OPENING SENTENCE- Out of the depths have I called you, O Lord

HYMN

GREETING

Grace and peace to you from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

COLLECT FOR PURITY

Almighty God

to whom all hearts be open

all desires known

and from whom no secrets are hidden;

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts

by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,

that we may perfectly love you

and worthily magnify your holy name

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.

CONFESSION

God is love and we are God’s children.

There is no room for fear in love.

We love because God loved us first.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.

God our Father, we confess to you

and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ

that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,

and in what we have failed to do.

We are truly sorry.

Forgive us our sins,

and deliver us from the power of evil,

for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

ABSOLUTION

May the God of love and power

forgive you and free you from your sins,

heal and strengthen you by his Spirit

and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.

GLORIA sung by Billy Dewar Riddick

COLLECT

Open your merciful ears, O Lord,

to the prayers of your humble servants:

and, that you would graciously grant what we ask,

make us desire what is pleasing in your sight;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord

who lives and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, world without end. Amen

FIRST READING 1 Kings 19:4-8 read by Robyn Brotherston

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”  Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”  He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.  The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”  He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

SECOND READING EPHESIANS 4.25 -5:2 read by Alicen Byers

Rules for the New Life

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labour and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you^] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

HYMN

GOSPEL READING JOHN 6:35, 41-51 read by Rev James Clark Maxwell

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John chapter 6 beginning at verse 35

Glory to Christ our Saviour.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious gospel

Praise to Christ our Lord

SERMON

I received a phone call this week asking if I would take part in a survey that is seeking to compile statistics on the effects of the pandemic on mental health within our communities. Whilst I declined to take part in the survey for various reasons, I am very much aware of the increasing effect the pandemic has had on people’s mental health. I read recently that for more than a year now, the Covid pandemic has taken a severe toll on people’s mental health. Lockdown and shielding have resulted in unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression and loneliness.

It is important to remember that although lockdown is easing, the psychological consequences of Covid are going to be with us for a very long time. Many people, especially older people, are not ready – or emotionally resilient enough – to embrace pre-pandemic life yet. Indeed, many have described a loss of confidence, fear, depression, a loss of hope and no longer derived pleasure from the things in life they previously enjoyed.

Whilst the study I read was focussing mainly on older people, the reality is that mental health issues are not confined by any manner of means to this age group, on the contrary there is an alarming increase of mental health problems in the younger generation-27 per cent of British teenagers surveyed said they felt ‘nervous, anxious or on edge’ most or nearly all the days of the previous fortnight. Mental health is a real concern post pandemic. Anyone at any time can face mental health issues, irrespective of their status, background, gender and culture. Mental illness can hit the most successful of people as we see in our reading today on the prophet Elijah.

Elijah was a gifted prophet who had a successful ministry. He witnessed an astounding victory as God showed Elijah a mighty display of power and fire against 450 prophets of Baal. By the hand and power of the Lord, Elijah stood in victory. Yet here, we meet Elijah in our reading today. He is dejected. He has totally lost his courage; he is no longer seeing the situation correctly or thinking correctly. Elijah wasn’t only depressed. He asked God to take his life. He felt suicidal. Suicide is also a massive issue in society today. In round numbers, about 6,000 in UK each year die from suicide. Elijah said: “Lord, I’ve had enough. I’m fed up. I don’t want to put up with it anymore. I’m just wasting my life. I’m trying to be your servant, but nobody listens. I’m fed up; it’s no use trying; I’m giving up.” What was Elijah’s first mistake?

The same mistake we make when we get down or depressed. We focus on our feelings rather than on the facts. That always happens when we’re feeling down. Because he felt like a failure, he assumed he was a failure. This is called emotional reasoning, and it’s destructive. It’s the idea, “I feel it, so it must be true.”. Feelings are not facts; they are highly unreliable. Feelings often lie, so when we focus on our feelings rather than on the facts, we’re asking for trouble. For instance, after we’ve made a mistake in one area, we tend to feel we’re total failures in life. That’s a misconception. Everybody makes mistakes. We can fail in one area without being a failure in others. Indeed, as Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” So, look at the facts and do not trust completely your feelings.

The second mistake Elijah made is shown in the second thing he said: “I’ve had enough, Lord. Take my life, because I’m no better than my ancestors.” If you want to feel bad about yourself then start comparing yourself with other people. Most of us have fallen into the trap of thinking, “If I could just be like so-and-so, I’d be happy.” When you start comparing yourself with other people, you’re asking for trouble. The Bible says it’s unwise and harmful Don’t compare yourself with someone else, because everyone is unique. There’s only one person that you can be, and that is you. If you’re always trying to imitate other people and act like them, you’re going to feel down. The only person you can be is you.

That’s all God wants. That’s all he expects. When we start comparing ourselves with other people we fall into another trap: We tend to compare our weaknesses with other people’s strengths, forgetting that those people also have weak areas that we might be strong in. And if you want to get even more depressed, use the word ‘should’ a lot. “I should be able to be like that person. I should be able to act better. I should be able to accomplish it. I should be able to stop it” – as if whipping ourselves verbally is going to motivate us! Another trap we fall into is by labelling ourselves. Instead of saying, “I made a mistake,” we say, “I’m a total failure.” When we label ourselves or others, it only reinforces our problems and makes things worse.

The third mistake Elijah made was that he blamed himself for negative events that weren’t his fault. Elijah said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.” He said, in effect, “I’ve worked hard for three years, but they’re still not any closer to you… they’re still living the same way as before.” In his depression, Elijah blamed himself for failing to change the nation. He took it personally. This is called false blame. If we assume a responsibility that God never intended us to have, it is too heavy a burden. People react in different ways. But you can’t take responsibility for their responses. When you assume responsibility for other people’s decisions, you accept a burden that will only depress you. You can influence people, but you cannot control them. The final decision is theirs. Don’t be depressed by something you cannot control.

The fourth mistake Elijah made is that he exaggerated the negative. He said, “I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” Elijah cried, “Everybody’s against me.” But the fact was not everyone was against him. One person threatened him, and she was only bluffing. Jezebel didn’t dare kill him. True, the queen sent a messenger to threaten Elijah. But if she had really intended to kill Elijah, she wouldn’t have sent a messenger to intimidate him; she would have just sent a hit man to take him out! Jezebel recognized his powerful influence. Besides that, she was probably afraid of what God would do to her if she touched his man. Elijah didn’t stop to evaluate the threat. He just ran away. When we’re down, we always exaggerate the negative. Everything looks bad. If we’re down, the whole world is going to pot. In reality, Elijah was not the only person still faithful to God. There were still 7,000 prophets who hadn’t given in to pagan religion.

What was God’s remedy for Elijah’s depression? Before looking at that, I must point out here that there are different forms of depression. There is clinical depression that requires medical help and support. Clinical depression is not something you can ‘snap out of’, it is not a sign of weakness. It is not something that everyone experiences, nor is it something that lasts forever as one episode. I am no medic, so I am not sure what type of depression Elijah had but I do know four things that God did that helped Elijah greatly and may help us too.

God’s initial remedy for Elijah’s depression was rest, food, and relaxation. Sometimes a good night’s sleep does wonders for your attitude. When you are physically tired and mentally drained, you’re prone to depression. Notice how tenderly God dealt with Elijah. God did not scold him by saying, “You coward! What are you doing here in the desert?” God didn’t put him down or condemn him; all God did was give him food and rest. God got him restored physically. That was the starting point. If you’re depressed, the first step toward recovery is to get in shape physically. Take care of your health needs. Maybe you need to watch your diet or perhaps you need to get more sleep or begin an exercise program. Physical health has a profound influence on your moods. God’s remedy for depression? Take care of your physical needs.

The second remedy is to give your frustrations to God. A few verses later in the chapter the Lord asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah just poured out all his inner feelings. God allowed him to let off steam. God was not shocked by Elijah’s complaints. God says, in effect, “When you’re uptight, let me hear your inner emotions. I already know what they are, and I’m not going to be shocked by them.” He let Elijah vent his pent-up emotions without criticizing him or condemning him. Often it helps to share your feelings with a Christian friend. It’s a catharsis-a cleansing out, a venting, of all the things that have been pushed down inside you and are causing your depression. Notice, God just let him spill this all out. He said, “Elijah, what’s frustrating you? What’s eating you up?” When you are depressed that’s exactly what you need to do – tell it all to the Lord.

The third remedy is to deepen your personal relationship with God. The Lord made Elijah stand in his presence. After the wind and the earthquake and the fire came a gentle whisper. Today that is how God usually speaks to us – in stillness and quietness – but we have to be listening to hear. God reminded Elijah that he was still right there beside him. Don’t wait until you are depressed, to take your Bible and go to the coast or to the park or the lake or the countryside. Sit down and read your Bible, and get alone with God. Just let God love you and speak to you. Let him meet your needs, and let yourself feel his presence.

The fourth remedy is to ask God to help you find your purpose in life. One possible way to defeat depression is to quit sitting around in self-pity. Get your eyes off yourself and onto God’s plan for your life. God has a mission agenda for you.  Like Elijah we were born to reproduce – to pass on to others what we are learning about God and his will for our lives.

You need something greater that draws you out of yourself, and focusses on God and others.

The good news is that Elijah resumed life and lived well. He fulfilled his divine calling. God can, with or without medical support, restore us and like Elijah give us again hope and purpose. Amen

NICENE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one substance with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven;

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,

and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father.

With the Father and the Son,

he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism

for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Heavenly Father, in your love

draw us deeper into your presence.

Give to your church

grace to imitate your Son, the Bread of Life,

in his tender and loving care.

Nourish us all with the food

that leads to eternal life.

God the bread of life

Hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, calm our words

that we may use them to build up

and nurture others in your ways.

Take out of our lives

all that strangles your love

and give us hearts of grace and kindness.

Sustain those who strive to build up nations

in the way of justice and peace.

God the bread of life

Hear our prayer

Heavenly Father be with those that are depressed,

and give them the right help and support

so that they recover and enjoy life.

When the going is hard

save us from despair and faltering.

Put behind your people the complaining,

that saps strength and joy,

and renew within us a song of gratitude and thanksgiving.

God the bread of life

Hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, prevent the angry

from being consumed by hatred and bitterness.

Strengthen the weary and weak,

and all who are struggling

with the troubles of life.

In your tender love

restore them,

with your purpose, hope and wisdom.

God the bread of life

Hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, bring your compassion and tenderness

to those who are struggling

with different illnesses or injuries.

Bless all who care and watch over them

and grant your healing touch to all in need.

In the quiet we pray for those known to us.

Be their guide, friend and healer.

God the bread of life

Hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, who have marked your children

with the seal of redemption,

hear our prayer for those who are dying

may they pass through death to life with you.

May they rest in peace and rise in glory.

Be with those who mourn,

comfort them, uphold them and give them your peace.

God the bread of life

Hear our prayer

Heavenly Father we thank you

for your daily blessings given to us,

those gifts of food, shelter, water,

health, education and family.

May we never take these for granted

and help us to be mindful of those

who are not as blessed as we are.

God the bread of life

Hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, we rejoice

that the ordinary things of this world

are saturated with your extraordinary love,

open our eyes to behold your glory.

Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,

our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together

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.

Do not bring us to the time of trial

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.

HYMN

BLESSING

The peace of God,

which passes all understanding,

keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,

and of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord:

and the blessing of God the Father,

the Son and Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always. Amen

DISMISSAL

Go or stay in peace to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ.