Lament & Hope

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A sermon by Rev'd Jon Swales

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Words and Voice Rev'd Jon Swales
Backing Music - used with permission 'It pours' by Rev'd Chris Sayburn

Father of Creation,
The Beginning and the End.
As our evening prayer rises before you,
So may your Spirit descend,
And hold us in your love,
To you be all praise and glory.

As we face the night,
Our hearts are heavy,
Knowing that this world of yours is groaning.
For redemption, healing and wholeness. 

As we face the night,
Our souls are sad,
Knowing that another day has passed,
Where we are plunged further into a world of climate breakdown.

Temperatures rise,
Lord have mercy.

Sea Levels rise,
Christ have mercy.

We pray,
For the world’s most vulnerable,
Let your kingdom come,
For those who are hungry.

Let your kingdom come.
For climate refugees,

Let your kingdom come.
For the structures and systems that support death and domination 
Let your kingdom come,
Do not be silent O God,
Pull the mighty from their thrones.
Stand up for the Oppressed,
Let your will be done.

Father of Creation,
The Alpha and the Omega,
As our evening prayer rises before you,
So may your Spirit descend,
And hold us in your sweet embrace.
For you are our hope and comfort.

As we lie down,
We thank you that you hold us.
As we close our eyes,

We thank you for your peace.
As we reflect upon our day,
We thank you that you forgive us.

Father of Creation,
God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
We thank you for your Son,
Our Saviour,
The Good Shepherd,
Jesus.

May he this night lead us by quiet waters,
As this world walks through the valley of the shadow of death.
May he anoint our head with oil,
And bid our anxious thoughts to flee.

Father of Creation,
The Beginning and the End.
As our evening prayer rises before you,
So may your Spirit descend,
And hold us in your love
To you be all praise and glory.
Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my soul and my body.
Bless me, have mercy upon me, and grant me life eternal.
Amen

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Music: Free Sad Piano Type Beat- Emotional Piano Instrumental 'Broken- See 

A Liturgy for the Morning: Prayers for the Climate and Ecological Emergency. 

Father of Creation,

The beginning and the end.

This day has never existed before in the history of the cosmos,

And yet here we are with the fragile,

And beautiful

 gift of life.

To you be all praise, honour and glory.

From the rising of the sun to the setting of the same,

The Lord’s name is to be praised.

And so we join with creation,

With a whole host of non-human worshippers

To lift your name high.

We join with angels, archangels and the whole company of heaven,

With elephants and eagles and the whole company of earth.

Saying,

Holy, Holy, Holy  is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is and is to come.

Father of Creation.

The beginning and the end.

This day, 

Although beautiful

Is also broken.

This world,

Although beautiful.

Is also broken.

We live in a world of climate breakdown,

Temperatures are rising.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

We live in a world of beastly forces,

Profits are put before people,

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

And so we confess that we have sinned,

And done evil in your sight.

We now find ourselves East of Eden,

We have failed to keep our calling.

To tend and keep.

We have sown into the wind of unrestrained capitalism.

And now we reap the climate whirlwind.

We live in the panelled houses of consumerism

Whilst the temple of your creation lies in ruins.

We have made our bed from greed and individualism.

Must we now lie in it?

We are sorry.

We repent,

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Let us hear afresh the words,

My friend,

‘Your sins are forgiven’.

Let us hear afresh the words,

‘Take up your bed and walk.’

The night has passed and the day lies open before us,

And so we pray with one heart and mind. 

That we would walk the Jesus way.

The way that leads to life,

The way that leads to love,

The way that walks the way of justice.

In our grief for a broken world,

Let us be those who rejoice in the gift of this new day.

In our grief for a broken world.

Set our hearts on fire with love for you

Father of Creation,

The beginning and the end.

This day has never existed before in the history of the cosmos,

And yet here we are with the fragile,

And beautiful

 gift of life.

To you be all praise, honour and glory.

From the rising of the sun to the setting of the same,

The Lord’s name is to be praised.

And so we join with creation,

With a whole host of non-human worshippers

To lift your name high.

We join with angels, archangels and the whole company of heaven,

With elephants and eagles and the whole company of earth.

Saying,

Holy, Holy, Holy  is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is and is to come.

Amen

-Jon Swales, Nov 2022

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Words and Voice- Jon Swales
Music:  

Song: Blue Nights
Artist: Juan Sánchez
Artist’s Website: https://juansanchezmusic.info/

Father of Creation,

God of Compassion,

We thank you for the fragile gift of life,

And the beautiful world that you made.

To you be all praise, honour and glory.

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

You called us to love our neighbours,

And tend and keep your cosmic temple.

Yet we have failed.

And done evil in your sight.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

In our quest for industrial and technological development,

We have plundered and pillaged this world of yours,

Unrestrained capitalism and unfettered consumerism,

Building on a history of oppression of the global south,

Have brought us to the brink.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

We stand at 2 mins to midnight,

And the clock hand of our existential threat moves steadily onwards.

Yet we stand distracted and in denial at this late hour.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Global temperatures rise,

We suffer at 1.1 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures,

Sea Levels Rise,

Extreme Weather increases,

Increased Migration,

Climate breakdown acts as a threat multiplier.

Knowing the unless things change we face a 2 degree climate hell,

Of Mass migration,

Mass starvation

And societal collapse.

What have we done?

Lord have mercy?

What have we done?

Christ have mercy?

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

With tears in our eyes,

And sadness in our souls,

We pray for COP27,

For compassionate change,

And the overturning of the tables of injustice,

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

We pray that world leaders would slam on the brakes of climate breakdown,

That we would avert the worst of what may be,

And adapt to what will be with compassion and justice.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Father of Creation,

God of Compassion,

We thank you for the fragile gift of life,

And the beautiful world that you made.

To you be all praise, honour and glory.

Amen

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Words- Rev'd  Jon Swales
Music: Alice Brencher

Father of Creation,

God of Mercy,

The rain came down

And the floods came up

Leaving a trail of desperation,

destitution,

& destruction.

Storm Ian gained ferocity and power

Through rising temperatures and rising seas,

Having sowed into the wind of unrestrained capitalism 

Humanity now reaps the whirlwind.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

We pray for those who mourn ,

We lament the loss of life.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy

We pray for those who are homeless,

We grieve for those traumatised 

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

For those in despair,

Bring the comfort of your presence.

For those whose hearts are broken,

Let your compassion and comfort be known.

Father of Creation,

God of Mercy,

Unrestrained capitalism has unleashed hell,

And we ask that you would wake us up,

And that we would hear you say the words.

‘Peace be still.’

God our refuge and strength,

Bring near the day when extreme storms will cease,

And poverty and pain will end.

That earth may know the peace of heaven,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

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Talk by Jon Swales
Music: Chris Sayburn

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A multi-podcast episode talk by Rev'd Jon Swales on Jesus.
Music: Alice Brencher and Chris Sayburn

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Talk by Jon Swales
Music, Chris Sayburn

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WORDS, SWALES
MUSIC SAYBURN 'HORIZON'

There is a certain kind of religion,

An opium for the masses.

It,

Numbs,

Distracts

And anaesthetises us from the pain of the world,

Into a heavenly world of spiritualising irrelevance.

There is a certain kind of religion,

An opium for the masses,

It 

Supports,

Benefits.

And acts as chaplain to the status quo,

Supporting the structures and systems that reap destruction.

There is another kind of religion,

A hope for the nations,

It,

Awakens,

Summons,

And calls us into the pain of the world.

Into a world of Christlike justice.

There is another kind of religion,

A hope for the nations,

It 

Challenges,

Confronts,

And rebels against the status quo.

And offers a conspiracy of compassion that leads towards human flourishing. 

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father 

is this:

to visit orphans, and 

widows in their affliction, 

and to keep oneself unstained from the 

structures  and systems of domination. (James 1:12).