Owing to preacher constraints there was no morning’s worship at Ashley last Sunday, so we
joined with our friends from Market Drayton Methodist Church where the service was led by the
Rev’d Paul Clapham who was welcomed by steward Allie McGoogan. Katharine Williams was
the worship leader who introduced our opening song “God the Creator” following which
Katharine led our prayers of Praise and Adoration followed by a prayer of Confession and the
Lord’s Prayer.
Abram, the Father of the Nation, was the theme of our service and Helen read two passages from
The Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. The first from chapter 12 told of God’s Call to
Abram to leave Egypt, his country, and go to the land God was to show him, with all his
possessions and household, and the second from chapter 13 told of Abram’s arriving in the
southern part of Canaan with his wife and everything he owned.
The story of Abram and his nephew Lot formed the basis of the Rev’d Paul’s sermon which was
about Abram’s great faith and trust in God even to the moments where Abram was about to
sacrifice his only son on an altar he had built in the land of Moriah. Abram had a deep sense of
the presence of God and Paul spoke of the joy we have when we can see the presence of God in
others. Abram and his entourage built altars at Shechem, Bethel, Hebron and Moriah from where
he worshipped God in his later life and God told him he would no longer be called Abram but
Abraham because God was making him the ancestor of many nations. Helen read the final lesson
from Genesis, chapter 22 which told of Abraham building the altar at Moriah. He had
worshipped in many places and was grateful for what God had given him so he wishes to give
back to God in as many places where he had stayed. We too have been blessed many times, said
Paul, and we need to give back to God what he has given us through the life and sacrifice of Jesus
Christ, whom we believe to be God’s only son.
Paul led our prayers for others and we sang “In Heavenly Love Abiding” to conclude our service
of worship.