大象传媒

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.

Opening Announcement:

大象传媒 Radio 4. It鈥檚 ten past eight and time for the fifth of Radio 4鈥檚 Sunday Worship programmes during Lent. The service comes from First Lisburn Presbyterian Church in Co. Antrim, and is led by the minister the Reverend John Brackenridge. The preacher is Rev Cheryl Meban.* The听 service begins now with a motet by the sixteenth century clergyman and composer Thomas Mudd, 鈥淟et thy merciful ears, O Lord鈥�..

LET THY MERCIFUL EARS
Introduction (Rev J Brackenridge)
Jesus said 鈥淣ot everyone who says to me, 鈥淟ord, Lord鈥�, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven鈥�

Good morning 鈥� Our theme today is 鈥楢ctions Speak.鈥� Yesterday was St Patrick鈥檚 Day. Not long after he returned to Ireland as a missionary. Patrick took action that brought him into direct confrontation with the High King and his Druidic priests. The King had ordered that during the Feast of Beltane only one fire, on the Hill of Tara in County Meath should be lit. But it was also the week end of Easter and in defiance the king鈥檚 orders Patrick had an Easter fire set alight on top of the nearby hill of Slane. The enraged king sent his forces to deal with the saint who responded in words from the Psalms: Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God鈥�

Let us pray:
Lord we worship and praise you.
听Your greatness is beyond our understanding
You created all things by your power;
You rule all things in your wisdom;
You love, broader and deeper than we can grasp,
revealed in many ways,
but supremely in your coming to us in Jesus Christ
We bless you for his poured out life; his death on cross for our salvation and That in your power, you raised Him from the dead.
We acknowledge our faults and failures.
Our lack of love, our lack of hope, our lack of faith.
We confess our actions often make a mockery
of the beliefs we profess.
For what we do is often at variance with what we say
and the motivations for many of our actions are often flawed and duplicitous.
Lord we acknowledge our sins and seek the assurance of your pardon in Jesus Christ
Lord, have mercy on us. We long for you to help us.
Make us strong every morning. Save us when we are are in trouble.
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
Grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross,
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.听听 Amen
听
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The Choir of Wallace High School, here in Lisburn, leads our praise in the hymn: We sing the praise of him who died
WE SING THE PRAISE OF HIM WHO DIED (Bow Brickhill)

We read together part of Psalm 107 which tells of how God鈥檚 actions save and help his people

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble听and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town;听hungry and thirsty,听听 their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.
Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
Their hearts were bowed down with hard labour; they fell down, with no one to help.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,听for his wonderful works to humankind.
For he shatters the doors of bronze, and cuts in two the bars of iron.听 Amen

Todays鈥� theme is Actions speak. We鈥檙e thinking particularly of some of the things Jesus did in the last days before the Crucifixion. Through his ministry he put considerable stress on how those who claim to follow him should behave- what actions they are to take.. They should reflect the love of God in their love for other people. In In one his best known parables, the story of the Good Samaritan, he contrasts the actions of the thieves, of the Priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side of the road and of the Samaritan who gave the injured man care and attention. And when he鈥檇 finished the story, he said to the scribe whose question had prompted it. Go and do likewise.

KARIN FINLAY听 A reading from the 12th chapter of the Gospel according to St mark

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 鈥淭ruly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything鈥攁ll she had to live on.鈥�
13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, 鈥淟ook, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!鈥�
听鈥淒o you see all these great buildings?鈥� replied Jesus. 鈥淣ot one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.鈥�
IT IS A THING MOST WONDERFUL

RICHARD MILLEN A reading from the 14th chapter of the Gospel according to St Mark
12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus鈥� disciples asked him, 鈥淲here do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?鈥�
13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, 鈥淕o into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, 鈥楾he Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?鈥� 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.鈥�
16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, 鈥淭ruly I tell you, one of you will betray me鈥攐ne who is eating with me.鈥�
19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, 鈥淪urely you don鈥檛 mean me?鈥�
20 鈥淚t is one of the Twelve,鈥� he replied, 鈥渙ne who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.鈥�
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, 鈥淭ake it; this is my body.鈥�
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 鈥淭his is my blood of the[c] covenant, which is poured out for many,鈥� he said to them. 25 鈥淭ruly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.鈥�
26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

AVE VERUM CORPUS (Elgar)
REV JOHN BRACKENRIDGE The Reverend Cheryl Meban, the Presbyterian Chaplain to the University of Ulster in Belfast will now preach.
Rev C Meban:I wonder have you been drawn into the current trend for courses on the practice of Mindfulness. In a world of screens, sedentary lifestyles and disembodied minds, there is a growing hunger for integration 鈥� a fully assimilated being: mind, spirit and body, taking time to notice and be thankful for ourselves, our breath, muscles, bones, our heartbeat鈥� I once considered meditation dangerous, - a kind of pseudo-spirituality that emphasised human spiritual practices more than the completed work of Christ Jesus. Meditation and mindfulness strike me now as being deeply human activities, like eating and drinking, singing, thinking, playing, praying.
The creation narratives of the book of Genesis affirm both body and breath as image bearers of God鈥檚 life-giving Presence within humans. We love physical buildings, temples, cathedrals, chapels, because their art and architecture use physical space and form to speak of God鈥檚 greatness - and our fragility in contrast to the seeming eternity of stone. Buildings speak. Art speaks. And human creativity proclaims the glory of God. When Jesus visited the temple at Jerusalem, he took the opportunity to remind the disciples of the deeper, Creation narrative: humans made in God鈥檚 image, testimony to God鈥檚 living, relational presence. He called his own body the temple of God鈥檚 presence, in contrast to the cold hard stone of the temple.
鈥淒estroy this temple,鈥� he says,听 鈥渁nd I will raise it in three days.鈥� I suppose no one takes him seriously. No one is going to tear down the temple that took 46 years to build, and then blame Jesus if he doesn鈥檛 rebuild it in three days. It looks like cheap talk, empty words. These words are soon thrown back at him during his trumped up trial. Later when he hangs on a wooden cross, they say, 鈥淵ou were all talk. You saved others but you can鈥檛 save yourself.鈥�
His accusers can鈥檛 see that the one they are mocking is, at that very moment, putting his own words into action. More than words, more than deeds, All his Being Speaks. The Word becomes flesh and dwells among us... .. And so God speaks.听 What does the Word say? What are we able to hear? Only glimpses, surely, of the depth of all God wants to communicate.
Jesus embodies God鈥檚 Word of truth, the Holy Spirit, in a flesh and blood reality. At Christmas, we celebrate the baby Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us, in the vulnerability of a child. Now, on Passion Sunday, as we approach Easter, we remember the man Jesus, soon to be executed, having a last meal with his closest friends. This is my body, he says鈥� Take, Eat, to remember me 鈥� here is mindfulness, bringing the awareness of Spiritual realities to the physical senses. Mindfully eating and drinking.听 Remembering him.
The Communion Meal, which Christians across the centuries have historically called eucharist, after the Greek word for Thanksgiving, is a mindfulness meal. The actual gift of his own life lives on as we remember him, and eat and drink, mindful of his presence and his death for us. This is love in action 鈥� greater Love has no one than to lay down their life for their friends.
For us, though, daily living, daily loving, can be a challenge. What we intend as love can be received as nagging, or a guilt trip, or a martyrdom complex鈥�
We have different languages for communicating our love. Some people are practical and others are ideas people. Some are verbal, others more tactile. Gary Chapman鈥檚 book, The Five Love Languages, illustrates how different temperaments and personalities express their love through different mechanisms. Some value the words, I Love You. Others prize tangible gifts, Some want to spend time together, others need a hug. And some recognise love when it is expressed in acts of service. We need to honour these preferences.
If we insist on using only words, our talk is cheap. In order to Love effectively, we must learn to notice how best to communicate love to each other, not according to OUR preferences, but according to what THEY can best receive. We must respect and value the otherness of the other,听 cherish them as they most need to be cherished, in a language they can hear, see or feel. If we insist on only using the love language that we personally prefer, our message will be lost or misunderstood. The Word became flesh鈥�
Before I was married, I had a postviral fatigue, and, living alone, was too exhausted to clean my house or go out to shop for food. I was frequently听 surprised by, and grateful for, unexpected friends who put their love into action, calling round with a ready meal, helping to wash the dishes or the floor, and I was touched by people who made time to send a note, to let me know they were thinking of me鈥� They put faith and love into action, giving visible signs of care. It was a huge encouragement at a very difficult, frightening and lonely time of my life.
Our faith and love are not about how much we achieve, or how great our success. Jesus saw a powerless and penniless widow putting the tiniest amount in the offering, and understood: She held nothing back. Other peoples鈥� gifts looked bigger, but they didn鈥檛 cost nearly so much, or speak nearly so powerfully. She gave all she had.
As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, 鈥渂y their fruit you shall know them. Not everyone who says to me, 鈥楲ord, Lord,鈥� will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.鈥� So if we say we love God but do not love our neighbour, made in God鈥檚 image, we are liars. Our actions tell the truth of what is in us.
Actions Speak: The disciples all said, Me? I鈥檇 never betray you鈥� and yet, when the time came, one gave the traitor鈥檚 kiss, another denied ever having known Jesus听 and the rest ran away. The history of the Christian Church has always been one of struggling to make our actions match up to our words.
True spiritual practice inspires and empowers us to bless the poor, to comfort those who mourn, to hearten the meek, to transform lives, to give courageously, generously, sacrificially, to feed the hungry, show compassion on those around us,- and be slow to judge people who experience the world differently from us. May we find grace to be kind, generous and merciful, reflecting the character of God -in Word and Deed,- as God in Christ has first loved us.

O SACRED HEAD SORE WOUNDED
Janet Moffett Prayers of Intercession and Lord鈥檚 Prayer
Let us pray We pray for all who have been called by God to proclaim his truth and show his love that they may respond wholeheartedly by committing themselves to the service of your Kingdom, with faith strengthened by a living experience of Christ鈥檚 presence, and with faith and courage to follow where he leads. Encourage them when they feel downhearted or defeated, protect them from any kind of danger, guide them when they are uncertain, through Jesus Christ, Amen

We pray for all the nations of the world and especially this day for the island of Ireland. We remember those parts of your world that are blighted by violence and oppression, by epidemic, by poverty or hunger. Lord of all the earth, your desire is that all its people should live in peace and health, so bless the work of all who strive to bring peace between warring factions, who help to bind up wounds, to improve health and nutrition- all who have seen the world鈥檚 needs and strive to meet them. Through Jesus Christ, Amen

We pray for people who are confused and uncertain of what they should be doing, those who feel they have in some way failed; those for whom the future seems particularly bleak or hopeless those whose lives have been turned upside down by the death of a loved one or by a radical change听 their circumstances Give them we pray your guidance, comfort and support through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And these and all our prayers we offer in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord who taught us to pray:

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 this day our daily bread听 and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.听And lead us not into temptation but deliver us听听听 from evil for Thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever.听 Amen

THE ROYAL BANNERS FORWARD GO
THE Blessing
A PRAYER OF ST PATRICK (Rutter)