We
gathered together expecting to experience fellowship together; to learn of
God's healing and redeeming grace; and to experience it anew, so as we left at
the end of the service we would be fit and encouraged to serve him in the
world.
However
today, those things seemed to happen in a larger, deeper way. At least it did
for me.
The use of Psalm
111:1 as a Call to Worship emphasized that our relationship with
God is 100%..."I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart"...
and that we can only achieve that within the congregation of his people.
TIS
Hymn 165
"Praise our God, the great creator" continued this praise,
acknowledging God's hand in every sphere of our existence.
This
whole and holy adoration of God extended into the Prayers as we
acknowledged the God who is love, from whom all creation springs forth and who
sustains all that creation in love. Such love that he was prepared to become
poor for our sakes. Who was shown to us in Jesus Christ, doing good and
preaching the gospel in obedience, thereby opening the kingdom of heaven to us
all. Before this God we confessed our shame, knowing he would have mercy
on us and forgive us.
The
Commissioning of
all those who serve in MRUC in any way followed, continuing to name God as the
source of all gifts, whose purposes are achieved by the holy use of those gifts
in each of us. In keeping with this, each of us pledged that with God's help
and relying on his grace we would carry out the tasks to which we had committed
ourselves. This part of the service was drawn together with the Covenant
Prayer, which began, "I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you
will..." laying ourselves open to God's purpose.
Immediately
this pledge to obedience found a sliver of fulfillment in the offering
of some of our goods to God's service in the community, (including our offering
of food to CCA) as an expression of our love, to spread God's blessing to our
neighbours.
In the
Bible Readings brought to us by Lyn, we saw the source of today's
reflective service. Psalm 111 from which our Call to Worship was taken,
spoke of God as the absolute spring of all that is good, while Mark 1:21 -
28 demonstrated this spring of goodness (and power) in the everyday life of
the Jews in Capernaum.
In her
Sermon Jan focused on the need for our obedience, if God's creative and
loving power is to be fully effective in the world. After alluding to the ambivalent
attitude of Australians to authority (we despise the corrupt people in
authority, are skeptical and mistrusting of bad management and corporate greed
but appreciate the people kept alive by our drink driving rules).
Even
so, many are reluctant to acknowledge that Right and Wrong exist.(could it
be that the drink-drive laws work so well because breaking them can lead to a
person's life being seriously inconvenienced, other than any acknowledgement
of the right thing to do). However
campaigns like this show that authority can be good.
Jan
related this to God's discipline of his people which was not meant to cause
suffering but to show care.
When
Jesus arrived on the scene, he soon established his authority and power,
through his significant teaching and healing ministry, revealing his great
compassion. Compassion that can liberate and restore. He brought brand new life
to the man in the synagogue in Capernaum and we are called to share that
ministry of God's loving, challenging, provocative power.
Jesus
brought God's presence into reality and continues to do...through him we can
become new people.
In TIS
Hymn 638 "O Christ the healer, we have come" we reflected on
Jesus the Healer, but with more emphasis on his ability to restore our inner
wholeness rather than our physical ailments.
Chris
prayed on our behalf the Prayers for the People acknowledging God's
gracious and loving care, asking him to hear our joys and cares. He brought
before God the planet and asked for the
release of this world from the tyranny of greed. He prayed for those who are
oppressed, those who have endured loss and conflict, that they will have
confidence in God to intervene and sustain all people in time of need and bring
the gospel of love to all. We then joined in The Lord's Prayer
TIS
Hymn 533 "I
come to meet my Lord" This hymn stresses the unity in Christ of all
Christians and the forgiveness and liberty offered to all by God.
Communion
To
begin this service with Jan, Mae and Elaine, we offered The Peace
to those around us.
With
that, Jan invited us to claim our place around the table,
announcing that the table of bread and wine had been made ready, explaining
that it was a table in company with Jesus and those who love him. Then we, who
have faith, and we who would like more, we who celebrated the sacrament often
and we who had not been for a long time; we who have been able to follow Jesus
and we who have failed; were invited to come.
And
then we were invited to take the ordinary things through which we will be
blessed. And as Jesus thanked God for the gifts of the earth we also celebrated
God's goodness.
Jan
then recounted the first communion service where Jesus declared of the bread: "This
is my body which is given for you" and of the wine: "This cup
is the new relationship with God, sealed with my blood." God then
commanded: "Take this and share it."
Following
this we shared the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving. In this prayer we
acknowledged the many times throughout the ages when God has sustained his
people, leading us to praise him for his faithfulness.
Holy,
holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your
glory, Hosanna in the highest, Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Jan
then blessed the bread and wine asking that God's spirit would revitalize us
through them, making us like God, living and caring for the world.
After
the distribution we prayed a final prayer: As this broken bread was
scattered through fields and hills before being gathered to become one, so may
we and all people be gathered from the ends of the earth into Christ's kingdom.
TIS
Hymn 468
"We are your people, Spirit of Grace." This hymn speaks of the
practical business of being a Christian - being neighbours, being a community,
open to strangers, clashing and forgiving, showing justice and care. Sometimes
it's hard for we mere humans but the outcome makes it worth the effort.
Jan
then pronounced the blessing: May the blessing of God Almighty, The Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit be amongst you and remain with you always. This, in itself,
brings a sense of peace, which we passed on to each other through the blessing:
Hymn
TIS 778 "Shalom
to you now" ...shalom my friends. This prayer to each other, without
further detail, expressing our wish for all other people.
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