October 13, 2019
WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
Write your welcome here
GATHERING
All are welcome here
Easily said, but taking more effort in practice
All are welcome here
Not just the fashionable in group which needs support
but also the regular, ordinary, sometimes irritating ones
All are welcome here
Even those who do not fall into any listed category
All are welcome here
PROCESSIONAL HYMN ‘Celebrate the Life we’re given’
Words: © 2015 Susan Jones
Music: WOV 577 Austria
Celebrate the Life we’re given
Grace on grace, where love abounds
Celebrate the world around us
Blue and green, where birdsong sounds
Celebrate sun’s rise and setting
‘cross the harbour, over hills
Everything reflects its making
Beauty, love, joy; each heart fills.
We choose to live lives of meaning
even when the sky turns grey.
We choose to continue journeying
Cis and trans, bi, straight and gay.
We choose wrestling doubt or danger,
Trials may shadow, haunt our way.
But we know that we’re companioned,
Love walks with us, every day.
WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
PRAYER
JESUS PRAYER Jim Cotter paraphrase on card and screens
LIGHTING THE RAINBOW ROOM CANDLE
TIME WITH CHILDREN Jenny Simpson
BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
We hope you enjoy the activities at the back of the church. 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!
THE WORD IN TEXTS Norman Wilkins
Gospel Luke 8: 1-3 and Mark 3: 31-35.
Contemporary reading “Trinitarian Community and Social Liberation”
By Leonardo Boff and Paul Burns CrossCurrents Vol. 38, No. 3 (Fall 1988), p. 289
The conviction that has guided all debates on the trinity: that the eternal God is three – Father Son and Holy Spirit – has to be presented in the most real way possible, this is the primordial and essential question, with that of the unity of the Three Persons following later. But affirming the real existence of the Three is not enough: we have to place equal stress on the relationship that obtains between them; the existence of the one God is made up of the most complete communion and the most absolute and eternal participation. The unity of the three Persons expresses the infinite dynamism of communion and interpenetration prevailing in the Holy Trinity.
Leonardo Boff was one of the key figures in the South American liberation theology movement
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
REFLECTION ‘Community and Place: Who are we in the world?’ Susan Jones
HYMN ’It takes us effort’
Words © 2019 Susan Jones Tune: WOV 455 Slane
It takes us effort to give things away;
Our money, or goods, or our time, many ways.
We know we are charged with relieving the poor
and charity always demands of us more.
It takes great effort to advocate true
for those who need systems to be well renewed;
through submissions, marches, we seek human rights
but are distant from those for whom we might fight.
It takes more effort to welcome right in
the different, or ‘other’, those who never win;
to make space as equals and share goods with all
requires us to relegate our needs to the call.
It takes most effort to incarnate the Christ
to work contr’y to this world’s great power and might;
to be ‘with’ the other not only do ‘for’,
to be equal humans, equal right to the core
OFFERING PRAYER (said together)
We offer in silence our prayers together with our gifts
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.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
A caring community,
where everyone is valued and included regardless,
takes time and effort.
It requires paying attention
to those who may get lost among the crowd;
It requires compassion
for those who struggle;
It needs grace
for making space for those who are different;
It needs
a lack of possessiveness or territoriality;
It depends upon
dissolution of ‘us and ‘them’ thinking;
It depends upon
a firm centre with a permeable boundary
so anyone can enter and find their place
in relation to that centre
which holds us all together.
We here today affirm our intention
to give that time,
apply that effort
and seek that grace
so all truly feel welcome here.
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 Linda Wilkins
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Spain and the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church. We remember the detainees on Manus and Nauru Islands, yearning that their cases be resolved. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name Kiritapu Alan and Ginny Andersen list MPs. Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Johnsonville Uniting Church.
PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S on card and screens
HYMN FFS 32 ‘God who sets us on a journey’
Words: Joy Dine (1937 – 2001) © Revd Mervyn Dine. Reproduced with
permission; available for reproduction for the purposes of worship.
Music: WOV 165 Hyfrydol
God who sets us on a journey
to discover, dream and grow,
lead us as you led your people
in the desert long ago;
journey inward, journey outward,
stir the spirit, stretch the mind,
love for God and self and neighbour
marks the way that Christ defined.
Exploration brings new insights,
changes, choices we must face;
give us wisdom in deciding,
mindful always of your grace;
should we stumble, lose our bearings,
find it hard to know what’s right,
we regain our true direction
focused on the Jesus light.
End our longing for the old days,
grant the vision that we lack –
once we’ve started on this journey
there can be no turning back;
let us travel light, discarding
excess baggage from our past,
cherish only what’s essential,
choosing treasure that will last.
When we set up camp and settle
to avoid love’s risk and pain,
you disturb complacent comfort,
pull the tent pegs up again;
keep us travelling in the knowledge
you are always at our side;
give us courage for the journey,
Christ our goal and Christ our guide.
BLESSING
SUNG AMEN
THANK YOU Bruce Corkill
Our musician today
Unless otherwise specified all our music is used by permission CCLI Licence 341550
Words/music to new hymns and gathering statement, prayers and affirmation are original unless acknowledged. If Susan Jones is the worship leader any liturgy will have been written by her. These words can be used in other worship and small group situations without seeking permission. Please acknowledge the source.
AUDIO REFLECTIONS
Sunday reflections are usually available on our website.
http://www.standrews.org.nz/category/sunday-gathering