WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
PRELUDE ‘The Heart of Peace’
Mons Leidvin Takle (b 1942)
CALL TO WORSHIP
Let there be joy in our coming together this day.
Let there be truth heard in the words we speak and the songs we sing.
Let there be help and healing for our disharmony and despair.
Let there be silence for the voice within us and beyond us.
SILENCE
PROCESSIONAL HYMN ‘Sing Praise to all’
Words © Gretta Vosper; Music WOV 28 ‘Lobe den Herren’
- Sing praise to all that has offered us life and sustains us –
all that has opened our hearts to the love borne within us:
family and friends,
beauty we see without end –
gifts that our lives lay before us.
- Sing praise to all that has opened our mind to new vistas –
all that has called us to seek out new truths through the ages:
Vision and word,
Music that sought to be heard,
These are the gifts that will mould us.
- Sing praise to minds that will fashion our bold new tomorrow’s yesterday’s wisdom released from its dogma and credos.
Evermore free
to live out what we believe
walking the path that Life hallows.
WELCOME
Kia ora tātou.
Kia ora.
HYMN ‘Give thanks for life’
Words © Shirley Murray (AA 45)
Music: SINE NOMINE, Ralph Vaughan Williams (CH4 736&WOV 384)
- 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!
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 CHILDREN Graham Howell
BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
Children you may return to sit with your family or find some activities to do from the cupboard at the back of the church.
We bless you. Amen.
PASSING THE PEACE
Traditionally we shake hands to pass the peace and say “peace be with you.” Now that COVID-19 is here we ask that you pass the peace without shaking hands.
THE WORD IN TEXTS Marilyn Wallace
Introduction
Reflection 1
Reading: Genesis 12: 1-9
Reflection 2
Metrical Psalm 139 (sung) Words: Ian Pitt-Watson
Music: WOV 182 Sursum Corda
1. Thou art before me, Lord, thou art behind,
and thou above me hast spread out thy hand;
such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too high to grasp, too great to understand.
2. Then whither from thy Spirit shall I go,
and whither from thy presence shall I flee?
If I ascend to heaven thou art there,
and in the lowest depths I meet with thee.
3. If I should take my flight into the dawn,
if I should dwell on ocean’s farthest shore,
thy mighty hand would rest upon me still,
and thy right hand would guard me evermore.
4. If I should say “Darkness will cover me,
and I shall hide within the veil of night”,
surely the darkness is not dark to thee,
the night is as the day, the darkness light.
5. Search me, O God, search me and know my heart,
try me, O God, my mind and spirit try;
keep me from any path that gives thee pain,
and lead me in the everlasting way.
Reflection 3
Reading: Hosea 11: 1-9
Reflection 4
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
HYMN WOV 526ii ‘O Perfect Love’
Words: Mary Pearson
1. Word of God's love, with longing hearts we listen,
eager to hear of grace when grace is spent,
seeking to understand in all our being,
the truth in which Christ's life for all was sent.
2. Word of God's hope, when life seems dark and empty,
bruised by the powerlessness which clouds our days,
help us to see with ever clearer vision,
the light and wisdom of the Christ trod way.
3. Word of God's joy, we yearn to hear your music
through storms of anger, fear and silent pain,
knowing that though there is no easy answer
in Christ life finds its harmony again.
4. Word of our God, you call us to each other,
breaking down walls of pride and selfish gain,
and, as we reach to bear each other's burdens,
we find love, hope and joy alive again.
OFFERTORY MUSIC
OFFERING HYMN Metrical Psalm 103: 1,2&5
Tune: WOV 490 Kilmarnock
1. O thou my soul, bless God the Lord;
and all that in me is
Be stirred up his holy name
to magnify and bless.
2. Bless, o my soul, the Lord thy God,
and not forgetful be
of all the gracious benefits
he hath bestowed on thee.
3. Who with abundance of good things
doth satisfy thy mouth;
so that even as the eagle’s age,
renewed is thy youth.
OFFERING PRAYER
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 Pat Booth
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Kazakhstan and we pray for dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews in Kazakhstan and throughout the world. We hold all refugees in our hearts. We pray in particular for those detained for many years in Papua New Guinea & Nauru. We give thanks for progress that has been made and pray that their calls for justice might continue to find a compassionate response. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name Ingrid Leary (Taieri electorate) and Dr Anae Neru Leavasa (Takanini electorate). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of St James' Presbyterian Church, Whanganui.
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 ‘Past and Present’
Words © William L Wallace. Tune: Cwm Rhondda WOV 478
1. Past and present, with our dreaming,
join to make us what we are;
ancient wisdom, ancient follies
shape the way we love and care:
give us reverence, give us wisdom,
from the past for life today.
2. Make us mindful of each moment –
ev’ry force, each strength, each flaw;
free us from those empty longings
which consume us more and more:
give us vision, Give us courage,
for this present age of change.
3. We must face the future’s challenge
to create a better earth,
hand in hand with all who labour
dream and suffer for its birth.
For through sharing and through caring
we shall build community.
BLESSING
SUNG AMEN
POSTLUDE ‘Power of life’
Mons Leidvin Takle (b 1942)
THANK YOU
THANK YOU Judy Dumbleton
our musician today