大象传媒

Opening anno: 大象传媒 Radio 4. Time now for Sunday Worship which today comes from Londonderry celebrating听 the season of All Saints. It is introduced by Susan Thomas.

Script

Please note:
This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.
It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

SUSAN THOMAS
Welcome to First Derry Presbyterian Church in the centre of Londonderry, just across the street from the city鈥檚 early seventeenth century walls. The congregation has worshipped on this site since 1690 when it was granted to them by Queen Mary (as a reward for their loyalty during the Siege of Derry )
We鈥檙e conscious of our heritage, of the thousands of people who have worshipped here and served God in and through this congregation, often at times of considerable difficulty and stress. The letter to the Hebrews says:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,
So we give thanks to God for all the saints.

MUSIC (1)HYMN听听 For all the saints听 who from their labours rest (SINE NOMINE)

SUSAN THOMAS
Let us pray
Lord God we worship and adore you..
We acknowledge your greatness and your glory.
You are the maker of all things.
You made us in your own image.

In every age you have summoned people to follow and serve you
Stumblingly and haltingly they have obeyed the call
to proclaim your grace and in serving you to reflect your truth and glory.

In love you promise to support and keep them.
In love you came to us in Jesus Christ
to rescue us from our own futility and purposelessness
to forgive us our sins and restore us to eternal life.

With your people in every age and in every place, on earth and in heaven,
Acclaim your praise and glory.
听
We acknowledge that we have not been the people we should be
Not the people we often fondly imagine ourselves to be
Not the people you want us to be
We can be reluctant witnesses for you,
Our service is often marred by seeking the easy way
And offering you that which costs us little or nothing at all.
Our lives often signally fail to display the love and compassion of Jesus Christ.

We confess these and all our other faults and failures.
Se seek your pardon, claiming your promise that you are faithful and just
To forgive us our sins when we confess them
God of unfailing light, in your realm of glory
the poor are blessed, the hungry filled,
and every tear is wiped away.
Strengthened by this vision,
may we follow in the way of holiness
that your Son made known in life and death.
And in his name we offer all our prayers. Amen.

Many of the earliest people considered saints were martyrs, a word that originally meant witnesses. Codetta, our Choir today sings the American Spiritual Who'll be a witness for my Lord?听
MUSIC (2)CHOIR:听 Who'll be a witness for my Lord?听 (American Spiritual)
听READER 1 A reading from the 62nd chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. Hear the Word of God
For Zion鈥檚 sake I will not keep silent,
听听 and for Jerusalem鈥檚 sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
听听 and her salvation like a burning torch.
听The nations shall see your vindication,
听听 and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
听听 that the mouth of the LORD will give.
听You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,
听听 and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
听You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
听听 and your land shall no more be termed Desolate

听Go through, go through the gates,
听听 prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway,
听听 clear it of stones,
听听 lift up an ensign over the peoples.
听The LORD has proclaimed
听听 to the end of the earth:
Say to daughter Zion,
听听 鈥楽ee, your salvation comes;
his reward is with him,
听听 and his recompense before him.鈥�
听They shall be called, 鈥楾he Holy People,
听听 The Redeemed of the LORD鈥�;
and you shall be called, 鈥楽ought Out,
听听 A City Not Forsaken.鈥�

SUSAN THOMAS: At times this city has felt forsaken, especially in the difficult times everyone knows as the Troubles. During those times we all had to cling on, but words like thethat reading we鈥檝e just heard听 and those of our next hymn by Bishop Timothy Dudley Smith to remind us that God always makes his presence known to those who call on his name: 鈥極 Christ the same through all our story's pages, our loves and hopes, our failures and our fears ;鈥�
MUSIC (3)HYMN听 O Christ the Same (Londonderry Air)
READER 2 A reading from the 1st Chapter of St Pau鈥檚 letter to the Ephesians. Hear the word of God.
听I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

SUSAN THOMAS: "When our preacher this morning The Revd Dr David Latimer became Minister of First Derry Presbyterian Church in 1988 there was a wrapping of tall security fencing outside, the windows were covered in protective material and steel shutters were fixed to the doors. Inside was dark and dismal because no natural light was getting in. A few years later there was a serious outbreak of dry rot. After a complete refurbishment the congregation resolved that this was to be a shared space not only for worship but for outreach and friendship to people of all traditions.. Reaching out the hand of friendship to everyone is central to our mission today. How could it be otherwise with Jesus Christ as our vision?听 The Choir sings Be thou my vision, in the original Irish.

MUSIC (4)CHOIR听 The Cloud's Veil (Liam Lawton)听听听 or听 Rob t煤 mo bhoile听听 (Traditional听 Irish, arranged G Stewart)

REV DR LATIMER听 SERMON
Last week I met a man I haven鈥檛 seen for nearly 10 years. Before we parted company he said, here鈥檚 a story for you 鈥� a man went to see his minister after his brother died. 鈥淵our Reverence鈥�, he said, I鈥檇 like you to bury my brother Jimmy and during the eulogy I want you to tell everybody he was a saint. The minister replied 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 do that; I knew your brother - he was a cheat, a liar and a thief. 鈥� And the man said 鈥淚f you tell everyone he was a saint I鈥檒l write you a cheque for 拢10,000 for your new church roof.鈥�
On the day of the funeral, when it came to the eulogy, the minister听 began by saying, 鈥淓verybody knows Jimmy had a colourful life and that he was renowned for his cheating, lying and thieving., but continued the priest, evil and sinful as Jimmy was, compared to his brother he was a saint!鈥�
And that in a curious sort of way made me ask myself , what is a saint? An appropriate question on All Saints Day, In the first 300 years or so of the church most of those considered saints were martyrs who had died because of their faith. This was broadened after the persecution of Christians decreased and a more elaborate procedure was introduced so that the church canonized saints who essentially were famous and influential church people who departed this life. Saints were the dead religious heroes who were up in heaven, living close to God, listening to peoples鈥� requests and pleas and interceding for them with God..
During and after the Reformation Protestants rejected any idea of people using saints to intercede for them. From this time onwards, Protestants tended to think of saints as followers of Christ here or our Christian loved ones who had died and gone to be with God. So Charles Wesley could write, 鈥渓et saints on earth in concert sing with those whose work is done鈥� So Christians of different denominations thought and still think of saints in different ways.

Interestingly, in the New Testament, with one exception, when Paul tells the Philippians to greet every saint, , the word is always plural- saints,. There is little concept of the individual saint like Saint Peter, Saint Paul or Saint John. The word is 鈥渟aints鈥� which means God's holy people, people who are different. What's more in the New Testament saints are not dead people living up in heaven. Saints are living people living down here on earth.
So how do you and I in the 21st century regard saints? Do they still exist and if they do what might they look like and who are they?? Sometimes we use the word about someone who maybe appears just a wee bit too good to be true. Or we can apply the word to someone who has a lot to put up with and seems to do it in quite an uncomplaining way. Or we might say almost virtuously, 鈥淲ell, I鈥檓 no saint鈥�
After 27 years of imprisonment for his role in the anti-apartheid struggle Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa. His forgiveness of those who had imprisoned him was remarkable resulting in widespread acclaim and praise. Mandela however frequently deflected accolades by saying, 鈥淚'm no saint - that is, unless you think a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.鈥�
This quite amazing statement, 鈥渁 saint is a sinner who keeps on trying,鈥� should reassure and encourage people regardless of what they look like, how they pray or who they love. Amazingly, with God, every weed has the potential to be a rose! So no one should never lose hope or think of giving up because every sinner has the potential to be a saint.. And something else worth remembering - God cares a lot more about who we are becoming than about who we once were. He cares that we keep on trying.
Living on planet earth in the twenty first century we're acutely aware of how messy life can be.听 There are no ready mix and stir formula's to suddenly make everybody good and saint-like. So, whether we suffer because of troubled relationships, economic challenges, illness or disability there is an unseen divine presence moving around the battlefield of life ready to bind up the broken hearted, give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness . No matter what, with that dimension of assistance frrom the Maker of heaven and earth, who never slumbers and never sleeps, we can keep right on to the end of the road and all will, in the end, be well.
Today we remember all saints 鈥� people like us who were flawed and yet used by God to do divine things
Today we remember all the deeply faithful and deeply flawed saints of God's church through whom his goodness has been revealed, is being revealed and will be revealed 鈥� people such as Mary Magdalene, Peter the fisherman and the early disciples. St Patrick, St Columba, St Francis, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King. People like this and countless others who aren't in the headlines, and yet through their ordinary acts of kindness and deeds of love bring the Kingdom of Heaven closer to earth.
Somehow God gathers us all up into the divine love of Christ and makes us a Body both now and in the life to come. Even those whose names are eventually forgotten are always and forever held in the light of God in glory.
I began this sermon by asking what is a saint. As I finish I'm ready to declare that a saint is not restricted to the early martyrs or the many religious heroes who became famous. Important as these people were and continue to be in the different denominations of the church they are not and cannot be the alpha and omega of sainthood because a saint, according to the Bible, is any person through whom the light of God shines to inspire those around them and lift them up to be better people. That more or less means we can all be a saint and I鈥檓 happy with that, but only if it means that a saint is in effect a sinner who just keeps on trying!!听听

Music (5) CHOIR听 Set your hearts on the higher gifts (Steve Warner )

SUSAN THOMAS听 We bring before you our needs and the needs of people everywhere, trusting that you will hear us as we pray
READER 3 Lord God help your church to be holy and faithful. Bless this congregation and all the congregations of this cityeverywhere, that your people everywhere, inspired by the example of those who have gone before us, may lead lives that reflect the character of Jesus and so display His light and love to the whole world. Help the Church to uplift and support all these those with whom it comes into contact with and proclaim the Good News of your truth and grace, to the Glory of your name.
听READER 4 Creator of all things , we pray for your world and all its peoples, especially areas of tension like the Middle East.s. Guide those in authority to work that justice and peace may prevail. We remember those who are hungry or in the grips of poverty; the oppressed and refugees, victims of violence; and those whose lives have been catastrophically turned upside down.. Give to all your children a sense of hope and bless the efforts of all who seek to bring comfort to the sorrowing, food to the hungry and support to the poor.
READER 3 God of Healing, we remember those whose lives are darkened by pain or sickness, fear or depression, loneliness or old age. Take from them resentment and bitterness, but give them strength and peace And support and encourage those those seek to minister to their needs that they may know and share the compassion of Christ.
READER 4 Lord of life and conqueror of death, we praise you for the hope of eternal life you have given us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and pray for those who are mourning the death of someone they love that they may experience that peace which passes understanding and know that neither death for life can separate them from your love in Jesus Christ.听

SUSAN THOMAS听 We听 praise and bless you for those
who throughout the ages made known your love and truth
and who now rejoice with you in heaven.
For the great heroes of the faith
and for the countless numbers who in the quietness of their lives
sought to serve and obey you
especially those known to us
Grant that we may follow their example,
and come to share with them
the glory of everlasting life.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord who with the Father and the Holy Spirit is worshipped and glorified for ever.
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallow'd be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil
for Thine is the kingdom the power
and the glory for ever and ever.听 Amen
Our final hymn calls on angels and saints in earth and in heaven to join together in praising God 鈥� Ye Holy Angels Bright

HYMN听 MUSIC (6)听 Ye holy angels bright听 (Darwall鈥檚 148th)

REV REV DR DR LATIMER God give you grace to follow the saints in faith, hope and love
And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you all.听 AMEN

MUSIC (7)听 The lord bless you and keep you (Rutter)
Organ听