July 26, 2020

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

GATHERING

We gather again

in this familiar place

to listen to ancient stories we know well,

and reflect on their meanings for us today

here in Aotearoa.

We gather to sing songs about these stories

and for the sheer joy of lifting our voices

and making music together.

We come to pray, reflect and meditate in our own ways,

to seek and make community,

to ask questions about how to live justly

with compassion and with joy.

 

We greet each other in peace

knowing we belong

knowing that whatever we believe

and we do not believe

we are welcome in this place.

 

PROCESSIONAL HYMN ‘Ancient words ring through the aeons’
Words © 2018 Susan Jones Tune: Hyfrydol WOV 148 (ii)

Ancient words ring through the aeons
Urging, chiding, giving praise;
Prophets all, both men and women
led the people through life’s maze;
They were those who lived the message
of the true life, spirit-filled;
They were leaders through life’s passage
They showed strong, courageous will.

Living simply, prophets focus
on the truth and how to live;
They read well the heart of the people,
marching to the Word, they give
warnings, guidelines for true living,
bravely they speak truth to power;
they see through pretence and posture,
they see when our leaders cower.
Knowing truth requires right action,
speaking out, and staying true
to those principles so ancient,
knowing me and knowing you.
May we too, like them, imagine
worlds where true compassion reigns,
where love shows its many faces
where rights, justice, are sustained.
WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
PRAYER
Sometimes it seems life might be easier
if we were given something
that tells us clearly
why we are here
what it is we are here to do, to be, to offer,
not just enigmatic parables, or signs or symbols.

We have stories of what has been,
tales of lost hopes and failed dreams,
ideas of what might improve life
for us and others,
what might give life meaning.

May this week’s story
and our community gathered here
inspire us in ways that bring us hope and clarity
about who we are what we can do,
what our lives are about.

As we walk together
may we see only
the love and passion,
the fears and anxieties
of those who walk with us,
and may we respond with compassion.
Amen
Gretta Vosper, heavily adapted.
JESUS PRAYER
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 ROOM CANDLE
TIME WITH CHILDREN Rosemary Lawrence
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 is here, we are all asked to take precautions again transmission. We invite you to try different methods of greeting each other. For example, place both hands together in the prayer position and bending the head towards the other person or a hand on one’s upper chest and a slight bow slightly to acknowledge the other. Feel free to simply observe if you wish.
THE WORD IN TEXTS Ann Barrie
Hebrew Bible Genesis 18:1-8
Gospel Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Contemporary reading From “Short Stories by Jesus”
By © Amy-Jill Levine, p.304

The parable should disturb. If we hear it and are not disturbed, there is something seriously amiss with our moral compass. It would be better if we perhaps started by seeing the parable not as about heaven or hell or final judgement, but about kings, politics, violence, and the absence of justice. If we do, we might be getting closer to Jesus.
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
REFLECTION Hidden leaven Rev. Dr Niki Francis
HYMN Faith of metaphor and mystery
Words: © Bronwyn Angela White
Tune : Regent Square WOV 84

Faith of metaphor and mystery
Christ of paradox and pun
Sure foundation, revelation,
Many facets of the One
Sacred found in the familiar:
phase of moon, and blazing sun.

God of living, dying, rising Goddess:
maiden, mother, crone
Word of sages, rock of ages
Love transforming hearts of stone
Meaning made in the familiar:
spirit, body, breath and bone

Passover and visitation
Parable and playful jest
Seeking, finding; losing, binding
Exodus and hero’s quest
Sacrament of the familiar:
open door and welcome guest

Life in all its many stages
Sense and senses, heart and head
Meditation, celebration
Hope new-risen from the dead
Meaning found in the familiar:
making peace and breaking bread.
OFFERING PRAYER (said together)
We give these gifts in gratitude for what we have,
grateful that we can share.
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, 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 Belarus and the Russian Orthodox church in Belarus 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 Willow-Jean Prime and Maureen Pugh list MPs. Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of St Andrew's Union Church, Greytown and from the worldwide church for the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa.
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
HYMN AA 85 ‘Let justice roll down like a river’
Words and Music © 1994 Colin Gibson Hope Publishing Company
Refrain:
Let justice roll down like a river,
let justice flow down to the sea;
let justice roll down like a river
let justice begin through me.
Justice for all who go hungry,
crying to God to be fed,
left in a world of abundance
to beg for a morsel of bread.
Refrain

Justice for those who are homeless,
victims of war or of need,
trapped on the borders of nowhere,
lost in the canyons of greed.
Refrain
Justice for all who are powerless,
yearning for freedom in vain,
plundered and robbed of their birth-right,
silently bearing their pain.
Refrain
BLESSING
We go now, in peace and in love
and we take that love with us
to our wider community
to live justly, respectfully
and with compassion.
SUNG AMEN