大象传媒

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.

大象传媒 Radio 4. And now for this week鈥檚 Sunday Worship we go live to the Church of St Collen in Llangollen where the service is led by the Rev鈥檇 Mary Stallard

ITEM 1听INTRODUCTION:听听MARY STALLARD听听
In the name of the God of hope, good morning and welcome.
It鈥檚 been a momentous week of change for the United Kingdom following the Referendum which has stirred up strong passions in many and revealed divisions within our country and across Europe.
听
You join us in the picturesque Dee Valley of North Wales Llangollen is a place which, since the aftermath of the second world war has a history of seeking to heal wounds and to search for hope through its annual international Eisteddfod听 鈥� its famous music festival - which next week celebrates its 70th anniversary. Choirs are an integral part of Welsh culture and especially of Eisteddfodai. And we鈥檙e delighted that one of the foremost choirs in Wales, The Sirenian Singers, are with us this morning.
听
Perhaps especially through times of change and uncertainty music offers a rich vehicle for communication and inspiration: voices blending in harmony offering signs of hope and our human potential for creativity and unity.
听
The words of Timothy Dudley-Smith鈥檚 hymn 鈥業 Lift My Eyes to the Quiet Hills鈥� have been set by the composer Bob Chilcott. They encourage us that God will direct our vision.

ITEM 2听MUSIC 1听CHOIR / PIANO听听
I LIFT MY EYES TO THE QUIET HILLS - Chilcott

ITEM 3听PRAYER听MARY

听听God, source of inspiration and peace, breathe your love into our hearts that we may grow in friendship and trust with you and one another.听听 Grant us vision, patience and insight to rediscover your presence and heal divisions of politics, gender, race or creed. We make this prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.听听

ITEM 4听LINK听 MARY听
The tradition of welcoming guests to Llangollen from all over the world for the international Eisteddfod has been extended recently
by the Bishop of St Asaph who invited the American writer, speaker and spiritual teacher Mark Yaconelli for a six-month residency in this diocese.听听听 Mark is here to encourage us to explore and share stories of who we are; to help us locate stories that point to Christ鈥檚 work of healing and reconciliation.听 Mark is our preacher this morning, but he begins with a story very much from his own culture.

ITEM 5听MARK YACONELLI听听听听 STORY
听听
听My friend Jane calls herself a 鈥渉orse-therapist.鈥� She takes horses that are abused and mistreated and brings them back to their natural selves. Recently she told me about a black mustang that had spent its whole life within a small, dark shed eating oats from a tin bucket, drinking water from a metal trough.
When Jane found the neglected horse she immediately brought it down to a 100 acre meadow and set up camp. 鈥淔or days,鈥� she told me, 鈥渢he horse stood by her tent, following her around, begging for food and water. It was so accustomed to tin buckets and metal troughs that it did not recognize the grass as food nor the stream as water.鈥�
Finally, in desperation. The horse went down to the creek, brushed its nose across the water and realized: 鈥淭his is water!鈥� and began to drink. A few hours later, half-starved, it put its head down and pulled up a clump of grass and ate it and suddenly recognized, 鈥淚 am surrounded by food!鈥澨�
I asked Jane, 鈥淲hat happened when the horse realized it was standing in a field of food and fresh water?鈥�
鈥淗e ran.鈥� She told me. 鈥淭he horse took off and kicked and ran. That鈥檚 the moment I love most.鈥� She said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I do this work. To see that joy in the eyes when a creature suddenly realizes it鈥檚 alive, it has everything it needs.鈥�

ITEM 6听听LINK MARY听

Deep listening 鈥� to God and to one another - is at the heart of every act of worship. That, and praise of the Lord our God is always appropriate, even especially in times of uncertainty. As the ramifications of Friday鈥檚 referendum begin to be thought about in detail, we sing a hymn which recalls the source of every story and the goal of all our learning, Through all the Changing scenes of life.

ITEM 7听MUSIC 2听听听 CHOIR / ORGAN
听
HYMN:听Through all the changing scene of life(tune Wiltshire)

ITEM 8听听LINK听MARY STALLARD听听
听听
Uncovering the profound truths of our collective lives through story telling is an age old practice.听 鈥楢rchetypal truths鈥� embedded in ancient stories, myths, rhymes and folk tales have found their way to us down through the centuries, reminding us of our shared humanity, our common failures and desires.听 听听But, of course, being honest with ourselves, facing things we鈥檇 rather not, is difficult.
听听And so we ask God to have mercy on us and to forgive us for the times when we鈥檝e failed to act out of love.

ITEM 9听PRAYERS
Creator God, you give us so many opportunities to grow but we often fail to listen to you and to others:听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Saving God, you show us the way of love, but many times we submit to the desire to put ourselves first whilst others struggle.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Life-giving Spirit, you give us new potential each day. Give us courage to seek healing and reconciliation in the face of difference and discord.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Generous God, Help us to have courage to grow, learn and to work for the good of all and the building of your Kingdom. Amen.听 [1.00]

ITEM 11听MUSIC 3听听听听听 CHOIR/PIANO
SANCTUS. from Bob Chilcott鈥� A Little Jazz Mass

ITEM 12听听LINK MARY
Some of the most inspiring stories in Western culture are found in the Gospels. But sometimes the message is mysterious and puzzling - as we hear now in the Gospel reading set for today by the Revised Common Lectionary.听 It鈥檚 chapter 9 of Luke鈥檚 Gospel where Jesus鈥� choices and priorities present a challenge to those who would follow him.听 [33]

ITEM 13听听READING
Luke 9:51-62 New International Version (NIV)
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, 鈥淟ord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?鈥� But Jesus turned and rebuked them.听 Then he and his disciples went to another village. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, 鈥淚 will follow you wherever you go.鈥� Jesus replied, 鈥淔oxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. 鈥滺e said to another man, 鈥淔ollow me. 鈥滲ut he replied, 鈥淟ord, first let me go and bury my father.鈥� Jesus said to him, 鈥淟et the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.鈥� Still another said, 鈥淚 will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.鈥� Jesus replied, 鈥淣o one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.鈥澨�听 [1.32]

ITEM 15听听MUSIC 4听Choir / Organ
HYMN:听听听听 Sing of the Lord鈥檚 goodness

ITEM 16听听SERMON PART 1听MARK YACONELLI听
SERMON PART 1听听听听 MARK YACONELLI
When my family and I came to Wales from the United States, my neighbors told me a story to help me understand the Welsh people. It goes like this:
A ship traveling through the South Pacific sinks in a storm. A Welshman survives the wreck--washes up onto a tropical island. Alone and stranded, he waits for rescue, but for months rescue doesn鈥檛 come. Timber from the sunken ship, collects on the beach and the man gathers the wood and builds a home, a pub, and other structures exactly like his village back in Wales.
Two years go by and eventually the castaway is spotted by a passing ship. When the rescue crew arrives they are astounded at what the Welshman has constructed鈥攁n exact replica of his village. But then they notice there are two churches. 鈥淲hy a second church?鈥� They ask, 鈥淲ell, says the Welshman. That鈥檚 the church I go to. And that鈥檚 the church I don鈥檛 go to.鈥�
Now that鈥檚 a tale that could be told of many denominations and nationalities!听 Often the stories given to us by family and culture sort the world into categories of good and bad, holy and profane, winners and losers, deserving and undeserving.
In contrast to most of us, Jesus is not entombed within the limiting stereotypes and stories of his family and culture. Jesus belongs to no group. He is homeless, living free within the present moment. Jesus encourages us to leave the old stories of us and them, to step away from the safe and comfortable, to move toward what is alive, sacred and meaningful.
He calls us out from families stuck in patterns of hurt and shame, invites us to a place where we can see one another without prejudice, without categories, without a script鈥�He invites us to live with hearts that love and hands that heal.听听听
There is a place, Jesus tells us, where all fears are comforted, all divisions mended. A place where we will not be stranded nor orphaned. A place, as St Paul puts it 鈥� where we will know and be known.

ITEM 17听听MUSIC 5听听听听听听听 CHOIR / ORGAN听
Hymn听Be Thou My Vision听听听 Rutter.

ITEM 18听听SERMON PART 2听听MARK听
鈥淚f my life were a movie,鈥� a friend said to me recently. 鈥淚 would either fall asleep or ask for my money back. It鈥檚 so repetitive. The main character never learns anything. It鈥檚 the same storyline over and over and over again.鈥澨�听
In our reading from Luke, Jesus is walking to the sacred city of Jerusalem.听 And he invites us to walk with him. He calls us to step out of our repetitive, two-dimensional lives of eating and sleeping, buying and consuming, working and escaping. He invites us to stop participating in everything, anything that dulls or diminishes us.
鈥淟et the dead bury the dead.鈥� He says to us. 鈥淏etter to live out in the open, without den, or nest, or home then to be half-alive, stuck within the predictable storylines of the man-made world.鈥澨�
Jesus is seeking to free us from the stories we tell ourselves--a story called: Violence is Necessary. A story titled Conform to the Expectations of Others. A story called You are What You Own. A story titled I Don鈥檛 Deserve Love.
Jesus breaks through the duality of good and bad, holy and profane, by inviting us to follow the heart鈥檚 deepest longings鈥攖o befriend the outcast, to see the humanity of our enemy, to hold a real affection for our own precious life.听
Jesus is trying to draw out the angels of our better nature by calling us to live in God as free and loving people. And we know what he is doing. We know what brings life and what brings dullness and despair.
鈥淐hoose life not death鈥� is the old and ancient Jewish teaching.听 And yet so many of us find it difficult to choose what we know is spiritually lifegiving. Instead, we engage in activities that leave us anxious and disconnected.听听
In the West we鈥檙e trained to busy ourselves with our own fearful self-protection until our passions, our hunger and thirst for meaning is dulled and dampened, and we find ourselves living a life we don鈥檛 believe in.
So we turn on the computer, look at our phones, watch television and distract our yearning hearts for another day.听听 We seek distraction after distraction until life begins to lose its colour and mystery.
But Jesus takes our despair seriously. He is an instigator in the prison of human culture. He knows our emptiness is trying to tell us something and he invites us to take our hunger, our yearning for life seriously.
One of the great Christian 鈥渟orters,鈥� a true doctor of the human soul, was Ignatius of Loyola. His great art was discernment鈥攖he prayerful process of sifting through our human experience in a way that helps us see where life is opening up or blocked. One of his great tools was a little prayer called The Examen, in which he invited a seeker to pray over their day, noticing the moments when grace--life, love, creativity, the Spirit--broke through.
Ignatius then asked them to pray through their day a second time with the purpose of naming moments of lifelessness--moments when they felt stuck, anxious, dry, isolated, closed off to God鈥檚 love.
The reason Ignatius asks people to pray a second time was because he knew that in order to locate the living water of God we shouldn鈥檛 hold only what is life-giving, but also what is hollow and burdensome. Both experiences are fruitful, helping us understand where to direct the heart鈥檚 attention.听
If we are to follow Jesus, then we must begin to move toward what matters. Like Jesus we must seek to tell a new story. A story called Compassion. A story called Love is Greater than Hate. A story called Your Enemy is Your Brother. A story entitled, You Don鈥檛 Know How Beautiful You Are.

ITEM 19听听LINK听MARY
Conscious of the daunting nature of Christ鈥檚 call, we ask for the gift of God鈥檚 help and grace 鈥� A prayer echoed in Bernadette Farrell鈥檚 song 鈥淩enew me Lord鈥�.

ITEM 20听听MUSIC 6听CHOIR / ORGAN听听
HYMN: Renew me Lord.听听 Bernadette Farrell.

ITEM 21听听READER:
Let us pray:
听听Living God, we thank you for the diversity with which you bless our world and for the opportunities we have to share ideas and concerns and to learn new things.听听 Following the referendum, help us and our leaders to be faithful and respectful to one another. Enable us to work together for the common good.

Living Lord Jesus, source of hope, thank you that you are always with us, help us to recognise your peace and presence in our lives today.听

We pray for all who face hard decisions or difficult situations.
Grace us with gifts to listen with care and with courage to share openly, seeking life in all its fullness.

For all in great need, and the families and friends of those whose lives and stories reflect the pain and violence of our world.
Bless all who are hurting; be close to those who feel raw with sorrow or grief at this time. Touch our hearts and help us to bring hope and healing to others.

We pray for God鈥檚 blessing upon our lives: Lord speak to us in ways that we can understand and help us to respond with grace.
Amen.听 Amen

ITEM 23听听LORD鈥橲 PRAYER 听MARY/CONG
Holy God, we pray for the coming of your Kingdom, as Jesus taught us.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.听 For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever, Amen.听

ITEM 24听听LINK听听MARY听
Our final hymn this morning sends us out to the world, confident that the God who made us knows us, loves us and wants us to show this love to others with grateful hearts,听 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty the King of Creation
ITEM 25听MUSIC 8听CHOIR/ORGAN
HYMN:听Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Lobe Den Herren)

ITEM 26听听BLESSING 听REV. MARY STALLARD
And now our blessing:

1.听听May the God of grace and hope, protect us from harm and guide us always towards that which is true and life-giving,
so that:

2.听听The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Companionship of the Holy Spirit may be known through all our deeds and in our friendship this day and always.

3.听听And may the Blessing of God [Father, Son and Holy Spirit] be with us all evermore.听 Amen.听 [31]

ITEM 27听听ORGAN PLAYOUT.听听CHRISTOPHER ENSTON
Prelude & fugue in Eb major by JS Bach

This morning鈥檚 Sunday Worship from the Church of St. Collen, Llangollen, north Wales was led by the Rev鈥檇 Mary Stallard.听 The preacher was Mark Yaconelli.听听 The Sirenian Singers, Lynda Boylett on the flute, were directed by Jean Stanley-Jones and accompanied by Christopher Enston.听 The producer was Karen Walker.
Next week鈥檚 Sunday Worship comes live from Solihull school鈥�
Applications are currently open for 大象传媒 Radio 2 Young Choristers of the Year 2016. Details of how to apply can be found on the Sunday Worship webpage.