Sermon Tone Analysis

Order of service

Welcome

We come today to acknowledge Christ as King.

His throne is a cross, and he reigns from high heaven.

Beauty and holiness are the marks of his kingdom.

He is the face of God revealed in human form.

Let us keep our eyes fixed on him:

King Jesus – the Way, the Truth and the Life.

HYMN

STF 44: Majesty Worship his Majesty

Prayers

God of mystery and magnificence, we see you as our king.

We read of visions of your throne, flaming and ethereal.

You are beyond our imagining,

beyond our dreams and visions and wildest hopes.

You are in us and with us and among us.

You are all we could imagine and wish for and more.

You are our God, our king of all creation.

Amen.

O Lord our mighty God,

we have heard but not always listened to you:

with sorrow and sadness, we confess our sin.

We have seen need and closed our eyes to it:

with sorrow and sadness, we confess our sin.

We have closed our ears to cries for help:

with sorrow and sadness, we confess our sin.

We have known your truth and yet followed lies and falsehoods:

with sorrow and sadness, we confess our sin.

Amen.

The Lord God says:

be assured your sins are forgiven,

your slate is wiped clean.

Listen to the word of God and know its truth.

Amen.

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 today our daily bread

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

And deliver us from all evil

For thine is the kingdom the power and the glory,

Forever and ever Amen

HYMN

StF 158: Lord you sometimes speak in wonders

Readings

Daniel 7.9-10,13-14

9 “As I looked,

“thrones were set in place,

and the Ancient of Days took his seat.

His clothing was as white as snow;

the hair of his head was white like wool.

His throne was flaming with fire,

and its wheels were all ablaze.

10 A river of fire was flowing,

coming out from before him.

Thousands upon thousands attended him;

ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The court was seated,

and the books were opened.

13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a] coming with the clouds of heaven.

He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.

14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

John 18.33-37

33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied.

“Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me.

What is it you have done?”

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.

If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders.

But now my kingdom is from another place.”

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You, say that I am a king.

In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.

Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

HYMN

StF 50: Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise

Sermon

There is a well-known story about Queen Elizabeth II when she was a young girl.

One day she was wandering around one of the royal estates when a stranger asked her ‘Who are you?’

‘Oh, I’m no one,’ she replied, ‘but my father is the King.’

Knowing the truth of who we are and who we belong to can be really empowering.

Today we can celebrate the fact that we serve Christ the King, and the truth of who we are when we belong to him.

This knowledge can give us strength whatever challenges life may bring.

In today’s reading Pilate asked Jesus outright, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’

He wanted to know the truth from the mouth of Jesus.

Have you ever wondered if someone was telling the truth?

We only have to think back to the issue we faced over Brexit even if you were for or against, with what was presented to us did you wonder about truth, and who was speaking it, as the accusations and counteraccusations were being thrown around.

And, more generally, over the past few years, fake news seems to have come to the fore.

How do we know which ‘truth’ is true?

Previously, Jesus had said that he was the way, the truth, and the life.

In this week’s passage, he goes on to say that if we care for the truth, if we have any feeling for the truth, then we will hear his voice.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were trying to listen out for someone’s voice?

For example, in a busy shopping outlet with your wife, and you have as usual got separated.

And it can be embarrassing I have, more than once gone up to a stranger thinking it is Karon, my excuse is they looked very similar at least from behind, some people may just sound like someone else.

Have you ever been mistaken – thinking you heard someone’s voice, but it wasn’t them?

Fortunately, in everyday life, this doesn’t happen very often.

Especially if we know someone really well, we can tell the real voice from the someone who has a similar accent – it is hard to impersonate someone perfectly.