During the Coronavirus pandemic, ‘virtual’ worship will be posted on the Christchurch United Church Facebook page. These videos will also be available on the website shortly afterwards. Please click on title above.

The ‘virtual’ worship can be viewed on Facebook or below.

Hallo and welcome to today’s service, which looks at the very familiar “Parable of the Sower”. It’s a bit shorter this week.

We begin our worship with the hymn: “We have a gospel to proclaim”, sung by the Huddersfield Choral Society, no less! ** Please could you make a mental alteration in the second line, replacing “Good news for men in all the earth” with “Good news for all throughout the earth”. ** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5wWRYq57EM.

I can almost guarantee that no-one will know the final hymn – although someone might surprise me! It is the hymn “Almighty God, thy word is cast”, written about 200 years ago by John Cawood who came from Matlock but spent most of his adult life as a “perpetual Curate” in Bewdley, Worcestershire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c2mjT5schA.

God bless and thank you for watching.

P.S. If you’d like to listen to another “take” on this passage, please go to the BBC “Sounds” webpage. This morning’s service on Radio 4 came from the South Wales Baptist College and I thought it was excellent.