Communion Service: 6 February
Leader: Revd Val Towler
This is best viewed in Landscape orientation
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Better still, view it on your Smart TV, if you can.
Scripture sentences:
Psalm 138: 1 - 5:
'I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down towards your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.'
Hymn: Sing to the Lord a joyful song
tune: Gonfalon Royal, with Intro.
1. Sing to the Lord a joyful song,
lift up your hearts, your voices raise;
to us his gracious gifts belong,
to him our songs of love and praise.
2. For life and love, for rest and food,
for daily help and nightly care,
sing to the Lord, for he is good,
and praise his name, for it is fair.
3. For strength to those who on him wait,
his truth to prove, his will to do,
sing to our God, for he is great,
trust in his name, for it is true.
4. For joys untold, that from above
cheer those who love his sweet employ,
sing to our God, for he is love,
exalt his name, for it is joy.
5. Sing to the Lord of heaven and earth,
whom angels serve and saints adore,
the Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
to whom be praise for evermore. Amen.
John Monsell (1811 - 75)
Prayer and Lord's Prayer
Loving God, as once more the opportunity is before us, we come to you.
Once more the table is laid, the invitation extended and the simplest of meals - a morsel of bread and a sip of wine - yet for us the most wonderful of banquets because Christ is here among us. He welcomes us as his people, greets us as his friends, and offers us lasting nourishment, not just for our bodies, but for our souls.
We bring our hunger, our thirst and our emptiness, longing to be filled. We bring our weakness, our fragile discipleship, and our betrayals of Christ, hoping to find forgiveness. We bring our fears, our doubts, our darkness and despair, seeking your light; we bring our pain, our dread of death, and our search for lasting meaning, for you have promised us life in all its fullness. We bring our hurt, our loneliness and our longing, knowing that you will receive us with love.
We open our hearts to you, our God, who alone can meet our deepest needs, and we rejoice in all that you have done for us. Be with us now and through all our days, for we depend on your presence, your guidance and your love. And hear us as we pray together in the words that Jesus taught us, saying:
The Lord's Prayer
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, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen.
Isaiah 6: 1 - 13
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said, "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"
Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said, "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out."Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!" And he said,
"Go and say to this people, 'Keep listening but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand'. Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed."
Then I said, 'How long, O Lord?"And he said: 'Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; until the Lord sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled."The holy seed is its stump.
Luke 5: 1 - 11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.
He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to
put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. '
Simon answered, 'Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.' When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.
So they signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
But when Simon saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!' For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch offish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.'
When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Hymn: I, the Lord of sea and sky
tune: Here I am Lord, with Intro.
1. I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin
my hand will save.
I, who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord.
Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord,
if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
2. I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people's pain.
I have wept for love of them.
They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my Word to them.
Whom shall I send?
3. I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them.
My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide
till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them.
Whom shall I send?
Daniel L. Schutte (b. 1947)
Sermon
To keep my brain active, I play a couple of games on my iPad, one of which is a word ladder, where you change one letter at a time to make another word, given a clue. Some of the clues are quite entertaining, I think, so see how you get on with some of last week's clues: with four letters:
'stocking stuffers',
'predeath experience', and
'yard component'
Five letter words:
'target for gazing' and
'Esau or Samson'
I can easily believe that, by default or design, we only use a fraction of our brain capacity, 
and hear only a fraction of what is actually said, and see only a fraction of what is actually there, especially when it comes to God.
It probably doesn't help that we are getting so good at creating fearsomeness with all the computer graphics and hi-tech gizmos that can conjure images that play with our emotions, yet we remain in control - we play God.
The psalmist didn't know anything about word games, but he did know that when he called to God, God answered his prayer and called him to repentance and a new beginning.
And it was much more than a lack of technology that floored Isaiah; nothing could have ever prepared him for the sight of God. Do you want to see God? Be careful how you answer, because many who have seen God saw themselves for the first time at the same moment - not partly, but wholly, wholly undone by the holiness of God. Seeing God is being seen by God, finding yourself exposed and sinful. Seeing God is repenting and finding yourself forgiven, refined and washed clean. Do you still want to see God? Be careful how you answer, because it doesn't stop there; we are forgiven and refined for use, fired with purpose, and washed so that others may see God reflected in us.
In our passages of Scripture today we have partly seen God, at work in other people. To Isaiah, he said, 'You have seen, now hear; hear my word to go - go and tell what you have seen, go and tell what you know, go and tell what I will show you. Go to people who may be selectively deaf with my words of grief and glory; go and tell of my matchless mysteries and let those who have ears, hear through the years what my spirit is saying, '
'And you, you have seen, Simon, so now hear. Hear my word to come -come away from your nets and your ordered life; come and fish for folk who are adrift, lost and aimless. Come, leave everything and follow me and let those who have ears, hear through the years what my spirit is saying, '
Seeing God is being seen by God, in all our human frailty and sinfulness. Itis finding yourself loved, forgiven and commissioned for service. Calling to God is often being called by God, to repentance, to change and to act for him.
Do you still want to see God? Be careful how you answer... Are you ready to go or to come, to work for God and for good, to be seen and known, and to be sent out to tell people who don't want to know or see or hear, the living Word of God?
May we all be ready to say, "Here I am, Lord; send me."
Prayers for Church and The World
Loving God,
We pray for the Church throughout the world, struggling to be seen and heard amidst the noise and chaos which so often prevails. We pray for our own church community, both gathered and scattered for worship and prayer today. May we remember Jesus every day, grow in understanding of him, and learn to love you and our neighbours. Fill us with your Spirit, and make us people of peace, of faithful prayer and loving action.
We pray for the whole world - the people, the animals, the earth, the sea, and the air- which are all threatened by our selfishness and global warming. May all that you have made be sustained in peace and harmony, and may all you creatures share in the goodness of creation. Bring healing to all who are suffering and may all your people share in hope.
We pray for ourselves, our families and our friends, for all those we love - and those we find it hard to love - especially those we know who are sick and troubled. May young and old respect one another, and the generations honour one another; may your love bind us together in affection. Amen.
Hymn: Father most loving
tune: Christe Sanctorum, with Intro.
1. Father most loving, listen to your children,
who as your family gladly come together,
singing the praises of your Son, our Brother,
Jesus beloved.
2. We stand attentive, listening to God's Gospel,
welcoming Jesus as he speaks among us,
mind and heart open, ready to receive him,
lips to proclaim him.
3. Father in heaven, bless the gifts we offer,
signs of our true love, hearts in homage given!
Make them the one gift that is wholly worthy,
Christ, spotless victim.
4. Father, we thank you for your Son's dear presence,
coming to feed us as the Bread of heaven,
making us one with him in true communion,
one with each other.
5. Praised be the Father, lovingly inviting
guests to his banquet, praised the Son who feeds us,
praised too, the Spirit, sent by Son and Father,
making us Christ-like.
James Quinn (1919 - 2010)
The Lord's Supper
He was always the guest. In the homes of Peter and Jairus, Martha and Mary, Joanna and Susannah, he was always the guest. But here, at this table, he is the host. Those who wish to serve him must first be served by him; those who want to follow him must first be fed by him; those who would wash his feet bust first let him make them clean.
So come. Jesus Christ, who has sat at our tables, now invites us to be guests at his. What we do here, we do in imitation of what Christ first did. To his followers in every age, Jesus gave an example and command rooted in the experience he shared with his disciples in an upstairs room in Jerusalem. On the night of his arrest, and as they were sitting at a meal, Jesus took a piece of bread and broke it. He gave it to the disciples, saying, 'This is my body. It is broken for you. Do this to remember me.'
Later, after they had eaten, he took a cup of wine and said, 'This cup is the new relationship with God made possible because of my death. Drink this all of you, to remember me."
So now we do as Jesus did. 
We take this bread and this wine, the produce of the earth and the fruit of human labour, for in these Jesus has promised to be present. Through these, Christ can make us whole.
He whom the universe could not contain, is present to us in this bread, so let us eat and be thankful...He who redeemed us and called us by name, now meets us in this cup. Let us drink and rejoice....And let us pray :
Most gracious God, we praise you for what you have given and for what you have promised us here. You have made us one with all your people in heaven and on earth. You have fed us with the bread of life and renewed us for your service. Now we give ourselves to you, and we ask that our daily living may be part of the life of your kingdom, and that our love may be your love reaching out into the life of the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Hymn: Think of a world without any flowers
tune: Genesis, with Intro.
1. Think of a world without any flowers,
think of a wood without any trees,
think of a sky without any sunshine,
think of the air without any breeze.
We thank you, Lord, for flowers and trees and sunshine,
we thank you, Lord, and praise your holy name.
2. Think of a world without any animals,
think of a field without any herd,
think of a stream without any fishes,
think of a dawn without any bird.
We thank you, Lord, for all your living creatures,
we thank you, Lord, and praise your holy name.
3. Think of a world without any people,
think of a street with no one living there,
think of a town without any houses,
no-one to love and nobody to care.
We thank you, Lord, for families and friendships,
we thank you, Lord, and praise your holy name.
Doreen E. Newport (1927 - 2004)
Dismissal and Blessing
As we return to the duties which await us, let us count our blessings and praise God; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest upon you and remain with you always.
Amen.
Next week, the service will be led by Maranny Jones
Don't forget the live streamed hymns on Sundays at 10:45 a.m. from Zöe (via the 'Northgate URC Darlington' Facebook page)
These are available to view later as well. (via YouTube, for those without Facebook, and also Facebook)
The streamings are a great success - well done, Zöe!
The recorded streamings are now, thanks to Harry Marshall, available to all on YouTube - search for 'Northgate URC Darlington'.
Ask Harry to invite you to the Northgate Facebook Group 
and you will get a notification of the live stream.
- Or you can just search for 'Northgate URC Darlington' in Facebook.
The URC denominational church audio Services (podcasts) at https://devotions.urc.org.uk/ are excellent, with well-delivered prayers and readings using a selection of voices and well-presented hymns.
Do give these a try - they are excellent.
(Just start the sound playing and scroll down to the written words)
Why not put the time aside for Zoe at 10:45, our preacher's service after that and follow up with the podcast - you will feel as if you had been IN church, as well as WITH church.