I had a vision of the Lord during the year that King Uzziah died. The Lord was high above, sitting on an imposing throne. The Lord’s presence dwarfed everything else so totally that just the cuffs of his robe filled the temple. Awesome fiery creatures, known as Seraphim, were there, serving the Lord. Each Seraph had three pairs of wings. They used one pair to shield their faces, one to shield their bodies, and the third for flying. They cried out to one another saying:

“Holy! Holy! Holy!
Holy is the LORD who rules over everything.
The whole earth is full of God’s glory.”

The sound of their voices shook the place to its foundations, and clouds of smoke billowed through the temple. And I said:

“This is the end of me.
I’ll never get out of here alive.
If I so much as open my mouth
the ugliness inside is exposed for all to see,
and the same could be said of everyone I know;
yet I’ve stumbled into the presence of the Ruler of Heaven.
Here I am, naked before the all-consuming
holiness of the LORD!”

Then one of the seraphim flew right up to me carrying a pair of tongs in which it held a red hot coal – straight from the fire on the altar. The seraph touched my mouth with the glowing coal and said:

“Look! This holy fire has touched your lips.
Your sinfulness is forgiven.
Your slate is wiped clean.”

After this I heard the voice of the Lord saying

“Is there someone I can send?
Is there anyone who will go on our behalf?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me if you will!”

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

LORD God, like your angels in heaven
we speak of you in glowing terms,
for your glory and strength deserve rave reviews.
We give you a huge rap, LORD;
we put up you name in lights
and hold a huge ticker tape parade
but it still falls short of the worship you deserve.

Your voice, LORD, rings out like thunder;
resounding over the waters,
drowning out even the waves of the sea.
Your voice echoes with power;
it would bring anyone to their knees.

Your voice, LORD, shatters the Ironbark tree,
and splinters the Mountain Ash like match sticks.
Your presence makes Mount Bogong jump like a calf;
Uluru like a rock wallaby.

Your voice, LORD, strikes fire from stone.
The sound of your voice convulses the wilderness;
the Simpson Desert shudders in labour.

Your voice, LORD, is like a cyclone,
howling through a rainforest,
stripping the leaves from the trees.

We all gather to worship and cheer with all our might;
for you rule forever, LORD,
and neither surging flood
nor tidal wave can undermine you.
Give strength to your people, LORD!
Bless your people with peace!

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

The truth is, brothers and sisters, that we owe nothing to the preoccupations of our former life. We need no longer have our lives dictated by the mindless pursuit of fashionable dreams and selfish desires. After all, the attraction was fatal. But thanks to God’s Spirit, we can now be rid of all that — give it a decent burial and get on with our new lives. All those who dance to the Spirit’s tune are God’s beloved children. We were not sold into slavery where we would grovel timidly in the dust, afraid to put a foot wrong. Rather we were adopted into a family full of love and joy. Like eager children crying, “Daddy! Mummy!” we come running to God, and with loving arms, God’s Spirit gathers us up, demonstrating clearly to whom we belong. And since we are children of God, we are actually on the same footing as Christ. With him we will inherit all that has been kept in trust for God’s children. But we have to take the good with the bad, and we know the price he paid. We need to be willing to cop it on the chin with him now if we want to share the glory with him later.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

There was a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Pharisee party and a leader in the Jewish nation. Late one night he came to speak with Jesus. He said, “Rabbi, we recognise that God has sent you as a teacher and that God is with you. How else could you do these things which are so clearly the work of God?”

Jesus answered him, “Right you are. And let me tell you this: no one will see the full life of God without being born into it from above.”

Nicodemus was taken aback. “How can this be?” he asked, “A person can only be born once. None of us can go back to the womb and be born again.”

Jesus replied saying:

“Listen again, for it is important that you get this. There is only one way into the full life of God, and it is through a birth of water and Spirit. A baby that emerges from a womb got its body from the bodies of its parents. But a growing person is not just a body, and the life-force within them emerges from the womb of the Spirit. So don’t be surprised that I said you have to be born from above. You can’t control or predict these things. They are like the wind. You can hear it coming and see what it does, but what’s driving it or where it is going next is anyone’s guess. God’s Spirit is like the wind, and so are all those who are born of the Spirit.”

But Nicodemus said, “I’m not with you. How can these things be?”

Jesus replied:

“How can you set yourself up as one of the teachers of Israel when you are struggling to get your head around the basics?

“Listen carefully because I’m speaking the truth. We know these things from our own experience, we’ve seen them with our own eyes, and yet you fob us off as though we were reporting a rumour we’d heard in the street. If I told you the sky was blue, you’d blink and take another look, so what chance is there of you believing anything I have to say about the ways of God? How are you going to check out what I say? None of you have ever gone up and stood face to face with God. The only one who has done that is the New Human, the one who came from God in the first place. You know the old story from the desert: the one about Moses lifting up the hand-made snake so that the people could look at something that would help them to focus their trust in God. Well, the New Human is going to be lifted up for much the same reason. Everyone who looks up to him in trust and hope will receive life without limit.

“God’s love for the world is so overwhelming that even giving up his own son was not too great a cost to ensure that no one need succumb to death. All those who put their trust in him can have boundless life instead.

“God didn’t put his son’s life on the line merely to bring down the hammer and pass sentence on us. Rather, God saw the world in desperate trouble and sent the Son on a cosmic rescue mission.”

©2000 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you loved the world so greatly that you gave your Son,
so that all who trust him may have eternal life.

Your powerful voice, thundering over the waters,
spoke into being the new-born creation.
From your holy throne, surrounded by seraphim,
you called your prophets to carry the message of life
to those who were enslaved to selfish desires.

You sent your Son, Jesus Christ, into the world
and when the enemies of life lifted him up to die,
you raised him from the grave
and made him the source of life
for all who look to him in trust and hope.
And now your Holy Spirit bears witness within us
that we are indeed your children,
born from above of water and spirit,
and destined to share with Christ
in his sufferings and his glory.

Therefore with .....

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give thanks for your Son
who you gave in your great love for the world,
so that all who trust him
may be born from above of water and spirit,
and have eternal life,
sharing with him in his sufferings and his glory.

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you loved the world so greatly that you gave your Son,
so that all who trust him may have eternal life.

Your powerful voice, thundering over the waters,
spoke into being the new-born creation.
From your holy throne, surrounded by seraphim,
you called your prophets to carry the message of life
to those who were enslaved to selfish desires.

You sent your Son, Jesus Christ, into the world
and when the enemies of life lifted him up to die,
you raised him from the grave
and made him the source of life
for all who look to him in trust and hope.
And now your Holy Spirit bears witness within us
that we are indeed your children,
born from above of water and spirit,
and destined to share with Christ
in his sufferings and his glory.

Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

God did not send the Son into the world to condemn us,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
The refining fire of God has touched you.

Sisters and Brothers,
  your sins are forgiven;
    be at peace.

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go out and in all of life, worship the Lord.
Entrust yourself to the winds of God’s Spirit;
put to death selfish desires,
and offer yourself for God’s mission in the world.

And may God give strength to you and to all;
May Christ Jesus bless you with peace;
And may the Holy Spirit, whispering within your hearts,
    give you assurance that you are God’s children.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
   In the name of Christ. Amen.

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net