Today’s service was led by Wendy
Pearce, who welcomed Heather Pinto from Eastwood Christian Community
Aid who had come to speak to the Congregation about the work of CCA.
Acknowledgment of First People
Leader: We acknowledge the Burramattagal people, the first
inhabitants of this place, part of God's good creation. We honour them for
their custodianship of the land, on which we gather today.
People: You set humanity at the heart of your creation, O God;
charging us with stewardship of all you have made. We give thanks for those who
have heeded your call.
The Gathering of the People of God.
Call to Worship
In the midst of a
world where people hunger and thirst . . .
come worship a God
who feeds the hungry.
In the midst of a
world where people are abused and oppressed . . .
come worship a God
who calls for compassion and justice.
In the midst of a
world filled with wars and rumor of war . . .
come worship a God
who desires nothing less than peace for the world.
In the midst of a
world of spiritual emptiness . . .
come worship a God
who gives life meaning.
Come worship a God
whose grace and love know no end.
Invocation
With what shall we
come before the Holy One,
and bow ourselves
before God on high?
God has shown us what
is good.
What does the Holy
One require of us,
but to do justice,
and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly
with our God?
The Prayers, hymns
and other parts of this service were directed to the theme of serving others
and the address given by Heather showed us how we can do this through CCA. As a congregation I see our
greatest strength is in our service to others but we are humans and from time
to time, we grasp our time, money, energy and possessions to ourselves, turning
from the path of service to a path of selfishness.
And so after a prayer
and hymn acknowledging and praising God’s goodness and greatness, we confessed to God our lapse from the way we
are supposed to follow.
Prayer of Confession
All:
Eternal God, our
judge and redeemer, we confess that we have tried to hide from you, for we have
done wrong. We have lived for ourselves and apart from you.
We have turned from
our neighbors and refused to bear the burdens of others.
We have ignored the
pain of the world and passed by the hungry, the poor, and the oppressed. In
your great mercy, forgive our sins and free us from selfishness,
that we may choose
your will and obey your commandments;
through Jesus Christ
our Savior. Amen
We then turned to God
for assurance of forgiveness.
Prayer of Assurance
—from A Wee Worship
Book, pp. 19-20 © 1999, by WGRG The
Iona Community (Scotland). Used by permission of GIA Publications, Inc
Leader: Among the poor, among the proud, among the persecuted, among the privileged, Christ is coming to make all things new: That the kingdom might come, that the world
might believe, that the powerful might stumble, that the hidden might be seen: Christ is coming to make all things new. Within us, without us, behind us, before us, in
this place, in every place, for this time, for all time. Christ is coming to
make all things new. Our sins are forgiven! Thanks be to God.
Offering and Prayer
Generous God, we give you thanks for
all the gifts that you give to us – the gifts of life and love, the gifts of
your grace coming to us in Jesus Christ. Accept and bless these gifts and our
lives as we offer them as our grateful response. Amen
The Service of the Word.
Bible readings Glen Henderson
Isaiah 58 This reading admonishes the people for seeking glory
for showy religious behaviours but they are set back on their heels and told
that serving the poorest and the lowliest is true service to God.
Luke
10: 25-37 This exchange took place hundreds
of years after the utterance of the words in Isaiah but the young man still
hasn't understood, like so many
in every age. Maybe because showy temple/church actions are easier than true
service.
Address
Heather Pinto outlined the various
types of help given to people in our district who are having a tough time and
added that counselling was given so the that people who needed help have a
better chance of making independent decisions for themselves, thereby giving
them the gift of dignity along with the gifts of material
things.
things.
The Lectionary reading theme for
October has been “All are Welcome” and the questions posed are:
What does a
welcoming Christian Community look like?
What are you
prepared to give up to follow Jesus?
What is your
experience in the ministry of serving others?
When in need
of healing, what do you do? How is your faith?
The
questions prepare us for being the people who can heal ourselves and then be
fit to serve others. We can give people water from an empty bucket.
The
service was closed in prayer for others…another type of service…and the singing
of hymns
The last
two hymns were : Hymn TIS 650 “Brother,
sister let me serve you”. and
Hymn TIS 658 “I, the Lord of sea and sky”
which tied it all together.
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