Welcome to our morning worship led by Rev Stephen Haward, the theme is Getting closer to Jesus.

The hymns are all available on YouTube.

HYMN ‘Praise the Lord, his glories show’
Henry Francis Lyte

Welcome, Call to Worship, Prayer, Church News and Bible Reading – Isaiah 55:6-11

God who is above us and beyond us,
WE REACH UP TO YOU AND PRAISE YOUR HOLY NAME.
God who is around us and among us,
WE REACH OUT TO YOU AND PRAISE YOUR HOLY NAME.
God who was lowly and humble in Jesus,
WE REACH DOWN TO YOU AND PRAISE YOUR HOLY NAME.
God who is faithful in visiting His people,
MAY YOU REACH US WITH YOUR LOVING POWER TODAY.
AMEN.

HYMN Mission Praise 482 ‘Nearer my God to thee’
Sarah Flower Adams (1805-48) 

Reading – Mark 2:1-12, Sermon

HYMN Mission Praise 275 ‘I heard the voice of Jesus say’
Horatius Bonar (1808-89)

Prayers, Lord’s Prayer, Act of Dedication, Blessing

HYMN Mission Praise 984 ‘God is good all the time’
Don Moen and Paul Overstreet ©1995 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music/Sovereign Music UK

Isaiah 55:6-11

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

The Lord’s Prayer (Contemporary)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Mark 2:1-12

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”