大象传媒

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast.聽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,聽and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.ORDER:
大象传媒 Radio 4. It鈥檚 ten past eight and time for Sunday Worship: Meeting in Lockdown.聽The preacher is the Revd Dr Paul Mathole, Rector of Holy Trinity Platt in South Manchester.聽The service is introduced by Youth and Children鈥檚 Minister Sarah Bradley聽
SARAH brief intro and intros Paul
Good morning and welcome on this the first Sunday after Easter.聽It鈥檚 been an odd few weeks, but I guess we鈥檙e getting used to listening or watching church services online at the moment,聽and what a joy it is to still be able to connect in this way. We鈥檙e a church just outside the city centre of Manchester,聽and we鈥檙e right by a park鈥� on sunny days the streets and parks would usually be full of people enjoying the fresh air and meeting with friends and family,聽but at the moment as you can imagine it鈥檚 all very quiet. For many of us, this quietness is both important and helpful.聽It can give us time to reflect on what鈥檚 happening in our world at the moment, and consider lives cut short,聽families grieving and refocus on God to whom we look for help and strength.聽And it鈥檚 helpful therefore, to still be able to come together to meet God in his word, sing his praises,聽bring our requests to him and enjoy worshipping together.聽

Music 1: Now the green blade riseth
PAUL: Now the green blade riseth, recorded by our church鈥檚 musicians in 2015, with soloist Katie Ritson.
PAUL:Let鈥檚 pray:聽Keep us, good Lord,under the shadow of your mercyin this time of uncertainty and distress.Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,and lift up all who are brought low;that we may rejoice in your comfortknowing that nothing can separate usfrom your lovein Christ Jesus our Lord.聽Amen.
The lockdown is on everyone鈥檚 mind. In the Easter story, in the aftermath of what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem,聽the disciples were also in lockdown. We鈥檙e revisiting that story today as we think about what it might mean for us.聽
Like many other churches across the country, we鈥檝e been doing things very differently in recent weeks! We鈥檙e doing music differently too:聽the rest of the songs you鈥檒l hear today have been recorded this week in people鈥檚 homes.聽Under our Music Director, Olly Hamilton, our musicians follow a 鈥済uide track鈥� to record themselves, and then it鈥檚 all been edited together.聽SARAH - Our next song - the wonderful words of Amazing Grace - remind us of all that Jesus has done for us.聽This setting (what鈥檚 the right word?) by Chris Tomlin.
Music 2: Amazing GraceAmazing graceHow sweet the soundThat saved a wretch like meI once was lost, but now I'm foundWas blind, but now I see'Twas grace that taught my heart to fearAnd grace my fears relievedHow precious did that grace appearThe hour I first believed
My chains are goneI've been set freeMy God, my Savior has ransomed meAnd like a flood His mercy rainsUnending love, Amazing grace
The Lord has promised good to meHis word my hope securesHe will my shield and portion beAs long as life endures
My chains are goneI've been set freeMy God, my Savior has ransomed meAnd like a flood His mercy rainsUnending love, Amazing graceMy chains are鈥�
SARAH:Normally on a Sunday morning, as our Youth and Children鈥檚 minister, I get to chat with our children of all ages鈥β燽ut it鈥檚 one of the things I can鈥檛 do at the moment...聽I love people鈥� I鈥檓 the classic extrovert who gets energy from spending time with people鈥� so this is hard!
We鈥檝e all been trying to think creatively about how we keep connected when we can鈥檛 physically be together
Like many churches I imagine鈥� we鈥檙e meeting with our young people online鈥�and trying to do some of the things we would normally do鈥β燽ut they don鈥檛 all work!What do you think of these things? Would they work online?
Playing Volleyball鈥� no way! Impossible to pass the ball!Pass the parcel鈥� again, sadly no鈥� only the person who starts with the parcel will win!Sharing a cake鈥� this has got to be the hardest, when you share an online meal with someone,聽and see what they鈥檙e eating and it looks tastier than what you鈥檙e eating - and there鈥檚 no way to share!We can鈥檛 do those things鈥� but there are things we can do..聽
We鈥檙e finding games we can play online, drawing games, quizzes and house scavenger hunt style games
And importantly we can still reading the Bible and talking about it together, we can still pray for one another,聽and we can still share news, talk about things that we鈥檙e worried about, things that are making us sad,聽as well as things we鈥檙e grateful for so we can encourage each other

We want to try and keep things feeling normal, even when it actually feels strange!And maybe you鈥檝e asked the question鈥� will this be forever? Will life ever be the same again?
First Easter- disciples knew that feeling- locked in a room, feeling like things were never going to be the same again,聽like they were never going to see Jesus again, like life had changed forever鈥β�
But in the reading we鈥檒l hear later in the service, we see that Jesus comes and stands among them鈥β燭he totally alive, physically there Jesus stands with them and eats with them.聽He shows them- he鈥檚 alive!聽They can see him, touch him and eat with him and it鈥檚 wonderful.The disciples were worried that things had changed forever鈥� they were right, things had changed forever - but in the most amazing way.Jesus came and showed them he had come back to life, that he had beaten sin and death鈥β燼nd there will be an end to their separation and their sadness! Made possible because of Jesus.聽
That鈥檚 good news for us today too, as we face hard and sad times- Jesus is alive today,聽understands all we鈥檙e facing and is with us in it all - and that鈥檚 good news that we need to hear.聽
Music 3: Before the Throne聽Before the throne of God aboveI have a strong and perfect pleaA great High Priest whose name is loveWho ever lives and pleads for meMy name is graven on His handsMy name is written on His heartI know that while in heav'n He standsNo tongue can bid me thence departNo tongue can bid me thence depart
When Satan tempts me to despairAnd tells me of the guilt withinUpward I look and see Him thereWho made an end of all my sinBecause the sinless Savior diedMy sinful soul is counted freeFor God the Just is satisfiedTo look on Him and pardon meTo look on Him and pardon me
Behold Him there, the risen LambMy perfect, spotless RighteousnessThe great unchangeable I AMThe King of glory and of graceOne with Himself I cannot die,My soul is purchased by His blood;My life is hid with Christ on high,With Christ, my Savior and my God.




PAUL
Anna Sims is one of our Mission Partners, working with the Church Mission Society.聽She lives and works in Peru. She's involved in a ministry to women in prison. We asked her,聽"what's life and ministry like for you, under lockdown?"聽
Anna Sims:I work with a prison ministry here in Peru鈥檚 capital, Lima.聽I care for female non Peruvian inmates who have been arrested for drug trafficking and I also help ex-offenders readjust to life outside prison whilst they remain in Lima.
Due to the tight restrictions and curfews, I am currently not allowed to visit the prisoners or meet our group of ex-offenders.聽But I can still take bags of toilet paper, toiletries and food to the prisons,聽and speak to the inmates who often ring me from the prison鈥檚 payphones.聽As none of the ex-offenders can work during the lockdown, we support them by phone and financially.聽My colleague leads online Bible studies with the ex-offenders, helping them to stay connected during lockdown.
During a recent phone call, one of the inmates shared that she is keeping a gratitude diary.聽Earlier that day, she had heard a pigeon cooing for the first time in 7 months.聽I was encouraged that if she can find things to be thankful for in her prison cell, how much more can I, in my locked down flat.
And even though I鈥檝e worked in prison ministry for 6 years, I might have still been taking that freedom for granted until now.聽May God use this time to give all of us more empathy for people with less freedom.


Reading: Ally MacGregor - Luke 24:36-49 New International Version
The reading is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, beginning at verse 36聽
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 鈥淧eace be with you.鈥�37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them,聽鈥淲hy are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet.聽It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.鈥�40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.聽41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement,聽he asked them, 鈥淒o you have anything here to eat?鈥澛�42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them,聽鈥淭his is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,聽47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.聽48 You are witnesses of these things.聽
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
((SARAH: We鈥檙e going to hear one of the more popular Easter songs by Stuart Townend now.聽It鈥檚 called Resurrection Hymn and tells the earlier story of Mary meeting Jesus outside the garden tomb on the first Easter morning,聽before he met the other disciples. Afterwards, our Rector Paul Mathole will preach.))
Music 4: See what morningSee what a morning, gloriously brightWith the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;Folded the grave-clothesTomb filled with light,As the angels announce Christ is risen!See God鈥檚 salvation plan, wrought in love,Borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,Fulfilled in Christ, the Man, for He lives,Christ is risen from the dead!
See Mary weeping: 鈥榃here is He laid?As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;Hears a voice speaking, calling her name:It鈥檚 the Master, the Lord raised to life again!The voice that spans the years,Speaking life, stirring hope,Bringing peace to us,Will sound till He appears,For He lives, Christ is risen from the dead!
One with the Father, Ancient of Days,Through the SpiritWho clothes faith with certainty,Honour and blessing, glory and praiseTo the King crownedWith power and authority!And we are raised with Him,Death is dead, love has wonChrist has conquered;And we shall reign with Him,For he lives, Christ is risen from the dead!PAUL: Sermon
Luke 24:36-43 Theme: Meeting in Lockdown
Lockdown continues. It鈥檚 essential. It saves lives. But even as it protects our physical bodies,聽it reminds us everyday of what we desperately need - physical human contact.
You might have heard on the Today programme, there was a powerful interview this week with a woman who recently lost her husband to Covid-19.聽It was on the day of their 43rd wedding anniversary.聽
She spoke words that have deeply moved many in our church family, and no doubt many far beyond.聽She said, 鈥淎part from the medical staff that he saw when he had to, John was alone for a week.聽I was alone at home, and I鈥檓 now alone at home, nobody can give me a hug. My friends have rallied round,聽my church and everybody have been fabulous, but nobody can give me a hug鈥�
For some of us, lockdown feels like a kind of death. A loss of human touch... of physical connectedness... of a hug or a kiss.
In the events after Easter, Luke turns his attention to the disciples in lockdown.聽They had seen Jesus taken to be crucified; their Lord dead and buried in a stone tomb.聽Luke picks up the story of Jesus鈥� followers, now shut in together, fearful of outside, of what might happen.聽I can only imagine the stress levels must have been pretty high.聽
I鈥檇 love to have been a fly on the wall as Jesus suddenly appears. There, right in the midst of them.聽
Now, they think it鈥檚 a ghost. 鈥淧eace be with you鈥� Jesus says, and well he might. Because pretty understandably,聽聽they are freaking out鈥� 鈥淎ngels and Ministers of grace defend us!鈥� comes to mind...
And that鈥檚 what Luke wants to address. 鈥淪ee my hands and feet鈥�, Jesus says. 鈥淭ouch and handle where the nails went in鈥�.聽Here I am, flesh and bones, scars and sinew. And he gives that most ordinary and universal proof...聽he eats some food with them - presumably whatever had been the catch of the day!
Amid it all they are a heady mix of joy and near disbelief.
What Luke wants to show us, is the reality of Jesus鈥� bodily resurrection. Human touch is one way we know someone,聽and who they truly are. Jesus鈥� disciples recognise him through his physical presence. It鈥檚 earthy and real. It鈥檚 hands and feet and fish.
It鈥檚 part of the evidence that the resurrection really happened. It was a physical Jesus who returned to them.聽With a glorious - and real - resurrection body.
Naturally we might well think, 鈥渋n those days, they were less scientific than we are,聽 less analytical...聽they were a little more gullible, more easily misled鈥�. But then think about it for a moment,聽are we really as clever as we think we are? With all the fake news that鈥檚 around about Coronavirus?聽And I think Luke would say, 鈥� the disciples were just as skeptical, just as unsure as we might be.聽They asked the right questions, they wanted physical proof.鈥澛� 聽
And thus they would become witnesses to what they saw. And this takes us right back to the start of Luke鈥檚 book.聽In his opening chapter, Luke said he began with those eyewitnesses. He had made a thorough investigation.聽He鈥檇 probed and questioned. He asked those who were really there, who could say 鈥渨e felt his hands, his feet鈥�.
It's hard to overstate the importance of this moment. The risen Christ is nothing less than the remaking of humanity as physical creatures.聽That has been the story of the scriptures from the fall in Genesis onwards. God sets out to restore and remake a new people,聽out of his tarnished image bearers. It has to be said, it鈥檚 often a messy affair - through the family line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,聽forming God鈥檚 people. But the resurrection appearance of Jesus is the climax of that great story.
The honest physicality of it really matters.聽
And it鈥檚 why it can speak to us in this time of lockdown and fear. Our physical bodies matter, of course they do.聽Lockdown has made us suddenly and deeply aware of what we lack - to have someone with you, physically, bodily. Someone to give you a hug.聽Someone to hold your hand. Someone to eat with you. It鈥檚 why having to mourn loved ones from a distance is so doubly cruel.聽
We have a God who recognises all of this. There鈥檚 a reason Jesus stepped into the locked room to hold, touch, feel and connect -聽because he knew that鈥檚 what was needed.聽
It鈥檚 why the first men and women who followed Jesus staked their lives on the reality of the physical resurrection.聽Not on some vague ethereal afterlife, but what they described as new creation bodies.
Now more than ever we need this solid Christian hope. Everything we face at the moment - social distancing,聽barriers of one kind or another - remind us at every turn we鈥檙e actually made for physical connection.聽For presence and embrace. And that is what lies at the heart of the risen and resurrected Jesus.
This doesn鈥檛 remove the pain. We have faced many challenges and we will doubtless face many more.聽
But what I鈥檝e often found to be the most remarkable part of it all, is that Jesus comes still bearing the physical marks of his suffering.聽What must it have been like for Jesus to put his wounded hand around them and tell them he understood? The scars were still there.聽The resurrection doesn鈥檛 whitewash/[airbrush?] past trauma, but it remakes and recasts it.
Music 5: He will hold me fast聽When I fear my faith will failChrist will hold me fastWhen the tempter would prevailHe will hold me fastI could never keep my holdThrough life鈥檚 fearful pathFor my love is often coldHe must hold me fast聽Chorus:He will hold me fastHe will hold me fastFor my Savior loves me soHe will hold me fast聽Those He saves are His delightChrist will hold me fastPrecious in His holy sightHe will hold me fastHe鈥檒l not let my soul be lostHis promises shall lastBought by Him at such a costHe will hold me fast聽CHORUS聽For my life He bled and diedChrist will hold me fastJustice has been satisfiedHe will hold me fastRaised with Him to endless lifeHe will hold me fastTill our faith is turned to sightWhen he comes at last

Prayer (pause)
ANNA (continued)
Almighty God, thank you that you are our creator, our sustainer, and are loving and good.聽Please help us, no matter what our current situation is, to focus on your love.
Through this crisis, please increase our awareness of those who normally live in restricted circumstances; prisoners,聽those in refugee camps, hospital patients and the housebound.
In Jesus鈥� name, Amen
Prayer (Rich)Loving Heavenly Father,We thank you for the hope and peace that your resurrection brings. Jesus stood amongst his disciples,聽after rising from the dead, truly and fully alive 鈥� and he said, 鈥淧eace be with you鈥�.For all who are struggling with isolation and separation from loved ones -聽help them to remember that nothing can separate us from your eternal love.聽And we pray for all those who are caring for others. We particularly lift to you the staff and residents of care homes and hospices up and down the country.聽Protect them and carry them at this difficult time.Finally, Father God, we pray for our leaders.聽Give them the wisdom they need, and integrity in their decisions as they guide us through this difficult time.In Jesus' precious name we pray.Amen
Rich - And now the Collect for today, The Second Sunday of EasterRisen Christ,for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred:open the doors of our hearts,that we may seek the good of othersand walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace,to the praise of God the Father.Amen.
Sarah - We now join together in the words Jesus taught us鈥β�
Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sins,as we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil,for the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and for ever.Amen.
((We hope you鈥檝e enjoyed being with us this morning鈥� we鈥檇 normally end our service with refreshments,聽biscuits and lots of chat, noise and sharing together.聽I can鈥檛 provide those for you鈥� but encourage you to make a cup of tea, have 1 maybe even 2 biscuits,聽or perhaps the remains of those Easter eggs - and why not pick up the phone and chat with someone about what you鈥檝e heard?聽We pray that you have a good Sunday whatever you鈥檙e doing.))
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,聽聽to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Music 6: WHEN PEACE LIKE A RIVER聽
WHEN PEACE, LIKE A RIVER, attendeth my way,when sorrows like sea billows roll;whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,It is well, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul,it is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,let this blest assurance control,that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,and hath shed his own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!My sin, not in part but the whole,is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,even so, it is well with my soul.