Our preacher last Sunday was Mr Peter Williams. Peter was welcomed by our chief steward, Bunty Hodgkins, who also welcomed visitors in our congregation which included Susan Hurst from Arkansas, USA. Peter suitably responded and called us to worship as we read alternate verses of Psalm 90 “Of God and Man”. Acknowledging our period of mourning for the death of Her Majesty The Queen and her State Funeral the following day, we sang our opening hymn “O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come” as we recognised the depth of our late monarch’s Christian faith, her humility and her trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Servant Queen and the King she served.
Our prayers of praise and thanksgiving followed, for her Majesty’s reign of over seventy years and her dedication and devotion to duty as she served our Nation and the Commonwealth.. We prayed for King Charles and the Royal Family in their personal loss, and used the new hymn “Tears and Celebration” as a prayer. We acknowledged our own frailties in our prayers of confession.
There was one bible reading from the Book of Isaiah, chapter six, This was read by Margaret Crosby and it told of God’s calling Isaiah to be a Prophet in the year in which King Uzziah died.
After our singing the great hymn by Horatius Bonar “Fill thou my life, O Lord my God, in every part with praise”, Peter spoke about the impact the prophet Isaiah had had following his calling by God in the year that King Uzziah died. This was a significant year in the history of the Israelite nation as the year 2022 will be of considerable significance to our nation following the sad death of HM The Queen. The background to Isaiah’s calling was the 60 years of rebellion and decay in the nation of Israel and after his calling Isaiah began the task of building up national life again. He had faith in God, and so had our late Queen, as was reflected in her life and witness for the saving grace of Jesus Christ. “Grace carries a cost but it is free to those who are open hearted but it is not cheap”, said Peter. As it was for Isaiah may it be for us.
We concluded our worship as we sang a much loved hymn by Charles Wesley “Father of everlasting grace” followed by the Blessing.
