A sequence of active worship ideas; individual items can stand alone.
Ideas for a sermon or interactive talk
See also ‘Thought for the week’ to read out in place of a sermon; and 'The week in focus', linking the readings to the news.
How much is enough? In April 2023, there were 171 billionaires in the UK, and 3 million food parcels distributed by The Trussell Trust between April 2022 and March 2023. The gap between the well-off and poor people is growing. This does not help build a healthy society. The Israelites’ choice for monarchy brought consequences. Their society would become less equal and their children would be forced to serve royal luxury. Elsewhere (Deuteronomy 17:14-20), legislation limits the king’s wealth and display. Should our society seek ways of limiting the wealth of the mega-rich, in line with God’s teaching and, if so, how?
Our way of life needs energy. We are increasingly aware of the dangers of extracting our energy from fossil fuels. But where do we draw the boundary? Vegan, vegetarian or omnivore? Electric cars, petrol or cycling? There are pros and cons to each choice. The people of Israel made a choice for monarchy, a new way of leadership for them. Samuel set his face against this – it offended God, the ruler of Israel. God was more pragmatic; the boundaries were in a different place. Samuel was given a solemn warning to declare, but when the people remained wedded to kingship, God allowed them to have a king. This was a compromise in which God retained the right to choose but gave the people what they wanted. Where do the boundaries lie for us? What part does God play in the choices we make?
Saul was God’s original and first choice as king. But later we learn that Saul misused his power, and God instructs Samuel to identify and anoint another (David) as his successor. This happened a long time before David actually became king, so it gave him time to grow into the role. We might wonder if God made a mistake with Saul and subsequently changed his mind. Or, we may see it as illustrating the risk that God takes in choosing fallible men and women, and how success (from God’s perspective) depends on how the chosen one accepts and uses what God gives. Either way, we cannot second guess God. We can only faithfully go with what we truly believe God is calling us to do and be. How does this affect our understanding of leadership in the church and society?
There is a difference between God making change and God enabling change. If God makes a change, it would be done and dusted, there would be no responsibility or relationship with us. If God enables change, it falls to us to put the change into being, to make it happen, perhaps to decide its direction and more and, in so doing, to form a relationship with the one who calls, who disturbs, who enables and supports us
Thought for the week:
Read out in place of a sermon if you wish
Our way of life needs energy. We are increasingly aware of the dangers of extracting our energy from fossil fuels, but where do we draw the boundary? Vegan, vegetarian or omnivore? Electric cars, hybrid or no car? Long haul flights or stay at home? There are pros and cons to each choice. The people of Israel made a choice for monarchy, a new way of leadership for them. There were pros and cons for that choice too. Samuel began with his face set against it – it offended God, the true ruler of Israel. God, however, was a little more pragmatic; the boundaries were actually in a different place. But Samuel was still given a solemn warning to declare. In the end, it made no difference; the people remained wedded to kingship, and God allowed them to have a king. This was a compromise in which God retained the right to choose – the king would be God’s anointed – but it also gave the people what they wanted. Where do the boundaries lie for us? What part does God play in the choices we make, whether on a global or national scale, or in everyday living?
Saul was God’s original and first choice as king. But later we learn that Saul misused his power, and God instructs Samuel to identify and anoint another (David) as Saul’s successor. This happened a long time before David actually became king, so it gave him time to grow into the role. But we might wonder whether God had made a mistake in choosing Saul and subsequently changed his mind. Or perhaps we see this as illustrating the risks that God takes in choosing fallible men and women, and how success (from God’s perspective, at least) depends on how the chosen one accepts and uses what God has given them. Either way, we cannot and should not second guess God. We can only faithfully go with what we truly believe God is calling us to do and be. How does this affect our understanding of leadership in the church and society?
Active worship
Make an influencer collage W E A
What helps us make good choices?
You will need: a range of magazines, catalogues, holiday
brochures, charity leaflets and similar; large sheets of paper, scissors, glue sticks.
- Working in small groups, invite people to discuss the place of advertising in our lives. What impact does it have on the way we use our time and spend our money? What other factors – things, people, circumstances, etc. – influence the choices and decisions we make?
- After this general discussion, focus on what influences and enables us to make good, positive and life-giving decisions – choices that bear good fruit and are pleasing to God. Cut out images and words from the magazines, catalogues and
leaflets to make a collage that illustrates this. The colleg can then be a focus for corporate prayer.
Change stations W E S
Reflecting on change
You will need: A5 card, paper, seeds, kitchen roll.
- Use dictionaries of quotations or web-based dictionaries to help you find about eight to ten brief quotes or phrases about change, e.g. ‘Be the change you long to be’. There are plenty to be found. Print each phrase once onto an A5 card, and also onto multiple small slips of paper – so that you end up with enough slips for everyone to have two or three different ones. Set up a number of stations (e.g. small tables), one for each quote/phrase, on which are placed one of the phrases (the card and its multiple small copies), a small bowl of seeds and plate with moistened kitchen roll on it.
- Invite people to make a journey round the stations, in any order they wish, and to ‘plant’ some seeds beside the quotes they like best, and to take a copy of the quote away with them as a reminder. Suggest (though no need to enforce) that people restrict themselves to a manageable two or three phrases.
Testimony W A
Sharing experience of change and its consequences.
You will need: large sheet of paper, pens and sticky notes.
- In advance, recruit a few people who are willing to talk about their daily/working lives. NB this is an opportunity to explore how faith and the church community can support the decisions that people have to make in their lives outside church, not just paid employment. In what follows ‘workplace’ is simply shorthand for that context, whatever it may be.
- Ask the volunteers questions such as: What difficult choices do you have to make in your ‘workplace’? How does your faith impact on what you do? Are there times when you have had to do things that you found difficult to reconcile with your faith? What did you do in such circumstances?
A simple worship activity W E S
Listening to God.
Throughout today’s worship, keep periods of silence. Start with – say, five seconds. Progressively make them longer – up to, say, 20 or 30 seconds, introducing them with: ‘Let us be still before God for a moment’.
- Near the end of your worship, introduce a more structured time of prayer with silence. Recap each of the elements from the very start, inviting people to think about what you did and why, then to pray in silence about that subject. Encourage people to speak to God in the silence; but also to spend as much time being silent before God – listening – as speaking. Make at least one of the silences a period of about two minutes. Conclude the prayer with words that will be familiar to all present (perhaps the Lord’s Prayer).
- Some may feel awkward or embarrassed by long silences, so you may wish to talk through people’s reactions to this worship activity.
