Hugh
welcomed us to worship and pray together, reminding us of the power of
community praise and prayer.
Call
to Worship
"Leader:
Come, we gather to meet our God this day.
All:
Even when we might be home
reading the paper...
Even when our work beckons us...
Even when our bodies ache with
pain...
Even when things around us don't
seem promising...
We come to meet you today, God.
Leader: Come, as we make God the focus of our
lives.
Come, as we open the Scripture
for guidance.
Come, as we pray, praise, repent,
and forgive.
Dear friends in Christ. Let us
have worship together.
The Grace of the Lord be with
you.
All:
And also with you.
Hymn
TIS 693
"Come as you are" An invitation to all, no matter what. However
undeserving we feel, we are loved and welcomed.
Prayer
of Adoration
Hugh prayed on our behalf, addressing God as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the
most beautiful and most powerful one, who despite His greatness is prepared to
listen to us. Hugh then prayed that God would help us truly worship Him.
Prayer
of Confession Appropriately, we said this confession together. We may
think some are worse sinners than others but in God's eyes we are all flawed
and all need to ask forgiveness. The sins Hugh had written into this confession
were the ordinary old garden variety ones...that cause God as much grief as those
we humans judge much worse. We are not OK. We all need God's cleansing power.
"Forgive
us, Abiding Love. We think we are so wise with the choices we make, only to end
up with all that keeps us from you. Your Word has come, to fill our speech with
grace, with hope, with peace. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Assurance
and Pardon
Leader:
Day to day, God offers mercy and hope. Moment to moment, we are surrounded by
God's never-ending love. Friends in Christ, trust the Good News for you this morning: "Our
sins are forgiven."
People:
Thanks be to God, we are forgiven. Amen.
Hymn
TIS 614
"O God of love" vv. 1&3 A
prayer that we will live as though we are in God's presence, so that everyone
in every nation will follow His will, living as neighbours to bring about
universal friendship. I have often thought that all this needs is an act of
will. All we need to do is to say we will get on with each other. Forget the
argy bargy. Forget the so-called negotiating. We just need to do it.
Bible
Readings
Trudy brought us Corinthians 1: 10 - 18 and Matthew 4: 12 – 23. The reading from Matthew covers the calling of
Simon and Andrew and James and John, who responded and followed him immediately.
What did this man have that they did this? In Corinthians, Paul's
directives imply that there had been much division in the group and his
instruction was to stop such silliness because it could undo the whole purpose
of the mission Jesus had given him and others.
I
think we should think on that for a long time.
Reflection Hugh began with an
account of an event that occurred in 1977. Arthur Burns, the then U.S.
Ambassador to West Germany and an advisor to presidents from Eisenhower to
Reagan was asked to close a prayer breakfast in prayer. People were interested
in how he would respond, given that he was Jewish. He took the prayer saying,
""Lord, I pray that Jews will get to know Christ, I pray that Muslims
will get to know Christ. Finally, Lord, I pray that all Christians in the world
will get to know Jesus Christ. Amen." Calling yourself a Christian is not
enough, you must get to know Jesus Christ - and live like Him.
Hugh
then spoke about a man who did know Christ and did live like Him: William
Wilberforce, who considered leaving politics for the ministry because he wasn't
sure how a Christian could live out in the secular world but was advised to
stay and exercise a Christian influence in that position. We all know the
result - the abolition of Slavery in most of the British Empire.
Then
Hugh turned to the calling of the disciples as in the readings and then posed
the question of how many people are defined by their jobs. Some people are so
keen to "keep up with the Joneses" that they have no leisure time.
Could it be that work is not meant to be the centre of our lives? Are we as wise
as the four disciples who figured that out?
Most
Westerners know about God in some way. Many profess to be Christians although
they never attend church. That is, they have never encountered Christ. The New
Testament is witness to what can happen when we encounter Christ. But meeting
is not enough, a relationship must develop and we must follow Him regardless of
the outcome.
"Lord,
we pray that Jews will get to know Christ. We pray that Muslims will get to
know Christ. Finally, Lord we pray that all the Christians in the world and in
this land and in this church will truly and truthfully know Jesus Christ.
Amen."
Hymn
TIS 647
"Comfort, comfort all my people" A promise and an offer that God can
and will comfort all our hurts.
Offering Our attempt to return but
a little of God's rich blessings upon us, and our prayer that our offering be
used to further God's work.
Prayers
of the People Margaret prayed: "Dear loving God whose grace brings
light to our darkened world, we would listen for your voice, but find it so
difficult to be receptive to its sound. Open our ears, make our hearts and
minds such that we will absorb and perceive your will for each of us.
Today
we remember our fellow creatures in need and look for what we can do to be your
voice and hands to meet their needs. We celebrate the work of (the various
Australians of the year). May their leadership in 2014 provide not only the
impetus for greater things but widen their own perspective on their areas of
passion, and provide an example to others. Margaret prayed for the perpetrators
of the violence we hear of in Sydney each weekend, asking that God will speak
to the hearts of these young men, showing them a different way of being men.
She
added that all of us will see that honour is in loving kindness, forgiveness of
others and ourselves, and in bringing healing through God's power.
She
prayed for the victims of the greed of others and prayed that God would speak
to the hearts of the greedy, to rid the world of the terrible things that greed
causes.
She
then prayed for our church, ourselves and those known to us who are suffering
and then we joined in The Lord's Prayer.
Hymn
TIS 468
"We are your People" A declaration on our part that we will dedicate
ourselves to working together, using all the talents each of us has to offer to
show that God is alive in the world.
Benediction Hugh prayed that God
would bless us and take care of us. That He would look upon us with kindness
and graciousness; that He show us favour and grant us peace.
Then,
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God our Father, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and your family and friends and those
in need on this planet, this day and forever. Amen
We
then sang: May the feet of God walk with you, and His hands hold tight.
May the eye of God rest
on you, and His ear hear your cry.
May the smile of God be
for you, and His breath give you life.
May the child of God
grow in you, and His love bring you home.
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