Call to Worship Lita opened our Worship this morning, telling
us she was feeling “Happy and Excited to be visiting us again.”
We sing of your steadfast love that never
ceases - Praise the name of the Lord!
We lift our hands to the God of all ages - Praise the name of the Lord!
We will embrace each moment and worship with unfettered hearts. Praise the name of the Lord!
Lita acknowledged the many different feelings and experiences that our
week had brought and asked God to accept us each for what we are and what we
can give today.
Hymn TiS 154 “Great
is Your Faithfulness”
Thomas Obadiah Chisolm (1866-1960) was a man whose
fragile health made his life difficult; so this wonderful hymn is a lesson to
each of us about accepting the great gifts for life that come through God’s
great Love. His friend William Runyan,
composed the music because he was greatly moved by the words and it was
published in 1923. George Beverly Shea
made this hymn speak to the hearts of many people through the Billy Graham
evangelical crusades in the middle decades of the 20th century. Like me you might remember the crusades.
Prayers of Praise
and Thanksgiving: It
was easy to hear these prayers with our hearts, after the experience of singing
about God’s amazing Faithfulness. Lita
thanked God; “For bringing us here in
this place, because here we experience loving one another – O what joy it must
bring you when we come together before you in unity.”
Prayers of Confession & Words of Assurance: Lita led us to confess our sins –
known and unknown and asked for courage for each of us to rid ourselves of the
sins “that hold onto us so tightly”. “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even
more. When we sincerely repent and ask
God for forgiveness through Christ, Jesus declares, ‘Your Sins are forgiven’.”
Children’s Message Using familiar “emoticons” to depict happy,
angry, sad and excited faces, Lita talked to the children about “feelings” and
asked them to raise the relevant emoticon faces as she talked about Job and his
feelings. She finished by asking them to
always remember; “God never leaves us no matter how we are feeling -
because God loves us.”
Offering / Prayer: Nerida and Alan were our stewards this morning and when the offering was
blessed Lita also offered a prayer to dedicate the Christmas Gift Boxes our
church family has prepared to send overseas to bring joy to many poorer children
and families.
Hymn 185 SinS 414 “The Steadfast Love of the Lord
never Ceases”
This little hymn, written by Edith McNeill, is also
inspired by the same passage in Lamentations which inspired Thomas Chisolm in
our first hymn.
Bible Reading
Joan read the Bible passages for us this morning in a compelling way - and
on reflection and upon revisiting this whole chapter, it is an amazing tirade
where the Lord speaks to Job about the magnificence and intricate dovetailing
of God’s entire creation. I realize I
have always worn blinkers when Job was mentioned because I thought everything
about his story was all about complete misery.
This was followed by the reading from Hebrews which begins; “For the word of God is alive and active… It
sifts the purposes and thoughts of the heart” and finishes with the thought
that Jesus was sent to be one of us and live and understand the temptations and
difficulties of life on earth. He was
tested in every way.
Reflection: “I’ve
got you! – OR – God holds us during our weakest moments”
Lita told us she would share a personal reflection on
the story of Job and I found this approach gave me a much more sanguine view of
Job and his woes - I still had lingering negative feelings about this miserable
story going back to childhood - so turning this into a story that talks about; “The kind of God that we have – a God who is
the source of hope; a God who creates, and renews and nurtures; who knows us
and all creation so well and is able to completely bring together his entire
creation in wisdom and love” brought a bright light to focus on the real
meaning of the message Job and his many woes can deliver. “It talks about God’s goodness
and sovereignty; a God who is strong and mighty but also gracious and
merciful.”
Lita asked us if we have ever had such suffering that
we, like Job, have felt that we had lost God.
Yes we all know that life can be very hard and very complicated – and
sometimes like Job we rant a little at God for deserting us.
Lita gave us some examples from the Bible about the
way God is with us. Psalm 34:18 “The Lord
is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” We heard how; “Life can be fragile, but God is always strong!” Proverbs 18;10 “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and
are safe.” We heard that experiences
can sometimes be bad; “But God is always
good!” Psalm 145;9 “The Lord is good
to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.”
“Job really wanted
God to explain to him why he was suffering.
He asked that if he was faithful, why then did he have to go through
such a difficult situation. And then God
spoke. But God’s answer was certainly
not as Job expected. God told him things
that human beings cannot fully know. He
told of his creation in the deepest sea, on the highest mountains, things big
and small, the funny ones, the wild and the endearing.” He told him in that magnificent
way expressed in Job Chapter 38 of all the wonders - and somehow Job
understood. Job understood that; “God is always good and God is always in
control; that God is sovereign and God cares about our everyday life; that God
knows and cares for every single part of his creation; that God is mighty yet
merciful; that the complexities in life are known to God and he can make things
work for good for everyone and everything he created. And most of all - that God is always there
for us, even though we sometimes do not feel it.”
“In Christ, God is
saying to us today – ‘do not be afraid, I’ve got you. I’ve got you in my strong arms. I’ve got you in my loving arms. I’ve got you in my saving arms.” AMEN.
Hymn TiS 590 “What a Friend we have in Jesus”
We continued in our reflective feelings by singing this greatly loved
hymn, written by Joseph Medlicott Scriven, while remaining quietly seated in
the pews. After several great tragedies,
Joseph lived a life of sacrifice and devotion, giving away everything he could
to those people in need and physically helping those who needed help - for the
rest of his life.
Before we share in the Prayers of Intercession it is our tradition to
listen to a reflective organ interlude.
Today this was interlude was played, in celebration of a lifetime of
Faith, by our old friend Tom, who will turn 100 during this week. Jack spoke a little about Tom and invited
everyone to his 100th Birthday Party at morning tea after the
service. Around 25 of Tom’s family
members were with him and his ‘church family’ for the service today and some
even travelled from his original homeland of Wales
Prayers of the People: Today Lita presented these prayers for the
people of our church and for the world. There
were prayers for those people we know, and the people and situations throughout
the world, whose needs touch our hearts.
We were reassured that God knows each of them by name and will hear them
when they call. Then we shared together in the words of the Lord’s
Prayer.
Hymn TiS 619 “Have Faith in God My Heart”
Blessing
Lita sent us home with the words: “Spring
up! Resolve to live confidently and with faith in the goodness of God. Throw off your cloak! Be ready to say yes
when life offers you transformation. God
bless you with refuge in time of need and joy in time of good fortune. Christ hear you when you cry and attend to
you with compassion.” Amen.
Sharing in the joy of Tom’s Birthday Party was a blessing to us
all. Jack reminded us that Tom was born
in the first year of World War 1 when times were hard. He had the misfortune to be seeking his first
job at the time of the Great Depression and he has faced many challenges in his
100 years. Coming to live in Australia
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