Gathering God’s People
Acknowledgement of
First Peoples
From river to ocean,
from campfire to hearth,
May the First People who have cared for
this Land be blessed.
From breath to song, from step to dance,
May those who follow Your Song lines guide
us on the journey of living honourably in this place.
From greeting to Amen, from silence to
chorus,
Call to Worship - (B J Beu and other Source)
God has been with us
and knew us before we were even born. The one who calls us to love has been
loving us longer than we have drawn breath. Sink into the arms of Love this day
and trust the hand that holds you.
Therefore we worship
God in every way, in every action and thought. Not because we should, but
because God’s love in us generates that worship from within us.
Hymn TIS 28: “God is our strength and refuge.” No
matter how dark, dangerous or difficult, or even easy life is, we haven't the
strength or wisdom to go it alone. And God is our only helper
Opening prayer
Wrap us in the
arms of your love, Holy One, as we gather in worship this day. Teach us to be
patient and kind in our actions, and humble of heart in all of our ways. Help
us see and know ourselves as well as you see and know us, that our words may be
true, and our love may be pure. Build us into a community that bears all
things, believes all things, and hopes all things in the name of Love, which
never ends. Amen.
A Prayer of Confession
God of truth and love, when we
yearn for certainty in an uncertain world, remind us that we know only in part;
when we long for others to see things our way, remind us that we see in a
mirror dimly; when we seek to impose our ways upon others, remind us that we
have failings of our own. Harken us to your voice once more and reveal to us
the truths that you alone can see. In your holy name, we seek your guidance
now. Amen.
Declaration of Forgiveness
The one who formed us in our mothers’
wombs looks upon us with love and seeks our highest good. Rejoice in the good
news that we are fully known, and that we are loved with a love that heals all
wounds and breaks down all barriers that lie between us. Thanks be to God!
The Peace
Now faith,
hope, and love abide as signs of God’s care for us. Let us share these signs
with one another as we pass the peace of Christ.
The peace of Christ be with you.The
peace of Christ be with you always.
Offering
Source of every good
gift, you have watched over us all the days of our lives— guiding our ways,
protecting us from harm, and showering us with your blessings. Receive these
offerings from our grateful hearts, and bless the world with our heartfelt
thanks, that all might know your amazing gift of love. Amen.
Hymn TIS 153:“God is love, let heaven adore him” This
song acknowledges God’s love and the world’s need for it.
The Service of Holy Communion
This service has many
parts and many purposes and many effects. We remember and in remembering we are
reminded of our purpose in life and our dependence on God to live that life to
the full. We are reminded that we are all equally welcome at God’s Table and
equally loved.
A Prayer after
Communion
By your Spirit, make us one with Christ
and with one another, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes
in final victory and we feast at the heavenly banquet. Through Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory are yours,
almighty God, now and forever more. Amen.
The Service
of the Word
First Reading:1
Corinthians 13:1-13
The Gospel Reading: Luke 4: 21-30
The Preaching of
God’s Word
Rev. John, using a reference to the
Peanuts comic and Charlie Brown’s difficulty in
explaining or even talking about love,
spoke of the mystery of love.
It may be difficult to explain or define
but we all know when it is absent. Likewise when
Rev. John spoke of how, in our attempt to
say something about love, we turn to poetry or
painting, do we do when we want to
represent the full strength of its absence.
Today I was relaxing, looking at Facebook
and saw a group of very rough looking people
spend a great deal of time and care with
the only tool they had, a pair of tin snips,
gently prize a tangled cord from around
and inside a waterbird’s beak. Not a smile, not a
gentle look from any of them. But they
were showing great love to that bird.
Rev. John said “Paul’s first letter to the
Corinthians, chapter 13, captivates our imagination. We read these words and
before we know it, we are being read by them. We read, and we recognise the
depth of what they say. We realise the poignancy and truth of Paul’s message.
How easy it is for us to forget that
these words were written to address congregational struggle and division. They
were not written as a sentimental note on the latest wedding card but to speak
to the profound truth of the gospel in daily life. We forget that Paul wrote
these words to a congregation in ferment…”
So, regardless of whether we like or
approve of someone. Regardless of whether we value their work inside or outside
the church, remember God loves them because of their intrinsic value as one of
God’s created. We can't do anything less.
Hymn TIS 398: “Come down, O Love divine” God’s love
through us is the way.
Intercessory Prayers
and the Lord’s Prayer
Hymn TIS 473: “Community of Christ, who make the Cross
your own.”
Benediction
God sends us forth
with words of love on our lips. Christ sends us forth with acts of love in our
deeds. The Spirit sends us forth with the spirit of love sustaining our very
lives. Go in the power of God’s love and be ambassadors of Christ’s love and peace,
and may the blessing of God Almighty, Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life be
with and remain with you always. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment