Friday 2 August 2019

Sunday Service Marsden Road Unitng Church 28 July 2019



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,

where we worship, the Wallumedgal, 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,

May our worship join with the voices of the First Peoples of this Land.

Call to Worship (Abingdon Worship Annual 2016)

Rev. John referenced the shooting of new life in a forest to try to explain the visions of God’s Grace as it suddenly comes to us:

the warm embrace of God’s limitless love—a love that is all-forgiving, all-encompassing, all-embracing.

and then to us who rail against the world’s injustices:

Come in, angry people!

This is a safe place to vent your fury.

Come in, hurting ones!

Here you will find compassion and grace to heal your wounds.

Come in, all who are in need of love and peace.

Here, we gather as children of the living God.

Hymn TIS 555:  Put all your trust in God

 Opening Prayer

 We pray to God for what we want and we are given what we need. We are still clueless despite years of looking for the way.

Prayer of Confession

Dear God, you have every right to be angry with us. We have such good intentions, but we continue to mess up. Forgive us, God.

We joyfully sing of your love on Sunday morning, but by Monday, we’re feeling lost and unlovable.

Forgive us, God.

We preach tolerance and compassion, but we find ourselves raging at the guy who cuts us off in traffic. Forgive us, God.

(Silence)

Declaration of Forgiveness

Then you forgive our sins, and once more show us how to forgive others. You offer us a vision of truth and love meeting together, and you invite us into their warm embrace.

Thank you, God.

As your forgiven people, beloved children of your promise, you renew us in holy love.

Thank you, God. Amen.

The Peace

 Peace is a gift beyond price. In Christ, we find peace as we are reconciled to God. Let us share this precious gift with one another in joy and thanksgiving! Peace be with you!

And also, with you!

 

Offering

Loving God, you nourish our famished souls by listening to our humble prayers.  We come asking, seeking, and knocking with the full knowledge that you are ready to respond to our supplications.  You deliver us from evil by nourishing our hearts with forgiveness and our minds with understanding.  You prepare a heavenly table for all who believe in the mighty acts of your Holy Son.  Bless these gifts so that your children will feast at the banquet which awaits in your eternal home.  Amen

 Hymn TIS 162: Thank you for giving me the morning

 The Service of the Word

The blog so far has been more a summary than a reflection and that is because I would like to reflect on the Bible Readings myself.


Colossians 2:6-15

6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. 9 

The reading continued from here but space does not allow reflection on all of it.

The first thought  which occurred to me was that we need to continue to live our lives in God. Day by day we need to look at our lives and recommit each part of it to Christ. It is so easy to sink back into little actions of selfishness. Initially it could be because we are tired or ill that we act in what we think are our own interests but we don’t need to stay there. We need to turn around and reach out to the one who shows us the true way. That is the way that builds us, not only into the people God wants us to be, but into the people we can be so happy with ourselves.

Then the second thought that occurred to me was to do with not being taken captive through philosophy and empty deceit. When we read the bible it is so easy to take an interpretation handed to us by someone else. We need to ask who the words were written for; we need to ask why those words were written and when those words were written. The answers to all those questions will have bearing on how the words can be interpreted. We need to work hard at finding the answers to all those questions to find out the real message of God and not what someone else wants to push upon you.

I had intended to reflect on both readings but I’ve run out of space

Hymn TIS 550: Our Father, God in heaven

Intercessory Prayers were followed by The Lord’s Prayer

Hymn TIS 414: There’s a spirit in the air

Benediction

Go in peace, knowing that you are forgiven people. Go in faith, knowing that God hears your prayers and understands your needs. Go in love, knowing that God

invites you into the holy embrace of truth and righteousness. Go now as children of the living God to serve others in Christ’s name. Amen.

 Hymn TIS 780: May light come into your eyes

 

No comments:

Post a Comment