May 27, 2018
WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
GATHERING
We feel and see the action of the wind – the trees, the leaves and the clouds
We appreciate its power and its force – but we cannot see it.
There are many things that bring us together.
Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost -the coming of the Spirit.
Spirit is like the wind, we can feel its power and what it achieves,
Unseen it gathers us together, strengthens relationships as we meet.
So, we gather today to ponder another thing – the Trinity.
Our life has its seasons, so we celebrate gathering now in community.
PROCESSIONAL HYMN AA 113 ‘Our life has its seasons’
Words: © 1992 Shirley Murray
Music: Colin Gibson © 1992 Hope Publishing Co.
Our life has its seasons, and God has the reasons
why spring follows winter, and new leaves grow,
for there’s a connection with our resurrection
that flowers will bud after frost and snow,
so there’s never a time to stop believing,
there’s never a time for hope to die,
there’s never a time to stop loving,
these three things go on.
But there’s a time to be planting, a time to be plucking,
a time to be laughing, a time to weep,
a time to be building, a time to be breaking,
a time to be waking, a time to sleep,
But there’s never a time……
There’s a time to be hurting, a time to be healing,
a time to be saving, a time to spend,
a time to be grieving, a time to be dancing,
a time for beginning, a time to end
But there’s never a time…
WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
PRAYER
JESUS PRAYER Jim Cotter paraphrase on card
LIGHTING THE RAINBOW ROOM CANDLE
TIME WITH CHILDREN Ellen Murray
BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
We send you to the Rainbow Room programme to hear stories, ask questions
and have fun together. We bless you. Amen.
PASSING THE PEACE
Feel free to pass the peace with those nearby or move to greet others further away. Passing the peace consists of shaking hands and saying, “Peace be with you.” The response is “Peace be with you” or just “And with you.” Or, simply saying “Hello” is a good idea. Also feel free to simply observe if you wish!
HYMN HIOS 7 ‘As the wind song through the trees’
Words © 2005 Shirley Erena Murray
Music by Swee Hong Lim © 2005 Hope Publishing Company
As the wind song through the trees,
as the stirring of the breeze,
so it is with the Spirit of God,
as the heart made strangely warm,
so it is with the Spirit of God.
Never seen, never known
where this wind has blown
bringing life, bringing power to the world,
as the dancing tongues of fire,
as the soul’s most deep desire,
so it is with the Spirit of God.
As the rainbow after rain,
as the hope that’s born again,
so it is with the Spirit of God,
as the green in the spring,
as a kite on a string,
so it is with the Spirit of God,
making worlds that are new,
making peace come true,
bringing gifts, bringing love to the world,
as the rising of the yeast,
so it is with the Spirit of God.
THE WORD IN TEXTS Valerie Rhodes
Gospel John 3: 1 – 11
Contemporary reading from “Coming back to Earth” by Lloyd Geering
The Christian thinkers of the first five centuries express their values and aspirations by speaking of their God as the Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
What motivates us on our path of truth?
What are the highest values and aspirations to which we respond in faith?
To answer these questions, we must acknowledge that the world we live in looks very different from the way it looked to the ancient Christian thinkers. People both before and after the First Axial period felt they were surrounded by, and often in close touch with, a spirit world. Today, of course, we use the word “spirit” metaphorically? If we use it at all. Where they talked about spirit as the substance of reality, we talk about physical energy. Where they explained natural phenomena in terms of god’s and spirits, we do so in terms of electrons, quarks, and nuclear forces. Where they explained living creatures as fleshly embodiments of spirit or a life-principle, we talk of organisms that are identifiable by DNA and chromosomes, immune systems and amino acids. We see ourselves as human organisms who feel with our bodies and think with our brains and nervous systems.
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks
REFLECTION Barrie Keenan
“What is the Trinity we have – how do we understand it?”
HYMN FFS 10 ‘Come and find the quiet centre’
Words © 1992 Shirley Erena Murray. Music: Gaelic Trad arr. John L Bell
Music © 1989 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow, Scotland, G2 3DH (Admin by Willow Publishing Pty Ltd)
Come and find the quiet Centre
in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter,
find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter,
clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter,
be at peace, and simply be.
Silence is a friend who claims us,
calls the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us,
knows our being, touches base,
making space within our thinking,
lifting shades to show the sun,
raising courage when we’re shrinking,
finding scope for faith begun.
In the spirit let us travel,
open to each other’s pain,
let our lives and fears unravel,
celebrate the space we gain:
there’s a place for deepest dreaming,
there’s a time for heart to care,
in the Spirits lively scheming
there is always room to spare!
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Wherever each of us is on our faith’s journey,
wherever each person has come from, and wherever each is going to,
whatever each person believes, whatever each does not believe,
all are welcome here in our community.
This we celebrate today as we embrace the spirit of togetherness.
OFFERING PRAYER
Lord God we bring these gifts of money, food and our time and talents.
We acknowledge the earth does not belong to us.
We belong to the earth.
All things are connected and interdependent.
Like the blood that unites our families.
We did not weave the web of life.
We are however important strands in it.
Whatever we do to that web which is our community,
We do to ourselves and those who travel with us at this time.
So, we give thanks for the process of creation and all its opportunities,
We give thanks for the good things of the past, the present and the future. So may it be. Amen
We recognise and bless the gifts brought to the table, and those which wing
their way electronically from our banks to the church’s account.
LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY OF ST ANDREW’S
People share notices and visitors are welcomed. If you have a notice not already in the order of service, please move to the front row, ready to speak briefly from the lectern.
For the benefit of newcomers, please introduce yourself before you begin.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Sonia Groes-Petrie
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name Chlöe Swarbrick and Fletcher Tabuteau list MPs. Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of St Anselm’s Union Church in Karori.
PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S on card
HYMN “Sing a new Song”
Words © 1965 Iris McCoy
Music: Mit Freuden Zart WOV 405
Now be aware, and glory in
this fellowship with others.
That learns to give and take with grace:
where there is life it gathers.
It deepens joy, it eases strain,
it heartens those who live with pain.
Each strengthens each, together.
The wordless touch where sorrow is.
The sharing of a vict’ry:
the flash of mind when insight leaps
to truth, provoked by query.
The freedom of our fellowship
accepts us as we are, and this
is God’s own gift of liberty.
Now be aware that hearts and hands
and minds are rich when sharing:
for here within this fellowship
the strength of God is growing.
Now life has reason, love has powers
beyond our own, for into ours
the love of God is flowing.
BLESSING
Go from this place committed to recognising human need.
Remember that you are part of a community of people
whose lives are made meaningful by loving service.
We go in the love of God,
We go with the grace of Christ,
We go in the powerful communion of the Holy Spirit,
For the God who is with each one of us is among us now and always.
SUNG AMEN
THANK YOU Vivien Chiu
Our musician today
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