Sunday Service Marsden Rd Uniting Church Nov.11

I was not able to attend church this morning, so this blog was written using Helen's notes. I hope I am able to represent the service with some degree of accuracy.

This is also a good time to tell anyone following this blog on the Internet that I am moving house and may be able to write up next week's service but certainly, after that, will not be able to, for a number of weeks until we are set up at the new house.

The service began with the Call to Worship, praying that Christ would be with us, in the service and throughout the week.

Opening Responses sourced from the Iona Community, were an exercise in placing our hearts and minds in the proper place, reminding us of God's authorship and dominion over creation and the joy we derive from our unity in Christ Jesus.

We then focussed on love, faith, justice and peace as essential aspects of our belief and, while we prayed that God would open our lips to praise Him, we acknowledged that even if we were silent, creation itself would shout His praise.

Hymn 109 " Tell out my soul" proclaimed that our lives should shout out God's blessings, dominion, mercy and the sureness of his promise to us.

Prayer of Confession  a prayer to the Creator, the fully Human, the Breathe of Life to have mercy on us.

We then paused to ponder our own faults and failings, after which we recited a formal confession, first our leader and then ourselves, to which the response was

"May God forgive you, Christ befriend you and the Spirit renew and change your life", fulfilling the longings of many.

Hymn 5  (Songs for a Hopeful Church) "Come Holy Spirit, fill this place" an opportunity to use the song to pray to the source of all Grace, to enter our being, to direct our praying, our listening to the word, that we should understand with fulness, the richness of our blessed lives and through that same Grace to give thanks for that great gift.

In keeping with this, we thanked God for speaking to us in so many ways and for working in us so that we will continue to grow in strength, vision and knowledge, with confidence that God will be with us in all that we do.

Scripture Readings  Psalm 127: 1,2 and Mark 12: 38-44. The Psalm passage a neat lesson in the uselessness of working out plans of our own. Unless it is God's plan and done in His strength, it will come to nothing. The Mark reading a warning against hypocrisy and then a lesson on how much more blest is the offering of those who give their all, against those of people who may be able to give abundantly, but with ease.

The Reflection  As I said at the beginning, I was not present for this, so I think it best if I don't try to give the full intent just from the notes. Instead, I will ask for guidance to speak about the readings myself.

I am reminded of a story I read in Readers' Digest years ago. I assume the account was from USA and it was told by a schoolteacher who, early in her career, was teaching a class from all sorts of family backgrounds about the time she was getting married.

The students had heard of the approaching wedding, and were bringing in gifts. One child from a poverty stricken home, looked on for weeks, as other children brought their offerings and then one day, approached the young woman with a brown paper parcel.

Inside were neatly hemmed squares of old sheets and towels, which the girl's mother had prepared. The home made card wished the young couple well and offered the family's gift of "new" dusting cloths. I don't have to finish the teacher's account about which gift almost made her heart burst.

Our Maker doesn't want what we can spare, he wants our hearts and minds; he wants our all.

This leads directly into the reading from the Psalms. We don't give God part of what we earn or have. We don't give God some of our time. We don't carry out God's work after we have finished our work.

When we give ourselves to God, it's our all we give. Be it our talents, our time, our money or our energy, it's not just what we give to the church or charities that is to be used in God's name, it's all we have. Whether we, as I do, teach, or drive a bus or fix plumbing or cars or keep accounts, or cook or paint or do whatever people do when they work in the mysterious fields of IT or electronics, we are meant to be doing it according to God's plan and in his name. This is going to be really hard for me to write, but when we spend "our" money on food for ourselves, it should be spent according to God's plan for our bodies.

In any sphere, clever plans of our own that we might have to better the world or even to further God's kingdom don't count; they don't go anywhere.

I'm not any sort of example here, but it's a bit like looking both ways before we step out onto the road. We should seek God's will first. Not when our lives, or things in general are getting scrambled. Ask me. I know.

Returning to Helen's plan, the next part of the service was the Affirmation of Faith taken from Dorothy McRae-McMahon's "The Glory of Blood, Sweat and Tears"

The congregation affirmed their belief in God who is beside and within; in Jesus Christ, who took upon himself the "encounter between the demonic and the divine", freeing us with his love, that cost him so much. They also affirmed their belief in the "Holy Spirit, who liberates the universe as it groans its wordless longing for life that is just and true" and who gives us hope.

Hymn 520  "Take my life and let it be" the logical conclusion to all that had gone before.

The Prayers for Others.

Prayers today covered a range of concerns. Helen began with prayers for those affected by war in recognition of Remembrance Day and all that encompasses.

Members of the congregation then prayed for people and situations at home and abroad: from people needing God's support in a difficult time to the elections in America and the ramifications of those for the world in the years ahead.

In all matters, the prayers were for God's guiding hand to affect outcomes and God's touch to bring comfort and relief.

These were followed by The Lord's Prayer and the Freewill Offering, each a community expression of commitment to God's plan.

Hymn 537 "May the Mind of Christ my Saviour", a prayer that the many facets of God's nature will work through us, that we may be the head, heart, hands and voice of our Lord in this world.

Collect (from the Church in Kenya)

"From the cowardice that does not face new truths,

from the laziness that is content with half truths,

from the arrogance that thinks it knows all the truth,

deliver us today, good Lord."

The Blessing

Numbers 6: 24-26. I'm sure you're familiar with these verses and perhaps can say them by heart but look them up and read them aloud. Amazing!

Hymn TiS 768

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow

Praise him all creatures here below

Praise him above, ye heavenly host

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Yes!