Order of Service Easter 7

May 13, 2018

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

Write your welcome here

 

GATHERING
How can I be honest to now?
How can I be honest to God?
How can I become honest?
How can I become honest to God?
How are people included in ways they appreciate?
How do I like to be included? Are others the same?
Including, becoming, is a hard road
And the journey on which everyone is invited

PROCESSIONAL HYMN AA94 (i) ‘Loving Spirit’
Words © 1989 Shirley Murray
Music © 1990 David Dell

1. Loving Spirit, loving Spirit,
you have chosen me to be,
you have drawn me to your wonder,
you have set your sign on me.
2. Like a mother you enfold me,
hold my life within your own,
feed me with your very body,
form me of your flesh and bone.
3. Like a father you protect me,
teach me the discerning eye,
hoist me up upon your shoulder
let me see the world from high.
4. Friend and lover, in your closeness
I am known and held and blessed:
in your promise is my comfort,
in your presence I may rest.

5. Loving Spirit, loving Spirit,
you have chosen me to be,
you have drawn me to your wonder,
you have set your sign on me.
WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.

PRAYER AND JESUS PRAYER FROM THE ARAMAIC
O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration.
Soften the ground of our being
and carve out a space within us where your Presence can abide.
Fill us with your creativity
so that we may be empowered to bear the fruit of your mission.
Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with our desire;
endow us with the wisdom
to produce and share what each being needs to grow and flourish.
Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us,
as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.
Do not let us be seduced
by that which would divert us from our true purpose,
but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment.
For you are the ground and the fruitful vision,
the birth, power and fulfillment,
as all is gathered and made whole once again.
Some early Christian groups sought to maintain Aramaic, the language of Jesus. As early as Constantine, translations of the Lord’s Prayer and other scripture appeared. You can find information at the following website: www.thenazareneway.com/lords_prayer.htm.
This was discovered at: http://8th-day.org/lords-prayer-translations-paraphrases

LIGHTING THE RAINBOW ROOM CANDLE

TIME WITH CHILDREN Rosemary Lawrence

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
Today we’ll use the passing of the peace to talk with each other about what we have done to highlight the ‘4’ in the standing4 fairness slogan of the Worldwide Fairtrade Challenge. Use the time to decide which ‘4’s’ would be good for the ‘show and tell’ at notice time!

THE WORD IN TEXTS Lynette Burrell

Hebrew Bible Genesis 21: 1-21

Gospel John 17:20-21

Contemporary reading The Impact of Fairtrade
by Rachel Carr
from The New Women Included: a book of services and prayers from the St Hilda Community
Coffee-farming community Keto Tapasi, is an association of 3000 farmers in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. They’ve seen many benefits since selling their high quality coffee beans on the Fairtrade market in 2010.
The organisation has farmers from eighteen villages and eight clan groups who come from different tribes and speak different languages. What unites them is a belief in high standards and seeing Fairtrade benefits reach more than 4,500 people locally.
In its first year as part of Fairtrade, Keto Tapasi sold 8.5 metric tonnes of green bean coffee to its exporter, Monpi Coffee Exports. By the end the following year that had increased to 42.7 metric tonnes, and has increased every year since.
Fairtrade Impact
Keto Tapasi has used funds from the Fairtrade Premium it’s earned to acquire 11 new coffee pulpers. Farmers have built a new warehouse to store coffee and can now hire a vehicle to transport coffee from members’ gardens to the processing mill, increasing productivity and outputs.
They plan to invest future Fairtrade Premium funds to tackle high levels of illiteracy among adults — the result of very long distances to the nearest schools and the price it costs to attend. This investment will mean it will soon be possible for more community members to have formal education.
The organisation also has plans to improve current health services: by increasing medical supplies and generating greater awareness of the risks of HIV and AIDS and how best to manage these.

RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture, for the Word among us, for the Word within us,
we give thanks
REFLECTION ‘Including and Becoming’ Susan Jones

HYMN ‘Let us reach down deep inside us’
Words © 2016Susan Jones
Music: FFS 10(i) Gaelic Trad Melody arr John Bell
Let us reach down deep inside us to the place where quiet reigns;
Find the Self who lives inside us knows our joy and knows our pains:
Let our ego stand aside there, shadow sharing space with light.
Let our inner selves rejoice at how Love shines in darkest night. (Silence)

Sacred calm means minds can settle, hearts grow quiet, souls grow still;
Busy thinking slows its rhythm, gives compassion chance to fill.
Even long-forgotten scars heal as new balm brings a new way;
Every space and every crevice warms as Love arrives to stay. (Silence)

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

We believe that the feminine in our world is worthy of respect
not to be relegated to the dark shadows of consciousness
but brought into the open with dancing and with joy
recognising the role of the feminine in the divine.
We believe the creativity and birthing
traditionally associated as feminine
are vital to continuing health of body and soul
not to be denigrated or devalued.
We celebrate that women can be graceful and strong
that they can lead and nurture
working with men as equal partners, making this world a better place.
We celebrate the art of mothering
as it can be practised by male, female and transgenders
nurturing the young,
protecting the vulnerable,
educating and forming mind and body.
We celebrate the art of homemaking
as it can be practised by females and males and trans- genders
creators of comfort
gatherers and providers of food
cleaners and maintainers of safe spaces.
We rejoice in a world which is multigendered
Where we all can learn to birth new life and mother it to maturity.
So all can be like God, the Mother of all mothers.

OFFERING AND OFFERING PRAYER (said together)
We have been given much, whether by gift or income, interest or benefit
So we give this money and this food, passing the gift forward
so that others benefit from this grace too
May both food and money be used wisely and well
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 Cameron Smart

CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe and the Council of Protestant Churches of Equatorial Guinea. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name James Shaw and Jamie Strange 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

HYMN AA156 ‘Where the road runs out’
Music and Words © 1992 Colin Gibson
Where the road runs out and the signposts end,
where we come to the edge of today,
be the God of Abraham for us,
send us out upon our way.
Chorus: Lord, you were our beginning, the faith that gave us birth.
We look to you, our ending, our hope for heaven and earth.
When the coast is left and we journey on
to the rim of the sky and the sea,
be the sailor’s friend, be the dolphin Christ
lead us in to eternity. (Chorus)
When the clouds are low and the wind is strong,
when tomorrow’s storm draws near,
be the spirit bird hovering overhead
who will take away our fear. (Chorus)
BLESSING

SUNG AMEN

THANK YOU Judy Dumbleton
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.