Pew Sheet, Sunday 23rd November 2025. The Feast of Christ the King The Sunday next before Advent

The kingship of Christ is a central theme in Christian theology, expressing the belief that Jesus reigns as supreme ruler over all of creation. Unlike earthly kingship, which relies on power, dominance, and political authority, Christ’s kingship is rooted in divine love, humility, and the transformative power of God’s grace. It is a kingship foretold in the Hebrew scriptures and revealed in Jesus’ life and ministry, which reached its consummation in his sacrificial death, and in his glorious resurrection and ascension.

In the Old Testament, kingship is associated with God’s covenantal care for his people, although it was some time before God granted Israel’s wish for a king as the other nations around them had. God knew that no one could fulfil the ideal of Godly kingship, though David and Solomon prefigured Christ’s own kingship and were lionised during their earthly reigns. Those who followed were even less godly, whereas Jesus embodies the ideal of heavenly kingship not through military might or conquest, but through the sacrifice in which he gave himself over to death to restore us, and all of creation into a full and living relationship with our Father God.

Jesus’ birth narrative, which we begin preparing to celebrate next week, signals this paradox. The ‘King of Kings’ is born not in a palace but in a manger, and will become a refugee before becoming an itinerant preacher and teacher later in life. His miracles, teachings, and acts of compassion reveal a king who serves, rather than dominates, and is to be loved with supreme gratitude rather than obeyed out of fear of retribution.

When questioned by Pilate before his death, Jesus asserted that his kingdom is ‘not of this world’, indicating that his authority is higher than any temporal power, whether gifted to the holder (as Herod’s crown was), or seized through force (as the Roman emperor’s were). His ensuing death on the cross underscores the nature of his reign: crowned with thorns and enthroned on a cross, Christ turned the symbols of his humiliation into a revelation of divine kingship grounded in sacrificial love. His resurrection vindicated his role as Lord of all, for by conquering sin and death, Christ established his universal authority to reign at the right hand of the Father, interceding for humanity and guiding the Church through the Holy Spirit. Today, we acknowledge his reign and his kingship in our liturgy and honour him as our king by celebrating his rule of justice, mercy, and self-giving love, trusting that in that day when all creation will be restored to its original perfection, Jesus will indeed reign as ‘King of King and Lord of Lords’ in each and everyone’s lives, and over all that has been created.

Collect

God the Father,
help us to hear the call of Christ the King and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end; for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory.

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Come, behold the works of the LORD;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
‘Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.’
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Colossians 1:11-20

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his
glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled
you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued
us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Luke 23:33-43

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

Post Communion Prayer

Stir up, O Lord,
the wills of your faithful people;
that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,
may by you be plenteously rewarded.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This week’s events

Monday

Bell ringing at 7.30pm in St Laurence. Contact Jan on 07835 461361.

Zoom Julian Group at 8pm, Group ID: 996 4332 0665 password: Julian

Tuesday (Isaac Watts, Hymn Writer, 1748)

Zoom Morning Prayer at 9am. Meeting ID: 539 3978774 Password: TuaR0T (The 0 in R0T is a zero not an ‘O’) or email: [email protected]

Evening Home Groups, contact Jo on 07803 942 687.

Wednesday

Morning Coffee from 10.00 am in the St Laurence Rooms/Great Horwood Village Hall followed by Midweek Holy Communion at 12.00 noon in St Laurence’s.

Thursday

Daytime Home Group, contact Jo on 07803 942 687.

Friday

Junior Choir, 6.30pm in St Laurence, followed by full Choir Practice at 7.30pm.