#SUNDAY SERVICE - St. John xxiii

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Sunday service at St. John xxiii Parish


Sunday the 17th of November 

10.00am

A Roman Catholic church in Geneva which has as members of it's congregation people of from many nations and who speak many languages. This church serves the English speaking community.

After waking up to the reality of the election results back home, wondering what the future holds for our country and walking into this church for service was really helpful.

The readings were from Malachi 3:19-20, Psalm 98:5-9, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 and Luke 21:5-19. The words of scriptures and the sermon were words of hope and encouragement and reminder that we have to trust in God. The sermon began with a reminder of the state of the world and the cause being the actions of humanity. The gospel is warning to the church.  In such situations when their is persecution and oppositions and you may be wondering what to do the Prophet Malachi encourages us to fear the Lord, to trust in him and put our hope in him.

The peoples response to the Psalm "The Lord comes to rule the peoples with fairness" not only helps to understand the rest of the texts but also is a reminder that whatever the situation one may face, God is in control and he is fair in his rule of the earth.

The intercessions that followed began from the texts with prayers said for different communities facing challenging situations.

The service ended with the song "how lovely on the mountains are the feet of him"with the chorus "Our God reigns" a reminder that God is in control.

This mornings worship took me back to the words of the Psalmist "it is better to take refuge in the Lord, than to trust in man". Maybe through the signs of times God is calling us to make him the center of our lives and all we do, so that we do not run to him and look to him for our nation only when there is a need, but to keep our nation wrapped in prayer at all times, so that all who live in fear and uncertainty will be protected by the Lord who rules the people.

With the words of assurance of the offertory hymns second verse, "The Lord who left the heavens, our life and peace to bring, to dwell in lowliness with men, their pattern and their king", we can live with confidence in our Lord.

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