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Please note:

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

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O/A

And now we go live to Cardiff for Sunday Worship which comes this week from Tabernacl Baptist Church in the city centre.听 The service is led by the Rev鈥檇 Denzil John and the preacher is the Rev鈥檇 Roy Jenkins, who also introduces the service.

ITEM 1听 INTRODUCTION:听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 ROY JENKINS听听

Good morning and welcome to Cardiff on this first Sunday of 2015.听 It鈥檚 a day for looking forward, for considering what we鈥檙e meant to be doing in this year鈥�which is why many churches use this as an occasion for renewing their commitment to the way of Christ.听 We might be painfully aware that we didn鈥檛 do too well on pledges made this time last year: opportunities lost, maybe, relationships messed up, and a recurring inability to match what we believe to what we do.

Will not any fresh promises go the same way, as fragile as resolutions about food and drink and exercise already being reassessed?听 They might, of course.听 But the promise God makes to us - and to anyone ready to receive it - is more solid by far: it鈥檚 about forgiveness, the chance to begin again, the assurance that however many the failures, we鈥檙e never rejected.听

Whatever the year holds in store, the one who鈥檚 always ready to surprise us will be alongside for every step of the way.

This week marks Epiphany, the visit to the infant Christ of those we鈥檝e come to know as the three wise men, and the minister of this church the Rev Denzil John takes up the theme after our opening hymn, rooted in that story, 鈥楢s with gladness men of old.鈥�

ITEM 2听 CHOIR/ORGAN 听 As with gladness Tune: Dix.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Dur:

ITEM 3听 DENZIL听

Eternal God, source of light and life and love, we praise you for your faithfulness in the year that has ended.听 For all that lies ahead, grant

- Your light, that we may see you clearly and choose wisely

- Your love, that we may live with generosity and grace

- Your life, that we may truly reflect the Christ who is Saviour of the world and

听听听听听 Lord of all.

And in the words Jesus taught, we say together:

DENZIL + CHOIR听听 听听听听听听听听听听听听 Lord鈥檚 Prayer听

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.听 Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.听

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. Amen.

ITEM 4听 DENZIL听

This church, Tabernacl, stands at the heart of one of the busiest shopping centres in Britain.听 That鈥檚 made it an ideal home in recent years for Christmas - the story鈥�more than 160听 performances, complemented by live donkeys, stuffed camel, and, of course,听 wise men sporting the听 most exotic costumes.听 Who they were, where they came from, and indeed whether there were three of them, we鈥檝e no means of telling.听听 But in a world which linked natural phenomena with major events, they were certainly men who studied the stars, less astrologers maybe than astronomers, early scientists, concerned with the nature of reality and the meaning of life.听

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It鈥檚 easy to lose them beneath the layers of legend.听 Yet they point to a truth which is central to the Christian faith: Epiphany is, in the old words, 鈥榯he manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.鈥櫶�听 This child is for the whole of humanity, healing ancient divisions, the embodiment of a love which is universal, with no regard for race, tradition, culture, or any of the other differences which keep people apart.听 Before a loving God, we鈥檙e all equal.

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It鈥檚 an assertion so commonplace that it can be hard to realise how shocking it once appeared.听 It can also be humbling to recognise how far we still are from working out all its implications.听 This love really does extend, as our Isaac Watts hymn has it, to 鈥榩eople and realms of every tongue 鈥�, indeed, to all creation.听听 鈥楯esus shall reign鈥�

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ITEM 5听 CHOIR/ORGAN Jesus shall reign Tune: Duke Street.听听听 Dur:

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ITEM 6听 LINK听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 DENZIL

The prophet Isaiah hinted of the day when the whole of humanity would welcome the embrace of God鈥檚 love.

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ITEM 7听 READING 听听听听听听听听听听听 听

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥楲isten to me, distant nations, you people who live far away!...Before I was born. The Lord appointed me; he made me his servant to bring back his people, to bring back the scattered people of Israel.听听 The Lord gives me honour; he is the source of my strength.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥楾he Lord said to me, 鈥淚 have a greater task for you, my servant.听 Not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations - so that all the world may be saved.鈥濃�櫶� (Is.49.1a.5-6 GNB)

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ITEM 8听 LINK听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 DENZIL

And the Apostle Paul spells out to the Christians at Ephesus the way this has been fulfilled.

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ITEM 9听 READING听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

鈥楩or Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and Gentiles one people.听听 With his own body he broke down the wall that separated them and kept them enemies鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥楽o then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer; you are now fellow-citizens with God鈥檚 people and members of the family of God.听 You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥楬e is the one who holds the whole building together and makes it grown into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord. In union with him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.鈥櫶� (Eph.2.14,19-22 GNB)

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ITEM 10听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 CHOIR/ORGAN听 听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Diolch I Ti听听听听听听听听听听听听 Dur:

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ITEM 11听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 LINK听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 DENZIL听听

鈥楧iolch i Ti yr hollalluog Duw鈥� : 鈥楾hanks be to you, Almighty God, for the holy gospel鈥櫶� A hymn now by the distinguished poet-minister Howell Elvet Lewis which celebrates the vision of the whole world united at the cross.听 The second verse, in Welsh, speaks of God鈥檚 love as the bond of creation, the peace of mankind, and prays that the earth will be delivered from sorrow and forgiven for pride and hardness. 鈥楾he light of the morning is breaking.鈥�

ITEM 12听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 CHOIR/ORGAN The light of the morning听听听听Tune: Crugybar.

ITEM 13听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 ROY JENKINS听听听听听 Sermon Part 1

Epiphany - we use the term for a moment of discovery, a sudden and startling insight.听 A light comes on.听 A truth dawns.听 We see things differently, understand another person as never before.听听

The epiphany we mark this week offers just such a surprise.听 The significance of what these magi did as they knelt before the infant Jesus was far greater than even their clever, enquiring minds could have grasped, the revelation of a truth about God which God alone could make known.

25 years ago to this day, I was leading a service in another church in this city.听 It was a special occasion, not least for the reaffirming of promises by everyone present.听 I was delighted to see that so many had turned up; and then my heart sank.听 听In the front row I spotted Gary, cigarette in mouth, lager can in hand.听听 He dropped in from time to time and enjoyed the warmth, a dishevelled, angry young man, with lots of problems and as many opinions.听听 Very occasionally, his mutterings would become aggressive and disruptive, but he鈥檇 always respond to the offer tea, and the chance to smoke in a back room.

Half-an-hour into this particular service, an appeal for an aid convey to Romania, newly freed from Ceaucescu鈥檚 tyranny, seemed to flick a switch in him.听听 鈥楻omania?听 Romania?鈥� he shouted.听 鈥楾here are people dying on the streets of Cardiff, and you鈥檙e on about Romania.鈥櫶� The congregation shuffled uneasily, and one of the church officers asked me if it was time to invite him for a cuppa.听 鈥業鈥檇 like him to stay,鈥� I said.听听 He shook his head quizzically, but the service went on.听 And so did Gary, peppering the air with questions and comments, leaving many people visibly uncomfortable, some angry.听 It was not pleasant.听

Why did you let it carry on? I was asked; and maybe I did handle it unwisely. But the answer lay in the sermon I had been attempting to preach: it was about recognising God as he comes to us through the least likely, trying to hear God through voices we鈥檇 prefer to ignore. I believe that Gary鈥檚 was the voice that day - not his protest at a collection for Romania, but the shocking reality of life on the streets in our own city; he would himself die months later.听 The fury of his intervention听 took us all by surprise, not least the preacher, and a quarter of a century on, the recollection听 can still disturb me.

Epiphany is about God taking us by surprise.听 Yes, its truth is glimpsed dimly in Old Testament, as in the words from Isaiah we heard earlier about all the world being saved.听听 But with this child it鈥檚 actually becoming visible.听听

God鈥檚 love is inclusive, it says - for all people everywhere; in Christ a new humanity is being created.听听

And in every continent听 today, men and women continue to find themselves听 surprised by God - shocked that they have a part in the divine purposes; and that those considered the least likely are central to those purposes.听 An experience in the centre of Swansea not long ago brought this home to me forcibly.听听

I was in one of the most distinctive places of worship in Wales (where they might have handled Gary much better than we did).听听 The pastor arrives on his Harley Davidson.听听 Leather-clad bikers of all ages usually make up at least part of the congregation.听听 And alongside them are many men and women grappling with problems which make them all too familiar with life on the streets.听 This is Zac鈥檚 Place, which describes itself as A Church for Ragamuffins, 鈥榓 place of glorious chaos and complicated beauty鈥櫶�

There鈥檚 food and warmth, and a major attraction is a tolerance for broken people who might rarely find it elsewhere - all reflecting the indiscriminate love of God.听 A sometimes chaotic enterprise, for sure;听 but in the unscripted, spontaneous moments when a helper kneels before a distressed fellow-worshipper, unbinds layers of rotting cloth and washes their filthy feet, a place of great beauty, too.

ITEM 14 CHOIR Beauty for Brokenness

ITEM 15听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 SERMON PART 2 听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 ROY:

God鈥檚 surprises may hit us with dramatic intensity and change us radically.听 The process can often be much slower, the result of careful rethinking and true openness.听听 Last summer I attended the funeral of a minister just months short of his hundredth birthday.听 From his twenties, he鈥檇 been a passionate preacher, with very clear ideas, forcibly expressed. He wanted other people to experience God鈥檚 love as he鈥檇 found it in Jesus Christ.听 That core belief remained firm; yet as he entered his tenth decade, he wrote this: 鈥業 have become more and more overwhelmed by my inner conviction that the Kingdom of God is so much bigger and more plentifully populated than I first thought.鈥櫶� Still learning at 90.

Epiphany says that to all our preconceived ideas: God is bigger than them all.

It鈥檚 a small vision of God鈥檚 purposes which is more interested in who can be kept out than in who may be embraced.听 It鈥檚 a small vision which breeds notions of racial and cultural superiority; produces tribal, class-based religion; defends a world order in which the poorest continue to suffer while the richest prosper.听 And听 finds theologies to justify it.听听听听

It took 18 centuries to acknowledge that treating human beings as property is immoral, an evil to be resisted.听听

On the sharing of wealth, the treatment of minorities, the place of women, and any number of other issues, we can still be painfully slow to work through the implications of what God reveals of himself.听 Every generation, it seems, needs a fresh epiphany鈥�and with it, the willingness to do some hard thinking.

These wise men were looking for a king.听 They could not have known that the one they found would model a form of kingship entirely different from any they were familiar with - power expressed through willingness to suffer, apparent failure releasing love through sheer vulnerability.

I still cherish the hour I spent years ago with Jean Vanier, founder of the L鈥橝rche communites, where people with multiple disabilities live with their carers.听 He told me of a fragile young man called Antonio, who depended on constant oxygen, couldn鈥檛 speak, walk, sit up, do anything by himself.听听

鈥楤ut call his name,鈥� said Jean Vanier, 鈥榓nd his face breaks into a smile. His eyes are bright, his whole being reflects trust, an incredible beauty flows from his incredible weakness.听 Assistants at the home say: 鈥淎ntonio has transformed my life.听

The one being ministered to ends up in his weakness doing the ministering.听听

God is waiting to surprise us.

It鈥檚 nearly three years since a young musician failed to return to his home in the West Wales town of Cardigan.听 Appeals and searches have yielded nothing.听听 His family remain distraught, marooned like many others in a wilderness of not knowing.听

Someone not blessed with great sensitivity told his father that if it was his son and he听 came home, he鈥檇 give him a clip around the ear.听 鈥楴o,鈥� said his father, with echoes of one of Jesus鈥� best known parables,听听 鈥業 love him as I鈥檝e always loved him.听听 I鈥檇 run and kiss his face and give him a cwtch (the Welsh for an affectionate hug, a safe place) and welcome him home.听 That鈥檚 what we long for.鈥�

It鈥檚 what God longs for, the God who waits for us and longs to surprise us with his love, the God who says, 鈥榃herever you鈥檝e been, welcome home.鈥�

ITEM 16听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 LINK听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 DENZIL

We come now with our prayers for the world and for ourselves, beginning with a great hymn by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written for the new year of 1945.听听 Just months before he was executed in a Nazi prison he鈥檚 honest about his fears, but full of faith.听 鈥楤y gracious powers, so wonderfully sheltered.鈥�

ITEM 17听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 CHOIR/ORGAN听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Dur:

By gracious powers听 Tune: Finlandia.听听听听听听听听听听

ITEM 18听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 PRAYERS

READER 1

God of surprises, as you have revealed yourself to us in Jesus Christ, we pray for all who need to be surprised by your love today:

- those who despair of other people and have given up on themselves

- those who yearn for home, but feel unable to return

- those who grieve over someone long missing.

READER 2

Surprise with the strong comfort of your presence all who ache every day in loneliness;

those confined through physical weakness, or lost in a mental wilderness;

and all with the care of loved ones for whom everyone is now a stranger.

CHOIR Kyrie eleison (Russian)

READER 1

God of peace, surprise with fresh possibilities those with the will and courage to make peace.听听 Open their minds to your way.

Melt the hearts of those who live by hatred, and in all robbed by violence of health and family, home and country, rekindle hope.

READER 2

And surprise us, Lord,

when our minds are locked tight by prejudice or indifference,

and our hearts chilled by self-concern.

Open our eyes that we may recognise you coming to us in your most needy children.

From the least likely, help us to hear your voice,

and grant us grace to follow.

CHOIR听 Kyrie eleison

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ITEM 19听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 LINK听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 DENZIL

And so we begin a new year, and a new week, ready, as Charles Wesley puts it, for whatever task God鈥檚 wisdom has assigned us, and eager to prove God鈥檚 good and perfect will. 鈥楩orth in your name, O Lord, I go.鈥�

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ITEM 20听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 CHOIR/ORGAN听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 DUR:听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Forth in your name听听听 Tune:听听 Angels Song

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ITEM 21听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 BLESSING听听听听听 听听听听听 听ROY

BLESSING 1

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever.听

BLESSING 2

As we go forth in your name, Lord

grant that we may live faithfully, joyfully and courageously.听听

Through us, may your light shine and your love be made visible.

Send us out in the power of your Spirit, that by our living the world may discover your gift of life in all its fullness.听听听

BLESSING 3

Gras ein Harglwydd Iesu Grist, a chariad Duw, a chymdeithas yr Ysbryd Glan a fyddo gyd ni oll.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forever.听 Amen.听听

ITEM 22听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 ORGAN PLAYOUT

C/A

This morning鈥檚 Sunday Worship came live from Tabernacl Baptist Church, Cardiff and was led by the Rev鈥檇 Denzil John.听 The choir was The Cardiff Ardwyn Singers under the Musical Direction of David Michael Leggett and the organist, Janice Ball.听 The preacher was the Rev鈥檇 Roy Jenkins and the producer, Karen Walker.

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