蜜芽传媒

Please note:
This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.
It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

蜜芽传媒 RADIO 4.听 And now for this week鈥檚 Sunday Worship we go live to St. Davids Uniting Church, Pontypridd, where broadcaster and singer Beverley Humphreys preaches on The Consequences of Love. The service begins with the Taize Chant, Ubi Caritas.

ITEM 1 MUSIC 1听CHOIR听听听
Ubi caritas et amor, Ubi caritas Deus ibi est

ITEM 2听INTRO BEVERLEY听听
Ubi Caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.听 鈥淲here there is love and tender care, God is there鈥�.
Good morning and welcome to Pontypridd in South Wales. This is the town where three valleys meet and two rivers mingle and become one.听听 Our fellowship here is made up of people from three different denominations - the United Reformed Church, the Baptist Union and the Presbyterian Church of Wales. We are all connected in one purpose 鈥� to reflect God鈥檚 love and share in God鈥檚 work in our community and in the wider world.听听 This united vision has led us to believe that to love, welcome and care for the excluded and most vulnerable, lies at the heart of the Kingdom and that God鈥檚 love holds all the world in one embrace.听听听听
In a moment our Minister, The Rev鈥檇 Dr. Phil Hall will lead us in prayer. But first, as we begin to reflect on the costs, challenges and changes that meeting love face to face can bring, we sing 鈥淕od is Love, let Heaven adore him鈥�.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

ITEM 3听MUSIC 2听CHOIR / ORGAN听
GOD IS LOVE听 Tune Abbots Leigh Words - Timothy Rees

ITEM 4听PRAYER PHIL听听听
Eternal and everlasting God, we praise you for you are love.
Love is your being, love is your nature, love is your purpose. Throughout creation, from the grandeur of mountain crags to the delicacy of spring daffodils, we glimpse the beauty of your love.
In the Spirit, through ancient psalms of praise and everyday words of compassion, we hear whispers of the constancy of your love. And in Christ, our brother and Saviour, in his call to love the unlovely, in his journey to the cross and rising in a garden, we witness the wonder of your love.
It is into this relationship of extravagant love that you call us.听 Forgive us God, when we fail love you, our neighbours and ourselves. Forgive in us, restore us and renew us that we may sing a song of grace, tell a tale of hope, and live a life of love, in your glorious name Amen.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

ITEM 5听ADDRESS PART 1听BEVERLEY听听
鈥淕od is love鈥� 鈥� a world-shaking concept 鈥� those three short words have been quoted so often over the centuries that their radical message might well have become diluted.听 In that hymn written by the former Bishop of Llandaff, Timothy Rees, we heard of the awe-inspiring love that laid the earth鈥檚 foundation and breathes through all creation - and yet that same love, in intimacy, embraces us and shares the sorrow of a broken heart.

Trying to understand the nature of love has occupied minds and hearts since the world began.听 In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul makes the observations that our sermons, our knowledge, our good deeds may come to nothing if not underpinned by this thing we call love.

Then, attempting to define its nature, he resorts to a long list of virtues that love exhibits and vices that love spurns. He says 鈥淟ove is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude - love is patient, kind, love never ends鈥�.
But where does it begin? In the first of John鈥檚 letters he writes about the origins of love.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

ITEM 6听READING 1
A reading from听 1 John Chapter 4 verses 7-12

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God, and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 The person who doesn鈥檛 love does not know God, because God is love. 9 And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven,
11 Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God, but if we love each other, God lives in us and his love is made perfect in us.听听听听听听听听听听听听

ITEM 7听ADDRESS 2 BEVERLEY
鈥淕od loves us鈥� - 鈥淕od lives in us鈥� - How can we lift those words from the page or hear them from the pulpit and transform them into something we know to be real? Just believing in love is not the same as being in a relationship of love and living love.

As human beings we long to be loved and to love in return and yet so often, if we鈥檙e honest with ourselves, we feel unlovable - too old, too ill, too different - not attractive or clever or significant enough to be loved even by another person - let alone by God. And surely we鈥檇 have to earn that love - to impress God - to show that we deserved that love and approval.听听

And yet the message in scripture from the prophet Jeremiah to Paul鈥檚 letter to the Ephesians and beyond, is that God knew us and loved us even before we were born. That love doesn鈥檛 depend on any merit or achievement of ours - it鈥檚 a free gift that we couldn鈥檛 earn - no matter how hard we tried.

In his book 鈥淚n God鈥檚 Hands鈥� Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes
鈥淲e are incredibly precious creatures. God created us not because God needed us, but - wonderfully, exhilaratingly - God created us because God wanted us鈥�

So God鈥檚 extravagant love is for everyone - irrespective of who we are. But do we really believe that, I wonder, in 2017 鈥� in our often cynical world, as we face conflict and hatred; intolerance and bigotry.听听 Do Christians see all people as being loved and valued by God?听
We look to Jesus for confirmation. He didn鈥檛 spend much time with the rich and powerful - against all the accepted values of the day, he ate with and cared for those who were shunned, excluded, the poor, the hungry, the lost, the lonely - and he showed that love at great cost - it cost him his life.

The world of the arts deals with love in its many guises, from romantic to heroic, but when we come face to face with a love like that shown by Christ, a love that is so radical, unconditional and self-sacrificial, we realise that this is not just a mysterious emotion, not simply a soft edged, isolated aspect of life. Love is the strong underlying energy that pervades everything that is good and just and compassionate - and the strength of that love touches and transforms.听听听听 Expressed in a song from the Iona Community.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
ITEM 8听MUSIC 3 CHOIR / ORGAN听
A TOUCHING PLACE
听
ITEM 9听READING 2
Our second reading is taken from Matthew 25 verses 31 to 40.

鈥榃hen the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 鈥淐ome, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.鈥�

Then the righteous will answer him, 鈥淟ord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?鈥� And the king will answer them, 鈥淭ruly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.鈥澨�听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

ITEM 10听LINK PHIL听听听

In that reading we鈥檙e challenged to recognise Christ in the needs of others. It was read by David who came here as a refugee from Eritrea in 20xx.听听 In the hymn Brother, Sister, Let Me Serve You we鈥檙e called to be like Christ to those in need - to let the light of his love shine through in every connection we make with one another. It鈥檚 sung for us now by the Cardiff Polyphonic Choir directed by David Young.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
ITEM 11听MUSIC 4听CHOIR/ORGAN听
Tune Servant Song听 - Words and Music Richard Gillard
Brother, sister, let me serve you

ITEM 12听ADDRESS 3 BEVERLEY
The words of that hymn are easy to sing but much more difficult to live. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says 鈥淒on鈥檛 conform to the standards of this world but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you鈥檒l be able to know the will of God- what is good and pleasing to him and is perfect鈥�.听听听

Love can change the way we perceive reality - change the way we live our life.听 Jean Vanier is the Canadian philosopher and humanitarian who has given a lifetime of commitment to those who have been marginalized in our world, the lonely and the dispossessed 鈥� especially those with disabilities. But he says that there was a time in his life when that passage from Romans didn鈥檛 make sense to him at all - and he wasn鈥檛 sure that he really believed it.

And then in the early 1960s, he reached a turning point. In asylums, hospitals, institutions and families he encountered an immense world of pain that he could never have imagined and knew that he had to do something about it. He said 鈥淚 heard the cry 鈥� 鈥淒o you love me?鈥�.
He bought a tiny run-down house on the outskirts of Paris and took two men with mental impairment 鈥� Raoul and Phillipe - to share his life with him there. He called it L鈥橝rche 鈥� the Ark - and that was the beginning of the international movement of L'Arche communities, where people with developmental disabilities and the friends who help them, create homes and share life together.

Jean Vanier says 鈥淎s the days and months moved on I began to discover, little by little, what they were doing for me 鈥� transforming me, changing me, teaching me鈥澨�
In our church here in Pontypridd, over the past fifteen years, we鈥檝e had a similar learning experience in our work with people who have suffered in a different way 鈥� who are homeless 鈥� and more recently with refugees from Syria, Eritrea and South Sudan -听 families torn apart, children going to bed to the sound of bombs, atrocities that we cannot even begin to imagine.听

As we鈥檝e opened our doors and our hearts there has inevitably been a cost - time, patience, money, bearing the brunt of criticism and hostility. But the rewards have been greater.

We鈥檝e learned so much from the men, women and children we鈥檝e met 鈥� people like David who read for us just now - about their despair and loneliness and rejection -but also about hope and courage and the possibility for transformation.听 We鈥檝e all been changed鈥� emotionally and spiritually.

Our experiences have taught us to meet and celebrate as a church and as a community, genuinely to communicate and to discover that - even though we are very different - we can find each other in mutual love, see in each other the image of Christ, realize that we are all linked in one humanity.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

ITEM 13听MUSIC 5听CHOIR/ORGAN听
(Tune: Blaenwern)
Christ has called us to each other

ITEM 14听LINK PHIL听
Christ has called us to each other
Joined in one humanity
Colour, gender, class or culture-
Break those chains and set us free.

The words of that hymn - written by our preacher Beverley Humphreys - challenge us to follow the example of Jesus so that no one is excluded from our love.听 But to even begin to imagine the unconditional love that saw God the Almighty become God the human, become vulnerable, we need to take our hearts to that place where we can understand what it is to be powerless, lonely and broken.

ITEM 15听ADDRESS 4 BEVERLEY
The story of Polish priest Maximilian Kolbe is well-known, but still powerful.听听 In 1941 he was sent to the notorious death camp of Auschwitz. By day he shared his meagre rations with other prisoners; at night he comforted and consoled them. On one occasion, a prisoner escaped and ten others were punished by slow starvation to death. One of the ten chosen to die heard his name called out and he cried in anguish 鈥� My wife, my children - what will they do!鈥澨� At that moment Fr. Kolbe stepped forward and said 鈥淚 am a priest - let me take his place鈥�.
听
Maximillian and the nine others were thrown into a small underground cell and systematically starved. Throughout those harrowing two weeks even the SS guards were amazed by the way this man - dying himself- encouraged and gave hope to the others. Maximillian was the last one to die. His heroism echoed through Auschwitz. In that desert of hatred he had sown love. One of the Auschwitz survivors said 鈥淗e filled us with hope, bringing new life and strength- it was like a powerful shaft of light in the darkness of the camp鈥�.听听听听听

Maximillian Kolbe leaves his legacy not as an indictment of the past - rather as a beacon of hope to the future.听 Sometimes the overwhelming suffering in the world, the horrors of war, the levels of poverty and injustice - can all seem so huge, so insurmountable that we feel helpless and unable to do anything to make a difference.听
But at this moment -all over the world there are countless men and women - loving and giving and risking everything to make that difference.

There are few of us I imagine who would feel able to pay the ultimate cost as Maximilian Kolbe did - or change our life as radically as Jean Vanier -and yet one of the prayers of St. Teresa of Avila encourages us to believe that we can all play our part 鈥�--

ITEM 16听PRAYER听
God of Love
Help us to remember that
Christ has
No body now on earth but ours
No hands but ours
No feet but ours
Ours are the eyes to see the needs of the world
Ours are the hands with which to bless everyone now.
Ours are the feet with which God is to go about doing good.

ITEM 17听ADDRESS 4 CONTD BEVERLEY听听
There鈥檚 a mystery here 鈥� Christ is in both the giving and receiving of love. Through God鈥檚 incredible graciousness we are not only his beloved children, but also partners and fellow-workers with Christ.听听听听 If we don鈥檛 love - who will?
Some advice from Desmond Tutu echoes that of Saint David, the Patron Saint of Wales whose life we celebrate on Wednesday of this week,听 鈥淒o your little bit of good wherever you are; it鈥檚 those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world鈥�.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

ITEM 18听MUSIC 6听 CHOIR / ORGAN听听听听听听听听听听听听听
God be in My Head.听 Henry Walford Davies.

ITEM 19听PRAYERS听PHIL
Those words of Henry Walford Davies 鈥淕od be in my head, and in my understanding鈥� lead us into our prayers.

Let us pray.
Gracious God, Trinity of love, you support and surprise us, guard and guide us with your eternal love. On this Transfiguration Sunday, you call upon us, your children, to shine bright with the luminescence of love, showing and sharing it in our thoughts and words, deeds and prayers and so to you we bring the needs of our beautiful yet broken world.

Voice 1:
Creator God, you made the heavens and the Earth, a universe bursting with life and infinite possibilities.
Glory to you, earth maker, King of Creation.
Help us to treat your creation with love.
Where the human desire for power has wrought violence and conflict, may there be peace;
Where greed has led to the destruction of your world, may there be restoration and renewal;
Where overconsumption has led to desolation and famine, may there be an overabundance of blessing.

Voice 2:
God with us, you gave up power and might to transform all things through vulnerability, compassion and grace.
Glory to you, servant saviour!
Help us to see your face in that of the stranger, the prisoner, the refugee.
Where there is pain and suffering, may there be kindness and healing;
Where there is grief and loneliness, may there be comfort and company;
Where people are excluded and mistreated because of gender or ethnicity, sexuality or status, may there be justice and forgiveness, open minds and open arms.

Phil
God the spirit, you shake our very foundations and soak the world in love. Glory to you, breath of life!
Help your church to be transfigured in your love.
Where we are cold or complacent, may there be challenge and passion;
Where we lack empathy or love may there be repentance and forgiveness;
Where we are despairing or insular may there be wild hope and a radical welcome.
听As we live out the good news of great joy for all people, may we serve dutifully, pray faithfully and love more recklessly than ever. This we ask in the name of our brother and saviour, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying,
鈥極ur Father听听 ...

ITEM 20听THE LORD鈥橲 PRAYER
Our Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come; thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

ITEM 21听LINK PHIL
Earlier we sang of God鈥檚 love that affirms our hope that all creation would be reconciled to God in love. In this setting by John Rutter we give thanks to God for the beauty of creation and the joy of love both human and divine.听听听

ITEM 22听听 MUSIC 7 CHOIR/PIANO听听
For the beauty of the earth

ITEM 23听BLESSING BEVERLEY
1 .
As we face the challenges of our lives and of our world
Affirming God, enfold, embrace and connect us with your love
Give us the wisdom to search for your truth,
The strength to work for justice and for peace,
And the joy of being close to you and to each other Amen听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

2.God of love
Help us to care, to connect, to give hope,
To speak the Good News
That you meet us wherever we are and love us whoever we are.
Use our words, our hands, our prayers,
To bring hope and friendship
Take us by the hand and lift us to our feet
So that we may take heart to go on living and loving.听听听听听听听听听听听听听

3.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
Be with us all now and for evermore听听听 Amen听

ITEM 24听ORGAN VOLUNTARY听

BACK ANNO:
Processional听by听William Mathias听ending this morning鈥檚 Sunday Worship which came live from St. David鈥檚 Uniting Church, Pontypridd, South Wales.听 The service was led by the Rev鈥檇 Dr. Phil Wall, and the preacher was Beverley Humphreys.听 The Cardiff Polyphonic Choir was directed by David Young, the accompanist听听 xxx.听 And the producer was Karen Walker.

The Pearl of Great Value is the theme of Radio 4鈥檚 Lent worship which begins next Sunday with a service live from Rochester Cathedral. The services will take themes from the Archbishop of Canterbury鈥檚 Lent book. And a link to resources for individuals and small groups can be found on the Sunday Worship web pages.