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Intro: Sarah & Paul
SARAH: Good morning and warm welcome to you from the city of Manchester.聽We鈥檙e in an area of Manchester that has been on the news a lot recently. Some of those stories have been linked to the many university students that we have.聽Not so long ago we were a corona virus hot spot.聽Then there were scenes of students being kept inside university halls.聽In the past few weeks there were times when infection rates were going up and fences were coming down!聽Most recently we鈥檝e had students occupying abandoned local university halls.聽And news of one student alleging he was racially profiled.聽The autumn term is usually busy and full, but this has been one like no other!
PAUL: And that鈥檚 all set against a national scene that鈥檚 felt quite up and down lately.聽We鈥檙e now over a couple of weeks into a second lockdown.聽And our Prime Minister has had to isolate. But we鈥檙e beginning to hear encouraging news about potential vaccines.聽And there鈥檚 hope that people might be able to visit loved ones in care homes.As a church we鈥檝e missed not being able to meet together in person, but we鈥檙e doing all we can to stay connected through online worship and video calls.聽
SARAH: Our opening song reminds us that no matter what the ups and downs of life bring we have an amazing God, who knows and looks after the world he created and sustained.聽

Music 1: Indescribable (From the highest of heights)
Confession
PAUL: One of things the Bible tells us is that we can come to God no matter who we are or what we鈥檝e done, no matter how far away we feel,聽or how messy, broken or sinful we feel. We can come to God and seek his forgiveness and his healing.
Lord our God,in our sin we have avoided your call.Our love for you is like a morning cloud,like the dew that goes away early.Have mercy on us;deliver us from judgement;bind up our wounds and revive us;in Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.
Absolution
PAUL: May the God of all healing and forgivenessdraw us to himself,and cleanse us from all our sinsthat we may behold the glory of his Son,the Word made flesh,Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.
SARAH: How encouraging to hear of God鈥檚聽 forgiveness in the midst of change and uncertainty - a theme that we鈥檒l hear in our next hymn Great is thy Faithfulness

Music 2: Great is thy faithfulness

SARAH:聽 Manchester has the largest student population outside of London.聽Each year there鈥檚 well over 100,000 students in the city, from Manchester itself,聽from all over the UK and around the world.聽聽Our church is right in the heart of student land. The main road nearby our church is often said to be one of the busiest bus routes in Europe!聽People arrive here ready to start a new chapter, make new friends, have new experiences, sometimes to experience life in a big city for the first time.聽Many come expecting to have the time of their lives.聽Maybe some of us remember going to Uni and the dreams and aspirations we had or the sense of trepidation and excitement that came with leaving home and beginning a new stage in life .聽
At our church we look forward to welcoming new and returning students into the church family. Many young people find a home from home within our church community.聽There鈥檚 a student bible study on a Thursday evening, and many smaller group opportunities to meet up and to make friends. All of these work best in person and face to face!聽So this year has been more of a challenge.
We鈥檙e going to hear from a first year student, here in Manchester for the first time about her experiences.聽
First-year student story - Cerys聽 Reeves聽
My name is Cerys and I鈥檓 from Wrexham, North Wales. I鈥檓 currently studying adult nursing at the University of Manchester as an undergraduate.聽Living in student halls in Manchester has been a crazy experience this year.聽From having fences put up around our campus, to 3 or 4 protests happening,聽it has definitely been an intense atmosphere here yet there鈥檚 a real sense of community between the students on campus.聽I know there are many students here who are feeling lonely and struggling to adjust to life in a new city.
The main thing I looked forward to at university was getting to know new people from different regions of the world and different backgrounds.聽Something that has been difficult to do during this pandemic.聽I was also looking forward to joining the Christian union and being able to meet new friends there who are a similar age to myself.聽This term has been very different from what I had imagined.聽Learning has been online and no in-person teaching has taken place but also socialising has been limited to only your household.聽
I鈥檇 been in Manchester for a week when the majority of our flat tested positive for coronavirus and we were forced to isolate.聽It was definitely frustrating not to be able to go out and meet new people but it was also聽 an opportunity for our flat to get to know each other,聽something that may not have happened as quickly if we weren鈥檛 in isolation together.聽
I鈥檓 fortunate to be in a flat full of lovely girls who I get along with well.聽The biggest blessing has been having another Christian in my flat, who is a midwifery student.聽Being able to encourage each other and attend Christian Union calls together has been so beneficial to my faith.
Despite the challenges that come with being a student in the pandemic,聽I鈥檝e enjoyed my experience so far very much.聽Going to church was a big part of my first few weeks at university.聽Now, online services,聽聽on a Sunday and also student bible study on a Thursday have been a real encouragement and have helped me focus on Jesus during these uncertain times.聽
University is meant to be about meeting new people but in times like this it鈥檚 been difficult to do so.聽聽It feels like the chance to socialise with people outside my flat is almost non-existent.聽聽That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 so thankful that I鈥檝e had had opportunities to meet other people from Trinity Platt church in person through walks in the park, and walking to and from church,聽but being 2m apart . It鈥檚 reassuring to know there's a wider network of people - and I鈥檓 looking forward to the day when I can meet them properly for a coffee, indoors.聽聽The one verse that has helped me through the move to university but also the current restrictions and uncertainty is Jeremiah 29:11.聽鈥淔or I know the plans I have for you,鈥� declares the Lord, 鈥榩lans to prosper you and not to聽 harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.鈥澛�
Knowing God is in control during ever changing times is such a comfort and peace to have.
SARAH: Our next song reminds us Jesus can break the power of sin and darkness in our lives. What amazing news that is! and after that we鈥檒l have our Bible readings.聽They are read by Lydia, a member of our church family, who was a student here in Manchester and has stayed on and is now in her first year of teaching.聽

Music 2: Who breaks the power (this is amazing grace)

Lydia: Readings
Our first reading is Psalm 13.
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me for ever?聽 聽 How long will you hide your face from me?2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts聽 聽 and day after day have sorrow in my heart?聽 聽 How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.聽 聽 Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,4 and my enemy will say, 鈥業 have overcome him,鈥櫬� 聽 and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;聽 聽 my heart rejoices in your salvation.6 I will sing the Lord鈥檚 praise,聽 聽 for he has been good to me.

Our second reading is Romans chapter 8 reading from verse 31.
31 If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all 鈥撀爃ow will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.聽34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died 鈥� more than that, who was raised to life 鈥� is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.聽35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
鈥楩or your sake we face death all day long;聽 聽 we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.鈥�
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,聽neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is the word of the Lord.聽Thanks be to God.
SARAH: We come together this morning to worship the one who stepped into this world, our next song is Light of the world, afterwards, our Rector Paul Mathole will preach.
Music 4: Light of the world (Here I am to worship )
PAUL: SermonA national newspaper has been running a video advertisement lately. It鈥檚 very clever... It shows a series of world leaders,聽politicians or business people And it鈥檚 a series of clips from different press conferences or interviews. And each of them 鈥榓ah鈥� when they didn鈥檛 know what to say...聽So it鈥檚 a collection of 鈥淯ms鈥�, 鈥淓rs鈥� 鈥淎hs鈥�....!
Then the narrator says: 鈥淚f you鈥檙e feeling a bit lost right now, you鈥檙e in good company鈥�.
The message is really effective! Many of us are feeling lost right now. Whether that鈥檚 what鈥檒l happen next with the lockdown?, What will Christmas look like?,聽What鈥檒l happen when the vaccine arrives?, How do I plan for next year?
And we鈥檝e talked in this service about the students here in Manchester.聽It鈥檚 been a tough first term at university - here and all across the country.聽For many, a precious time of university adventure has been harshly hemmed in.聽
But it鈥檚 more than that too. When the fences went up in Manchester there was real fear.聽Many of us may know a student who鈥檚 felt alone and scared. And I鈥檓 sure there are parents or grandparents around the country who just want to jump in the car and go and bring them home.
And so understandably in the midst of all this, we might be feeling a bit spiritually lost too. Whether we鈥檙e young or old.聽Where is God? Has he forgotten me in my circumstances? Am I on my own?聽
Maybe even a few world leaders are wondering that(!)聽
It鈥檚 a feeling King David would have recognised. In Psalm 13, he puts it in three ways:聽
First, David feels lost in his relationship with God. 鈥淗ow long, Lord? Will you forget me for ever? / How long will you hide your face from me?鈥澛燞e feels like God isn鈥檛 there. One writer says it鈥檚 the feeling of 鈥渁 friendship that has clouded over鈥�.
Second, David feels lost in relation to himself. 鈥淗ow long must I wrestle with my thoughts / and day after day have sorrow in my heart?鈥澛燚avid is restless in his mind. Plagued by anxiety. It鈥檚 amazing how thoroughly modern David sounds.
Third, David feels lost in the face of external forces around him.鈥淗ow long will my enemy triumph over me?鈥� This might have been an enemy figure or the threat of disease.聽Either way, David feels the threat to who he was and his role as king. A sense that outside events were in control of him and not the other way around. So strong is David鈥檚 feeling that he鈥檚 physically weak and ill. 鈥淟ook on me and answer, Lord my God. / Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say,聽鈥業 have overcome him,鈥� / and my foes will rejoice when I fall鈥�. David needs the Lord. He fears being overwhelmed by his enemies - by the forces outside him.

David is asking big spiritual questions here: 鈥淲hy are you absent, God? Why does my mind plague me?鈥澛�
And instinctively we might think, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 a bad thing鈥�. That it鈥檚 not a good place to be.
And it might not be an easy place. But the Bible doesn鈥檛 shy away from voicing that feeling of being spiritually lost.聽
What if these questions are not a lack of faith in God, but signs of longing for God. Signs that David longs to be known and seen and helped by God himself.
Consider the questions we鈥檙e asking at the moment. Why do we feel the pandemic has taken something precious from us? Why do we long to be re-connected with others?聽Why are we missing gathering at concerts and sports matches? Why are we so fearful of losing Christmas? These questions are telling us something about how we鈥檙e made and what we鈥檙e made for.聽
For relationship, for intimacy, and together to be connected to something greater.These things we鈥檙e looking for - yearning for鈥� the BIble would say they鈥檙e all pointing us to Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God draws close to us; in Jesus, God comes to know us;聽in Jesus, God comes to rescue and help us.聽
And in Jesus we can be connected to someone much greater and more wonderful than we are: At the end of the Psalm,聽David says 鈥淚 will sing the Lord鈥檚 praise, / for he has been good to me.鈥� It鈥檚 fascinating - he鈥檚 saying he wants to worship. From our desire to 鈥渃lap for carers鈥�,聽to longing to be able to sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing, I wonder if we spot how much we鈥檙e wired to join in praise of something greater than us.
There were all those world leaders, all struggling, all a bit lost. I wonder how much they would value the help from someone greater even than they are.聽I wonder if they could hear in their own uncertainty, a need for God.聽
The advert said,聽 聽鈥淚f you鈥檙e feeling a bit lost right now, you鈥檙e in good company.鈥� Perhaps more than we realise.
[Straight into:]Music 5: Still, my soul be still
SARAH: X singing 鈥淪till, my soul be still鈥�. Our prayers today are led by Adam Jones.聽Adam is the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship Team Leader for the North West and a part of our church family. He works with staff,聽volunteers and students who run Christian Union on university campuses in Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Chester, Preston and Carlisle.
Prayers
ADAM聽 聽 : How long oh Lord? Will you forget me forever? Oh Lord, the words of the Psalmist speak for so many of us, as we wrestle with the challenges,聽the uncertainties and indeed the sorrow of these days. We thank you for our university students like Cerys and for university staff,聽who have persevered through such difficult circumstances during this term.聽We pray for the many students isolated and struggling with life away from home and for the mental and spiritual health of students and for others in society,聽paralysed with loneliness and feelings of lostness. Thank you for Christian Unions and church communities who have passionately held out your message of hope,聽words of truthful comfort, the gospel of Jesus; a shining beacon in dark days.聽 聽聽Indeed, from these great places of learning and research, we thank you for the tireless work of scientists and researchers and for recent great news regarding the development of a series of vaccines.聽And so we pray for our own government and for world leaders as they plan for the swift and fair distribution of these vaccines, worldwide.聽聽聽Finally, as the thoughts of many turn towards the Christmas festival, thank you that Christmas reminds us just how much You are for us and not against us.聽Lord help us to discern what is best for all our communities, as we seek to live and serve one another, as Christ showed us in his life.聽Thank you for these great words from Romans, that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.聽May we each know the tenderness, the kindness and the enduring truth of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives, as those who are not lost, but have been found by you,聽and Lord help us to continue to bring his love and comfort to all in these difficult days.
The prayer for this week in the Church of England鈥檚 month of prayer:Loving Father God,be with us in our distress;be with our families, friends, and neighbours,our country and our world.Give health to the sick,hope to the fearful,and comfort to mourners.Give wisdom to our frontline and key workers,insight to our Government,and patience to us all.Overcome disease with the power of your new life,through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.
We now join together in the words Jesus taught us鈥β�
Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sins,as we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil,for the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and for ever.Amen.
SARAH: Thank you for joining with us this morning. May the words that we have heard this morning encourage us as we go into a new week.聽It鈥檚 helpful to be reminded that we have a God who knows and understands the distress we feel, and who stepped in. What a saviour we have in Jesus, worthy of all our praise.
Final blessing聽
PAUL:聽The Lord bless you and watch over you,the Lord make his face shine upon youand be gracious to you,the Lord look kindly on you and give you peace;and the blessing of God almighty,the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,be among you and remain with you always.Amen.
Music 6: Be thou my vision

Instrumental play out