Happy Birthday Ma'am

It was a right royal Bermondsey celebration with the congregation overflowing into the galleries to thank God for Her Majesty's 90th birthday.

Orginally planed to be outside - what they call 'the Queen's weather' necessitated a retreat indoors for a wonderful service of thanks and praise.

In my sermon I said 'She has kept her promise.'

As a young woman of 21 the Queen had said: 'I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service.' And it has - for the last 69 years, during 64 of which she has been our sovereign.

Quoting Psalm  21.7, 'The king trusts in the LORD Almighty; and because of the LORD'S constant love he will always be secure,' I said the Queen had trusted in God throughout her life, and had witnessed to her own faith in Jesus Christ, most notably in her Christmas broadcasts.

During the service we prayed for the Queen, we heard stories of members of the congregation who had met the Queeen or seen her, and before a rousing rendition of the National Anthem and three cheers for Her Majesty, the whole church was clapping and rejoicing in a wonderful raise-the-roof rendition of  'We are marching in the light of God', complete with our Bermondsey verse ('we are serving God in Bermondsey') and a special new verse for the day: 'We are thanking God for our Queen.'

Prayers of thanksgiving for the Queen