This week Bob introduces our Verse for the Year: John 13:34-35. Our ambition as a church and as Christians – to be a little bit more Jesus each day.
Thanks to everyone taking part in today’s service.
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Good morning good morning everyone it’s lovely to see you and happy New Year I can see some of you smiling at me you just can’t help playing along can you you just has to my name is Rachel I’m leading the service today and it’s lovely to see you our service is all
About uh the new beginnings and our new um our new verse for the year and lots of other things so let’s just pray father thank you for bringing us together thank you for this time we pray that we would hear from you be blessed by you we would be called by
You that you would help us to know you today in our service and Beyond Lord amen okay so we are focusing on the Book of John this this month John says where love is shared Joy overflows so I would like you to join with me in the verses of John 15 saying
The text in bold as the father has loved me so have I Loved You Now remain in my love if you keep my Commandments you will remain in my love just as I have kept my father’s commands and remain in his love I have told you this so that my
Joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete as I said where love is shared Joy overflows let’s stand and sing your love is amazing and praise God and celebrate our joy in Christ is amazing changing is Mountain my I hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah you’re makes me S Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah you make me sing your love is surprising like you feeling Rising all the joy is growing deep inside of me every time we see you your good and shine to sing up me hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah We Sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah my me I you dare live me I am car me hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah makes me sing Hallelujah Hallelujah [Applause] Hallelujah Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah makes me sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Mak me please be seated so let’s look back at 2023 anything we’re grateful for anything we’ve leared any highlights or low
Lights funny stories from your family Eric’s got something to say yes sured 2023 without having ministers sured with it um we’ve survived 2023 Eric said without having a minister I think um I think we had a minister at the start but not at the end
So want to pray for um well I enjoyed Melvin’s uh Christmas lunch it was so lovely to see so many people there who went to that lots of people Kamaya was there I think Kamaya was the youngest wouldn’t like to say who was the eldest but we had a lovely time thank
You Melvin for organizing that is Melvin here oh there he is can see him yes okay so so what have we learned what what what wisdom can we give to one another from 2023 to help each other into 2024 any any tips any anything that made a real difference in your
Life any thoughts well I’ve got some funny ones from Sorry God is faithful God is faithful I was reading this in a in a magazine 100 tiny things things to transform your life now the The Wider church is celebrating Epiphany at the moment anybody know where the word Epiphany comes
From somebody said something Revelation it’s a revelation any thoughts it actually comes from when the wise men saw Jesus they had a revelation of Jesus and there are parts of the Christian Community in The Wider world that chalk on the doors at the season at the to celebrate piphany celebrate the
Initials of the three wise men as as understood and the year to to ask for God’s protection for the year ahead that’s Epiphany so I don’t know if anyone’s had an epiphany this year but here are some small bits of wisdom okay hundred tiny things to change your life
We had things like cycling and park run and borrow somebody else’s dog but here we go this this is one for any family any family can do this number 28 doing a timed 10minute tidy with my partner and kids every day this has improved the cleanliness of the house significantly and tidiness no
Longer drags down the mood there you go everyone can get onto that one can’t you have a little Revelation 10 minute family tidy up what about that anyone can do the next one number 30 put my head under the bed cover life can be overstimulating but I find
That I can reset my brain by just 10 to 15 minutes under the duvet how about that for a little Revelation okay here’s the one minute rule number 11 following the one minute rule if there’s a task I can do in less than one minute like hanging up my coat anybody
Can do that answering an email do it just there and there it’s astonishing what you could accomplish one minute at a time and this one has changed my life number 60 getting oh no that’s the number I took that one out I I haven’t got that one here getting hearing aids changed my
Life because it wasn’t me that got the hearing aids it was Jeff that got the hearing aids went from nodding smiling talking too loudly and saying eh all the time to speaking more Softly hearing the wind in the leaves he really does hear the birds
In the trees and I think he might even hear his wife say I love you sometimes so so there are some tips and I’m sure as we are in community think of the wisdom that I that we have leared that we can pass on to one another and
Perhaps some more serious ones as well um are we ready for the year ahead are we ready for 2024 do you have your list do you have your New Year’s resolutions oops I’m going backwards have you got goal plan action tick tick tick have you got it all
Sorted okay anyone got a good New Year’s resolution Jeff the last time I asked this Eric came up and said my resolution is never to make New Year resolution so from Jeremiah thus says the Lord stand at the crossroads and look and ask for the ancient
Paths where the good way lies and walk in it and find rest for your souls stand at the crossroads and look so maybe you have a chaotic list of good intentions to do your homework and pay attention in lessons and learn the piano maybe like this English teacher
You’ve got a tidy list of uh things to do eat more vegetables work out regularly love hubby more and more he missed it but the the command that the Lord gives us is deeper than that it’s not just a good intention it’s not a resol uh it’s not a New Year’s resolution it’s
Not a top tip for keeping your house tidy let’s say together from John my command is this love each other as I have loved you greater love has no manner than this lay down one’s life for one’s friends you are my friend if you do what I command Jesus said I no longer
Call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business instead I have called you friends for everything that I learned from my father I have made known to you it’s good to say the word together isn’t it we are going to think about this command from God to
Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind and we’re going to sing it now stand and sing four love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your Strength your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength all your all your with all your strength love the Lord with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your Strength I the Lord with all my heart with all my soul with all my mind with all my strength I you Lord with all my heart with all my soul with all my heart with all my strength all my heart all my soul with all your love with all your
Strength love with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength I will love you will praise you I will praise You oh your all my my all my all my all my I love you all my love and all my soul with all my heart with all my strength I will love to all my heart all my soul all my with all my I love you love with all my heart with
All my soul with all my mind with all [Applause] my thank you please be seated where were the actions everyone New Year’s resolution do the action songs okay so we have our new verse who knows the old one let’s say the new one together a new
Command I give love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another by this everyone will know that you are my what a great verse and Matt was up a ladder this morning putting it up for us apparently the old hands picture didn’t wash off it
Had to be painted over didn’t come off so so we’re going to sing that verse now in a old one that I hope lots of you know a new commandment I give all to you that you love one another as I have loved you let you love one another as I have You you are my discipl you one more my you that you are my discipl if you one more love we sing that Again I give to you that you love one another as I I love you that you love [Applause] As I You by This know that you are my discipl if you have love one for another my let you are my discipl with you love one for Another let’s pray father we thank you for our families we thank you for one another we thank you for all everyone here and in a moment our children will be going out we pray for them and their leaders and this time will be blessed together we thank
You for all the resources that you give to us and that and for what we in turn have to offer to you as our gift and sacrifice amen okay he children and children’s leaders if you’d like to leave thank you we have Bob coming up to speak to us
Ah good morning uh it’s my privilege today to be able to bring God’s word and as you’ll see on the screen this is the first in a new series uh we’ll be looking at the Gospel of John as Rachel said we’ll largely be concentrating on the I am statements made by Jesus uh
Where he defines who he is but we starting today with the words of Jesus in The Gospel of John chapter 13 verses 34 and 35 oops let’s try Oh I tried next and it did not go next try that again ah and there we are this is our these are our verses for the year again a new command I give you love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another by this everyone
Will know that you you are my disciples this is the scripture that we will be concentrating on today a new commandment the first thing to say is this is a command it’s not a request it’s not an optional extra for Christians the Bible teaches that we cannot canot live the Christian Life
Unless we love one another but who is this one another that Jesus is talking about and who is he talking to who does Jesus command us to love well on this occasion he’s talking to his followers who will later become his church in other places like Luke 6 he
Teaches us to love other people he even teaches us to love our enemies but in these verses he’s specifically teaching us to love our brothers and sisters who are fellow Believers Now isn’t it great that the people in church are just so easy to get on with it’s wonderful that people never
Ever fall out in churches because all Christians are good and nice all the time it’s just like falling off a log loving each other isn’t it oh wait I’ve forgotten you’ve been to church before haven’t you oh you know that’s not always true there’s a tendency when you first
Become a Christian to think that all Christians are so nice that being in church is like heaven on Earth because they’re like a different breed of people aren’t they they’re loving all the time but you go there for a while and you find that that’s not
Always the case see we all come from so many different backgrounds so many different cultures so many different Traditions different ways of thinking loving each other isn’t always easy sometimes there are arguments sometimes resentment grows sometimes there’s bitterness and relationships can break down all together it shouldn’t be that way but we’re human
Beings we get hurt we hurt others we behave in ways that sometimes aren’t very Godly at all and it’s always been this way if you read your B Bible you just have a look at the book of Acts there are fallouts you read the letters that St Paul
Wrote disputes fallings out it’s always happened within the church we don’t become this perfect loving group of people just because we give our lives to Jesus sometimes Christians behave badly towards one another now John would have actually heard Jesus speak these words about loving each other and he chooses to continue this
Theme uh when he writes his letters it’s obviously very very important to him in the first letter of John Chapter 4 verses 7- 21 he has a whole section where he talks about how we should love each other because God first loved us now I’m not going to read it all to you
But I am going to just help us look at verses 20 and 21 whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar because whoever does not love their brother and sister whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen and he has given us this
Command anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister strong words for the church we cannot allow hate to develop in our hearts we must be actively loving other people in the church even those we disagree with those we find it hard to get along
With I don’t think we have to like every single person we meet in church we’re naturally drawn to some people that’s just the way we are as human beings but we are called to love everybody so that led me to a question what is love well surely everyone knows everyone
Knows what love is I mean it it’s talked about all the time isn’t it the problem is that the image we have in the media is so Twisted it’s so far away from what God means by love that I think many people are confused certainly about what God God
Means when he talks about love test for the oldies who remembers Love Story Ali mcra and Ryan O’Neal oh there a couple of hands G so people who are willing to admit they remember 1970 if you want to know anybody remember what the tagline is go
On Dave Morris used to moan about it I’d forgotten he used to moan about I share Dave Morris’s moan I AB absolutely do it was love never means having to say you’re sorry what a load of rubbish I’m sorry Hollywood has come up with some nonsense in its time but that
Has to cap it all if you are to be loving and in a loving relationship you have to be able to say you’re sorry to admit when you’re wrong we as human beings I don’t stand here before you as a man who never does things wrong and
When I do wrong I need to apologize we all do as Christians that’s what God teaches that’s fundamental in love it must be part of our loving life to one another reflecting on who we are and when we get it wrong saying sorry however good the films and TV may
Or may not be if we take our views from a randomly select pretty woman or Love Actually or any of the other numbers of films out there that portray love then we’re really going to be lost as Christians we must Define love from what the Bible talks
About now when Society talks about love often it’s talking about what the Greeks would call Eros AOS romantic or sexual love that’s really where the focus often is and that is important I don’t want to diminish that that’s very important in the lives of us human beings that’s why the media
Focuses on it God in the Bible Praises it you know read the song of songs look at the Bible it it it does not uh denigrate that in any way but in this passage that we’re studying today in those verses we’re talking about agape love
Now I had to go to Trevor to make sure that these words did say Agape but he can told me yes this is the word that the Greeks are using In this passage my instinct told me that would be the case because Agape is Godly love and it’s based on Jesus’s
Sacrificial love for us it’s not about feelings feelings dominate the modern view of love it’s based on an act of will a decision to behave more lovingly more than that it’s based on God’s sacrificial love because God God asks us to sacrifice our best for the good of others feelings aren’t
Wrong but if you try to love live life of Love based on your feelings you’ll never get it right we must decide to act in a loving way and then the feelings may follow Agape is a choice that we can apply to our lives every
Day love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another as I have loved you and when reading a Bible passage it’s very important that we look at the context and if we look at the start of John 13 we find a very interesting
Story it’s the time that Jesus washed his disciples feet so you want to know how to love each other look at the life of Jesus love is not about having fuzzy feelings it’s about our actions Jesus spoke about love but more importantly he showed us love ultimately he would go on to show
That love by giving his life for us but as a sign of the kind of leader he was he washed his disciples feet it was the job of the most humble servant even though know he was actually God made flesh and through his relationship with the father he could do the most amazing
Miracles he made an active choice to show love by washing his disciples feet and it made me wonder how would the church be transformed if we chose to be like Jesus if we laid aside our rights and then we humbly chose to serve each other it’s not about
Subordination it’s an active choice to serve one another many years ago I heard a story of a group of people who were forced to live together in a camp the toilets became all blocked up the sewage was spewing out everywhere people were complaining but nobody wanted to sort
The problem out as it meant digging through the affluent but in that camp were a group of Christians and they took it on themselves to do that awful job and when they were asked why they did it they pointed to Jesus that was how they showed their
Love how are we doing on the loving scale we’ve established that Jesus’s love is not about feelings that it’s an active choice to serve others and to do do good to them but it doesn’t always mean being nice to everyone all the time I checked my exhaustive concordance it’s an
Enormous book that I was given uh it’s basically got every single word in the Bible and lists where it is it’s helpful if you’re studying the Bible I looked up the word nice how many times does the word nice feature in the Bible nearly it does depend New American Standard
Version which is uh yeah very accurate to the original I believe it is once once it comes up in the whole Bible nice and it’s in the context of the book of Jeremiah where he’s basically it’s not a positive thing at all he’s warning God is warning Jeremiah don’t trust those
People who will say nice things about you so nice is isn’t actually it and also in the context if you look at the context of where these verses that John is quoting it’s around the time when Jesus warned Peter that he was going to deny
Him well that’s not a very nice thing to do is it but it was necessary it was needed Jesus knew that Peter’s growth as a Christian as a follower depended on him knowing the truth about himself he had to face up to that so love isn’t always nicey nicy but
Love always desires the best for other people and it’s what God inspires us to do now I don’t think this should be an excuse to say rude things about each oh I don’t have to be nice all the time time you know that’s not it at all if difficult
Things need to be said they should always be said with love and respect that’s how that should be but how do we know how do we know if our words are going to be loving and to do that we’re going to turn to what I think is probably the
Most famous passage in the Bible on love favorite of every wedding 1 Corinthians 13 and let’s see how we measure up on your chairs somewhere near you you will see a piece of paper uh not if you’re sitting at the front because there weren’t enough but most of you will have a piece
Of paper if not I can get you some more you may Reon ize this as the passage from 1 Corinthians 13 it’s where God defines what love is is where God can teach us about what his view of Love is what sort of Christian we can be you’ll notice that there are some
Words missing and when I’ve been preparing for this sermon this has been heavily on my heart that this sermon is for no one else apart from me and you it’s not for Fred you know who Fred is Fred’s the person who you know really needs to learn this
Verse no it’s not I hope there’s not a Fred here by the way Fred was just a name I pulled off the top of my head a generic name it’s for Bob Martin it’s for each of you and what I do now is to put my name in
There and see how I measure up Bob is patient Bob is kind Bob does not envy Bob does not boast Bob is not proud Bob does not dishonor others Bob is not self-seeking Bob is not easily angered and Bob keeps no record of wrongs Bob does not Delight in evil but
Rejoices with the truth Bob always protects always trusts always hopes always perseveres well that’s what I wish Bob was like that’s what I believe God God’s heart for me is and what his heart for you is I read some of those and I think that’s not so
Good some of them I think maybe maybe God’s done that bit of work in my life perhaps those things are there but there’s a challenge to me in my heart and I still believe that God is a living God that he transforms life even at my age I’ve been a Christian for
Over 40 years and sometimes I wish I was more like Jesus than I am but I still believe that he wants to transform lives but he hasn’t just brought us here today for a nice little talk and a few songs he actually wants to touch our hearts and
Go where is it here Bob where you are not these things that I say you should be help me I believe Believe by the Holy Spirit God can change us he can make us the loving people because those verses don’t come naturally they’re not easy let’s let the Holy Spirit aresh
Into our hearts now I deliberately didn’t put any pens or pencils out partly because they’d all go missing and Sally wouldn’t be pleased with me but partly because I’d love you to go home with those Bits of Paper and write put your own name in there and pray to God
And say okay God I want to be more loving this year how do I do it and I’m sure that if we do that God will speak into our lives we’re going to end with the verses that say this by this the way we love each other everyone will know that you
Are my disciples we don’t love people so that the world will see how good we are we love each other because Jesus told us to do that it’s what he expects of his followers and it’s the best way of living life but as John says uh in his first letter in verse 16
God is love whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them it’s the byproduct of a life of love that people will see our life and recognize that God is in us whether it causes them to follow Jesus or not that’s between them and God but
Let’s pray that God will shine through US throughout 2024 and that many would choose to live a life of love let’s pray heavenly father thank you that you never give up on us that your plans for us are so much better than our plans for ourselves come by your Holy Spirit we
Pray come aresh into our lives and Lead lead us in your way of love we ask for the sake of your kingdom amen Bob said it’s a command not a suggestion that we love one another but God is here to help us with that command we can remember God’s love for
Us we can think on that love that God has for us on that sacrifice we can speak to other people about God God’s love and live it out in our actions let’s remember that as we stand to sing over the mountains and the Sea The mountain your River me heart to be in the I will my I will always sing down over the mountains and the Sea your River love for me and I will open up my heart let the Healer Set Me Free I’m to be in
The and I will daily LIF my hand I will always sing when you’re looking down I Could Sing of Your Love Forever I Could Sing of Your Love Forever I Can Sing of Your Love love forever I Can Sing of Your Love Forever oh I feel like it’s foolishness when the world see the light they will dance with Jo like could Sing of Your Love Forever I Could Sing of Your Love Forever I could sing on the love
Forever I could sing on the love forever I Could Sing of Your Love Forever I Can Sing of Your Love Forever I Could Sing of Your Love Forever I Could Sing of Your Love Forever Please be seated B’s going to come back to lead us in our community if I could ask the people who are serving communion to come forward please words of a prayer of confession uh where we can seal our hearts and come before God will be on the screen let’s say these words
Together Lord Jesus I bow before you in humility and ask you to examine my heart today show me anything that is not pleasing to you reveal any secret Pride any unconfessed sin any Rebellion or unforgiveness that may be hindering my relationship with you I know that I am your beloved child
Having received you into my heart and life and having accepted your death as a penalty for my sinfulness the price you paid covered me for all time and my desire is to live for you Amen in the book of First Corinthians Paul says this for I have received from
The Lord what I I also pass unto you the Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me we will eat of the bread when it is
Served to us remembering that Jesus body was broken for us and that our sins can all be forgiven sorry E in the same way after supper he took the cup saying this this is the cup of the New Covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he
Comes we will drink of the wine when everyone has been served as a sign that we are one body one body in Christ For E e we drink this remembering that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sins and we are forgiven hand back to Rachel thank you should we just sit to sing that song through briefly I love you Lord for your mercy never fails me all my days I’ve been held in your
Hands from the moment that I wake until I lay my head I will sing of the goodness of God oh my been all my life you have every breath that I I will s of the goodness of God oh my life you have been fful My I am will I will s of the goodness of God oh I will s of the goodness of God so this is the last part of our uh verses from John that we’re thinking about today just say with me you did not choose me but I chose you and appointed
You so that you bear fruit fruit that will last and so whatever you ask in my name the father will give you this is my command love each other so we’re thinking about the I AMS what God said about himself what Jesus said about himself and I found this poem and it’s
Not all of it it’s just the start of it which turns it around who am I in Christ I am fearfully and wonderfully made I am his new creation I am predestined I am chosen I am adopted I am a Son of God I am God’s
Child I Am a Child of Light I’m a child of day I am God’s bride I am God’s clay I am God’s future I am God’s hope I am alive to God I am destined and I am called so maybe when you take Bob’s piece of paper home try and put your
Name into those words maybe you can also try and put your name to this poem maybe there are some lines in this poem that we can reflect on think of we’re just going to take some time to pray now let’s pray for our world pray for everyone who’s having a
New beginning this new year just really needs to turn that page to give up something that’s bad or take up something new that’s good new jobs new resolutions new relationships or a new in existing relationships a new attitude to whatever we’re doing in life Lord we pray for our young people of
Schools and colleges universities we pray for our government for our prime minister and for all who lead we turn our heart I pray for those who are struggling those we know who need our prayers because of their health their mental health their emotional health health for those who are bed and know
Such deep loss we pray for the sick Lord we pray for our finances help us to be wise in and good stewards of all the things that you have given us Lord we pray for our Public Services we pay for our health Serv service and for everyone who is facing disruption during this
Time and we pray for the wider world let’s just call out parts of the world that are on our hearts now Gaza Ukraine we hold all these places and further Beyond in our in our hearts and in our press we know that you hold the world in your hand Lord you
Appoint all those in positions of authority and we commit a fresh our well to you thank you Jesus well one thing that happened in 2023 was the coronation and these are the words of Justin wellby spoken to millions of people around the world heard this the King of Kings Jesus Christ was
Anointed to be son served was anointed not to be served but to serve for Jesus Christ announced a kingdom in which the poor and oppressed are freed from chains of Injustice the blind see the bruised and the Brokenhearted are healed this is the king we serve and
This is the king who came to serve us as we have read today so as we close let’s have those thoughts in our hearts As we sing hope and Glory You are oh King Of Heaven Jesus all to every we are lost without your glory we are lost without you God the that come and in your power and your salvation let us see your King The Hope Glory CHR Al in You to the right your see how we need your father us and I You You GL Glor Christ In we might We might PR the Lord Glor in You please be seated thank you so that’s the end of our formal service Time to Say Goodbye to anybody listening listening online or listening later on in the week thank you for joining us um and bye Everyone I cry King Of Heaven Jesus to every we are lost without your glory we are lost without you the burs within us of Love That purify your power and your salv let us see your kingdom come only you move the mountain only you can hear our land Christ alone I hope and
Glory Christ alone you we stand our rise and show us Mercy that we need your Father’s Love lead us home and out of Darkness with your go open only you can move the mountain only you can hear our land Christ Alone Our Hope and Glory Christ Alone in you we
Stand only you can move the mountain only you can hear our land Christ Alone My Hope and Glory Christ Al in you we Stand is mighty we believe our God is here we believe our King is com Christ the lord you we stand praise the Lord our God is mighty praise the Lord our God is praise the Lord our King is Coming Christ