Worship

Opening Words (Psalm 34:1-3)

1 I will bless the Lord at all times;

   his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

   let the humble hear and be glad.

3 O magnify the Lord with me,

   and let us exalt his name together.

Hymn: StF 119 – God of Eve and God of Mary

Sing/ Read /pray /proclaim the words or listen to it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGTDFZ7Evvc

God of Eve and God of Mary,

God of love and mother-earth,

thank you for the ones who with us

shared their life and gave us birth.

As you came to earth in Jesus,

so you come to us today;

you are present in the caring

that prepares us for life's way.

Thank you that the Church, our Mother,

gives us bread and fills our cup,

and the comfort of the Spirit

warms our hearts and lifts us up.

Thank you for belonging, shelter,

bonds of friendship, ties of blood,

and for those who have no children,

yet are parents under God.

God of Eve and God of Mary,

Christ our brother, human Son,

Spirit, caring like a Mother,

take our love and make us one!

Fred Kaan (1929-2009)

Let us pray together

Lord, we give you thanks for this day, another opportunity to receive your grace and love, and another opportunity to serve you and share our love with others.

As we come before you in this quiet act of worship, we take a moment to reflect on ourselves and our actions where we have fallen short of your love and glory. Thank you that due to your love and grace we can freely confess to you our shortcomings, knowing that we are forgiven, redeemed, and raised up to serve you again. Amen

Today’s Reading from the Old or New Testament: Exodus 2:1-10

Today’s Gospel Reading: John 19:25-27

Time to Reflect
To me, Mothering Sunday has three aspects to be held in tension. Historically, it was an opportunity to visit the mother church, for people living away from home, to return to visit the mother church, to visit family, to visit mother, maybe even with a Simnel cake in hand. It can be good to return home and reconnect with one’s roots and family. Take a moment to reflect on your roots and family and the visits you have made “home”, both good and bad. Take time to give thanks for good times and take time to seek forgiveness for difficult visits.

Mothering Sunday has since become an opportunity to give thanks for mothers, and to celebrate the caring, the giving, the sacrificial qualities of mothers, mothering, and motherhood. We often think of these in the light of the narratives of Mary and Miriam from our bible passages. Take a moment to read these passages and reflect on their love and care in difficult circumstances, it wasn’t easy to be Moses’ mother or Jesus’ mother. Take time to give thanks for your mother, or the person who mothered you. If you’ve been a mother, take time to give thanks for your child(ren).

As caring people, we are aware that for some Mothering Sunday is not an easy day. There will be those who never knew their mother’s love, have lost their mother in tragic circumstances, or had a difficult relationship with their mother. There will be some who longed to be mothers themselves and were denied that opportunity, have been bereaved or had their children taken away. Take time to think of folk in these situations and offer up a prayer for comfort and healing from their pains and struggles. If this is your situation, pause to remember that you are love and are being prayed for today, and take comfort in God’s love.

Often, we think only of God as Father, but there are also beautiful images of God as Mother in our bibles, and we finish with an image of God as a mother in Hosea 11:3-4. God: “Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I who took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.” Take a time to sit quietly and ponder on God’s love as our Mother.

A time of prayer

Lord we pray on this Mothering Sunday for Mothers all over the world including our own. We pray for mothers where life is difficult, trying to protect their children in places of strife, famine, and war, for mothers despairing in poverty, for mothers facing illness or bereavement. We give thanks for mothers and all their love and care. We give thanks for new mothers and pray for strength and grace in caring for their children. We grieve for those who have not known their mothers, have had difficult relationships with their mother, or lost their mother. We pray for those who have been unable to be mothers or had opportunities to mother snatched from them.

Lord we pray your love and grace, comfort, and healing into all the places and situations it is needed. Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father ……

Hymn: Listen to Great Are You Lord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHz0w-HG4iU or sing a verse of a hymn that comes to mind

Verse: You give life You are love
You bring light to the darkness
You give hope You restore ev'ry heart that is broken. And great are You Lord

Chorus: It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise
We pour out our praise
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise to You only

Bridge: And all the earth will shout Your praise. Our hearts will cry these bones will sing. Great are You Lord
(REPEAT)
CCLI Song # 6460220 David Leonard | Jason Ingram | Leslie Jordan © 2012 Open Hands Music (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC) So Essential Tunes (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC) Integrity's Praise! Music (Admin. by Integrity Music Ltd) Little Way Creative (Admin. by Integrity Music Ltd)

A prayer of blessing:
May God Almighty, Father and Mother to us all, make her face shine upon us all. May Jesus, our high priest, and brother, walk with us always. May the Holy Spirit of God fill us and help us to minister to others to his praise and glory. Amen.

Original Materials by Phillip Warrey (Revd)

All Hymns reproduced under CCLi 1144191. 

Local Churches please insert CCCLi No here

We are grateful to all the Ministers and Local Preachers from around the Connexion who have contributed to Worship at Home. This resource is administrated by Ministries: Vocations and Worship in the Connexional Team.

For more worship resources see

The Bible (methodist.org.uk)

Singing the Faith Plus (methodist.org.uk)

Exodus 2:1-10 - Birth and Youth of Moses

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. ‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,’ she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Yes.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, ‘because’, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’

John 19:25-27

And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.