July 5, 2020

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

GATHERING

Here it is winter and the Sun is low in our sky

Our lives can feel this darkness

But God’s word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path

 

PROCESSIONAL HYMN VU 242 Let All Things Now Living (Ash Grove)
Words: David Cherwien, Katherine Kennicott Davis
Words: © 1939. Renewed 1966 E.C. Schirmer Music Company (Admin. by ECS Publishing Corporation)
Music: Ash Grove 2002 Choristers guild

1 Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
to God our Creator triumphantly raise;
who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
by guiding us on to the end of our days.
God's banners are o'er us, pure light goes before us,
a pillar of fire shining forth in the night;
till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished,
as forward we travel from light into Light.

2 By law God enforces, the stars in their courses
and sun in its orbit obediently shine;
the hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
the depths of the ocean proclaim God divine.
We, too, should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
with glad adoration a song let us raise:
till all things now living unite in thanksgiving,
to God in the highest, hosanna and praise.

WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
PRAYER

JESUS’ PRAYER Jim Cotter paraphrase

Eternal Spirit
Life-Giver, Pain-Bearer, Love-Maker,
source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
loving God, in whom is heaven:
the hallowing of your name
echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed
by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done
by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test,
strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory
of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.
LIGHTING THE RAINBOW CANDLE
TIME WITH THE CHILDREN Frank Cook
BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
We send you to the Rainbow Room to hear stories, ask questions and have fun together.
We bless you. Amen.
PASSING THE PEACE
Traditionally we shake hands to pass the peace and say “peace be with you”. The response is “peace be with you, or “and with you.” You can also simply say hello. Now that COVID-19 has arrived in the country, we are all asked to take precautions again transmission. We invite you all therefore to try different methods of acknowledging and greeting each other. For example, placing both hands together in the prayer position and bending the head towards the other person. This is a greeting practiced in many countries. A hand on the upper chest and bowing slightly to acknowledge the other person is also an option. Feel free to simply observe if you wish.
THE WORD IN TEXTS Lynne Dovey
Hebrew Bible Psalm 119: 105-112
The Word from the Christian Scriptures Matthew 13:1-9, 13:18-23
Secular reading ‘Ibn al-Haytham’
born in 965 died in 1040

The duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads, and, applying his mind to the core and margins of its content, attack it from every side.
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
REFLECTION “The foundation of modern truth” Rev. Norman Wilkins
HYMN ‘O when I see the awesome world’
Words: Susan Jones © 2017 Used by permission. Music: How Great Thou Art CH 4 #154

O when I see the awesome world around me,
and think of all the worlds which lie beyond;
I see bright stars, I see the circling planets,
auroras’ shimmer, north and south’s display.
Then sings my soul, in gratitude and praise,
How great this world, the expanse of space.
Then sings my soul, in gratitude and praise,
How great this world, the expanse of space!

When Matariki climbs above the skyline
shining its starlight o’er this lovely land.
The old year done, a new year rises for us
remembering, rejoice on every hand.
Then sings my soul, in gratitude and praise,
Bring new year in, let’s start again.
Then sings my soul, in gratitude and praise,
Bring new year in, let’s start again!

And when I think, that deep inside the atom
are bosons, quarks, invisible to me;
My mind gropes for ability to grasp it
this nano-world, so packed with energy.
Then sings my soul, in gratitude and praise,
Such energy, such precious life!
Then sings my soul, in gratitude and praise,
Such energy, such precious life!
REFLECTION
“Jesus invites us to apply an everyday observation” Rev. Norman Wilkins

OFFERING AND DEDICATION (said together)
We bring these gifts of food for those who need it.

We bring these gifts of money so that this church may continue to make the Way of Jesus a practical reality.

We offer ourselves as pilgrim people seeking to walk the way of truth, light and love.

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.
HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHT Janet Horncy
LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY OF ST ANDREW’S
People share notices and visitors are welcomed. If you have a notice, 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 Wendy Matthews

CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Bahrain and Qatar and Muslim people in Bahrain and Qatar and throughout the world. We remember the detainees of Manus and Nauru Islands, yearning that their cases be resolved. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name Ian McKelvie (Rangitīkei electorate) and Mark Mitchell (Rodney electorate). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Gisborne Presbyterian Parish and from the worldwide church for the Church of Ireland.
PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S

Renew your people, God,
and renew our life in this place.
Give us a new spirit of unity
with those of all faiths,
and a new spirit of love
towards all people.

Bless the city in which we live
that it may be a place
where honest dealing,
good government,
the desire for beauty,
and the care for others flourish.

Bless this church
that what we know of your will
may become what we do,
and what we believe
the strong impulse
of our worship and work.

Amen
INVITATION TO COMMUNION
St Andrew’s is an open community and all are invited to Christ’s table.
Wherever you are on your faith journey, wherever you have come from and wherever you are going to, whatever you believe, whatever you do not believe, you are welcome to participate in the communion. This is God’s meal for all people.
COMMUNION HYMN FFS 17 ‘For everyone born, a place at the table’
Words: © 1998 Shirley Erena Murray
Music: © 1998 Colin Gibson (Hope Publishing)

For everyone born, a place at the table,
for everyone born, clean water and bread,
a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
for everyone born, a star overhead,
and God will delight when we are creators
of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
yes, God will delight when we are creators
of justice, justice and joy!

For woman and man, a place at the table,
revising the roles, deciding the share,
with wisdom and grace, dividing the power,
for woman and man, a system that’s fair,

For young and for old, a place at the table,
a voice to be heard, a part in the song,
the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
for young and for old, the right to belong,

For just and unjust, a place at the table,
abuser, abused, with need to forgive,
in anger, in hurt, a mindset of mercy,
for just and unjust, a new way to live,

For everyone born, a place at the table,
to live without fear, and simply to be,
to work, to speak out, to witness and worship,
for everyone born, the right to be free,
and God will delight when we are creators
of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
yes, God will delight when we are creators
of justice, justice and joy!
COMMUNION LITURGY on green card

Communion is served by intinction. You are invited to come to the front of the church and receive the bread, or a gluten-free cracker, taking a piece large enough to dip into the wine (silver cup) or grape juice (pottery cup). Eat the bread dipped in wine or juice.
Or, remain in your seat to be served if mobility is difficult. If you don't wish to receive communion, please remain in your seat – we’re glad you are here with us.
HYMN AA 45 ‘Give thanks for life’
Words: © Shirley Erena Murray, Tune WOV 384 Sine Nomine
Give thanks for life,
the measure of our days,
mortal, we pass
through beauty that decays,
yet sing to God our hope, our love, our praise,
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Give thanks for those
who made their life a light
caught from the Christ-flame,
bursting through the night,
who touched the truth, who burned for what is right,
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And for our own,
our living and our dead,
thanks for the love
by which our life is fed,
a love not changed by time or death or dread,
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Give thanks for hope,
that like the wheat, the grain
that lies in darkness
does its life retain
in resurrection to grow green again,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
BLESSING Composed by Pat Booth
Commissioning for service (sung to each other across the aisle)
HYMN FFS 29 ‘God speed you on your way’
Words: © 1999, 2000 Shirley Erena Murray
Music: © 2000 Shona Murray
God speed us on our way, safe keep us every day,
give us wing, cause to sing, all this we wish and pray.

God give us space to thrive, all senses kept alive,
health and hope, means to cope, joyfully to arrive.

God lead us to the new, places and points of view,
roads to take, friends to make, more life to travel through.
POSTLUDE Rondo from Sonata in C K545
by W.A Mozart (1756 – 1791)