We were
warmly welcomed and the notices given out.
Call to Worship "O sing to the Lord a
new song.
Declare God's glory to all people.
Ascribe to the Lord
the glory due to His name.
Worship the Lord in holy splendour."
An
impossible task. How can we tell of God, just as He is? How can we strip away
the fog of our hopelessly imperfect version of the Perfect Love; the Untarnished
Truth; the Eternal Creator? But we must continue to try.
Prayer of Invocation Helen prayed for us, that we
might experience God's grace and peace and give Him praise for it. Sometimes we
wonder where God is in our lives but we only have to look at what is good; what
leads to light; what causes our love for each other to show through. That's God
in our lives.
Hymn TIS 72 "From all who dwell
below the skies" A song celebrating God's goodness to us. Everything that
isn't God owes Him grateful praise.
Scripture Reading Susan read to us from Luke 7:
1 - 10. The healing of the Centurion's slave. This man knew about power but he
knew Jesus' power was something far beyond his own. Then why don't we trust Him
to take care of things! Why don't we hand over the reins and trust?
Reflection Not works or
race but Faith. Helen began by explaining that today's
reading begins a new section on the "inclusive gospel". A gospel that
includes everyone. All people are welcome; all people are loved. People of that
time would have been thunderstruck. For the Jews remaining Holy was of major
importance and that included not defiling themselves by mingling with those who
did not keep the law. Jesus did just that and in doing so, changed the boundaries
of what constituted holiness. Not all the people who responded to Jesus were
the people anyone would expect to respond. The Roman Centurion in today's
reading would not have been expected to seek out Jesus. He knew that himself,
and asked that Jesus not enter his house because he knew what a kurfuffle that
would cause. Instead he acknowledged Jesus’ authority, declaring that all
that was needed was His word. This was a man that knew about authority and
recognized a unique kind in Jesus. Jesus' response was to say that He had never
seen such faith - and this was in a Gentile. No one is outside God's love.
Helen
then recounted a story concerning a woman she had come across in her work as an
OT. This woman's standard greeting was "Having Fun" even when the
staff were clearly not doing anything like that. When Helen heard she was
leaving she was delighted that this daily irritation was going. However on her
last day the woman came to Helen holding a copy of Psalm 23 saying it had
changed everything for her - it had given her hope. It seems an antique Salvation
Army lady had given to her. That Salvation Army lady knew that the gospel is
for all. Helen said she felt ashamed.
How often
do we not bother to extend a chance to meet God to someone because we see them
as someone who doesn't fit the category of our idea of what a Christian might
look like.
Prayer A prayer from Helen that we
will see others as God sees all of us. No worse nor better but each made in
God's image.
Freewill Offering Given with the prayer that
the little we give can make a difference in God's hands.
Hymn TIS 640 "Kneels at the feet of
his friends" Jesus did not think He was above washing His disciples’ feet. Neither should we think any task too humble for us
or that we should be careful about which people we show God's love to.
Prayer for Others and The
Lord's Prayer
Graham prayed on our behalf, that we should have faith like that of the
Centurion and then called our attention to the appalling events happening
world-wide, far from us geographically and far from us in terms of any
influence we could have over them. He prayed that we bring these matters to
God, the only One with the authority and power to deal with them. Graham then
prayed for the more personal concerns of the congregation and we joined
together in The Lord's Prayer.
Helen then gave the invitation to share in the
taking of the bread and wine, clear, saying it is for all who were seeking to
love God more and apart from that there are no other qualifications.
"For
it is here, at this time, we remember the body of Christ broken for us,
and the
blood of Christ poured out for us."
Hymn TIS 693 "Come as you are" -
"Love sets no limits...love never ends...don't run away shamed and
disheartened...come as you are." I once spoke to a person much wiser than
myself about not feeling worthy of calling myself Christian or worshipping as
one... I felt such a fake. It had been an issue with me for some time but her
answer settled it forever: "God called you as you are." That's the
answer- it's not about me - it's about God.
Scripture Reading John 13: 1 - 11. This was a
paraphrase of the account of Jesus, realizing His time on Earth was coming to
an end, set about clarifying His role and the role of the disciples towards
others. At first Peter questions the possibility of Jesus washing his feet but
when Jesus says it is necessary to Peter's discipleship, Peter goes overboard and
asks Jesus to wash feet, hands and head. Jesus had to make it clear that his
concern was holiness not hygiene.
Because
of this, Helen directed us to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.
Symbolically,
Helen washed her hands, asking God to wash away her iniquity and cleanse her
from her sin. Likewise, having been cleansed, she was able to minister to the
elders and washed their hands, praying that they would be cleansed.
"Lamb
of God you take away the sin of the world. Have
mercy on us
Lamb of God you take away the
sin of the world. Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God you take away the
sin of the world. Grant us peace.
Scripture Reading John 13: 12 - 17. Paraphrasing
again. Jesus has to make sure the disciples understood what had happened. Just
as He had ministered to them, so must they minister to each other. If He, the
Master and Teacher humbled Himself to care for them, so must they humble
themselves to care for each other. "If you understand what I'm telling
you, act like it - and live a blessed life." As we used to write beside
important points in our school books, "NOTE WELL"
Hymn TIS 655 "O let the Son of God
enfold you" Over and under, around, through, within, without - soaked in
Jesus Spirit. Give up every part of ourselves.
Prayer over the Elements By your Word and Holy Spirit,
Lord, bless these gifts, that we may truly share Christ's body and blood, and
become by grace, Christ's body, given for the sake of the world.
The Distribution we were all invited again, to
partake, in remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice and as a sign of
the bond that ties us together.
Following Communion The Lord be with you/ And also with you
Go in
peace to love and serve the world/ In the
name of Christ
Amen.
Hymn TIS 549 "God be in my head"
A sort of reminder, in simple language of what had gone before. May God direct
my thinking, my perception of the world and people around me, the words I speak,
my motivation. May God be with me until the end.
Fulfillment
with "the lot".
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