Welcome: Rev Deokhee Cho from Ryde Uniting Church was with us on a pulpit swap and Warwick welcomed him and he, in turn, welcomed us
Call to worship
Let us worship God, our light and our salvation.
The Lord is the stronghold of our
lives.
We desire to live in God’s house
and to seek God in his holy temple.
We have come with shouts of joy, to
sing and to make music to the Lord.
Let us worship God in spirit and in truth.
Teach us your ways and make straight
our paths
in this hour of worship and always.
Prayers of Praise and Thanksgiving
Deokhee praised God on our behalf, calling
on our loving God for whom we had gathered together, seeking to worship him.
Deokhee praised God for being the beginning of all life who has known us from
before we were born. He acknowledged that God knows our innermost thoughts.
When I think about life and the idea
of anything being alive, something like spaghetti starts to form in my brain.
Life itself is beyond comprehension and is our greatest clue to the existence
of God. And I wonder how many of us try to pretend in the presence of God.
Prayer of Confession
Before this God we confessed that we had
sinned against him and against other people. We confessed that we have only
cared about ourselves and asked for forgiveness in Jesus' name. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Then in the name of he who died, rose and
reigns Deokhee declared that the old life is gone and the new life begun. Thanks
be to God.
The announcements included a big "Thank
you" to all who had participated in any way in the Lamington drive
We then offered each other the Sign of
Peace which is a significant opportunity for all of us to declare our love
for each other.
Offering While the offering was
being received the Men's Quartet led us with "When the Saints Come
Marching In" after which Deokhee dedicated our gifts to the glory of God.
Sermon
Deokhee spoke on the bible reading from
Mark, focusing on the offering of the widow whose few coins would have gone
unnoticed in the clatter of all the coins being offered.
But Jesus noticed. Keep
that in mind when you don't think you have much to offer. He then spoke of
a time when he was helping out at Parramatta mission, which is very noisy
around mealtime. There in the middle of the noise of voices, plates and cutlery
there sat and old man, saying grace. He was offering all he had..his thanks.
Deokhee also told of the widow approached by Elijah for food. She only had
enough flour and oil left for a final meal for herself and her son before they
surrender to death because of the famine. However Elijah convinced her to share
that meal with him promising that God would provide. God did provide and the
widow had oil and flour until the famine ceased.
This service has been about ordinary
people doing ordinary things which have been seen as being of great value. We
don't have to move mountains to carry out the mission God has given us, we
simply have to be true of heart.
Hymn: TIS 342 “When I survey the
wondrous cross” For so many Christians all around the world, this is
central to their belief and their lives spin on this axis.
Musical interlude before prayer
During this time we thought about our own
concerns and those close to our hearts, whether they concerned loved ones or
people whose lives are being destroyed by injustice in so many places around
the world, including in our own country.
Hymn: TIS 256 “From heaven you
came, helpless babe” God came as a servant and now he asks that we serve him
and each other.
Blessing
The blessing of God, the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you, always.
Blessing song:
Hymn TIS 778 “Shalom to you now” A more powerful
blessing does not exist as we pray for every good thing for others.
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