As this is a 5th Sunday there are some slight differences in how we approach today's service.

It is in three parts and there are some demonstrations which do not immediately translate to this medium. However we have tried to take the essence of the service and the ideas and get them across below.

Apologies that it is not quite the same

Psalm 111

Praise the Lord.

1 I will extol the Lord with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

2 Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established for ever and ever,
enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever—
holy and awesome is his name.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.

Remote control - Who has control? Can anybody tell me what this is? A thingy, a whatchamacallit, a dubery, flicker … No, it's of course a remote control. Hands up those who remember when you had to get up out of your seat to traipse all the way across to the telly, that by the way, was about SEVERAL FEET THICK, to change the channel, and we only had three channels. Yes I am old enough and some of you who didn’t raise their hands when I asked you are all fibbers and you are deluding yourself.

And so there was no control involved with what you watched apart from whatever my Dad wanted to watch, that is what we watched. And actually that was how it worked when the channel needed changing. Dad would instruct whichever child was in the room to get up and go over to the tele and turn it over so we were sort of his remote control.

In the reading we are told that Jesus was someone who had control over all things “even evil spirits obey Him”. Jesus is someone who has the control to do things no one else can. However Jesus doesn’t use that power over people whenever He wants, whenever He fancies using it. Like someone who holds the remote can on a whim makes the difference to what we are watching. No, Jesus asks us whether we will allow Him to have control over things in our lives. And Jesus holds that power in a way that promises we will have a life that is good for us, “life in abundance”, a life that brings love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

So each of us has to ask ourselves are we going to attempt to hold on to our remote control or are willing to pass it over to Jesus to have?

Making a paper plane

Hopefully you will get the idea here where we will be opening up three envelopes in turn

The envelopes “How to make a paper plane” - 3 x opened in order shown (A no instructions instructions, B complicated instructions, C show them how to make a paper plane)

By the way these are the instructions in envelope B Complicated…

How to make a paper airplane

Step 1
1. Take an A4 sheet of paper and fold the top right corner diagonally.

Step 2
2. Open the sheet back up and repeat with the other side.

Step 3
3. Now fold the top down and fold along the center part of the X shape.

Step 4
4. Unfold and flatten the sheet of paper.

Step 5
5. Next, fold down the top edge so it meets the horizontal crease.

Step 6
6. Now fold down the top section ALONG the horizontal crease.

Step 7
7. Take the top outer edge so it meets the diagonal crease and then repeat with the other side.

Step 8
8. Fold the top edges ALONG the diagonal lines to create the peak of the plane.

Step 9
9. Next, fold the peak down as shown.

Step 10
10. At the top edge of the plane, measure 1.6 centimeters from the center to the left and right. Then, measure 1 inch from the bottom center and connect the points.

Step 11
11. Accordion fold along those lines.

Step 12
12. Now, measure 3.1 centimeters from the top outer corner and then 3.1 centimeter again from the first point. Measure 1 inch from the bottom of the vertical line and again from that point.

Step 13
13. Accordion fold along the lines.

Step 14
14. Finally, glue the nose of the plane together.

Jesus has shown us … Expressed God’s love, faithfulness in His life/death/resurrection. He shows us how much God loves us and shows us what love and servanthood looks like. How Jesus acted towards people, especially people who didn’t care for Him very much. He shows us a way of life that can be lived.

Not blank (we make it up ourselves), Complicated (Religious rules), Action (If you’ve seen me you’ve see the father)

Referee

Get out the whistle

When you hear a whistle “what does it make you think/feel?”

Is it bad? Is it good? A whistle is used to do what in any sport?

It is used to convey authority, we may think that it no longer does given the less than affectionate words used in response to said shrill of the whistle blown by the referee, but think about it for one moment. When a referee blows the whistle does the game stop? It’s amazing that isn’t it, this tiny object can stop people in their tracks during a full on adrenaline fuelled match. Yeah I know there does tend to be a little discussion as to whether the official made the correct decision but the game does actually stop.

And when it has stopped it’s normally for two reasons, it’s BAD i.e an infringement or GOOD you have the resulting freekick etc.. for said infringement, or a goal is scored - which for some supporters it is not something that is experienced a great deal of times ;-).

So there may be bad or good things that happen but the person in charge, with the authority, is the one who will make the decision about what happens next.

We can be led by our own desires, grievances, emotions, attitudes and character, which then leads us to believe one thing over the other is good or bad. normally because it favours us or what we want. As disciples we have the Holy Spirit to guide us to make and understand what is actually OK or good or not OK i.e bad. He has authority and we can listen out and heed His whistles. Those things that bring us up short sometimes and prevent us from wandering...

Prayers

Our prayers today are in craft form but nonetheless you can follow the simple prayers below

CRAFT - write prayers on whistle - create a whistle/s writing our prayers on them.

Blow the whistle as if sending the prayers to God

Thank - God for all that He is and does for us.
Sorry - for not listening to and acting on what Jesus wants us to do.
Pleas - ask the Holy Spirit to guide us to write down what and who we can pray for with our whistle