good morning and welcome to the dinery garden on this morning of sunday the 20th of march it's the day before 21st of march which is reckoned as the equinox and the beginning of spring but we are already enjoying lovely spring weather and a totally blue sky it's early yet the sun has not come up over the wall and we have a full day of worship in the cathedral ahead but it's really wonderful to sit here and share morning prayer with you before all that other worship begins and we welcome you from wherever you are across the world as we sit here with a very special reason and we shall come upon that reason when we read the special lesson for today which is of course different from the ordinary days of the week it being a sunday morning we have the blue and yellow flowers the hyacinth and narcissi here beside us reminding us constantly of the colors of ukraine and it's a week now since we talked about yulia campbell and the sense of having no contact whatsoever with her family in mariopol well that has changed a little she has had news that from the last few days that her mother is still well and alive and at home at present in that city which is full of dangers every hour dangers from bombardment and she is wanting of course as so many others are and and julia believes that some of her family have escaped but she's wanting to find a vehicle that will take her along the dangerous routes of escape because under the refugee program she could easily come here to be part of julia's family here but for the moment she's at home and she doesn't herself drive so we're just waiting to see if some kind of exit from there could come julia herself sadly has contracted kovid and so she is just taking a few days of rest to recover from that and we still continue to pray for her her family the people of mario paul but the people in all the cities of ukraine in the immense dangers that they're facing and we give thanks for those who have received refugees into their homes so let's begin our prayers and we begin we're sitting outside the the uh eastern side of the deanery behind me is the southeast tower and the sun is already touching on that and above me is a huge uh ladder of white flower the the chemical samandhi in full bloom going all the way up uh to the heavens really in my eyesight here and joining with the blue of the sky as i look up uh and behind me too is a fig tree but it's not time for it to leaf yet you will see some fruits of last year still on the fig tree but let's begin our prayers and then we can talk about all those other things as we go on and our theme to keep in mind this morning is resources and that theme of resources that's an earthly theme and the heavenly theme as you will see oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise hear our voice o lord according to your faithful love according to your judgments give us life blessed are you god of compassion and mercy to you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of our sin your light breaks forth like the dawn and your healing springs up for deliverance as we rejoice in the gift of your saving help sustain us with your bountiful spirit and open our lips to sing your 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 and 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 amen the night is past and the day lies open before us and you all hear the chattering of sparrows were near the house and so they tend to nest all around us but they are the most chattery birds you could possibly imagine and no doubt soon too you will begin to hear the sound of brewster the rooster just over the wall there with the hens and the pigs winnie and clemmy haven't woken up yet but the minute they hear us it may be that you will hear them wanting their breakfast because their snouts will come through the the gate uh behind where fletcher is sitting we're going to go on and say our son this morning i should say the last time we were here through the leaves you saw two ring-necked doves some time ago where there are a pair that are nesting and we hear them and we think we hear also that the sound but those ring neck doves are gentle creatures with a soft call we think we hear the sound of hatch chicks but this is a great secret because and we hope you'll keep it uh they've nested in the eaves of the choir school roof behind us and we want no one to know because there's always a sense of of work people tidying up and cleaning out things like nests so let's keep that secret between us psalm 103 is our psalm for this morning on this lovely morning of the 20th of march bless the lord o my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name bless the lord o my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your sins and heals all your infirmities who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with faithful love and compassion who satisfies you with good things so that your youth is renewed like an eagles the lord executes righteousness and judgment for all who are oppressed he made his ways known to moses and his works to the children of israel the lord is full of compassion and mercy slow to anger and of great kindness he will not always accuse us neither will he keep his anger forever he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor rewarded us according to our wickedness for as the heavens are high above the earth so great is his mercy upon those who fear him as far as the east is from the west so far has he set our sins from us as a father has compassion on his children so is the lord merciful towards those who fear him for he knows of what we are made he remembers that we are but dust our days are butter's grass we flourish as a flower of the field for as soon as the wind goes over it it is gone and its place shall know it no more but the merciful goodness of the lord is from of old and endures forever on those who fear him and his righteousness on children's children on those who keep his covenant and remember his commandments to do them the lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom has dominion over all bless the lord you angels of his you mighty ones who do his bidding and hearken to the voice of his word bless the lord all you his hosts you ministers of his who do his will bless the lord all you works of his in all places of his dominion bless the lord o my soul so we read today's sunday lesson and it's taken from the gospel of saint john but not in course where we're reading on weekdays but in the first chapter and so i'm at john 1 beginning at verse 35 the next day again john the baptist was standing with two of his disciples and he looked at jesus as he walked by and said behold the lamb of god the two disciples heard john say this and they followed jesus jesus turned and saw them following and said to them what are you seeking and they said to him [Music] rabbi which means teacher where are you staying he said to them come and you will see so they came and saw where he was staying and they stayed with him that day for it was about the tenth hour one of the two who heard john speak and followed jesus was andrew simon peter's brother andrew first found his own brother simon and said to him we have found the messiah which means christ he brought him to jesus jesus looked at simon and said you are simon the son of john you shall be called which means peter the rock the next day jesus decided to go to galilee he found philip and said to him follow me now philip was from bethsaida the city of andrew and peter philip found nathaniel and said to him we have found him of whom moses in the law and also the prophets wrote jesus of nazareth the son of joseph nathaniel said to philip nazareth can anything good come out of nazareth philip said to him come and see jesus saw nathaniel coming towards him and said of him behold an israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit nathaniel said to jesus how do you know me jesus answered him before philip called you when you were under the fig tree i saw you nathaniel answered him rabbi you are the son of god you are the king of israel jesus answered him because i said to you i saw you under the fig tree do you believe you will see greater things than these and he said to him truly truly i say to you you will see heaven opened and the angels of god ascending and descending on the son of man right back in chapter one and the chapter opens of course with in the beginning was the word generally written with a capital letter and then at the end of that passage and the word was god and the word was god at the end of that passage um you come to the the great sentence of incarnation and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us but in that paragraph it's not only flesh that's mentioned it's also blood but to all who received him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of god who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of humankind but of god and the words became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth flesh and blood and that flesh and bloods came and dwelt among us that picks up on just about everything that chapter 6 has been saying to us as we've studied john chapter 6 in the last week what was the need for that and john the baptist has already pointed out the need for that in the condition of humankind as he found it the need for the gifts of god and the qualities of the kingdom of heaven to be imparted to flesh and blood and it's done through the gifts of the spirit and john had seen the spirit descending on jesus in the form of a dove and then as we think of this we are connecting not only flesh and blood but the heavenly dimension that jesus is talking about there's a sort of way leading up through as i look down the garden path which comes up and then begins to rise from here in this great ladder of chemistry samandiyai as they're reaching up to heaven with all its beautiful white flowers and what we find then is jesus saying to nathanael because you s because i saw you under the fig tree you believe you will see greater things than these you will see heaven opened and the angels of god are sending and descending on the son of man upon our humankind the representative of our humanity and in that of course jesus is harking back and he nathaniel will know this at once and so will the others because they will know their scriptures harking back to jacob's dream of a ladder set from earth to heaven which he dreamt when he was in extreme suffering and fear with his head on a stone as a pillow and he saw a ladder opening up from himself to heaven with the angels of god ascending and descending as though heaven's gifts are poured out onto our flesh and blood that we may receive them as jesus received the spirit in the form of a darwin john the baptist's eyes and then became the vessel the anointed one through whom those gifts would be given but then he called others to receive that capacity to minister those gifts as well it is not only heaven's gifts descending it's that which humanity can give ascending as though caught up into the glory of heaven and into the eternal dimension beyond and the witness of the resources being poured on jesus was john the baptist but at the same same time the overhearing of that witness andrew and another disciple who are john's disciples at the time who go to follow jesus and notice how in saint john's gospel always you have connections through what are you seeking it's the question on resurrection mourning whom do you seek what are you looking for and the answer from the two rabbi the answer from mary on resurrection mourning rather nice the signs you have to pick them up through the gospel because they go backwards and forwards like the ladder of angels some in forms of flesh and blood humanity which has to be nourishing us all the time as we allow jesus to indwell in us that was what scandalized people when he was talking about his own flesh and blood being our nourishment unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood the cup of the new covenant and the breaking of the bread as the signs of that new covenant of ingesting those gifts of the kingdom of heaven which jesus came to show us in his flesh and blood and of course we do that on sundays as christians all over the world but we have the opportunity to do it at every meal of course we do because the signs are all around us not just in bread and wine but in everything that's here and that brings us of course to the fig tree which is behind me at the moment not yet leaved but nevertheless there as a sign of this story because i saw you under the fig tree you you believe i shall show you greater things than these and the if is that if you come and follow me and become a vessel of all of that those resources heavenly resources and they're going on a learning experience with jesus these early disciples andrew and his brother whom he's brought to jesus simon philip and his friend whom he's brought to jesus nathaniel or bartholomew sometimes called and uh james and john not named here because john tends never to name himself and the community that carried that gospel forward respect that until the very last when the sons of zebedee are there on the side of the lake fishing after the resurrection but for the moment that fig tree is a sign and could be seen to be the ladder which took the gifts of nathaniel and the gifts he's about to give up carried them to the glory of god like our angelic chemical and eye here and at the same time poured those gifts onto nathaniel so he could follow jesus and by believing begin to ingest those gifts so that they were indwelling in him using all these words abiding in him that we've used over the last week more or less every morning when we looked at john 6 and and that core of the fourth gospel is speaking of the way in which a ladder connects that which is physical in our flesh and blood which the word came to share and that which is spiritual our capacity not only to have spiritual imaginings but to receive spiritual gifts which then go on to produce the physical gifts of the kingdom of heaven that sentence in our our father thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven is all about that ladder and remember that fig trees have the deepest roots of all it's why they can survive for so long in hot dry places deep roots into the freshness of the water it was in the water of baptism that john saw the spirit descending onto jesus in the form of a dove and everything which is green around us needs that water and the fig tree then spreads its leaves to give shelter and drops the leaves to give nourishment back into the earth we're full of signs there's a beautiful medieval 12th century stained glass window in the cathedral of this very scene of nathaniel and jesus and uh and philip standing there with the group of disciples and they're named in latin each so we know who they all are but so too as a character the fig tree is named ficus in the uh botanical way of saying it some of you probably say because of classical nation but there it is named as there is a person it's certainly a ladder up to heaven and the ladder down from heaven so that heaven's gifts are given and received and glorified as we glorify god the psalm was all about that bless the lord oh my soul and the corollary and he will amply best bless you and has blessed us all in the word made flesh well let's look at resources today because we've many things to say about resources and i want to start as we started with julia last week i want to start with andy maple who is the son of one of our retired priests here david maple the reverend david maple who will i've no doubt at all be at the eucharist and he is uh like me a a senior in terms of years figure in our in our congregation now um and uh his wife jane uh and the two of them are regular regular communicants here and jane for a long time with our head steward looking after the and still acts as a steward and andy set off on a journey a brave journey on friday the 8th of march with a company of friends with four vans and eight drivers to take resources physical resources uh human needs medical needs all of those things which had been collected he was going to drive them with the other van drivers across europe and uh wrist and take them to a center on the ukrainian border which could then get them across to the ukrainian shops or uh with other uh parts of the resources distribute them to the refugees that were there so they set off on friday the 8th of march the four vans eight drivers and uh traveling with andy was his nephew fergus which is david maples our priest here's grandson and they they came to french customs and an amusing incident happened because french customs asked them to open the vans as they would of course and in one of the vans which was really stuffed full of things one of the boxes at the back which was full of babies nappies if you're speaking english in the english way diapers if you're speaking english in the american way was open and fell out onto the customs men and he said to them uh it's okay uh yields on song mad uh shall we say politely they've not been used and the french officers laughed and sent them on um and some of the vans were held up a bit so off they went and arrived in the end having had a stop at dortmund so the vans could catch up with each other and off they went to zabranca which is 10 kilometers from the ukrainian border you can imagine the journey they had and they they took shifts in driving and and there they came to a church which was being used as a place for resources and that very day all the resources there from the church had been taken and redistributed around in refugee camps and some sent over to ukrainian shops which were without supplies just 10 kilometers away and uh they were received and we have some some film of that happening right we're in a church in sabranska we've which is 11 kilometers from the ukrainian border they got cleared out today um with other although other donations have gone so it's very good timing from our point of view this is one van loads worth of um all the things that you've donated we've got another three vans worth to um get out somewhere good job guys right well we're in sobranza i believe is the right saying yeah and maybe you could just explain what you've been doing here in this distribution center for us well this distribution center is collecting all humanitarian aid we store it here sometimes it needs to be sorted medicals on the side but mostly food and drug drugs probably yeah medicines is collecting and when we have enough for one truck it's about 25 tons then we load the empty truck and say send it to usharo and others on other side ukrainians certain things where is fantastic well just thank you for what you're doing it's brilliant and uh yeah you know it makes us all feel humble when we see so many people helping yeah you did a great job you came all the way here and we are covered by volunteers here yeah everyday new people so some of volunteers are here already a week excellent well yeah well thank you very much thank you very much for ensuring that all our donations that we collected will go to the people who need it the most as well brilliant thanks very much thank you receive with andy speaking to the person receiving the the resources with much gratitude at zabranca because they were restocking and this this is happening with vans arriving not only with that but with uh much needed cash to buy things which can help with those resources too from local places in slovakia so that's where they were and they visited the refugee registration centers uh 20 miles from the border gave cash there to those needing it to buy resources three of the vans took supplies to camp zelena and a large amount of cash to buy more supplies locally i'm reading from andy's report and then on monday at fight last monday at 5 00 a.m they all left to come home for their ordinary life had to continue and they were hoping to arrive last tuesday night very late in the evening they were thinking by 10 o'clock their friend paul mccarthy is traveling is planning other trips so we may get more reports but for the moment we want to commend andy because so all the conversations we've had with him he said i'm not a hero it was massively a team effort but of course all of them are heroes all of them are taking resources physical resources but using their human energy to do it and also no doubt having times of fear and massive senses of compassion for the people that are there so we salute andy as a sign good word for the fourth gospel a sign of all that is being done to help the welfare of those still within ukraine and at the same time those who are in refugee camps and have found homes elsewhere in europe so the next thing i wanted to say and this uh is an extraordinary thing i i had left vetra watching the match between wales and italy yesterday afternoon the rugby match and i gone out to do something and come back in and was back in time to see the most astonishing thing happen at the end of the match both uh a a time of celebration now italy had not won a match in 36 matches and seven years not a single match and yesterday they were playing with some new members there and really um that the match went backwards and forwards and then wales seem to take a commanding lead and there is a habit of about 12 minutes or so before the end of the match that one of the commentators chooses a man of the match and there's a medal to be given to the man of the match and that choice having been made it can't be changed and it was it was given awarded to josh adams one of the welsh players who had caused wales to be in the lead and then suddenly with only probably a couple of minutes to spare before the final whistle would blow the young full back of the italian team anger cappucci suddenly saw his opportunity and seized the ball and and ran like lightning darting through everyone and then uh was was really well sighted to put the ball down at a particular place but knowing that it would be better put down further along for the conversion kick that would follow would be easier to take he refused the chance to put the ball down himself and threw it to a teammate and at that time um the teammate put the the the winger eduardo padavani i'll say his name because he's part of this trio scored the try and then after that the fly half paulo garbezi converted the try to win the match by one point wales 21 italy 22 and it was in the principality stadium in wales so for wales it was a terrible defeat but italy and all the italian fans went wild absolutely wild now that was cheerful but the act of grace was to follow for josh adams the welsh man of the match who received the medal went then up to uh anja capotsa the young uh fullback who had run with the ball and given the ball away so the the try could probably be scored by his teammates and converted went up to him and was seen to offer the man of the match medal to him and you could see um uh uh kappa watson who had a great italian flag all around him and everyone was trying to hug him and say no no no no no the medal is no no but but josh adams insisted and there was that moment when um capotzo consented because receiving a gift is as important as giving it but an act of total grace was going on and we'll come to a definition of grace in a moment which is given to us by someone unlikely but at that point they then hugged each other as though something wonderful has happened and certainly something wonderful had happened for italy because they'd lost so many matches that people were beginning to say why are you in this six nations tournament anyway it's seven years since you've won anything yesterday afternoon all that changed and it was capped by an act of grace as there the ladder of here was accompanied by a ladder to heaven and uh streams of grace were falling on that well i have two other dates to mention this morning this beautiful morning as the sun is actually now coming on to me which feels really good uh the first one is that this is the day on the 20th of march 1917 when dem vera lin was born who became the forces sweetheart by her singing songs to the soldiers in dangerous places in the second world war and it's amazing how a song can be a gift of grace deim viralin lived to be 103 and died in june 2020 but she was an absolute hero of the nation in a huge way and kept singing as long as she could but it was that image of her uh in her uh young years going out to egypt in the middle of the second world war and singing songs of home to the soldiers that were there many of whom would lose their lives she went on to india and sang there she went on to burma myanmar to sing there to all the soldiers there and the sight of her in those black and white films singing lovely songs which so many still know by heart we all meet again don't know where don't know when but i know we'll meet again some sunny day [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we meet again don't know friends don't know when i know [Applause] just like me always through till the food [Music] they'll be happy to know [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] keep smiling through just as you always do that that simple statement was like refreshment from heaven to all those young soldiers there and also a message from home but all the courage of of violin going out and then that song there'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of dover tomorrow just to wait and see message of hope for tomorrow given with grace but leading courage to do it that was in wartime just as um andy and ferguson the team went across europe at a time to ukraine where war is raging again uh but any of these acts of grace can be given at any time for they carry with them the quality of the kingdom of heaven now i want to speak next about somebody that we here in this country until a film was made about him didn't know but many of you across the atlantic will know this was the day on the 20th of march sorry 1928 that the reverend fred rogers normally known as mr rogers was born he died in 2003 and he is massively well known in the states as someone who had a children's television show from 1968 to 2001 and it was a show full of rhythm through ordinary things happening day by day it was called mr rogers neighborhood [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's a beautiful day in this neighborhood a beautiful day for a neighbor would you be mine could you be mine it's a neighborly day in this beauty wood a neighborly day for a beauty would you be mine could you be mine i have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you i've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you so let's make the most of this beautiful day since we're together we might as well say would you be mine could you be mine won't you be my neighbor won't you please won't you please [Music] please won't you be my neighbor my neighbor you know what these are there suitcases but i'm not going away no i'm using them to carry things you want to guess what might be inside the big one this big one down here want to guess what might be in there you want to guess what might be inside this little one i'll show you [Music] this little suitcase has little hats in it look at those little hats look at that aren't they great now the big suitcase has big hats [Music] and he introduced all kinds of people sang all kinds of songs which he'd composed himself began his program always in the same way to give a sense of comfort and rhythm and then in songs and puppets and guests in conversation and different topics and things like toy trains running through um villages and he began to speak about what it was like really in the widest sense to be a human being at the end of the 20th century and helping children to understand that and he'd been trained in in the helping of children with emotional and physical concerns and he translated that into this beautiful program which happened and people could tune into mr rogers neighborhood and we over here have never seen those programs but they were formative for so many americans and it was wasn't only the children of course who watched it was their parents and their grandparents who were with them and in a strange way fred rogers was able to communicate that message of hope and grace to them as well and it all came so simply and to watch him in the black and white films so simple like our potter again uh um the other morning you see ree as she said why are your pots attract because they are so simple this program is so simple and yet it communicated grace throughout all those years 1968 to 2001. well how do we know about him it's because a film was made all about him and it was a film uh which starred tom hanks as fred rogers and the film and if you've not seen it you really must watch it you can easily access it online it is one of the films that is terrific and fletcher is nodding his head very fiercely it's called a beautiful day in the neighborhood and so take that title and if you haven't seen the film do do watch it [Music] [Music] we're doing an issue on inspirational people who mr rogers hello neighbor the beloved children's television host so good to see you again today you hired me as an investigative journalist i don't do puff pieces 400 words play nice mr rogers i'm here to interview you it is so nice to meet you this piece will be for an issue about heroes do you consider yourself a hero no not at all oh i like that i insisted he read you before we agreed and pity every article we could find you okay i'm profiling mr rogers on our program i tried to look through the camera into the eyes of a single child it's just about the nicest person i've ever met i just don't know if he's for real lloyd please don't ruin my childhood all these people line up to tell you their problems that would be an incredible burden on you sometimes we have to ask for help and that's okay you love broken people like me i don't think you were broken [Music] we need to let people know that each one of them is precious [Music] roll sound daniel you set i'm set thank you daniel did she just talk to the puppet please stop talking tom hanks plays fred rogers and matthew reese who's a an actor that we've seen in so many different things plays uh lloyd vogel in the film he's called a cynical journalist but the film is actually based on a true story of a journalist called tom juno who went to uh with with with sort of cynical intentions to explode the myth of uh the shall we say the saintliness of fred rogers in which he couldn't possibly believe and in 1998 tom juno wrote an article in esquire magazine which again is worth accessing and reading and he tells how he came to mock but stayed to pray and that happened over the course of getting to know uh fred rogers who just explained to him gently and took no notice of of the sort of snide questions that were being asked just answered truthfully everything that he did and why he did it and in the end uh he invited tom juno because it was part of his daily activity and juno was following him around to come to say prayers with him in a group and the journalist tells how he came to mock and stayed to pray and then he asks us in the article what is grace i'm not certain all i know is that my heart felt like a spike and then in that room it opened like an umbrella a good image of what grace is but how easily it's conveyed from one act of compassion sometimes from a human being who hardly knows that they're giving an act of grace which is opening one's heart like an umbrella and in the film there's a moment that that does that uh situation doesn't recreate itself but there's a moment where uh richard sorry uh uh fred rogers uh looks into the eyes of the one called lloyd vogel played by matthew rhys and they're sitting i think they're sitting in a restaurant and he says i want you to think about the first toy you ever had and i want you to think about those who've most influenced your life and just think about that and we become at that point in the film lloyd verbal matthew reese and tom hanks keeps his eyes looking at us in silence for i think about a minute and it shows how deep thoughts about childhood things but also the things which fred rogers was doing with his simple songs and the rhythms of life and the puppets and the toys and the conversations with others who he'd invite into his neighborhood and the way in which he showed the children a city with a train traveling through it all those things captured the imagination of the busy people the parents of the children but also of the grandparents who had the wisdom of those who were older and it doesn't surprise me that uh mr rogers was called back in at 9 11 to give just a few more programmes to help children understand what had gone on there and he received the presidential medal of freedom which i think i'm writing saying is the highest award of any that can be given to any civilian and so no doubt that medal was something he prized but also we think of the way in which he gave that medal back figuratively so many times to people and caused them to feel free as the ladder that he was creating between heaven and earth a ladder of grace was plentifully lived out in flesh and blood in this life by fred rogers and can be today by people like andy maple and fergus and the team and julia campbell speaking about her parents in all of these ways in which people like yourselves can give grace to one another and feel acts of grace in themselves i saw you under the fig tree before you were called and nathaniel becomes then a vehicle of grace who will himself in his flesh and blood contribute the qualities of the kingdom of heaven as a gift in the present tense and so many are doing now in great courage let's say our prayers then on this beautiful morning here in england are reached for my book and we are praying today in the anglican communion for the uh anglican church in mexico and at the same time we're praying for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover and for emma bishop at lambeth but the diocese have just given us general prayers for today so no specific place for the diocese the collect is for the third sunday of lent and as i always say bring your own prayers that in our prayer earth and heaven may be joined and the word may once again become flesh and dwell amongst us in the humanity around us and in our own humanity almighty god whose most dear son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain and entered into glory and entered not into glory before he was crucified mercifully grant that we walking in the way of the cross may find it none other than the way of life and peace through jesus christ our lord our men essentially one of the most beautiful colleagues in the whole book and we'll learn it by heart before the end before this week is over and the ash wednesday college which we say each day in lent almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may receive from you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through jesus christ our lord amen so each in our own language we say the prayer of savior taught us 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 forever and ever amen moment of reflection for yourselves [Music] amazing grace [Music] like me i once was lost [Music] was blind but now i see it was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears [Music] first be through many angels toys [Music] [Music] thus far and grace will lead me home when we've been there ten thousand years [Music] is to see god's praise [Music] begun [Music] and when we [Music] begun [Music] christ gives you grace to grow in holiness to deny yourself take up your cross daily and follow him 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 now and always amen we shall notice as we go back to st john's gospel tomorrow and through the next week that jesus uses this time in having chosen the twelve to test them to see how deep their roots can go into that water of life which runs deep deep down and the fig tree is a sign of those roots reaching down and then being able to grow up and overshadow and give shade to all life and re-nourish that so that other shoots may come up but that's for the week ahead and uh so for the moment there's my bell telling me to go across to the cathedral and continue worship there enjoy this lovely sunday and think of the ladder of grace stretching from earth to heaven and importantly from heaven to earth and by earth i mean us humankind in flesh and blood as well as all life around us i have seen jesus in you i have seen jesus [Music] i have seen jesus in you i have seen jesus [Music] have heard [Music] all jesus the praise of your faithful jesus [Music] in [Music] i have felt in your hands his compassion by the words [Music] yes i have known jesus [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] let others see jesus [Music] in me let us see jesus [Music] you