"
Today's Gospel
John 14:1-14 Jesus Comforts His Disciples
Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
Reflection
You could be forgiven if you feel a little confused after listening to John’s Gospel reading today. Here we are 5 weeks after Easter, when Jesus has risen and has been seen by Mary, the disciples and many others since his resurrection, and yet we find ourselves back in the room at the last supper.
So to remind ourselves of the context, Jesus and the disciples are at the Passover meal and in the course of the evening he had told them some pretty bad news. Firstly, He’s told them one of the disciples will betray him to the Romans, then He’s told Peter that he will deny knowing Jesus 3 times before day break, and last but not least that He will soon be killed. Even as He is now speaking to them, Judas is undertaking his act of treachery.
A short while before, he was washing their feet and giving them a new commandment to love one another, and now he’s turned the whole mood upside down. It’s hard to imagine the atmosphere in the room and how the disciples must have felt. After all, they have left everything behind to follow Jesus, and they realise as well that their own lives are also at risk. Apart from being confused they must have felt very vulnerable and frightened.
So Jesus tries to reassure them. He loves them and wants to set their minds at rest. He shifts their minds and their focus away from fear, and calls them to have belief and faith. He wants them to understand that death is not the end, and that they can have eternal life through faith and trust in him. He says; “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” Jesus starts to outline why they should trust in Him, even after he is gone. He lays out the case in plain language and says, “I am going to prepare a place for you”.
When Thomas is still puzzled, Jesus elaborates and says to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”
Then Philip joins in the questioning, asking Jesus to show them the Father. Thomas and Philip were willing to ask the questions that were no doubt troubling the whole group, because at this stage of course, they had not experienced the glorious resurrection of Jesus. In their minds they didn’t know where Jesus was going to. They hadn’t yet fully grasped that Jesus was divine and was God.
Of course they wanted to believe and trust in Jesus, but they were totally perplexed. So, in the short time they had before Jesus left them all alone, they absolutely wanted to understand how they would go about following him.
They needed to know how to get to this wonderful dwelling place which Jesus was going to prepare for them. It must have felt like Jesus was making lots of reassuring promises but hadn’t given them all the pieces to the jigsaw. And perhaps there is a hint of frustration from Jesus when he says to Philip, How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? “
The disciples were looking for a physical map to follow, but Jesus wasn’t talking about following a route map, He was talking about following in His ways and teachings. Something that the disciples wouldn’t fully understand until after his resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, when the missing pieces of the jigsaw would fall into place.
So what does this say to us here in Hey and Lees? The message is exactly the same. Jesus calls each and every one of us to follow Him. To live the way that He showed His disciples, following His commandment made at the last supper, to love one another as He loved us. He calls us to believe in Him and whilst we haven’t physically seen Him, we witness Him in the Good news of the Gospels, and we see God in all creation and His grace in the miracles that continue to happen across the world.
When we believe and trust in Jesus, He will show us the way to God’s dwelling place where He prepares a place for all who believe and trust in Him. But He won’t send us a link to Google maps in our ‘in box’, because in verse 3, Jesus promises “I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” Paul
Our Prayers
Risen and reigning Lord,
Strengthen our faith and trust in you,
that our troubled hearts may be assured
that you have gone to prepare a place for us,
so that where you are, we may be also and
that the Father will come to us through you.
Amen
Todays final hymn is "Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer"
Notices
Our Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) will take place at St Thomas’ Church at 12.15 pm on Sunday 17th May. On that day we will have a Parish Eucharist at 11.15 am at St Thomas’, and there will be no service at St Agnes’.
The APCM is where we review the parish activities and finances for the previous year, and elect Churchwardens and parish officers for the coming year, so it’s really important that as many people as possible attend.
There is a great need at both churches for people to step up into various roles, not only for what we see at worship on Sundays and midweek, but also for everything that happens in the background to enable Leesfield Parish to continue to thrive at the heart of our community.
Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.15 at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Loving Shepherd of Thy Sheep"
Today's Gospel
John 10:1-10 The Shepherd and His Flock
Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice.
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Reflection
In various translations of John 10 we may read about sheep pens, rather than folds. For many, this conjures up the image of the type of sheep pens we often see in the UK which are used for temporarily restraining small numbers of sheep before they are sheared.
If you walk along the hills above Oldham you will invariably see sheep roaming the fields and moorland day and night and they are seldom locked up.
Part of the reason for that is that we have very few predators such as wolves who would attack and kill them.
So, like me, you might find it hard to visualise what a sheep pen or sheepfold looks like. In the picture above, is a typical example of a sheepfold from ancient Israel which would not be dissimilar from those in biblical times when Jesus was alive. They were often built of stone and sometimes topped with thorns to deter thieves and predators. Shelters like this would vary in size and were usually built in a valley or on the sunny side of hill where there was protection form cold winds. In smaller folds like the one above, a watchman or shepherd would sleep at the gate or entrance overnight and act as a human gate.
The presence of a large number of sheep in the Holy Land was significant, as both Jews and Arabs relied on them for their livelihood, which is one of the reasons sheep are referred to so much throughout the Bible.
The shepherd would lead the sheep out to pasture every morning and would look after them, making sure they are well and not lame. I suspect most of us have never worked on a farm but it is not difficult to appreciate that over a short period of time the shepherd gets to know his sheep well, their habits, idiosyncrasies and behaviours very well. If you’ve ever had pets I’m sure you will be able to relate this. Similarly the animals get to know and trust the shepherd and they are wary of strangers. You can see this if you go for a walk in fields - sheep will always run away, but when the farmer comes along they run towards him or her.
So it was in the scenario Jesus outlines. The sheep would recognise the shepherd and be happy to follow him out of the fold to graze, knowing that he would lead them to good pasture where they would be safe. But if a stranger tries to entice them out they would be reluctant. Perhaps they remember past times when they were led out by a stranger and were separated from each other and their lambs were taken. Or they were abandoned in a place where there was little pasture to graze on.
Jesus says, “they will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” John points out that some did not understand Jesus, so Jesus clarifies that the point of the parable is not about the shepherd – it’s about the gate. A closed gate serves to keep the sheep in safety within the fold, but an open gate is the way to a source of life giving food and sustenance. To find that source of abundance of life we must go through the gate and follow the one that we can trust.
We are invited through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross to walk through the ultimate gateway – because what God has given us through Jesus is ultimate security in the knowledge that we are forgiven people. We are free to wander in God’s unending pasture as His children and help one another flourish. We are free to put aside our fears and uncertainties to embrace the grace of God. We are free to live as God wanted us to live when He created humankind - loving caring people being what he intended us to be.
Paul
Our Prayers
Heavenly Father,
You call us by name and know every one of us.
When we are tempted to stray, guide us by your voice.
You are the gate that leads to eternal life,
strengthen our faith to trust in you
and guide us into the pasture of everlasting peace.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen
Today's final hymn is "All People that on Earth do Dwell"
Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Third Sunday of Easter. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.15 at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Jesus, Stand Among Us"
Today's Gospel
Luke 24:13-35 The Road to Emmaus
Now on that same day two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Reflection
Today’s passage is full of emotion. Grief, sadness, hope, fulfilment and joy.
As we begin, we encounter the disciples, dejected and forlorn. They have are leaving Jerusalem, the place where they had hoped their friend Jesus, who they believed was the Messiah, would lead them into glory and overthrow the ruling Roman empire.
Instead, they wander away in a state of loss, discussing what has happened over the recent days, since Jesus triumphant entry on Palm Sunday. Can you put yourself into their state of mind? They have lost both a dear friend and also hope for the future.
When they are joined by Jesus, like Mary earlier in the day, they don’t recognise Jesus as he offers to walk with them. They are astounded that this stranger seems oblivious to the momentous events of the last few days – they question how can that even be? Then Jesus gently prompts them to explain everything to him as they journey together. They pour out their hearts to him as they lament the loss of their friend. Jesus allows them to go over everything in detail, even telling Jesus that there were some who claimed to have seen the Messiah alive earlier that day.
Still Jesus does not reveal who he is, he just listens patiently, allowing them to offload all their pain and disappointment. Then he says, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!” In my mind I don’t picture this as a remark of rebuke or scorn, rather something that is softly out of compassion, he understands their sorrow and loss. He doesn’t admonish them for interpreting the scriptures wrongly, rather he takes time to explain and unpack all the prophesies of people like Malachai, Isaiah, Samuel and Jeremiah, gently explaining how all the events that had happened were totally necessary and that the true Messiah was destined for suffering. Even before he reveals himself, he fills their hearts with fire, expectation and hope once again.
Looking back, what does this tell us about how Jesus showed love for these disciples. He chose not to reveal himself straight away, but he chose to walk alongside them in their grief, and he chose to let them vent their frustration and sorrow, maybe how we might come alongside others who are suffering loss and disappointment. He was also showing us how, at times of sorrow in our own lives, God will be by our side, whether that is in our thoughts, or in the presence of a stranger or friend who is willing to listen and let us pour out our grief and other emotional feelings. Perhaps you have looked back on a time of sadness and realised that God was with you all the time.
The same goes for times when, like the disciples, we lose hope because of set-backs in our lives or on a bigger scale we begin to lose hope for the world. If we offer our concerns and frustrations to God and read scripture, God will help us to find new hope, and our hearts also may burn within us in the knowledge that God is with us always.Paul
Our Prayers
Loving Father,
Thank you that you are always with us.
We pray that even in the darkest of times,
our faith in you will remain strong and we will never give up hope.
We ask you to guide us to support those around us at times of grief, or sadness. To show love, compassion and to be a listening ear and source of strength in their time of need.
