Rev Dan shares a prayer form Remembrance Sunday, as we stand together in remembrance of our past and seek God’s hope for our future.
Life-giving God, Who breathed life into this world, and breathed the beauty of our diversity into humanity.
On this day of remembrance, we remember today, the perils of prejudice and violence, and the cost of war and conflict.
Peace-giving God, we remember Jesus, Who lived a life of peace and justice. Help us to live our lives as a reflection of the character of Jesus.
Hope-giving God, Help us learn from humanity’s past, Stir us to action to stand against injustice, to boldly strive for peace in our communities and our world. And show infinite love towards our neighbour. As we strive towards a world overflowing with justice, hope, peace and love.
God of all time, all space, all creation, We Thank you for the lives of people around us, Past and present, Friends, family, colleagues.
People to nurture us and help us, Challenge us and inspire us.
May their living and loving, Serving and caring, Reveal to us your love and grace,
And inspire us to live and love, serve and care for others, To the best we can, In all the ways we can, To all the people we can, As long as we ever can. Amen
by Rev Dan Balsdon, first published 1st November 2020 Some words based on words of John Wesley
A prayer in the midst of pandemic, protest & fear, responding to the violence witnessed on 13th June on British streets.
God of all, Forgive the violence of our silence, The ignorance of our actions, The foolishness of our hatred.
God of all, Bring peace were there is conflict, Love where there is hate, Calm where there is turmoil, Welcome where there is rejection, Justice where it is absent, Safety where there is fear, Healing where there is pain.
God of all, Stir up within us the wisdom of your Spirit, As we participate in your gospel, challenge us, lead us and empower us, Turn our feelings of shame into a striving for a transformation that values the lives of all.
A guided prayer meditation reflecting on hands, by Sarah Shelton, Families Worker at Felpham Methodist Church, first used at Zoom PrayerSpace in April 2020.
A guest contribution to revdanbalsdon.com from Mel Leech, member at Felpham Methodist Church, West Sussex.
After the cancellation of the London Marathon people began doing 26 things…26 circuits of their gardens, 26 press ups… Mel was thinking that the alphabet has 26 letters and came up with 26 things that we could pray for or give thanks for during lock-down. (In fact Mel ended up with more than 26!)
A-Z Prayer
A The Ambulance Service will not be over-whelmed.
B Bus Drivers will be protected and the Bereaved will be comforted.
C Carers working in Care-homes will be recognised for all that they do.
D Doctors and Delivery drivers – both so important, and needing our prayers
E The Elderly will not be forgotten and have the care they need.
F Friends and Family: show them in any way we can how much they are appreciated
G Give thanks for our Gardens and pray for those who don’t have one. Grandparents missing their Grandchildren
H Health visitors as they continue to visit the vulnerable.
I Intensive Care Units and the patients being treated and the staff caring for them.
J Newly qualified Junior doctors and nurses who have been ‘thrown in the deep-end’.
K Be Kind to each-other (no need to say more)
L Lord ‘what are we to Learn from all this?’
M People’s Mental Health – and those who find Isolation particularly difficult.
N Contact with Neighbours and seeing they are in need of anything we can help them with and of course continue to pray and give thanks for our NHS.
O Give thanks that One Day this will come to an end.
P Paramedics as they work on the front-line bringing help as fast as they can. Remember the Prime Minister as he continues to fully recover and copes with the responsibilities of his job.
Q Pray Quarantine measures will continue to work. Pray for the Queen and that her faith will inspire and encourage the nation.
R There is a sufficient supply of Respirators.
S Supermarket shop-workers and those who are ‘shielding’ because of health issues.
T Give thanks for the Telephone to keep in contact with each-other. Teachers as they try to continue to give lessons ‘on-line’.
U Let’s show ‘Understanding’
V Give thanks for those ‘Volunteers’ doing all they can to help the NHS, Farmers and Delivering necessary food parcels and medical supplies etc.
W Thanks for daily Walks
X Pray a ‘Vaccination’ will soon be found.
Y Young people – including children, at this, what must be, a very strange time for them.
This week I share with you, not my words, but the prayerful words of a 5 year old girl who wanted to write a prayer yesterday morning. Working together, this is what she produced. #ProudDad
This 5 year old’s heart to say thank you to God made me realise how I have sometimes been distracted by other things that stop me from embracing and noticing all I have to be thankful to God for today.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Join the conversation
What does the prayer of this 5 year old inspire you to be thankful for? Why not share your thanks and prayers in the comment section below.
I’ve got such exciting news to tell you. I feel like I’m about to explode I’m so excited. We were so confused but now things finally make sense.
Let me start at the beginning. You must have all heard about what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem. He was arrested, put on trial and they crucified him. We’d been following him, we and the apostles, and Mary and the other women.
We all thought he was the Messiah, the promised prophet. But now he was dead. We all felt lost, heartbroken. Our hopes and dreams for what Jesus was going to do we’re shattered. We we’re worried what the authorities would do next. Would they come after us?
So Cleopas and I we’re heading back to Emmaus. It’s a long walk and we were talking about what had happened. A man we didn’t recognise came along beside us and we began talking to him. What we couldn’t understand is that he didn’t know what had happened to Jesus in Jerusalem.
So we began to tell him what had happened to Jesus. How he’d been arrested, beaten, humiliated and crucified, and how our friends had gone to the tomb this morning and his body was gone. They said they’d seen a vision of angels who told them Jesus was alive. We didn’t know what to think.
But this man we were talking to started to talk about the scriptures and what the prophets had said about the Messiah. He was talking about the scriptures in a way I’d never heard before. He went right back to Moses and the other prophets and we talk and talk about them.
The rest of the journey went so quick, it was no time at all until we got to Emmaus, so we urged the man to stay with us, it was almost night time anyway.
By talking to him things had started to make sense, though we we’re still struggling to get our heads around it all. So we sat having a meal together, we continued talking and then the stranger took the bread and broke it.
At that moment I don’t know what happened, but suddenly we realised something… this stranger was Jesus. How we didn’t see it before I don’t know! It was as if we had been kept from seeing him until that moment. But now it all makes sense, Jesus is alive! And all that’s happened is what the prophets wrote about. We we’re there with the risen Lord, but before we had chance to say anything to him he disappeared.
We could think of nothing else but telling the others so we raced back to tell our friends in Jerusalem. What a day! We forgot that the authorities could be after us, that fear had gone.
We told them how he’d appeared to us, how he talked to us about the prophets and the scriptures, how he’d broken the bread. That Jesus is alive. The Lord had also appeared to Simon.
And now I can tell you too! Jesus is alive! We’ve met the risen Lord and now we’ve been transformed. What a journey.
We’d lost hope, but now he’s alive and he’s given us hope again! We were lost, we didn’t know where to turn, but Jesus found us.
We were feeling broken, but now Jesus has made us whole. We were blind, but Jesus showed us the scriptures and what the prophets said, and now we can see the truth. When he broke the bread, we could see him.
We’d been fearful of what the authorities would do next, but after meeting the risen Lord those fears were gone.
We’ve had such an experience, we’d had a first-hand experience of Jesus. He really is alive, and he’s filled us with hope.
Reflect
As you hear and read this passage what interests you? Surprises you? Why?
The men on the Emmaus road felt lost, confused. Their hopes and dreams had been shattered. Have you ever been in a similar situation? What helped you?
The men welcomed Jesus, who to them was still a stranger, into their home to eat with them. Fellowship and community was always an important part of Jesus ministry. How important do you think it is for us today? Why?
How might what we learn from this passage help us for living as Christians in the 21st Century? What challenges are there?
Join the conversation
if you’ve got thoughts or something to share after reading and reflecting on my thoughts, you can comment below and share them with us all – I’d love to hear from you.
I originally
put together for use during a summer All Age Worship at Felpham Methodist
Church, West Sussex, as part of the launch of a Scripture Union holiday club
and mission week exploring the story of Joseph.
Please feel
free to use this as a resource, and adapt it as appropriate. If you do use it,
let me know, and tell me how it went!
Watch me performing the Chocolate Story of Joseph at Felpham Methodist Church, 4th August 2019
Some notes for use
It takes
about 7-10 minutes to perform, depending how you do it.
I delivered
it with a large table in front of me, and all the chocolates in a basket, bringing
them out and holding them up as I referred to them (in red), the placing on the table. The times there is a
chocolate in green means you’ve
used it once already, so you’ve got to find it on the table – which adds to the
entertainment factor!
Alternatively,
you could do it with pictures on a screen, or with congregation having to shout
out when they hear a chocolate reference.
Note that
the script only briefly deals with some parts of the Joseph story, particularly
the dreams of the baker and butler, and the toing and froing of the brothers in
Egypt. You may want to develop these bits.
After using
it for worship, we used it again with the young people, and divided it into parts,
with one of them reading, and the other holding up the chocolates.
The Sun rose.
The world awoke.
Another day.
The past week’s event almost forgotten.
Not for his followers.
The women gathered early.
Jesus might have left, but his body remained.
So they headed out to the tomb.
When they got there, the stone had moved and the body was
gone.
All that remained were the burial clothes.
Now nothing remained. All had been taken.
And then, as Mary sat weeping,
Jesus appeared.
Alive.
He didn’t leave.
Somehow he remained.
Mary ran to the others, told them Jesus lived.
They struggled to believe.
And then, then Jesus appeared.
I am alive, he declared.
“Now I must leave, I can’t be with you in person any longer.
But my Spirit will remain with you always.”
To this day, by his Spirit, Jesus remains. Transforming lives and communities through his unconditional love, and longing for us to remain in him and experience his love.
If you want to know more, come and explore at Felpham Methodist Church, or send us a message.
The sky turned black.
The world watched…. and waited.
Jesus’ time seemed to be up.
He’d gathered with his friends, shared their final meal
together.
“I will soon have to leave you” he said.
He’d gone to pray in the garden,
“Father, let this suffering leave me” he prayed.
Then he was betrayed.
handed over, put on trial.
His disciples scattered, leaving Jesus alone.
‘Crucify Him’ the crowd shouted. So he was. Stripped. Flogged. Marched up the hill. And there, there he was killed. Hung from a cross and left to die.
Jesus had left. His followers lost. What to do now that Jesus no longer remained with them?
Rev Dan Balsdon's Blog 