November 22, 2020

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

GATHERING

We come to re-weave the unravelling fabric of community.

To re-connect once more with the larger human family.

To find once more that place of calm.

To remind ourselves that we belong.

To remember what it is we belong to.

So, come into this place

which we make special by our presence.

Where the ordinary is sanctified,

the human is celebrated,

and the compassionate is expected.

Together we make it a holy place with our every act of worship.

Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life

in the presence we name God.

 

PROCESSIONAL HYMN ‘Called as partners in Christ's service’
Words: © 1981 J.P.Huber
Music: Blaenwern (4 verses) WOV 165ii

1. Called as partners in Christ's service,
called to ministries of grace,
We respond with deep commitment
Fresh new lines of faith to trace.
May we learn the art of sharing,
Side by side and friend with friend,
Equal partners in our caring
To fulfil God's chosen end.

2. Christ's example, Christ's inspiring,
Christ's clear call to work and worth.
Let us follow, never faltering,
Reconciling folk on earth.
Men and women, richer, poorer,
All God's people, young and old,
Blending human skills together
Gracious gifts from God unfold.

3. Thus new patterns for Christ's mission,
in a small or global sense,
Help us bear each other's burdens,
Breaking down each wall or fence.
Words of comfort, words of vision,
Words of challenge, said with care,
Bring new power and strength for action,
Make us colleagues, free and fair.

4. So God grant us for tomorrow
ways to order human life
That surround each person's sorrow
With a calm that conquers strife.
Make us partners in our living,
Our compassion to increase,
Messengers of faith, this giving
Hope and confidence and peace.
WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
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 Graham Howell
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. Now that Covid is here
we ask that you pass the peace without shaking hands.
THE WORD IN TEXTS Tony Kirby
Hebrew Bible (sung) Isaiah 58: 6-9
Paraphrase 28 RCH
Music: Belmont WOV 435
1. Let such as feel oppression’s load
thy tender pity share:
and let the helpless, homeless poor,
be thy peculiar care.

2. Go, bid the hungry orphan be
with thy abundance blessed;
invite the wand’rer to thy gate,
and spread the couch of rest.

3. Let them who pine with piercing cold
by thee be warm’d and clad;
be thine the blissful task to make
the downcast mourner glad.

4. Then, bright as morning, shall come forth,
in peace and joy thy days;
And glory from the Lord above
shall shine on all thy ways.
Gospel Matthew 25: 31-45
The Parable of the Last Judgement
Contemporary reading Which word didn’t you understand?
by Roger Gray
(This is the Day – the Iona Community)

Someone once said they were not worried by the parts of the Bible they did not understand. What did bother them was the parts they did understand, and so it is with me. I am not worried by the parts of the Bible which I have forgotten or never read, and I am not bothered by the parts of the Bible and Christian teaching I cannot understand. What disturbs me are the parts that are so clear that it is not possible to misunderstand them, such as the Beatitudes and some parts of the Sermon on the Mount, or the story of the sheep and the goats where Jesus says exactly what will happen to nations who allow the peoples of other nations to starve. For the only way to avoid the challenge of such passages is to pretend that Jesus meant something else or that, for some reason, what he says does not apply to us.
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
REFLECTION The Final Analysis Jim Cunningham
A TIME FOR SILENT REFLECTION
THE OFFERINGS ARE GATHERED

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.

HYMN OF DEDICATION AA 127 ‘Take my Gifts’
Words © 1992 Shirley Murray.
Music ©1992 Colin Gibson. Hope Publishing Company 3 verses
1. Take my gifts and let me love you,
God who first of all loved me,
gave me light and food and shelter,
gave me life and set me free.
Now because your love has touched me,
I have love to give away:
now the bread of love is rising,
loaves of love to multiply!

2. Take the fruit that I have gathered
from the tree your Spirit sowed,
harvest of your own compassion,
juice that makes the wine of God;
spiced with humour, laced with laughter –
flavour of the Jesus life,
tang of risk and new adventure,
taste and zest beyond belief.

3. Take whatever I can offer –
gifts that I have yet to find,
skills that I am slow to sharpen,
talents of the heart and mind,
things made beautiful for others
in the place where I must be:
take my gifts and let me love you,
God who first of all loved me.
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 Bronwyn White
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Chad and organisations working for justice and development in Chad. 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 Hon. Jenny Salesa, (Panmure-Ōtāhuhu) and Hon. Carmel Sepuloni (Kelston). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Knox Presbyterian Church, Lower Hutt.
PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S

Renew your people, God,
and renew our life in this place.
Give us a new spirit of unity
with all who follow the Way of Jesus
and new bonds of love
with people of other faiths.

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 ‘Where Does Compassion Start?’
Words © 2009 Shirley Erena Murray
Tune: Love Unknown by John Ireland WOV 257 (i)
(A response to the ‘Charter for Compassion’) 4 verses WOV 257(i)

1. Where does compassion start?
How does compassion grow?
Her seed is at the heart
of every faith we know:
compassion honours others’ place,
dethroning self with willing grace.

2. How does compassion thrive
in worlds of greed and grief?
Her goodness stays alive
through those of strong belief:
compassion, luminous and clear
outshining wastes of war and fear.

3. Where is compassion’s role
in culture, or in creeds?
At centre, with the soul
who feels another’s needs:
compassion brings the touch of friend,
a bandage that will bind and mend.

4. Dynamic is the power
that heals, restores and gives,
connecting at the core
with everyone who lives,
transcending culture, colour, race,
compassion builds the house of peace.
BLESSING
SUNG AMEN