Words by David Hollows
Our Timeless God
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your works; at the deeds of your hands I joyfully sing (Psalm 92)
A prayer:
Praise to you, Lord our God, King of creation, Maker and minder of all we know, the very heart of all being. We praise you. Your glory is seen in majestic grandeur, in intricate miniature, in beauty and truth, in love and laughter, in tears and in joy.
Praise to you, Lord our God, Redeemer of the world, healing brokenness, speaking truth, showing love and giving self on the Cross.
Praise to you, Lord our God, coming now, giving life, breathing hope, lighting minds lifting hearts and falling afresh on all who call to you. Praise to you, Lord our God.
Praise-time, please now use as much time as you wish singing your songs and hymns of praise; please use CDs and/or YouTube to help you. You may wish to include the following:
This is the day (Mission Praise 691)
Prayer time, please now bring your prayers of praise and thanksgiving to God. You may wish to use the following prayer:
Gracious God, we are sorry that we have not always lived the way you call us to be. We have squandered time and chances to serve you and others. We have said, thought and done that which hurt others and harmed their lives. Forgive us for our coldness of heart and renew within us compassion. Bless us with your Spirit that we might grow and flourish to be your thankful people.
Amen
The Bible reading: Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 1 to 14
Photo by Srikanta H. U via Unsplash
Key idea: for I know that whatever God does, it endures forever (Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 14a)
How many ways can you tell the time in your home? There are several men who attend a community drop-in who collect watches and regularly wear the latest purchase. Are you of the opinion that time goes fast and the years fly by?
During the lock-down how did you fill your days? Were your days long or short? Did you become confused about which day was which? Did you have a routine; wash day on Monday, ironing on Tuesday? Did you set yourself certain tasks to complete on certain days; shopping on a Friday? Was all this part of your ‘normal’ weekly routine anyway?
How did you mark the time? Keeping to certain times for meals or watching certain TV programmes at the correct time? Time is a funny old thing and certainly marches on; this year we celebrate nationally 75 years since VE day and Salisbury cathedral has notched-up 800 years.
The Bible shows us that our God is timeless; the same yesterday, today and forever. But our God is also a God of time and in time; in Psalm 90 and again in the second letter of Peter, we are informed that our God is a God of time, that with Him one day is as a thousand years and vice versa. Jeremiah the prophet was informed that God knew him before he was born and for Joseph in the Old Testament God was very much of time supporting Joseph through the prison years and then the years of plenty and famine.
In the lives of other Bible characters we see God as a God in time; Moses and the rescue of the Israelites from Egypt, Esther and the saving of God’s people, Paul and the shipwreck at the end of Acts and most importantly, in the Incarnation; that Jesus was born at just the right time of the Roman occupation and census.
The Bible reading for this service is a familiar scripture passage about our timeless God as recognised by King Solomon who describes how God participates in the human narrative.
Can you recount an incidence in your life when God has been in time or of time? Sometimes we use the phrase; ‘but for the grace of God, go I’ and this also is another recognition of our timeless God.
However, as well as the gracious intervention of God in our lives, recognised or not, there is also the issue of how we invest our time with God; as Christians we are recommended to pray, read and study the Bible, have fellowship with others, worship and serve. God recognises that there are times in our lives when we are unable to fulfil some of the above perhaps because of physical restrictions, for example. But God just loves the opportunities that we have to spend in time with Him. Occasionally it is good to reassess the time we give to God in response to the time He gives to us.
Perhaps you could do this after this service?
A prayer of response:
Creator God, in your hands is the gift of time as you give to our lives rhythm and flow. For everything you provide a season and here we are living through differing experiences yet all of us dependent upon your gifts of life and love. In every season make us grateful, humble, aware of each other and in touch with you, the lord of all days and time.
Amen
Photo by Zoran Kokanovic via Unsplash
Prayers for others; please now use the time you have to pray for others you know or learn of in the media. You may wish to use this prayer:
For all those who are finding life difficult, people unemployed, struggling to make ends meet, seeking new opportunities, weighed down with responsibility, we pray for them. For all who are sad, people who are sick at home or in hospital, anxious for themselves or someone they love, worried by bad news or lost in bereavement, we pray for them. For all who feel unloved, lonely people, away from home and friends, families facing separation or divorce, children abused or ignored, we pray for them. For all who want a better life, people who do not like the way they are, those afraid to go to you, unable to make new relationships, frightened by life itself, we pray for them.
God, you love each and every person; please help those we have mentioned in our prayers to know your love so that their lives are enriched and fulfilled and they are free to love others. We ask all our prayers in the name or Jesus.
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer.
Praise-time: please now use whatever time you have available to praise God with your favourite songs/hymns. You may wish to include the following;
Lord for the years (Mission Praise 428)
A blessing:
Bless to us, O God, the doors we open, the thresholds we cross and the roads which go before us. Go with us as we go and welcome us home.
Amen.
Extra; if you have access to YouTube; either on-line or TV, please try this new worship song;
You must also try; The UK Blessing
Thank you for sharing your worship with us
God bless you