A worship service was held at 10.30am in the church on Sunday 26 April.  The service was simultaneously broadcast on the Church Facebook page. For the next four weeks you can catch up here.

The Bible passage was 1 Kings 19:1-18  David Sim led the service and preached the first of a series of sermons on God’s Surprising Love.

Based on the experiences of Elijah in the Bible passage we read today, and with reference to difficult times in his own life, David spoke movingly about the love of God which reaches out to us even when we are at the end of our tether.  You can listen on the catch up – the sermon begins at 37:50 in on the video, and you can read the whole sermon here.  And you can read the story of another encounter with the Whisper of God here.

Here’s the sensitive prayer with which David began the service:

Lord God, we gather today in your presence and we simply want to tell you that we love you.

You have been faithful to your people from the very beginning of time. You’ve been faithful to us in our own lives too, often when we’re unaware of how you’re working. We thank you that you’ve never walked away from us, even if we felt we were at our lowest point.

We think of the people in this church and in our community. You’ve met us in our darkest hours, when we felt empty and had nothing left to give. You fed us and gave us strength. When we felt completely alone and thought that no one could hear us, you were there in the quiet.

You’re amazing, God.

We do not just praise you for what you can do for us, but for who you are. You are kind and merciful, even when we make mistakes. You are patient with us, even when we’re stubborn.

We are so grateful that we can come here today because Jesus showed us the way back to you.

But Father, we want to be honest with you. Our hearts are often closed off. We build walls round ourselves to try and stay safe, but those walls just end up keeping you out. We get trapped by our own fears and our own worries. We get stuck in our own small ways of thinking, imagining that things can never change or that you are too far away to help.  We confess we often shut you out when we should be running towards you.

We ask you now to make our hearts bigger. As we come together in worship, please make room in us for your Holy Spirit to move and breathe.

You want to live right here with us, in the middle of our daily mess, in the centre of our community, and in the heart of our families.

Together we say ‘yes’ to that. We invite you in.

Holy Spirit, help us to listen for you. Help us to recognise your voice when you’re speaking. Whether you speak through the Bible, through a friend, or through that quiet gentle whisper, in our own spirits, please make us ready to listen.

We give this time to you. We hand over our plans and our worries.

Let your presence fill this room.