As we rejoice in the gift of this day,
 so may the light of your presence, O God,
 set our hearts on fire with love for you;
 now and for ever.
 Amen.

O God Beyond All Praising

Text: Michael Perry (Heb. 13:15)
Music: Gustav Holst, 1874-1934 Tune: THAXTED,

O God beyond all praising

We worship you today

And sing the love amazing

That songs cannot repay;

For we can only wonder

At every gift you send,

At blessings without number

And mercies without end:

We lift our hearts before you

And wait upon your word,

We honour and adore you,

Our great and mighty Lord.

Then hear, O gracious saviour,

Accept the love we bring,

That we who know your favour

May serve you as our king;

And whether our tomorrows

Be filled with good or ill,

We’ll triumph through our sorrows

And rise to bless you still:

To marvel at your beauty

And glory in your ways,

And make a joyful duty

Our sacrifice of praise.

Prayer for those visiting our website

Almighty and eternal God,

who created us in your own image and gave us the will to seek after all that is good,

true and beautiful, especially in the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

we give you thanks for the freedom of communication.

Grant, we pray you, that through our journeys in this website we may be led to charity,

prayer, patience and greater understanding of each other

and that we may discern more closely, your will for your pilgrims here on earth.

To the glory of the Word made Flesh.

Amen.

CONFESSION

Most merciful Father, our creator and judge, we acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against you

in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with all our heart; and we have not loved our neighbour

as ourselves. We earnestly repent, and are truly sorry for all our sins. For your son our Lord Jesus Christ’s

sake forgive us, and strengthen us to serve and obey you in lives wholly renewed by your spirit; through

Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Mark 1: 40-45
40 A man with leprosy came to Jesus and knelt down. He begged, “You have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”
41 Jesus felt sorry for the man. So he put his hand on him and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” 42 At once the man’s leprosy disappeared, and he was well.
43 After Jesus strictly warned the man, he sent him on his way. 44 He said, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Just go and show the priest that you are well. Then take a gift to the temple as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed.”
45 The man talked about it so much and told so many people, that Jesus could no longer go openly into a town. He had to stay away from the towns, but people still came to him from everywhere

Contemporary English Version

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

Philippians 2:6- 11

I believe in Jesus Christ, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,

Taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father. Amen

Mark 1: 40-45
40 A man with leprosy came to Jesus and knelt down. He begged, “You have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”
41 Jesus felt sorry for the man. So he put his hand on him and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” 42 At once the man’s leprosy disappeared, and he was well.
43 After Jesus strictly warned the man, he sent him on his way. 44 He said, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Just go and show the priest that you are well. Then take a gift to the temple as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed.”
45 The man talked about it so much and told so many people, that Jesus could no longer go openly into a town. He had to stay away from the towns, but people still came to him from everywhere

The story of the leper being healed by Jesus is one of the more well known passages within Mark's gospel, made more memorable by the poor leper who just couldn't stop talking about his cure, despite Jesus having told him to keep the news as low key as possible.

We're probably also used to hearing the story told in the translation that we had today, which emphasizes Jesus' compassion. But in fact there's more than one translation of this particular phrase, and in the REB you'll find Jesus moved not by pity but by anger.

Now pity or compassion we might expect, but anger?

And yet one commentary suggests that this might well be the correct translation. But anger at what? Or at whom?

Well, surely not anger at the poor leper himself? The term leprosy is used in the bible to cover a multitude of skin complaints, from the totally disfiguring real leprosy to ringworm, psoriasis or eczema. All these complaints labelled a person as unclean and an outsider. The sufferer was effectively banished, condemned to live outside the community, bare-headed and in tattered clothes.

They were also diseases that were considered to have their origins with Satan, that the person concerned had been literally cursed by being struck down by the disease.

If a leper were ever cured he had to go through the most complicated ceremony of cleansing and restoration, which is described in the book of Leviticus 14

Let me read you a portion, because it's fascinating reading.

Leviticus 14:2

This shall be the ritual for the leprous person at the time of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest;

3: The priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall make an examination. If the disease is healed in the leprous person,

4: The priest shall command that two living clean birds and cedar wood and crimson yarn and hyssop be brought for the one who is to be cleansed.

5: The priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in an earthen vessel.

6: He shall take the living bird with the cedar wood and the crimson yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.

7: He shall sprinkle it seven times upon the one who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease; then he shall pronounce him clean, and he shall let the living bird go into the open field.

8: The one who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall live outside his tent for seven days.

9: On the seventh day he shall shave all his hair: of head, beard, eyebrows; he shall shave all his hair. Then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.

10: On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish, and a grain-offering of three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil.

11: The priest who cleanses shall set the person to be cleansed, along with these things, before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

12: The priest shall take one of the lambs, and offer it as a guilt-offering, along with the log of oil, and raise them as an elevation-offering before the Lord.

and so it goes on…… for another 20 verses!

This was certainly no quick fix!

Whether or not this man was suffering from the worst form of leprosy or some other disfiguring skin complaint, Jesus saw him and was moved….. almost certainly with compassion because he offered the healing touch, but possible also with anger….. and there's nothing wrong with Jesus feeling angry about evil and suffering in the world.

Two other points about this story are worth making.

Firstly, although this man technically broke the law by even talking to Jesus in the way that he did, Jesus didn't condemn him……. such was Jesus' interpretation of the law as laid down by man - not that it was right to break the law, but that there were occasions where compassion and restoration to wholeness were more important.

Secondly, that Jesus didn't just say to the man 'Right, you're cured. Off you go!'

What did he do instead? he made the man go through all the elaborate cleansing ceremonies and sacrificial offerings that accompanied the official recognition of a leprosy cure as laid down in the Mosaic law.

Why? Because Jesus hadn't come to say that the Old Law was bad and could be ignored from now on, but that He was the fulfillment of the law. He hadn't come to destroy the faith of the people by saying that all their ceremonies were worthless, now that the Son of God was in the world. These were traditions that had been handed down through centuries. Jesus did not expect the people to suddenly accept something New. He was opening their eyes to the possibilities that His presence in the world could open up, pointing them towards a New Way.

A promise of Wholeness to those whose lives were touched by his presence.

And that's where this story impinges onto our lives, because that's the way that Jesus affects us by His touch.

If we look at the New Testament we find numerous examples of Jesus touching lives, and the effect of that meeting of lives means different things to different people

To some it is THE CLEANSING TOUCH as it was to the leper in our story.

'Be clean' said Jesus. In a similar story in Matthew's gospel, a leper says to Jesus 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.'

Jesus reaches out, touches the man, and says 'I am willing. Be clean!'

In the ancient world, where disease was seen not as an attack by micro-organisms, but rather as an attack by Satan, this cleansing was seen as a way of making clean that which had been made dirty or unclean by contact with evil.

Today we are of course so much more knowledgeable about the causes of disease, but we often allow our bodies and minds to be affected by the world in which we live, a world which generally doesn't hold to the beliefs that we do, and in so doing we allow ourselves to become affected by dis-ease . This is a stressful, hurtful and often selfish world in which we live. It is easy to become less than the person we know we should be. It is at times like this that we too need to know the cleansing touch of Jesus, to have our minds and bodies refreshed by his touch upon them.

To others the touch of Jesus was THE QUIETING TOUCH. In Matthew 8 we read that Peter's mother-in-law was lying in bed wracked with fever. Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her, and she began to wait on him.

There are times in our lives when the stress of living makes life almost unbearable. Concentration becomes impossible. Our minds are constantly active, and relaxation just isn't possible. it's at times like this that Jesus can bring to us the Quieting touch, that takes away the fever that torments our lives and brings peace in its place.

To some the touch of Jesus is the ILLUMINATING TOUCH.

Matthew 9: 28

'When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?'

'Yes, Lord.' they replied.

Then he touched their eyes and said. 'According to your faith will it be done to you;' and their sight was restored.

Faith is a marvelous thing, because God reveals his glory to us in a measure that we can cope with. For those whose faith is still weak, Jesus brings enough light into lives that they can understand, feed on and grow. To those whose faith is stronger, he reveals more of himself, again so that they might grow even more.

That's the wonderful thing about Jesus. Knowing him is a continuous journey through life; not a once in a lifetime explosion of light, but a succession of experiences and touches in our lives, where we suddenly realize that we are in the presence of our Saviour…… and what an illuminating experience that is.

To yet others, the touch of Jesus is THE REASSURING TOUCH. At the mount of Transfiguration, when Jesus was seen in the presence of Moses and Elijah, the disciples fell onto the floor in absolute terror. But we read that Jesus came up and touched them. 'Get up,' he said. 'Don't be afraid.'

How many moments in our lives do we need that same reassuring touch from the Lord. How often do we need to hear those words 'Don't be afraid.' spoken with the confidence and assurance that the disciples heard on that wonderful day.

But that's exactly what the touch of Jesus can bring to our lives when we need it.

To some it was the LIBERATING TOUCH that Jesus brought.

In Mark chapter 7 we can read of the deaf and dumb man. Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spat and touched the man's tongue. at this the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

To many the touch of Jesus brings, not necessarily the same miraculous healing, but perhaps a new confidence based on the knowledge that each one of us is counted precious in the eyes of God; that for once we feel able to speak openly about our faith, whereas in the past we had counted that as something very private, lacking perhaps the confidence to speak out for fear of being challenged.

And of course, the touch of Jesus also was the HEALING TOUCH to so many who came into contact with Him, healing both of body and of mind, of spirit and soul. For there is more to healing than the miraculous restoration of sight or hearing, or the curing of leprosy. For healing touches every part of our lives, both physically and spiritually. To many, the healing comes as broken lives are made whole again; to some the healing is a very physical release from suffering; to others it is an inner healing…… a restoration of the spiritual bond between creator and creation - a being made right again.

The touch of Jesus means different things to different people, and different things at different times in a person's life. The important thing to remember is that where the need is great, then Jesus is there to touch. What is needed is the faith of the leper, of the blind and dumb man and the many others who were humble enough to admit that they were in need, and recognized that Jesus was the only one who could satisfy that need.

Jesus shows compassion, but is also angered by the sight of suffering in His world, His creation. It is a symptom of dis-ease, of something that is no longer functioning as it was intended.

But for Jesus to touch us, we must be willing to reach out and touch him. If we will do that, if we will recognize that here stands the one who can bring cleansing, quieting, illumination, reassurance, liberation and healing then he will reach out and touch our lives, and with that touch bring wholeness.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
Of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.

All laud we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee,
And so let Thy glory, almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.

Gracious God,
We pray for peace in our communities this day.
We commit to you all who work for peace and an end to tensions,
And those who work to uphold law and justice.
We pray for an end to fear,
For comfort and support to those who suffer.
For calm in our streets and cities,
That people may go about their lives in safety and peace.
In your mercy, hear our prayers,
now and always.

Amen

Dear God,
You know me. Don't you? I'm not just a person on a bus or a train.
I'm not just another face on CCTV; or just another login name.
I'm me, and I have stuff going on.
Love life issues; bills to pay. Egos at work to deal with; an overflowing inbox.
So please, give me strength. Guide me to focus on what's really important.

And help me make the most of every moment of this new day in this new month.
Thank you.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven, hallowed by 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 temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever.

Amen

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

1.         Love divine, all loves excelling,

joy of heaven, to earth come down;

fix in us thy humble dwelling;

all thy faithful mercies crown!

Jesus thou art all compassion,

pure, unbounded love thou art;

visit us with thy salvation;

enter every trembling heart.

2.         Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit

into every troubled breast!

Let us all in thee inherit;

let us find that second rest.

Take away our bent to sinning;

Alpha and Omega be;

end of faith, as its beginning,

set our hearts at liberty.

3.         Come, Almighty to deliver,

let us all thy life receive;

suddenly return and never,

nevermore thy temples leave.

Thee we would be always blessing,

serve thee as thy hosts above,

pray and praise thee without ceasing,

glory in thy perfect love.

4.         Finish, then, thy new creation;

pure and spotless let us be.

Let us see thy great salvation

perfectly restored in thee;

changed from glory into glory,

till in heaven we take our place,

till we cast our crowns before thee,

lost in wonder, love, and praise.

CLOSING PRAYER AND BLESSING

We continue our lives rejoicing in what you have done in the past,

learning how to appreciate what you are doing now

and  assured that the future is full of your everlasting love and hope.

We live constantly with the blessing of God the creator, the Son our

Saviour and the Holy Spirit our ever- present guide and helper.

AMEN