Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, which is also Mothering Sunday. Our Church Services today are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship from home.
Our first hymn this morning is "I Cannot Tell Why He, Whom Angels Worship"
Today's Gospel
John 3:14-21God So Loved The World…….
Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
Reflection
Today’s gospel passage contains probably the most well-known bible verse in the world.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”.
I’m sure if you look around you will see it on bookmarks, necklaces and car stickers. I remember once seeing it sprayed as graffiti on a wall in Glasgow, although to be honest, I’m not sure a message as powerful as this should be considered as ‘graffiti’.
These wonderful words from John are so totally nourishing to followers of Christ. They provide inspiration and encouragement to raise us all up, whatever troubles we may face. The words remind us that God unconditionally loves everyone in the world.
It is sometimes easy to overlook the opening verse, where Jesus talks about a serpent in the wilderness. But this goes to the heart of His message. Jesus is referring to the time when the Israelites were ungrateful in the wilderness and spoke against both God and Moses. God then sent a plague of poisonous snakes which killed many of them. After praying to God, Moses was told to make a bronze serpent and lift it on a pole. Then when anyone who had been bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake on the pole was saved and they lived. (Numbers 21:4-9).
Jesus was using this image to foretell His death, where He would be lifted on the cross. Moreover, He was making it clear that everyone who looks on Him in faith will receive eternal life. That was not just a message for those who were physically around to witness His crucifixion, but applies to us all today. We too are called to turn to the light of Christ, believe in Him and follow Him in our deeds, then we will have eternal life.
Let’s look once more about verse 16:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
More than anything, this articulates God’s wonderful plan for the world. He loved his creation and mankind so much that He gave the most extravagant gift to us that we could possibly imagine. He gave His one and only Son to demonstrate His love and to rescue us.
So what does God want in return for this most generous gift? It’s simple, God doesn’t ask for anything but for us to have faith and believe in His Son Christ. That’s about us genuinely wanting to make Jesus part of our lives, longing to be in his presence and experience his light and love!
We are all sinners in some way or another - that is sadly in our nature. But that’s the whole point of God sending Jesus to save us from our sins by His death on the cross. Because when we, as people who have sinned, believe in Jesus and trust that He died in our place, we are saved by Him. We need to embrace that God’s love for us is immeasurable and that when we look for the ‘light’ that is Jesus and yearn to open our hearts and minds to Him we will be saved and feel the reality of Jesus’ presence.
We are now half way though Lent and whilst we face the solemnity of Holy Week on the horizon, I think it is reassuring to have this reading today which brings us back to the overriding message of the Gospel.
GOD LOVES US ALL
Paul
Our Prayers
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your love.
We marvel that you loved us enough to send Jesus,
We are so grateful that as we open our lives to you,
You pour your love into our hearts.
Help us to experience your love today and every day
AMEN
Today's final hymn is "Longing for Light, We Wait in Darkness (Christ Be Our Light)"
