Sunday Service Marsden Road Uniting Church 4 October 2015

Welcome
Jan welcomed us all, calling our attention to the warm spring day and to the memory of St. Francis who preached to the animals and asked them to praise God.

Call to worship

Bless the Lord, all you his creatures

And do not forget God’s blessings

O Lord, how manifold are your works,

In wisdom you have made them all, the earth is full of your creatures.

Hymn TIS 100
“All creatures of our God and King” v1,3,5,7. We sang with gusto, reflecting the thankfulness and awe we all have for all of God's creation that accompanies us and sustains us throughout our lives. I'm not strong on humility but thinking on the words of a hymn like this leaves me helpless to be anything but thankful and totally aware of my utter inability to deserve any of it.

Prayers of Praise and Thanksgiving (Together)

We thank you loving God, for all your gifts in creation, the beauty of earth, of sea and sky,
For the riches of the mountains, fields and rivers, for all creatures that breathe and move.
We thank you Lord for the songs of birds, the perfume of flowers and trees and for the pets that you have given us to care for. We pray that we will honour you for all your works and give you the glory and praise of our whole hearts. AMEN

Prayer of Confession

How quick we are to blame when things go wrong, O Lord.
We expect blessings and rewards and assume you have left us when things aren't as we expect them to be. Forgive us for being so self-centred. Teach us to value the common good and to be servants of your Gospel. Amen

Words of Assurance

Hear then Christ's word of Grace to us: our sins are forgiven.

Thanks be to God.

Blessing of Pets

People spoke about pets who were present in body or in photographs, revealing the very special relationships we have with our companions and the benefits they bring to us.

Hymn TIS 429
“Break thou the bread of life.” It is a simple hymn of just two verses but it focuses our whole attention on our reason for being present this morning. When we find Jesus, we are given a freedom that is difficult to explain and can't be gained by any other means.

Communion

We are so familiar with this service and even though some of us have been experiencing it on  a monthly basis for over 70 years, there is never an occasion that we are not moved by its significance. That God himself should take in human flesh and suffer to bring freedom to us is beyond comprehension. So as we raise our voices to sing:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory,

Hozanna in the highest,

Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord

Hosannah in the highest.

We are moved by the words, written by someone else, which express our deep need (but lack the words to say) to praise God for a gift beyond imagination.

Jan reminded us of the institution of the meal in which we were about to partake and then:

Receive this holy sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, and feed on him in your heart by faith with thanks with thanksgiving.

Jan, Joan, Pat and Alan then distributed the elements.

Prayer after Communion

We thank you, Lord that you have fed us in this sacrament and united us with Christ.

Bible Readings
Jan brought to us:  Psalm 104:10-24 ​​​in which the Psalmist speaks to God, in awe of the treasure of beautiful creation given to humans by Him.

Matthew 6:25-33. Jesus makes it plain for anyone who has failed to notice, the way the world works. Worrying about tomorrow gets us nowhere. He points to the rest of creation, showing how God cares for it without any input from any of its members and then says that we will be cared for in just the same way.

Sermon- “Celebrating God’s creation & St Francis of Assisi’

Jan began, speaking about the gospel reading, where Jesus was instructing not only his disciples, but anyone else who is within earshot about the danger of being too attached to possessions and how being concerned about our possessions "can get in the way of knowing God and serving him," Jesus was teaching those who were listening of the need to trust God. He pointed out the logic of our being more important to God than flowers and yet the flowers want for nothing. Jesus didn't just tell. This is how he lived his life...he provided us with the example to follow.

Jan then suggested that these words could easily have been the ones that motivated St. Francis to live the life he followed. St. Francis was born into a life of privilege. His father had a textile business but St. Francis thought that boring and imagined himself living a more exciting and heroic lifestyle. So when war broke out he signed up.

Being untrained, he was captured almost instantly. However his dress revealed him as being rich and worth a good random so he was thrown in solitary where he had visions. As a result, later, when he came upon a leper while riding, he embraced him experiencing a great freedom. From there he followed God, ministering to lepers, living a life of poverty, and preaching. A special aspect of St. Francis' devotion to God was his devotion to a God's creatures, giving them protection where he could and even encouraging the plants to thrive.

St Francis' focus was on service to God through service to his creatures, human and otherwise. Enough said.

Hymn TIS 135
“All things bright and beautiful” An Australian adaptation of the hymn. We can look and not see. We are surrounded by God's gifts. Say "Thank you."

Offering
Just a little of his generosity to us is returned for his blessing to be used in the extension of his kingdom.

Musical interlude before prayer
While we considered our lives, and our relationship with God.

Prayers of Intercession
Laurel led us in prayer thanking God for his love and care. She then prayed for the particular concerns of the congregation at Marsden Road UC. Lauren directed our thought to the needs of those all around the world in emergency situations, lacking even the most basic needs for survival, that relief will be brought to them. She raised the subject of assist animals. Those who assist the blind, the police, rescue workers and custom officers. She also prayed for companion animals who bring a richness to their owner's lives and farm animals who a part of the workday of the farming community. She thought of those people in developing countries who are learning to run small businesses dependent on raising small animals and finally, the welfare agencies protecting the proper treatment of animals. Amen

Hymn TIS 607

“Make me a channel of your peace” May we be like St. Francis, living for others.
 

Blessing  
"The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be amongst you and remain with you always."

Blessing Song TIS 776  ‘The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

                                          The Lord lift up his countenance on you and grant you peace.'