成人快手

Music:聽Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus 鈥� Vaughan Williams
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields
CD: Midnight Adagios (Decca)

Poem: First Steps, Brancaster聽鈥�聽Malcolm Guite
Read by Iona Thonger

Introduction
Good morning, and welcome to Sunday Worship with me, Richard Littledale. I鈥檓 standing on North Parade in Llandudno, on the North Wales Coast. In front of me, the Victorian pier stretches out some 700 metres into the Irish Sea.聽 Above me looms the great limestone bulk of the Great Orme, rising to over 207 metres, and visible for miles around.

This week, more than any other, 鈥榣ove is in the air鈥�.聽 There are hearts and flowers in every shop window as we prepare for Valentines Day.聽 So often the view of love portrayed is a momentary one 鈥� a grand gesture or a golden moment.聽 What about the longer view, though?聽 What about the longer journey?聽 What about the ups and downs where love must prove itself These questions will be our companions as we make our way to the top.

Dear God, we thank you that in many ways, love truly does make the world go round.聽 And yet, our understanding of it leaves so many gaps.聽 How do we truly imitate your love in that which we offer to one another?聽 Grant us some measure of understanding, and encouragement as we worship today, we pray. Amen

So often the journey of love starts heavy with anticipation but light on information.聽 Who knows where the journey may lead, or what twists and turns it may bring along the way?聽 Our first reading today comes from the Old Testament story of Ruth.聽 It is a story of love, loyalty and courage, especially when the path ahead is unclear and the destination uncertain. 聽It surely contains one of the most memorable and beautiful descriptions of open-ended loyalty to be found anywhere in scripture:

Reading: Ruth 1: 16-18
Read by Iona Thonger

No wonder Naomi 鈥渟topped urging her鈥� to turn back.聽 Who, in their right mind would ever decline such an offer of unflinching loyalty and steadfast companionship?聽 When facing an uncertain journey, the offer of guaranteed company along the way can make all the difference.

Music: An Unfeigned Love 鈥� Thomas Hewitt Jones
St Martin鈥檚 Voices
成人快手 recording

As those two women, Naomi and Ruth, head out on their journey 鈥� so we set off on ours.聽 Before we do, I鈥檝e asked Tom Gravett, former manager of Great Orme Country Park, to ask us what we should look out for on the way.

Reflection: Tom Gravett

Music: All things bright and beautiful 鈥� John Rutter
Cambridge Singers
CD: John Rutter 鈥� The Ultimate Collection (Universal)

After a stiff climb, here we are at the top.聽 To one side, we can look out all along the coast to Prestatyn, Rhyl and Liverpool beyond.聽 To the other we can see the distant outline of Anglesey, and Snowdonia too.聽 This is a every bit a mountain-top moment.聽 Such moments are to be savoured in the journey of love.聽 They are God鈥檚 gift to us, taking real joy in the one whose company we have chosen and admiring the view of where we have been and where we might be going.聽

King Solomon was renowned for his wisdom 鈥� exercised in judgement and carefully crafted in his proverbs.聽 In these timeless words, though, it is surely heart, rather than head, which drives his pen.

Music: Upon your heart 鈥� Eleanor Daley
St Martin鈥檚 Voices
成人快手 recording

Reading: Song of Solomon 8: 6-8
Read by Iona Thonger

What Solomon describes is a gloriously reckless view of love 鈥� a flame which cannot be extinguished and a well which cannot run dry.聽 How we would love things always to be so.聽 To see the world that way would be wonderful indeed. At a stroke it would wipe away all the sorrow and expunge all the ugliness that the world has to offer.

Panoramic views such as the one before us now can be deceptive though 鈥� often concealing challenges and hardships amongst the beauty.

We鈥檙e joined here at the summit by Rev Mark Young, Pastor of the Lighthouse Community Church in Llandudno.聽 Mark, what would we see, if we were to look at little closer at some parts of the town spread out below us?

Reflection: Rev Mark Young

Music: Hope shines out 鈥� Steph MacLeod
Steph MacLeod
CD: Light in the Darkest of Nights (Steph MacLeod Music)

Dear God, we pray for those whose adversity is hidden running beath the surface where no one sees it.聽 We pray for those whose lives are determined by hardship and want of every kind.聽 For the hungry, the lonely and the isolated, we pray.

On this day, we pray for The Lighthouse Community church and others like it.聽 We thank you that they are bearing the light into the darkest corners.聽 When strength is flagging and light is dimmed, lend your strength, we pray.聽

And far away from this place we pray for those churches where refugees worship in a foreign tongue far from home.聽 We pray for others where others where the sons and daughters of the congregation are missing for many reasons.聽 May the lost not be lost from your sight, and may you keep a place for them by your side.聽 Amen

Music:聽Amazing grace 鈥� trad. arr. Will Todd
St Martin鈥檚 Voices
成人快手 recording

All those houses which looked so small from up at the top are up close and personal now that we have come back down into the town.聽 Some are smart, some are shabby.聽 Some are well-tended and others show signs of neglect.聽 There are cars and buses rumbling by, and the pavements are busy.聽 This, surely is no place to speak of love, after the magnificent sights we have seen together?聽 Or maybe it is the very best place to speak of it.聽 Love must thrive in the busyness and mess or not thrive at all.聽 Listen to the Apostle Paul鈥檚 great Hymn of love in 1 Corinthians 13

Music: Adagio 鈥� Samuel Barber
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
CD: Classic FM Hall Of Fame 2013 (Decca)

Reading: 1 Corinthians 13

Patience, kindness, eschewing envy and refusing to keep a record of wrongs?聽 These things will be proved in the rough and tumble of messy life, rather than at those mountain top moments, surely?聽 If this Sunday, before Valentine鈥檚 Day, has us praying for those who are committed to one another 鈥� then we had best pray for them in the traffic jams and the messy kitchens and the hospital corridors and the school playgrounds as much as we do on the mountain tops.聽 If the selfless love of God is to be echoed in our little lives and loves 鈥� then it will be in such places that it is seen

Music: Love divine 鈥� Howard Goodall
Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
CD: Eternal Light: A Requiem

Dear God, in this week of St Valentine鈥檚 Day, we pray for those who walk together through all the ups and downs of life.聽 We pray for them when the climb is steep and the effort is great.聽 We pray for them in those mountaintop moments of pure joy when all is well and the view is spectacular.聽 We pray for them, too, when the noise and the demands of the world are both intrusive and insistent.聽 Give strength, patience, and above all, love, for the journey, we pray.

As we enter into the season of Lent, we pray for humble hearts, keen minds, and a wholehearted focus on the things of God.聽 May we hear his voice and discern his path in ways which we have never done before. In acts of private devotion and public worship, may his name be glorified, we pray.

Music: Spiegel im Spiegel 鈥� Arvo Part
Tasmin Little & Martin Roscoe
CD: The Very Best of Arvo Part (EMI)

We鈥檝e come a little way along the coast now, to the tiny Chapel of St Trillo at Rhos-on sea.聽 There has been place of Christian worship here for many centuries, and beneath the altar before the six chairs which the chapel contains, a spring still feeds the well.聽 This is a quiet and gentle place 鈥� some might even say a sombre one.聽 So often the journey of love begins with much noise and fanfare as well-wishers send a loving couple on their journey.聽 Along the way it may scale the heights, surmount the obstacles, and find its voice amidst the noise and bustle of everyday life.聽 The day will come when it ends with a quiet parting and a last breath.聽 It ended for me that way, one cold November morning, when the love of my life slipped from my presence into God鈥檚.聽 There was no noise nor fanfare, at least not on this side 鈥� just the quietness of a precious breath鈥�and then the journey was done.聽 As we pray today for those who walk together, so we shall pray for those who walk alone.

On this day our prayers turn as well to those who once walked together but now walk alone.聽 When days are testing and nights are long, and loneliness comes scratching at the door of the heart, be near, Lord Jesus, we pray.

Lord鈥檚 Prayer

Reading: Extract from 鈥楲ovest thou me鈥� by Willam Cowper
Read by Iona Thonger

Wherever our path may lead, and whether we walk it in company or alone 鈥� may our footsteps be faithful and our God be near to guide, we pray. Amen