We Gather for Worship
Praise
awaits you, O God;
and solemn
promises will be fulfilled. To you who listen to our prayer, all may come,
When sinful
deeds overcome us, pardon our rebellion.
How
fortunate are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts.
Let us be filled
with the good things of your house, your holy temple."
From
Psalm 65: 1 - 4 and Joel 2: 23 - 32 Jeff Shrowder 2000
A Gathering Prayer (condensed)
"Come:
all you in need of hope, who seek faith, who long for peace, in need of
comfort, who seek reassurance, who long for love. Come, dwell in the house of
The Lord. Amen."
from
Roots
Sometimes
we have to realise that the lack we feel is not for material things but for the
things of the spirit. And when those needs are fulfilled, the other wants fade
away.
Hymn TIS 90 "I'll praise my maker while I've breath" This
hymn says out loud, the realization that our praise to our Lord will never
cease because the awareness of our unending gratitude will simply grow and
grow. Praise to the Lord who supplies all our needs - who meets them in ways
that are sometimes quite a surprise to us.
Prayer. A
prayer to give thanks to the creator of all that is beautiful and our ability
to show appreciation for it. A plea that God's spirit will bring our worship
alive, bringing hope for us in that which is eternal. A plea for forgiveness
and healing and restoration. A plea for the renewal of our vision - Amen.
We listen for a Word of God. In the Scriptures
Lyn
brought to us 2 Timothy 4: 6 - 8, 16 - 18 and Luke 18: 9 - 14. Paul speaks of
giving up his life for others, asking forgiveness for those who did not support
him and expressing his confidence in the Lord to rescue him (us) from every
attack.
We aren't
attacked for our faith in a physical way in this country but friendships are
lost and careers and sometimes reputations ruined. But we can't do anything but
stand firm. How can we say something we know to be true, isn't, just for the sake of things of lesser importance,
no matter how much we hurt inside.
The
reading from Luke is a very well known passage. The Pharisee reminding God of
everything he was doing to keep the law
and the tax-collector unable to lift his head.
Reminder
here - it's all about God - it's not about us.
Reflection Chris told us how he had unexpectedly begun participating
in the City to Surf race and that this year that he had run with his niece,
both benefiting from the encouragement of the other. In the reading, Paul who
is facing the end of his life, thinks back on the opportunities he had had to
encourage others and also about the fact that there had been times when he had
been deserted by others. But he says that he has "run the race" in
the firm faith that God has been with him.
Chris
continued, by reminding us that a loving community can become transforming and
that it is up to us to take up the baton and continue running that God-inspired
race, making God's presence real to each other.
Chris
then turned our attention to the week's destructive bushfires and the lives
that are in disarray, as a result. He spoke of God's presence at such a time
and how through the loving acts of people, God's presence is often felt if not
named. Chris relayed messages from the Moderator and the President of the
Assembly, detailing the suffering of people, including members of the church
and the service rendered by chaplains and others, finally giving thanks for the
witness to Christ during this time.
Chris
also told us of a Facebook entry of a Bible College student, Joel Hollier, who
lost his home, saying he had never experienced such hospitality, and saw the
fires as a time when "the true humanity of people which is hidden beneath
a veneer of individuality and materialism", rose up. Property may have
been list but humanity has been found.
We begin our response to God's
Word
Hymn TIS 604 "May the mind of Christ
my Saviour" A prayer that Christ's mind will control our words and
actions: that the word of God will dwell in us so that we will give witness to
Him: that the peace of God rule us so that we can be a comfort to others: that
the love of God will fill us that we will exalt only him: then may we run the
race, keeping our focus on Jesus. Again, it's all about God and each of us
needs to remember that not one of us has a handle on God's will. We should
listen to each other and for God's quiet voice in the many ways it comes to us.
How often in a meeting do we earnestly pray for God to guide our thoughts and
words and then plough in, guided only by our own sense of importance.
Prayer
The Grieving "This black cloth reminds us of lives and places that have
been blackened by fires over this last week"
Paraphrase:
we grieve, supporting each other, particularly those directly affected by the
fires and join in building a new future, knowing that Jesus, who had known
human pain is here with us. Some places will never be the same and the loss
cannot be expressed but we will hold in love all that is gone, gathering its
beauty into our memories.
Now let
us reach out to God who waits to comfort us.
"O
God, as our Loving Parent, we believe that you are with us now." Amen
Prayers for the People
Paraphrase:
Disasters like that of last week make us wonder. Hold us close; restore our
faith; help us live a life of freedom.
"Send
us your Holy Spirit this day with gifts of wisdom, healing, and comfort, we
pray.
Show us
ways of caring for all those who grieve and suffer, O God, and open our lives
to share what we have with those in need. Renew us for the days to come, that
we may lift up our heads and begin again in hope. This we pray in faith.
Amen"
The Affirmation
"In
the power of a loving God, we will survive the future, as we have the past, and
in the same spirit with which we face the fires."
It is
clear that at least three of these fires were started deliberately or
accidentally by human hand. There's a lesson there for us all. God does not
force us to obey his natural or spiritual laws. When we break any of those
laws, disastrous repercussions are the consequence.
Hymn SANS 199. "Moods"
A cry of
protest about natural disasters but an acknowledgement that it is God's Spirit
that gets us through these traumas.
Prayer
"...let
us bring to mind what we see among us which carry us forth in faith..."
We
shouldn't need a disaster to nudge us into doing this. Day by day, we should be
looking about us to see the support God supplies us in His creation, in books,
in services, in people, in situations grand and of little moment. Let us learn
to discern God's presence with us.
Let us go out.
Paraphrase:
just as the bush regenerates, let us go forward with new life springing up in
us.
Blessing
"And
may the God who never leaves us or forsakes us, the Christ, who wept for the
loss of a friend, walk before us and the Holy Spirit heal us and bring us a new
dream. Amen"
Hymn TIS 779 "May the feet of God walk
with you," That's all any of us need as long as we acknowledge and respond
to His presence. Resources: Roots,
Billabong website Jeff Shrowder, "Starters for Sundays", "In
Life in Death" Dr. D MacRae-MacMahon
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