good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this morning of saturday the 18th of december the saturday before the last of our advent sundays tomorrow but we've come into the garden again not too far from where we were yesterday but later in the morning so that the sky is already light enough for me to see not like yesterday when we were very early and uh the cloud just a thin cloud covering and a chilly autumn air but you will remember that last week we were dealing with the wild cherry here in the garden and we've also sat beside and talked about the winter flowering cherry the autumnalis which is nearby these cherry trees the greatest in the garden were beginning to get jealous and we had that feeling from them and so we've come here to give them true dignity this morning one in front of me here so to your right very large flowering cherry which you will remember uh in full flower from earlier in the year late april early may generally and beyond me uh another of the the great flowering cherries and that's the one where the rambling recta rose grows across it and right up into the ash tree these trees full of flower and blossom at the moment bear but you see the architecture of the trees because their trunks and branches are stretching out right across in a canopy across the garden um i'm not mentioning the uh judas tree near me because that will be feeling a little bit jealous because we're not mentioning that too but i say quietly we will actually be with the judas tree at a different time of year of course and also near me uh perottia which is blazing still with golden glory one of the few in the garden still to be looking like this so that we give thanks for its golden glory this morning as we worship here but it's the two great canopies of cherry trees that we are giving thanks for on this particular day as we remember the trees on this morning i want to say also that this is a very special weekend indeed for two very very close friends of ours in the united states i'm talking about the reverend andrew mead who for that years of his ministry was the rector of st thomas fifth avenue and before that director of the advent in boston but he today is celebrating the golden jubilee of his priesthood 50 years ago and then on the 1st of january he and nancy his wife will be celebrating their golden wedding anniversary so they really are having a wonderfully golden time so perhaps the parotia is celebrating that with all its golden leaves and uh this weekend andy and nancy are staying with their son matthew at pelham where matthew is the rector and that gives andy a chance to celebrate uh at the altar at pelham and we give thanks for that and say prayers of thanksgiving for his ministry and prayers for his continuing ministry and also their life together andy and nancy because both of them are very much involved in all sorts of projects and we can talk about that when we come to their uh um jubilee of their wedding the golden wedding anniversary on the 1st of january uh there's uh the pilgrim route in spain which which nancy is so so much involved in so at the same time we remember that uh a week ago andy was able to celebrate at the church very near their home in narragansett in rhode island uh saint peter's by the sea and that was his first communion that he gave 50 years ago the same altar at that time and he was assisted by uh tom tom shaw and nancy telling us about the story said it was chaotic it was a beautiful ceremony but it was chaotic because andy uh turned up in a a an alb that was un-ironed uh and at the same time uh tom forgot to light the candles it didn't matter at all for the celebration of all of that and we give thanks for andy nancy matt the wrecker of pelham and also emma their daughter the whole family on this particular day so let's begin our worship this morning and our prayers on this last weekend of advent o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise reveal among us the light of your presence that we may behold your power and glory blessed are you sovereign god of all to you be praise and glory forever in your tender compassion the dawn from on high is breaking upon us to dispel the lingering shadows of night as we look for your coming among us this day open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will that the world may rejoice and give you praise blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever are men on this 18th morning of the month we've normally read either psalm 90 or 91 i'm going to read the third of the morning psalms this morning psalm 92 [Applause] it is a good thing to give thanks to the lord and to sing praises to your name almost high to tell of your love early in the morning and of your faithfulness in the night time upon the ten-stringed instrument upon the harp and to the melody of the liar for you lord have made me glad by your acts and i sing aloud at the work of your hands oh lord how glorious are your works your thoughts are very deep the senseless do not know nor do fools understand that though the wicked sprout like grass and all workers of iniquity flourish it is only to be destroyed forever but you o lord shall be exalted forever more follow your enemies o lord know your enemies shall perish and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered but my horn you have exalted like the horns of wild oxen i am anointed with fresh oil my eyes will look down on my foes my ears shall hear the ruin of the evildoers who rise up against me but the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree and shall spread abroad like a cedar of lebanon such as are planted in the house of the lord shall flourish in the courts of our god they shall still bear fruit in old age they shall be vigorous and in full leaf that they may show that the lord is true he is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him so we're going for the last time this morning to the epistle the letter to the hebrews and we are in chapter 13 and i'm going to read the whole of that chapter it is full of wonderful imagery as we've grown to expect from this particular writer and we'll just look at some of those images afterwards because they've been helpful in christian worship ever since they were written let mutual love continue and do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them and those who are mistreated since you also are in the body let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled for god will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have for god has said i will never leave you nor forsake you so we can confidently say the lord is my helper i will not fear what can humankind do to me remember your leaders those who spoke to you the word of god consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith jesus christ is the same yesterday today and forever do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace not by food which have not benefited those devoted to them we have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat for the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp so jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the repro the reproach he endured for here we have no continuing city but we seek the city that is to come through jesus then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to god that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to god obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account let them do this with joy and not with groaning for that would be of no advantage to you and pray for us for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things i urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that i may be restored to you the sooner and now may the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant equip you with everything good that you may do his will working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through jesus christ to whom be glory for ever and ever are men i appeal to you brothers and sisters bear with my word of exhortation for i have written to you briefly you should know that our brother timothy has been released with whom i shall see you if he comes soon greet all your leaders and all the saints those who come from italy send you greetings grace be with all of you it's the end of the letter to the hebrew jewish christians in rome in all um probability written from somewhere else and many have suggested alexandria but as we've seen all the way through as we've read this epistle pictures from the old covenant sentences from the old testament from the psalms from the law from the prophets abound and the writer has quarried deep into that so that those illustrations may carry us forward and the language of our liturgical services particularly the holy communion the eucharist the mass the lord's supper whatever different communions of the church call it has been enriched by the writing of this particular epistle writer but let's today concentrate on chapter 13 because it is rich with imagery as we've grown to expect and one of the nicest i think comes right at the beginning after the opening exhortation to let mutual love continue we have the sentence be not forgetful to entertain strangers by for by so doing some have entertained angels unawares but of course the writer is looking all the way back to when abraham sitting in front of his tent entertained three angelic strangers and the promise was given that he and sarah would bear a son who would be the child of promise and from whom those of faith would descend that image also you could replicate perhaps from the book of tobit in the apocryphal writings where tobit and tobias his son particularly entertain another stranger who is going to accompany tobias on his journey and the stranger is of course the archangel raphael and all of these images say to us there are huge benefits in entertaining strangers not simply because it's showing the hospitality that our vocation means that we should show but also benefits to ourselves for who knows whom we are entertaining and what words they will speak which may be the very words which underline the vocation that god has given uniquely to each of us and then there are so many of these in in this last chapter the words jesus christ the same yesterday today and forever one could say yesterday today tomorrow but it says more than that forever takes you not to the end of the journey but even beyond into that kingdom of heaven that mount zion which the the writer glories in which is full of eternal dimensions and that sentence comes from this chapter jesus christ the same yesterday today and forever accentuating once again the present tense of our lord jesus christ with us the i am statements of jesus in the present tense and then there's also the image of going outside the city as our lord himself was sent outside the city with the cross being lifted up and let's think of that him of mrs c.f alexander which we sing at passion tide and particularly on good friday there is a green hill far away without outside the city wall and the the here we are um with the the wall of the city behind us here and we're asked to go outside but i'm also looking at the very solid tent that we have for our worship canterbury cathedral and we've come outside this because of the lockdown over all these months to be here in the open air saying these words of the gospel and the epistle writers but quarrying back into the old testament scriptures and then and this the most marvelous sentence here we have no continuing city but we seek the city that is to come takes us back to his sentence we are all strangers and pilgrims journeying and jesus journeys with us here we have no continuing city we seek that which is to come but on the way the qualities of the kingdom of heaven which are being shown in this in this uh particular chapter of hospitality to one another entertaining one another and also sharing the faith with one another all of those things here and that sentence again there are all these are knapsack sentences kit bag grab bag sentences here we have no continuing city we seek a city that is to come the eternal city and then lastly that wonderful benediction uh first of all we have the sentence through jesus let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to god that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name and then the benediction which we know well and i would always use in easter tide in our liturgy now may the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus that great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant equip you with everything good that you may do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through jesus christ to whom be glory for ever and ever are men wonderful words of benediction right at the end of this epistle as the writer commend those whom he is writing to the the protection and glory of god in their journey towards the city which they are seeking well here's our tabernacle here on the cathedral signaling one of our early morning services by its bell and that for the moment is a place where people will be going to worship as we worship out here in our garden congregation there's one particular date and really only one i want to mention this morning because it's the the date of someone who has again influenced our worship in such a huge way in i would say every christian denomination both in english and in translation i mean charles wesley who was born on this day the 18th of december 1707 and died aged 80 in march 1788 so his life spanned a great deal of the 18th century he was born in a a rectory where his father was the parish priest born in a large family one of the youngest of that family and clearly from the very beginning was a great scholar and was sent to westminster school and then on to christchurch oxford and it was there that he began to perceive his vocation assisted by george whitfield and and his own brother john wesley and later the two of them offered themselves for anglican ordination in the church of england and charles accompanied his brother john to charleston in georgia across the other side of the atlantic now john himself stayed there for some time charles was there for one year only and then returned so the charleston itself is in south carolina but the colony that was established was across that area of the of the united states at the time and so charles came back and and uh was in ministry here but because of the experience that they had had when john came back and george whitfield joined them in this they began to proclaim the gospel not in the church buildings because they were finding hostility with the way they they did this but out in the fields and part of that ministry went on near bristol and i've said before that there is a beacon erected outside bristol which i could see the light of from my own bedroom window where john wesley charles wensley and george whitfield would would speak to the coal miners of of the the kingswood forest at that particular time and the the parish priest was was a long way off in britain and probably in those days wouldn't want much to go there in those dangerous areas but for the three preachers they spoke to willing ears for they were they were good preachers but at the same time charles began to develop a ministry as a hymn writer now charles never left the uh ministry of the the church of england and on his his uh death bed it he sent for the rector of saint marilla ben parish church in whose parish he was living john harley the man's name was and charles wesley said to him sir whatever the world may say of me i have lived and i die a member of the church of england i pray you bury me in your church yard and director agreed and on his funeral day six clergy of the church of england carried the coffin of charles wesley to be buried in marylebone parish church and there's memorial to him there in maribel and paris churchill at the same time from charles wesley in his own family his son samuel a great musician in his own right and the grandson samuel sebastian wesley became amazing musicians writing anthems and samuel sebastian very well known for his answers he was the organistic hereford cathedral for a while and while there wrote his most famous of easter anthems blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ and also was foremost in transforming and renewing cathedral music in the middle of the 19th century all of that from the wesley family it's none of that really i want to speak about this morning i want to say that charles wesley by his hymns spans all the christian traditions and he roots that in an experience that he had of receiving the gospel to give him a personal message to give he wrote over 6 500 hymns probably as many as 10 000 uh an extraordinary work but it's somehow poured out of him and in them there is strong doctrinal content a sense always of the christian year proceeding year by year through time insistence on the universality of god's love that was the most ex important thing for him this was available for all it was a universal love and the richness of quarrying into scripture like our friend the writer of the epistle to the hebrews and literary illusion charles himself was a great classical scholar and at christchurch oxford had uh translated into english first many of the classical poets in in latin and greek also the variety of his metrical stanzas the way in which he rhymes and the rhythms of his verses so that you have an influence on modern christian worship and modern theology as a whole from this hymn writer of the 18th century who preached in the open air the lovely statue of him in the place he used to preach in in the city of bristol which was erected not too long ago he talks so much about the personal indwelling of the holy spirit and the sanctifying work of the spirit in anyone's life about humanity's personal accountability to god just as the writer to the hebrews says those who lead the church will have to bear to give an account of their stewardship but charles wesley believed that there was a personal accountability this intimate connection through well let's look at the way first of all his hymns are rooted in his personal experience and i want to look at two of them only i've got in my hand the oxford hymn book well out of print now but it was the hymnbook we used at the seminary in which i was trained at cudston and at the end of my time there they gave up using the oxford hymnbook and we were allowed to take away our own hymnbook so i've dated it with my name in that but what i remember is the occasion when robert runcie gave his last compline address before leaving the college to go to be the bishop of saint albans and then of course from there he went on to be archbishop of canterbury and at that complement address and we were rather sad because we loved him dearly we were there on a friday night as a compliment address was always given usually by a visiting preacher but on this occasion it was the principal and it was a kind of goodbye and he chose a hymn that none of us knew terribly well but here it is in the oxford uh hymnbook and it is quarrying back to that time in the wilderness where jacob not knowing what his own future would be wrestles with an unknown stranger in the middle of the night and this is seen to be the the angel of the lord or god himself wrestling with jacob so that it's a disturbed night's sleep but the story is told in the book of genesis of that wrestling with god striving with god tell me who you are and tell me what i should be doing really and all of that is set out in one of charles wesley's hymns and it was this one that uh robert runcie chose to to use for his own wrestling with god about where his life would then take him as he left the enclosed a community at cunston where he was also the parish priest of that little village and dearly loved by the villagers there too it's set to a lovely tune called david's heart none better for one quarrying into the psalms but here are the verses i won't read it all come without traveller unknown whom still i hold but cannot see my company before is gone and i am left alone with thee with thee all night i mean to stay and wrestle till the break of day i need not tell thee who i am my misery or sin declare thyself has called me by my name look on thy hands and read it there but who i ask thee who art thou tell me thy name and tell me now and then on to the last verse i know the savior who thou art jesus the feeble sinners friends nor wilt thou with the night depart but stay and love me to the end thy mercies never shall remove thy nature and thy name is love spelt with a capital letter from uh charles wesley's own experience but something about travelling with jesus traveling beside and the holy spirit working within and the other uh him i'll leave for a little while longer you could actually and we could have read another of wesley's hymns which is greatly loved and has a wonderful tune to sing and that is the the hymn um and can it be that i should gain an interest in my savior's love it's a great methodist hymn and we now sing it in anglican churches as well and enjoy that hymn it was sung at uh archbishop justin's um uh installation in the throne of sint uh augustine and then at the same time the seasons as they run through so advent first come now long expected jesus that's wesley born to set thy people free once again the sense of breaking out which uh this both his personal hymns give and then the biggest of all at advent time lo he comes with clouds descending once for favored sinners slain and when that is sung normally at the end of an advent carol service sen the roof lifts off because it's a wonderful hymn to sing but it's a personal testimony and also a rooted set of verses in the christian year and that's very much advent but when we come to christmas of course then it's the same thing at the christmas carol services for hark the herald angels sing glory to the newborn king comes very much from charles wesley and once again you're finding that there's both a personal testimony but there is also the sense of liturgy of the church raising a particular theme at a particular time of the year and giving glory to god as our psalmist said this morning singing to the music of instruments and singing a sacrifice of praise the epistle to the hebrew says easter uh words is hymn christ the lord is risen today with alleluias added at the end of each line because of course through lent and passion time we don't sing alleluias so he made sure there were alleluias all the way through ascension day hail the day that sees him rise again alleluia and that too charles wesley and then we go to pentecost and there love divine or love's excelling joy of heaven to us come down the gifts of the spirit fixing us thy humble dwelling all thy faithful masses crown but the book the the tune that i was uh going to to think of the hymn that i was going to think of from the oxford hymn book which was again dearly loved by us when we sang it and is used so often in sacramental services of ordination oh thou who came is from above the pure celestial fire to impart kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of my heart they are letted for thy glory burn with inextinguishable blaze and trembling to its source return in humble prayer and fervent praise jesus confirm my heart's desire to work and speak and think for thee still let me guard the holy fire and still stir up thy gift in me ready for all thy perfect will my acts of faith and love repeat till death thy endless mercies seal and make my sacrifice complete the working of the holy spirit as set out by wesley's hymn charles wesley's him and generally sung to a him by his uh grandson samuel sebastian samuel sebastian wesley and then we could go on of course for things like over a thousand tongues to sing my great redeemer's praise or christ whose glory fills the skies son of righteousness arise son of righteousness is a sentence that we use it advent in the advent blessing and i'll use it later on you see how much we could say about charles wesley for his theology was given in verse form and we sing that theology in our hymns across the denominations and across the languages as those hymns are translated over 6500 a massive work and we we think also of the celebration that he he wants us to engage in every time we engage in a sacrifice of praise as the writer to the hebrews says so great thanks this morning for charles wesley and his ministry a ministry across the denominations and communions of the church let's say our prayers then on this particular day and uh we are praying this morning in the anglican communion for the diocese of ikwo in the church of nigeria the enugu province and here in this diocese for archbishop justin for bishop rose of dover and for bishop emma at lambeth and today for the nearby and very beautiful parish of bleen cosmos and sin damian and uh that little church with uh it its uh fields and uh all around it uh is in the care and we pray for them of stephen ladd stacy rand in their uh ministry there so we pray for that ministry at bleen let's um then say the college for this particular week of advent the third week for the last time and then the advent collect itself which continues with us o lord jesus christ who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight for you are alive and reign with the father in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen and the advent collect bring your own intentions and prayers almighty god give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and to put on the armor of light now in the time of this mortal life in which your son jesus christ came to us in great humility that on the last day when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead we may rise to the life immortal through him who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit that the one god world without end amen so we say together the our father in whatever words you like to use 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 are men memories of silent reflection now as we say our own prayers [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] r [Music] is [Music] me [Music] see [Music] is [Music] is is [Music] christ the son of righteousness shine upon you scatter the darkness from before your path and make you ready to meet him when he comes in glory and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always are men so i'm going to go across now to uh the cathedral where we have a a special task today of uh appointing a new assistant organist and that would be a good musical thing to do on this day of charles wesley thank you to the cherry trees for their hospitality [Music] so is [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] my [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] so oh i robert andrew willis dean of canterbury by the authority committed to me install you most reverend father in god justin by divine providence archbishop of canterbury primate of all england and metropolitan in this chair of saint augustine that by god's grace you may guide and govern this sea to which the eyes of all anglican christians look as the center of their communion [Music] [Music] amen knowing us to be linked by god's action with bonds of affection through our common baptism and history in the presence of all here and those who over the years have taken the gospel to every point on earth i solemnly commit myself before you to the service of the anglican communion that together we may proclaim the gospel of christ who reconciles us to god and breaks down the walls that divide us let us greet our newly installed archbishop with great gladness warm applause marking the formal installation of justin welby as archbishop of canterbury and primate of all england and metropolitan [Applause] christ is our peace he has reconciled us to god in one body by the cross we meet in his name and share his peace the peace of the lord be always with you and it's time for the congregation to exchange the peace which is done warmly and enthusiastically and everyone clearly very eager to exchange the peace with the new archbishop of canterbury including dr john center move there the archbishop of york the second most senior figure in the church of england in our weakness may your words o lord speak to our hearts that what we have heard read may lead us further into life amen it's got a good reverberation this cathedral we are an international community the dean has already welcomed you but may i add my own welcome to all those who've come from near and far to this service today some from a great distance indeed brothers and sisters in christ friends from other faith traditions from all over the world to each one of us whoever and wherever we are joining us from far away by television or radio or here in the cathedral jesus calls through the storms and darkness of life and says take heart it is i do not be afraid our response to those words sets the pattern for our lives for the church and for the whole of society fear imprisons us and stops us being fully human uniquely in all of human history jesus christ the son of god is the one who as living love liberates holy courage if it is you tell me to come to you on the water peter says and jesus replies come history does not relate what the disciples thought about getting out of a perfectly serviceable boat but peter was right and they were wrong the utterly absurd is completely reasonable when jesus is the one who is calling courage is liberated and he gets out of the boat walks a bit and then fails love catches him gently sets him right and in a moment they are both in the boat and there is peace courage failed but jesus is stronger than failure the fear of the disciples was reasonable people do not walk on water but this person did for us to trust and follow christ is reasonable if he is what the disciples end up saying he is truly you are the son of god each of us now needs to heed his voice calling to us and to get out of the boat and go to him because even when we fail we find peace and hope and become more fully human than we can imagine failure forgiven courage liberated hope persevering love abounding for more than a thousand years this country has to one degree or another sought to recognize that jesus is the son of god by the ordering of its society by its laws by its sense of community sometimes we've done better sometimes worse when we do better we make space for our own courage to be liberated for god to act among us and for human beings to flourish slaves were freed factory acts passed the nhs and social care established through christ liberated courage the present challenges of environment and economy of human development and global poverty can only be faced with extraordinary christ liberated courage in humility and simplicity pope francis called us on tuesday to be protectors of each other of the natural world of the poor and the vulnerable courage is released in a society that is under the authority of god so that we may become the fully human community of which we all dream let us hear christ who calls to us and says take heart it is i do not be afraid the first reading we heard from the book of ruth dates from the time of israel before the kings it is the account of a moabite refugee utterly stigmatized inescapably despised taking the huge risk of choosing a god she does not know in a place she has not been and finding security when she does so the society ruth went to was healthy because it was based on obedience to god both in public care and in private love today we may properly differ on the degrees of state and private responsibility in a healthy society but if we sever our roots in christ we abandoned the stability which enables good decision-making there can be no final justice or security or love or hope in our society if it is not finally based on rootedness in christ jesus calls us over the wind and storms heed his words and we will have the courage to build a society instability for nearly two thousand years the church has sought often failing to recognize in its way of being that jesus is the son of god the wind and waves divided jesus from his disciples peter ventures out in fear and trembling as you may imagine i rather relate to him at this point jesus reconciles peter to himself and makes the possibility for all the disciples to find peace all the life of our diverse churches finds renewal and unity when we are reconciled afresh to god and so are enabled to reconcile others a christ-heeding life changes the church and a christ-heading church changes the world saint benedict set out to create a school for prayer little more and incidentally almost accidentally monastic order that saved european civilization the more the church is authentically heeding jesus's call leaving its security speaking and acting clearly and taking risks the more the church suffers thomas kramner faced death with christ given courage leaving a legacy of worship of holding to the truth of the gospel on which we still draw i look at the anglican leaders here and remember that in many cases around the world their people are scattered to the four winds or driven underground by persecution by storms of every sort even by cultural change many christians are martyred now as in the past yet at the same time as suffering the church transforms society when it takes the risks of renewal in prayer of reconciliation of confident declaration of the good news of jesus christ in england alone the churches together run innumerable food banks shelter the homeless educate a million children offer debt counselling comfort the bereaved and far far more all this comes from heeding the call of jesus christ internationally churches run refugee camps mediate civil wars organize elections set up hospitals all of it happens because of heeding the call to go to jesus through the storms and across the waves there is every possible reason for optimism about the future of christian faith in our world and in this country optimism does not come from us but because to us and all people jesus comes and says take heart it is i do not be afraid we are called to step out of the comfort of our own traditions and places and go to the waves reaching for the hand of christ let us provoke each other to heed the call of christ to be clear in our declaration of christ committed in prayer to christ and we will see a world transformed in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen [Music] the almighty trinity the one true god father son and holy spirit grant you to desire him holy to know him truly and to love him sincerely and give you such perseverance in his faith and love that he may bring you hereafter to himself and his unchangeable glory world without end amen final him words by charles wesley tuned by thomas campbell as the archbishop processes towards the west store the conclusion of this service [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] may god in his great mercy bless you and pour on you the understanding of his wisdom and grace may he nourish you with the riches of the faith and make you to persevere in all good works may he keep your steps from wandering and show you the paths of love and peace and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be amongst you and remain with you always amen [Music] you