It is usual to try to fit this blog into two
pages but I'm not sure that I can. On the other hand, looking through my notes
on the service, I realise that some of my own abbreviations are a bit cryptic
for me, so some things may be left out.
The first hymn was Hymn TIS 179 "Praise
with joy the World's Creator" our theme for the day.
Rev. Helen was back to stir us up and did it
in style, as she often did when she was our regular minister. This was another
service where a previous minister has been invited to recall their time with us
and take the service as part of our anniversary celebration.
Helen welcomed us "God be with
you" and of course we responded "And also with you."
She then paraphrased Psalm 103, giving God
the glory for all his blessings, forgiveness, healing, and the redemption he
offers to us - flawed people, longing for wholeness. She thanked God for
wrapping us in goodness and keeping us always young in his presence.
Alerting us to the active nature of all the
words in the Psalm, Helen invited us to name God's action in our lives. We did
this and our spirits rose as we acknowledged all the blessings God heaps upon
us daily.
Somewhere in there we sang Hymn TIS 181 "Come,
O God of all the earth: come to us O righteous one," asking for God's hand
upon all that happens at this time.
Helen then prayed, confessing our
lack of appreciation for all God's care for us and for only seeing our own
efforts, failing to give God the glory. She asked that God will guide us back
and then we said the absolution together.
The Men's Choir then sang "Great
is thy Faithfulness" reinforcing our reliance on God's action in our lives
and we all appreciated the opportunity to reflect in the theme from a offering
perspective.
The Offering was then received and
Helen asked that it be blessed and be a blessing for others.
Helen spoke about saints, past and present,
and how they and we all share or have shared the joy and laughter; courage,
bewilderment, anger, sorrow and tears that make up the journey of any who seek
to pursue to truth. She then spoke about her 5 years at MRUC and the shared
faith she experienced with us, meeting people who saw things differently,
enriched by their contribution. And while she was remembering how we learned to
question our faith and our understanding of it, slides were shown of her time
with us: the one of Helen in the swimming costume and another with Ruth, both
dressed as Angels, brought back memories of the creativity of Helen's ministry
to us and how we heard God's voice through it all.
Helen went on to speak of, acknowledge and
give thanks for the enormous contribution of Graham Edgerton to all that
happened during those five years, with slides showing Graham lifting one heavy
item or another and contributing in such a practical way to the creative
approach Helen took to everything she did.
Helen then remembered the congregation as
people who began to believe in themselves as Children of God who could be a
blessing to others.
Phil then read from Genesis 12:1 - 9, the
story of Abram, at an advanced age, leaving his home to make a new place to
live at the command of God.
Helen pointed out that Abram could have
big-noted himself at achieving such a monumental task which required such
energy and commitment at his age. But he didn't. He praised God. A lesson for
us there. We spend a lot of our time congratulating ourselves on the splendid
job we are doing without thanking God or praising him for using us as his hands
in this world and giving us the gifts
with which to carry out the work.
Phil then read Luke 10: 17 - 20, the
account of the seventy returning from the mission on which Jesus had sent them,
excited about the miracles they had achieved. Jesus told them that while that
was all very good that their real joy should have been because they were now
hand in hand with God their maker.
Helen took this up, imagining the scene and
then reminded us of the many times we look at the amazing things "we"
have achieved, forgetting that it is God's work and that we should be blessing
his name for all that happens.
Carolyn led the Prayers for the People beginning
by asking God to quieten our minds and acknowledging the great blessing God is
in our lives. She continued thanking God for all he is and does, drawing it
together with thanks for his walking with us each moment and the promises he
gives for the future.
She expressed our sense of how precious God is to us and
asked that we will be equipped for all challenges: that God will be always
walking with us and inspiring us. She then asked God's blessing on refugees in
their suffering and finished with a plea for God's guidance for Rev. Candy and
Rev. Helen. We then joined in the Lord's Prayer.
We then moved onto the Communion Service remembering
those who has passed on from this congregation and that as we are joining in
Communion here with each other in the community present, we are also joining
with the community past.
We joined in Hymn TIS 599 "Take
my life and let it be" Our commitment to our theme today of our lives and
all we do being for the blessing of God's name.
Helen took us back to that night when Jesus
was betrayed. When he broke bread and poured out the wine, sharing it, naming
the bread as his body and the wine as his blood which was to be shed - for
everyone.
The distribution then took place as we
silently thought upon the affect it has had our lives.
What does the future hold? It is given by
God.
Hymn TIS 687 "God
gives us a future" It is up to us to grasp all that God offers us.
Helen then sent us out to see what God has
in store for us in that future and to respond to the future in the spirit of
adventure.
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