Abbey United Reformed Church, Romsey

Opening prayer we pray together:
We gather in the power of your Spirit, O Lord. Give us the wisdom to live in the Spirit, and to show the fruit of the Spirit in who we are. Make us people of love, joy and peace; make us generous and kind; and help us to shape our lives with gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

Hymn God is love, his the care, (during which the Bible, the prayer book and the Offertory are brought forward)

Prayers & Offertory Prayer including:
God of each day and each moment, you call us to make choices: choices about how we will live, how we will use our time and resources. You call us to make decisions: who we will look out for, what we will commit to, who we will follow. As we come before you now, bless us with wise discernment and loving compassion, that we may serve you – and one another – after the example of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

We pray the Lord’s Prayer together

Hymn: When I needed a neighbour were you there?

We share the Grace
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all” (2 Corinthians 13:14)

Gospel reading: Galatians 5.1 and 13-25 read by Angus MacKinnon

Music item from Kirsty

Hymn: There’s a spirit in the air

Reflection:
Paul boldly declares that Christ has set us free and urges us to use our freedom to serve one another. In this way, though we are freed from the Law, we fulfil it through loving our neighbours as ourselves.

Paul gives us a list of personal failings,  behaviours that destroy relationships and community (verses 19-21). But we don’t have to live this way. Through Jesus we have been filled with the Holy Spirit, who grows in us fruit that closely resembles the life of Jesus (verses 22 & 23) – community-building, relationship-deepening qualities that are essential to human thriving.

What makes our life with other people pleasant, our time with others enjoyable, our relationships flourish?

We ponder these things as we listen to Paul’s words. Have we ever felt the conflict that Paul speaks of? How can we help one another choose well in living out our freedom in Christ?

Hymn: Spirit divine, attend our prayers

Intercessions response in bold including:
O loving God, as we remember the gift of freedom, and the choices we can make – what to do, where to go, when to buy: Help us to use our freedom wisely.

Be with those who are faced with difficult decisions: for health authorities deciding how best to use scarce resources; for bosses deciding whether to hire people or make them redundant; for governments, working out how to serve their people; for children exploring their futures. Help us to use our freedom wisely.

Be with us, O God, in the decisions we face. In silence we offer them to you …

In our doubts or with our certainties as we put those decisions into practice, guide us by your Spirit.

And as we remember the freedom we have and enjoy, we pray for the places in our world where freedom is a longed-for gift. We pray for the Church throughout the world, and especially for Christians persecuted for their faith.

We pray for Christians in our own community, that we might be freed and emboldened to live the fruit of the Spirit in our daily lives. Set us free that the world might know your love.

Including silent prayer for the world, the church and for those known to us we are concerned about and with whom we celebrate.

O Spirit of the Living God, to freedom you have called us. Set your children free, that all might be free indeed. Amen.

Hymn: Help us live the love of Jesus (tune: Blaenwern (R&S 95)

Closing Prayer We pray together:
May God grant us the wisdom to know what is important. May God guide us to act, to do what is urgent. May God help us to know the one we follow better each day. May God help us to be people who don’t always look back. May God help us always to be faithful and true.

The Blessing