Call to worship
Praise the Lord,
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise God in the heights.
Praise God all his angels; praise him
all his host!
Let us praise the name of the Lord;
For he commanded and they were
created. (Psalm 148)
Hymn TIS 210 "O
for a thousand tongues to sing" This hymn gives us all the opportunity to
praise God with every ounce of air we can expel from our lungs. Of course, even
that does not do justice to God's wondrous glory but the individual and group
effort certainly filled the church.
Prayers of Praise and Thanksgiving
Jan prayed to our "Creator God, source
of power and majesty and glory", worshipping him and adoring him. Her
prayer focused our attention on, and alerted us to the cause for our wonder at
God's bringing light and order to this world. But more, when we thought of His
love for us we were overwhelmed and thankful to the centre of our being.
Prayer of Confession
Jan confessed our failure to learn from
God's great sacrificial love for us and for sometimes attaching status to being
redeemed instead of being humbly thankful for that great work in us which we
have in no way earned.
"Forgive us when selfish pursuit of
glory takes precedence over Jesus' command to love one another as he has loved
us."
Words of Assurance
God makes all things new. Anyone who is in
Christ is a new creation!
Thanks be to God!
Offering We
offered a little of God's bounteous blessings to us back for His work in
spreading the story of his great love for us.
Anzac Remembrance Those who
wished, took tokens of remembrance and twigs of Rosemary to the front of the
church as a sign of the significance of the day to them.
The Ode They
shall grow not old, as that we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor
the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them
We will remember them
Lest we forget
Hymn TIS 586 "Abide with
me" A hymn of amazing comfort and calmness.
Bible Readings Stephen
brought the readings to us: Revelation 21:1-6 A prophecy of enormous
hope: "and God himself will be with them; and he will wipe every tear from
their eyes."
John 13:31-35 We really didn't
need any other instruction than this: "I give you a new commandment, that
you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one
another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples."
Sermon
"The Power of Love" Jan introduced her message by referring to
the theme of the Synod gathering: "Come Holy Spirit, renew our
hearts." We are so aware of our unworthiness, and because of that, are
amazed at God's great generosity to us. He meets us in our need and comes to us
when we are in crisis. We see this God in the person of Jesus Christ, who came
to live among us. God's renewing love moves us away from ourselves to God...to
value all that we have and who we are. It enables us to appreciate the life
that we have. People from all over the state met, listening to the stories of
each other, and to what God was doing in the church. The gospel is aimed at the
whole Christian family and that played out in the hymn and prayers, as well as
in the message: He loved us even though that meant suffering an agonizing
death. How sacrificial are we in our love for our fellow humans of the rest of
creation? Jan spoke about so much more, including the idea that God's love can
be a tough love, which can't be avoided. Changing from our selfish selves to
the selves God wants us to be isn't an easy process. We feel the pain as the
changes happen.
God's powerful love calls us to be a part of
God's plan to bring about a new order.
Hymn TIS 699 "A new Commandment I give unto you"
By singing this hymn and repeating it, we affirmed our belief to ourselves and
to each other that this is the basis of the relationship between us.
Musical interlude before prayer As we
considered the things in our hearts, today.
Prayers of Intercession Noelene prayed
that we would indeed show our love for one another and that the hungry and
displaced would receive God's blessing through the compassionate works of other
people in the world. She prayed that our government leaders will do what is
best for our country and that the leaders of the Uniting Church will look to
God for guidance. She prayed that our loved ones will find comfort and peace;
that those suffering from depression will find relief. Noelene prayed for Jan
as she leads us and that through her we will attune our hearts and minds to
God's Word. Finally, she prayed for those connected in any ask with the ANZAC
story and those serving overseas at the moment.
Hymn TIS 459 "In
Christ there is no east or west"
Blessing May the
Peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the
knowledge and love of God and may the
blessing of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you
always.
Blessing Song Hymn TIS 779 "May the feet of God walk
with you." The expression of the love that Jesus directed us to have for
each other. A lovely way to part from each other.
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