Call to Worship
No church or cathedral
can be beautiful enough, no hymn can be joyful enough,
no congregation can be
loving enough, to do justice to the God
The God ‘Who has delivered us from the province of
darkness
and transferred us to
the light-realm of his dear Son.’ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.
And also with you.
Give thanks to God who
has qualified you
To share in the
inheritance of the saints in the realm of light.
You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all you soul,
and with all your
strength, and with all your mind,
and your neighbour as
yourself.
Let us worship this
God with loving and thankful hearts.
Prayer of Adoration
A true friend of God,
praying from the heart for all those blessings in each little rivulet of our
lives. How grateful are we for a warm comfortable sleep of refreshment and
restoration each night? Or do we take it for granted? How grateful are we for
being loved or do we think that everyone has someone who loves them? Everything
that is good comes from God. So. If it's good, give thanks.
This prayer
reflected God's faithfulness to us throughout all our lives. Thanks be to God.
Hymn TIS 179 “Praise with Joy the World’s
Creator” to the
tune of "Praise my Soul" We[1]
sometimes think about what a good job we are doing and maybe, secretly, how
lucky the world is to have us, but we should remember that all good comes from
God. All of it.
Prayer of Confession
(My people are like a
wall that is out of line. Amos 7.8 Alt.)
O God, we find it so
easy to move out of line when we should be straight with others.
We do not measure up to
your Word and to your way revealed in Jesus Christ.
When we should be
straight with you we hold back. We weakly plead ignorance. We try to hide our
true motives. When we should be straight with ourselves we make the lamest
excuses.
We blame others. We take refuge in busy-ness. O God, what can
we do? We are so out of line.
We just do not measure
up and we are a problem to other people. Help us to be straight. Help us to be honest. Help us to be people of
integrity, faithful to ourselves and to You.
Through Jesus Christ
our Saviour.
Amen.
It takes courage to
admit we are out of line. To simply admit we are wrong. To just confess and be
sorry. No excuses. No rationalization. Just: I am wrong.
.
Collect
Merciful God, in the
great commandment of love you have given us the summary and spirit of the whole
law. Make our hearts attentive to the sufferings and anxieties of our brothers
and sisters and help us to be generous in response and service, that we may
become like Christ, the Good Samaritan to the World, in the name of Jesus
Christ our Redeemer. Amen.
Many of us are older
and suffering with more than a few aches and pains. We don't see or hear as
well as we used to. We don't feel as secure as we did once. It's so easy to
think about ourselves when we are like this. But we are not here for that.
Assurance of
Forgiveness
In Christ Jesus we are
a radically renewed community. Thanks be to God!
Old things are done
away with, all things become new. Thanks be to God!
We are agents of grace
and reconciliation. Thanks be to God!
With every step or
stumble, Christ is with us. To keep us on track, to pick us up and dust us off
when we fall. In other words, “In Christ
we are forgiven.” Thanks
be to God!
Doxology (St Magnus – TIS
770.)
To him who sits upon
the throne, the God whom we adore, and to the lamb that once was slain,
be glory evermore. Amen
Passing of the Peace
There was much movement
as we reached out to touch as many others as possible.
Gospel Reading: (Warwick) St Luke 10: 25 –
37 The mission of the
seventy. There are all sorts of detailed instructions, but it really boiled
down to the 70 being told that they had a job and to concentrate on that. They
weren't to get carried away with major planning - just tell the message. We can
get quite carried away with all sorts of extraneous accessorizing of the
message of God's invitation but there isn't any way we can improve upon the
gift of God's love.
Hymn TIS 629 “I
Needed a Neighbour, Were You There?” The chorus: And the creed and the colour
and the name won't matter, were you there? Don't look at the details here.
Anyone and everyone is our neighbour.
And we should step up to help that anyone.
And we should step up to help that anyone.
Sermon: “The Good Samaritan as Drama” (Rev Dr Bill Ives). Bill talked about how stories work and pointed out that dramas are written to focus our attention on the crucial message by deleting extraneous details. One example he gave was the ability of people in films to find places to park their cars. My own observation is that they walk away without locking the car??? He explained that life is very jumbled and that by sifting out all the superficial stuff, a drama can pull us to the core of the story, which is so connected to our basis desires and urges that we are captivated and drawn along with the flow of the story. We enter in the events and in the emotions of the characters. And that's what parables do. We are caught up and before we know it, we are condemning ourselves, as in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Through this device, we are taught spiritual messages from earthly stories and the unknown is illuminated by the known. We may think we are good neighbours but we choose which "neighbours" we help and which have needs to which we are blind. Gotcha!
When we abandon those
who need our aid. Move us to pity and teach us to care.
When we close our eyes
to those who are hurt. Move us to pity and teach us to care.
When we walk away from
our responsibilities. Move us to pity and teach us to care.
When our hearts are
untouched by the pain of others, Move us to pity and teach us to care. Amen and Amen. If only we could open our
hearts to pray this all the time, but it seems that doesn't happen, otherwise
things would be different.
Hymn TIS 587
“Fold to Your Heart Your
Sister and Your Brother”
"Follow with rev'rent steps the great example". This is more of
the same message. Jesus didn't turn aside from anyone. Nor should we.
Prayers of the
People
Bill prayed to God who
has taught us, through Jesus, to uphold all those before him who are in need.
There is much we should do, but much is beyond us, so we lay these needs before
our God who is faithful. Before God, who is always living, never tired; who
hears the raw weeping of those who humanity has deserted. Bill made specific
mention of a number of needs and then we all joined in the Lord's Prayer. Sometimes,
when we think nobody is listening, we must remember that God is....always.
Hymn TIS 614 “O
God of Love Whose Heart is Ever Yearning" Singing this hymn to the tune
"Finlandia", added to its emotional impact, but the words that stuck
with me were "grant us Grace." We go nowhere without God's Grace.
Word of Mission
Ahead of you is the
expanse of a new week where as yet no one has trodden.
We will take our lead
from Jesus; treading softly, but boldly; aware of others.
Let your eyes be open
to those in need. Let your ears be open to what they are really saying.
Let your heart be open
to such people with love, however they present themselves.
Let your hands be open
to welcome and to give. We will remember that we are the servants of the living
God who will supply all we need:
whose resources are
abundant - way beyond our needs.
If we kept this
uppermost in our minds as we travelled through the day and week, the world
around us would be a better place.
Benediction
May the blessing of
God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you always.
Blessing Song
Now unto him who is
able to keep. Able to keep you from falling. And to present you faultless
Before the presence of
His glory With exceeding joy.
To the only wise God
our Saviour, Be glory and Majesty, Dominion and Power
Both now and forever.
Amen.
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