Sunday Service 23 November 2025
Today’s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston
Welcome
Hello and welcome to worship. Today we mark the festival of Christ the King; a fairly recent festival but one which has Biblical resonances; Gabriel’s greeting to Mary noted that Jesus would have the throne of his father David, would rule over Jacob forever and would have a kingdom without end. The Book of Revelation declares that the Lamb that was slain is “king of kings and Lord of lords.” Images from the 4th Century show Jesus as Ruler of All – often seated on a rainbow.
In 1925 Pope Pius XI published an encyclical Quas primas noting that Jesus’ kingship was given to him by the Father and was not a dominion seized by violence or usurped from another. Pius XI instituted the practice of having one Sunday in the year to reflect on Jesus’ kingship. Pius’ words should be reflected on with the reality that the papacy was still smarting from the seizure of the papal states (which included most of Italy) during the process which united Italy into one nation. Those lands had been taken in 1870 – just 45 years before Pius’ words. This led the Church to refuse to deal with the Italian government until it made an agreement with Mussolini in 1929. Pius contrasted God’s kingdom with the passing kingdoms of the world.
In our own lifetimes we’ve seen kingdoms and nations rise and fall; many of us grew up with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, with the nations of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia – to name just some European countries which no longer exist. In more recent years East Timor achieved independence, Sudan and South Sudan have come into existence, and, very recently, Palestine has been recognised as a state by most of the world’s countries though the recognition hasn’t changed much for the people of Gaza.
Today we reflect on the type of king Jesus is as we compare and contrast Him with the rulers of our world. My name is Andy Braunston and I am the URC’s Minister for Digital Worship; I live in Orkney – an island chain which is now part of Scotland but was, for many years, part of the Norwegian empire. Nations rise and fall but we worship the One who is forever steadfast.
Call to Worship
What kind of king is this?
A king who acts as a shepherd, a king who seeks out the lost,
a king who is a gentle guide. A king who raises up lowly,
A careful shepherd to nurture the flock. This is our king!
What kind of king is this?
A king who is a refuge in times of trouble,
a king who shelters us from fear,
a king who sustains us in good times and bad.
A king who ceases war, shatters the spear,
breaks the bow and burns the shield. This is our king!
What kind of a king is this?
A king who forgave his executioners,
a king who promised paradise to a thief,
a king who reached through his agony to offer hope.
This is our king!
Jesus Christ, in whom we live and move
and have our being.
Hymn All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
Edward Perronet (1726-92) alt. John Rippon (1751-1836) and others Public Domain. Sharada Shaffter, Organist Dr Arul Siromoney Recorded live at St Andrew’s Kirk, Chenai in 2008.
All hail the power of Jesus’ name let angels prostrate fall;
bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all.
Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed of the fall,
hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all.
Sinners whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall,
go, spread your trophies at his feet, and crown him Lord of all.
Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball,
to him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all.
O that with yonder sacred throng we at his feet may fall,
join in the everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all.
Prayer of Approach & Confession
O Most High,
before the ages began
You loved and wanted the best for us,
throughout our lives You have held us in the palm of Your hands,
watching over us as a shepherd guards the sheep,
nurturing us as a loving parent protects a child,
You are our guide. You are our light.
We, however, prefer to stumble in the dark.
We seek to create You in our own image –
failing to see Your subversive power,
seeking to make You bless
our notions of kingship, leadership, and authority.
We consecrate power ignoring humility.
We hand over our lives to the markets, devoid of humanity.
We seek shelter in worldly policies and politics
ignoring Your eternal realm.
We turned away from Your message and nailed Jesus to the Cross,
seeking to pin him down and silence Him;
yet you disrupted our sin and our plans.
You raised Him on high.
Forgive us, good Shepherd, give us time to change,
that we may challenge and change the powers of our age
and sing your praises forever.
Words of Assurance
Here are words we can trust:
God is rich in mercy, powerful in love, and tender in compassion.
God strengthens us in our weakness
and believes in our potential.
We are forgiven and called to forgive – even ourselves
Prayer of Illumination
Open the power of your Word to us, O Most High,
that we may hear and ponder Your gracious love,
Your fierce tenderness, and Your insistent call
to recognise the powers of our age are overthrown,
that we may acclaim Jesus, our crucified God,
as our subversive yet victorious king. Amen.
Reading Jeremiah 23: 1-6
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall no longer fear or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD. The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.”
Hymn Christ of God Unseen the Image (based on Colossians 1: 15-20)
The Revd Leith Fisher © Panel on Worship of the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh University Singers, Ian McCrorie (Conductor) John Kitchen (Organ)
Christ, of God unseen the image, born before creation’s birth;
through whom all things were created, all that lives in heaven and earth –
realms and rulers, thrones, dominions, powers great and forces small
through and for him made and fashioned he is in and over all.
Christ the first born of creation, Christ in whom all things cohere,
all things’ Maker, seen and unseen, low and lofty, far and near.
Christ the head of his dear body, of his Church the living core,
risen from the dead before us – him we gladly now adore.
Christ in whom the very fullness of the living God is found,
Christ who reconciles creation turning earth to holy ground,
Christ the home of God’s good pleasure through whose blood is made our peace,
in whose cross, beyond all measure is our freedom and release.
Reading St Luke 23: 33-38
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by watching, but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
Reflection
What kind of King are you Lord? We’ve got a king again now; and we’ve known of kings for years. Kings wear crowns, have retainers and flunkeys, command armies, live in unimaginable wealth, have stories fed to the press to keep the positive news flowing – though that doesn’t always work of course. Kings have families who we are taught to honour and respect. Kings have security – discrete agents, hidden weapons, and security vetting.
Yet none of that seems to be accurate for you. You were born in a stable, not a palace. Your first years were spent in exile not private school. You didn’t wear a crown – you seemed to own nothing except your clothes. When you were crowned it was with thorns as a cruel mockery of your reign. You had disciples not flunkeys – and some of them weren’t very reliable. You had no armies to command, no weapons to rely on. No press in your day of course but I can’t imagine you having stories planted on the sly. You had heaven’s armies to protect you – but they didn’t do a good job now did they? What type of king are you Lord?
What type of priest are you Lord? We know about priests – though we have lots of different names for them – ministers, vicars, pastors, presbyters – but the job’s the same. They have to look holy, often wear odd clothing, tell of God’s actions, be a bit distant, mix with the right people – marry the type of person who is acceptable in a range of settings. They have to balance being radical with being careful, navigate a plethora of difficult people with tact and, often, seem to follow establishment lines. They have to be creative in liturgy honouring both tradition and change.
Yet none of that seems to be accurate for you. We don’t know where you trained but your command of the Bible and its teachings is second to none. You didn’t seem to look that holy, you didn’t keep that professional distance that ministers are supposed to have. You really mixed with the wrong people – sex workers, collaborators, and dirty gentiles. Your marital status would have led to some questions at a ministry interview – close to John and Mary; that would have raised some eyebrows. And what about tact? You really can’t call people “whitewashed tombs” and get away with it! You can’t call the king a “fox”! (See my earlier comments, Lord, about kings.) I learned very early on in my ministry not to call the church members “morons” – yet you always seemed to be doing that. You called the religious people “snakes and vipers” and implied some people are pigs. All I can say is it’s good you didn’t have a difficult Eldership to work with! You’d not have lasted long. And your preaching….not very focused on the Establishment was it? You seemed to sit fast and loose with tradition – stretching laws to breaking points, reinventing liturgy, bringing new meanings and offering mystery not explanation. What type of priest are you, Lord?
What type of leader are you Lord? Leaders have to be slick; they need mission statements and visions for the future. They have focus groups quietly working out what’s the best way to get a hearing. Leaders now avoid saying what they really think but want, instead, to please their base. Leaders offer cheap tricks where they blame outsiders for the ills of the world and build themselves up. Leaders need to be popular – don’t you know that Lord?
Yet none of this seems to be accurate for you. That nice rich guy who wanted to follow you – you told him to give away all that he had! Come on, wouldn’t a nice donation have been good enough? Your message is memorable, I’ll give you that, but would it get through a focus group. Turn the other cheek? Love your enemies? If asked for our coat we have to give our shirt as well! See you in the poor and naked and hungry and imprisoned! And then there’s all that stuff on money. You just wouldn’t get a hearing now Lord. Couldn’t you offer a bit of cheap grace now and again – Your Church often does after all! You didn’t seem to please your base either – you were nasty to the Pharisees and often told Jewish people that gentiles were more righteous than them. You didn’t find a scapegoat for social problems did you Lord? Look where that ended you up. What type of leader are you Lord?
What type of victory did you win Lord? Victory is, well victorious Lord. It involves, often, bloodshed, stunning military or political tactics, the vanquished foe being left to slither away, or being put on trial for their crimes. Victory is about triumph, noise, joy, pomp, marches, celebrations.
Yet none of this seems to be accurate for you. You let yourself be captured. You let Judas, of all people, betray you. You were rude to the High Priests and so wilful to Pilate. You could have summoned the angels and have had a bit of smiting there. That would have been a victory; that would have unseated the might of Rome – imagine the songs your mum would have sung then! Instead, you let them release the insurgent and drag you off to Calvary. You let them strip you naked – where’s the victory there? Where’s the dignity? You let them nail you to the Cross and then be left to slowly suffocate. That’s not victorious! You let them mock you, hang a sarcastic sign over your head, torment you with temptation to summon High Heaven’s Host – that would have shown them if you’d done that! Imagine their faces if Michael had been let loose there on Calvary; imagine if Gabriel had done his thing with the Chief Priests! That would have been victorious. Yet you forgave the centurion and his guard. You promised paradise to a good for nothing thief – you didn’t even check he believed the right things.
And then you cried with anger, pain, and desolation, turning the ancient Psalm back on God, knowing you’d been forsaken. That’s not victory.
What type of victory is that?
Hymn How Shall I Sing That Majesty
John Mason, public domain, BBC Songs of Praise
How shall I sing that majesty which angels do admire?
Let dust in dust and silence lie; sing, sing, ye heavenly choir.
Thousands of thousands stand around thy throne, O God most high;
ten thousand times ten thousand sound thy praise; but who am I?
Thy brightness unto them appears, whilst I thy footsteps trace;
a sound of God comes to my ears, but they behold thy face.
They sing, because thou art their Sun; Lord, send a beam on me;
for where heaven is but once begun there alleluias be.
How great a being, Lord, is thine, which doth all beings keep!
Thy knowledge is the only line to sound so vast a deep.
Thou art a sea without a shore, a sun without a sphere;
thy time is now and evermore, thy place is everywhere.
Affirmation of Faith
We believe in God, the Eternal Majesty,
source of all light and love,
in whom we live, move, and have our being.
We believe in God, En-fleshed Word,
who proclaimed the coming Kingdom,
preached good news to the poor
and release to the captives.
He healed the sick,
bound up the broken hearted,
ate with outcasts,
forgave sinners,
and called all to repent and believe.
Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition,
Jesus was tortured, crucified, and made to suffer unimaginable pain.
On the Cross Jesus
defeated the powers of evil that seek to rule our world.
God, the Eternal Majesty, raised Jesus from the dead,
vindicating his crucified victory.
We believe in God, Abiding Spirit,
who calls us to be Church,
who binds us together in the waters of baptism,
and who sustains us through the Lord’s Supper.
We pray and work for the coming Kingdom,
and know, at the last,
that God is our ultimate comfort
in life and in death. Amen.
Offering
Today we think of the paradox of money. Judas could not live with the reward for this treachery, and the priests could not easily use blood money; yet money as a means of exchange is necessary in our society. We know that the notes in our pocket have been used to pay for weapons, people, drugs, and misery yet also are used to relieve pain, bring joy and abundant life. Through giving we wean ourselves off our fear of having no money and give to causes greater than ourselves. Let us pray:
Eternal One, we ask you to bless our gifts,
of time, talent, and treasure, that we may use them wisely,
and that we may be freed from our need to worry,
and come to trust You, who counts every hair on our heads. Amen.
Intercessions
As we learn how to serve,
we pray for a world at war
a world facing economic and environmental crisis,
and we beg for the turmoil of the world to cease.
Sitting in a sheep fold, we ask our Shepherd to lead us and guide us.
So, let us pray.
O Most High,
scatter the bad shepherds of your people;
those whose leadership brings harm,
those whose policies lead to oppression and torture,
and those whose ideologies cause poverty and division.
Raise up, O Gentle Shepherd,
leaders who will act as shepherds,
rulers who will serve,
and politicians who will seek the common good.
pause
O Jesus, our crucified King, we remember before You
all who are imprisoned and tortured,
all who seek to cling to life and love despite poor leadership,
and all who live in grinding poverty to stoke the engines of capital.
Inspire your people, O Christ,
to resist evil, usurp unjust power,
and find, in Your Cross, our redemption.
pause
O Gracious Spirit, in You we take refuge,
even though the earth shakes,
even though we live in troubled times,
and even though we live with fear and uncertainty.
Give us hope, Holy Spirit,
hope that evil and destruction do not have the last word,
hope that pain and evil will be transformed through
the Cross-Throne of Christ,
and hope that you will never leave us.
pause
We remember now, Eternal One, those we love and worry about
pause
those who have died whom we have loved
pause
those we pass in the street and see on the news
pause
those using our buildings every day
pause
lead us to serve, lead us to welcome, lead us, as we follow you,
and pray as you taught us, Our Father….
Hymn Christ Triumphant, Ever Reigning
Michael Saward (born 1932) © Michael Saward/Jubilate Hymns OneLicence # A-734713. Frodsham Methodist Church Cloud Choir. Accompanied by Andrew Ellams and produced by Andrew Emison. Used with their kind permission.
Christ triumphant, ever reigning, Saviour, Master, King!
Lord of heaven, our lives sustaining, hear us as we sing:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.
Word incarnate, truth revealing, Son of Man on earth!
power and majesty concealing by your humble birth:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.
Suffering servant, scorned, ill-treated, victim crucified!
death is through the Cross defeated, sinners justified:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.
Priestly king, enthroned for ever high in heaven above!
sin and death and hell shall never stifle hymns of love:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.
So, our hearts and voices raising through the ages long,
ceaselessly upon you gazing, this shall be our song:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.
Blessing
As we have watched our wounded lover
suffer betrayal and unjust trial,
all for the love’s sake,
be ready to defend the cause of justice in the face of tyranny.
As we have seen our wounded healer
be nailed to the Cross by human hatred,
be ready to love, even in the face of hate.
As we have seen our broken victor
die a death of ignoble nobility,
be prepared to live valiantly.
And the blessing of our almighty, yet crucified, God:
Father, Son
and Holy Spirit,
be with you all, now and always, Amen.