Call to worship
The Lord is here! His Spirit is with us! But who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? We come to God in the name of Jesus who rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!
Hymn: StF 20 Be still
1 Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
the Holy One, is here;
come bow before him now
with reverence and fear:
in him no sin is found —
we stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
the Holy One, is here.
2 Be still, for the glory of the Lord
is shining all around;
he burns with holy fire,
with splendour he is crowned:
how awesome is the sight —
our radiant King of light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord
is shining all around.
3 Be still, for the power of the Lord
is moving in this place;
he comes to cleanse and heal,
to minister his grace:
no work too hard for him —
in faith receive from him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
is moving in this place.
David J. Evans (b. 1957)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 20
Words and Music: © 1986, Thankyou Music. Administered by worshiptogether.com Songs, excluding UK & Europe, administered by Kingswaysongs, a division of David C Cook <tym@kingsway.co.uk> Used by permission.
Prayer
Loving God, you were there at the beginning of time.
You called the universe into being
filling it with trillions of galaxies
including our own Milky Way of 400 billion stars.
You created our blue planet,
its seas and lands,
its creatures and people.
Though I am but a speck of dust
in comparison to the vastness of all that is,
You made me – and amazingly you know me.
You know what things frighten me,
what makes me sad and angry,
and what makes me laugh for joy;
what things make me want to sing and dance,
or to run away and hide.
Help me to know you, trust you,
to see you at work every day,
and to praise you for your fearful,
wonderful creation.
When storms and troubles come,
keep my eyes fixed on you and on your steadfast love, so that I may be able to help others who can’t see a way through,
and speak your words of peace and stillness.
Amen.
Hear God’s promise made long ago:
‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
the rivers shall not overwhelm you.’
We come, perhaps overwhelmed by the present,
afraid for the future, or ashamed of the past.
We come, each of us, seeking your word of peace:
Spend a few moments in silence thinking about those things
that weigh upon your heart
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
We cried to you our God in our trouble,
and you will bring us out from our distress;
you will has make the storm be still,
and hush the waves of the sea.
Thanks be to your our God for your steadfast love,
your wonderful works for humankind.
Let us worship God in the congregation of the people,
and praise God with our whole being.
Let those whom God has redeemed from trouble, now say:
Give thanks to God, for God is good;
and God’s steadfast love endures for ever.
Amen.
Gospel Reading Mark Chapter 4 verses 35-41
(35) On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” (36) And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. (37) A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. (38) But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (39) He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. (40) He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” (41) And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Talk: Jesus says, “Why are you so afraid?”
Jesus’ question to his disciples sounds on the surface at least, totally daft. The disciples must have been looking at each other and thinking “Can you believe this bloke?” We have just been through a terrifying storm where we have been almost drowned and he’s asking why are we frightened?
I want to leave this question a moment – Don’t worry we will come back to it, but I want to ask another question first
Why does the Gospel writer Mark tell us this story of Jesus and the storm? Some commentators have suggested that it was because Mark’s Church was beginning to face storms. The beginnings of persecution were in the air. At about the time that this gospel was written Christians were perhaps becoming a larger group and a bit more visible. Like any group regarded in some way as strange or foreign they may have been attracting negative attention. Some ancient writers suggested that Christians were even scapegoated for a great fire in Rome by the mad emperor Nero. Various storms of different kinds have continued to part of the experience of people called Christians because storms are part of life
Most of us in Manchester don’t choose to sail the seas or go nearer any larger expanse of water than Heaton Park boating lake.
Yet storms do affect us.
Our lives are massively influenced by things that we cannot control. This true of all of us at both an individual and community level.
We live in a society where just this week our Prime Minister has told us that progress along the road to freedom from pandemic restrictions that the Government planned has been, temporarily at least, brought to a juddering halt because a new variant of the Coronavirus has unexpectedly appeared.
At the G7 meeting of the world’s most powerful nations the leaders talked about what to do about run away climate change without seeming to have much of a plan to .
As a community and country facing a time of great change in our shopping patterns as more people shop on the internet. There is also the combined uncertainties of in changes in the pattern of trade as new Brexit rules bite and business are effected by the continuing Covid restrictions. So, we see familiar shops and businesses closing and our lives seem that bit more uncertain.
This is Refugee Week, and we need to think about the hundreds of people in Manchester who have come to Britain seeking refuge from storms in their own countries – storms of war which have taken the lives of families and friends, storms that have ripped them from their homes, storms which have left them washed up on our shoreline with virtually nothing.
As individuals too we face our storms, our health may give way and we may face illness that seems out of control.
Our relationships may lose their way and as we say go off the rails
How can we deal with these storms?
Sometimes we wish God would give us the power to simply stop them with a word like Jesus, but we are not Jesus and may be that is not the message that we most need to take from the story of Jesus calming the storm on the lake.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, went on a journey to the United States during which he witnessed terrifying storm which nearly sank his wooden sailing ship. The storm was so terrifying that the crew themselves were panicking. Wesley was afraid too. But there was one group of passengers who were not scared. A group of Moravian Christians were smiling and singing hymns. Wesley was both amazed and moved by this, it was something that he always remembered, and it led him to question his own faith and to recognise that he was missing something.
He was missing a sense of assurance that he only discovered years later at Aldersgate Street when his heart was strangely warmed. The assurance that comes from knowing that God’s love surrounds us and will never let us go. The love of God will see us through disaster and even death itself.
This is the faith that we hold onto today.
This is why Jesus asked the disciple, “Why were you afraid?”. Jesus was not suggesting that nothing bad would ever have happened to the disciples or even to him. We need to remember that this was the same Jesus who would die on a cross while still a young man. Jesus was not suggesting that the storm or the prospect of death and drowning were not real. They were very real. No, what Jesus is suggesting is that the love of God is even more real. A love of God that will continue to surround us both in this life and the life to come. This was why they did not need to be afraid, and this was why those Moravians were singing their hymns on the deck of the ship because they believed that whatever happened whether they felt it or not, they were surrounded by God’s love.
This is true for us too. Our lives as individuals and communities are with God – we will face many storms in life and one day those storms will indeed claim us in death, but we do not need to be afraid for as John Wesley said, “The best of all God is with us”.
Some questions to think about?
- What have been the worst “storms” in your life?
- Did your faith help you to deal with the storms you have faced? If so, how?
- Does knowing that you have come through storms in the past help you when you face new challenges?
A song to listen to and reflect on
Praise You in This Storm Natalie Grant
I was sure by now
God, You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say, “Amen” and it’s still rainin’
Well, as the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I’ll raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
And I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
And raised me up again
But my strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can’t find You?
But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as You mercy falls
I’ll raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
And I’ll praise You in this storm…
I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth
I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth
(I lift my eyes unto the hills)
(Where does my help come from?)
And I’ll praise You in this storm…
And though my heart is torn (Though my heart is torn)
I’ll praise You in this storm (Praise you in this storm)
Songwriters: Bernie Herms, John Mark Mark Hall
Hymn: StF 517 “Eternal Father strong to save”
1 Eternal Father, strong to save,
whose arm doth bind the restless wave,
who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.
2 O Saviour, whose almighty word
the winds and waves submissive heard,
who walked upon the foaming deep,
and calm amid its rage didst sleep:
3 O sacred Spirit, who didst brood
upon the chaos dark and rude,
who made its angry tumult cease,
and gavest light and life and peace:
4 O Trinity of love and power,
shield all who sail in danger’s hour;
from rock and tempest, fire and foe,
protect them wheresoe’er they go:
and ever let there rise to thee
glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
William Whiting (1825–1878)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 517.
Prayers (adapted from Roots Prayer of Intercession for 12th Sunday in Ordinary time 2009)
Let us give thanks to our God, for God is good,
and bring our prayers and praises to our creator.
Loving God, you have redeemed your people from trouble
you gather us from east and west,
from north and south to be one people: your people.
Hear our prayers for your children in every land
And join our praises with those of every language:
Let all people say, God’s love endures for ever.
You satisfy the thirsty and fill the hungry with good things.
We pray for those who hunger and thirst,
their soul fainting within them.
Longing for deliverances from the ravages of climate change
for a harvest that will feed their village,
or longing for justice or for peace…
With them we cry to you
that you would deliver them and lead them.
Let all people say, God’s love endures for ever.
You shatter the doors of bronze and cut in two the bars of iron.
We pray for those who sit in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons…
those lawfully convicted and those who have been unjustly detained…
those in prison cells of their own making with no means to escape
for those imprisoned by their own riches, pride or vanity.
With them we cry to you, that you would deliver them and lead them.
Let all people say, God’s love endures for ever.
You bring healing to those in pain,
and raise up the needy from their distress.
We pray for those who are sick in body, mind or spirit…
and those who draw near to the gates of death…
With them we cry to you
that you would deliver them and lead them.
Let all people say, God’s love endures for ever.
You make the storm be still and hush the waves of the sea.
We pray for those who go down to the sea in ships,
and do business on the mighty waters;
Sailors, wind turbine workers, pilots, lifeboat crews and coastguard.
Those who travel for pleasure
And those who journey far to escape violence
or to build a new life.
With them we cry to you, that you would deliver them and lead them.
Let all people say, God’s love endures for ever.
Amen
Hymn: StF 351 “In Christ alone”
1 In Christ alone my hope is found,
he is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.
2 In Christ alone! — who took on flesh,
fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
scorned by the ones he came to save:
till on that cross as Jesus died,
the love of God was glorified
for every sin on him was laid;
here in the death of Christ I live.
3 There in the ground his body lay,
light of the world by darkness slain:
then bursting forth in glorious Day
up from the grave he rose again!
And as he stands in victory,
sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
for I am his and he is mine —
bought with the precious blood of Christ.
4 No guilt in life, no fear in death,
this is the power of Christ in me;
from life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
can ever pluck me from his hand;
till he returns or calls me home,
here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!
Keith Getty (b. 1974) and Stuart Townend (b. 1963)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 351
Words and Music: © 2001, Thankyou Music. Administered by worshiptogether.com Songs, excluding UK & Europe, administered by Kingswaysongs, a division of David C Cook <tym@kingsway.co.uk> Used by permission. Words of verse 2 altered by KS
Blessing
Now may the one who laid the foundations of the earth,
who stills the storm, and hushes the waves of the sea,
speak peace to you, as you go on in your journey.
May you have grace to perceive the one whom even the wind and the sea obey,
and strength to persevere in walking in Christ’s way, now and always.
Amen.
