September 25, 2022
WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
Today’s service is led by Rev Doug Lendrum
PRELUDE “Nimrod” Sir E. Elgar (1857–1934)
In honouring the mind, one begins the journey toward Christian wholeness with a life-changing recognition of the power of one’s own choices.
Being able to arrive at the end of one’s life, rejoicing present, and increasing the measure of freedom so that one can live more fully.
Exploring the adventure of Humanity is about enjoying an unshakable Christian love, walking with confidence into the future and doing it in divine intimacy.
GATHERING
To be at home on our own ground
our minds reach below the horizon,
we descend below the light-fall
off ridge and steep to seek the valley floor
and receive the false calm
from lives of the dead, we ask
as if they will awaken
our comfort to give.
We stand in awe and listen but fail to hear
the creek and the woods cry.
We hear the birds sing high in the wind
and choose the beat of our own footsteps.
Our sight sees what it wants.
The old man still leans on his cane,
the old woman busy still
works out a selflessness of love.
They were our teachers
and we listen no more.
In these early days we call Springtime, we remember the storms of the cold, the storms of the heat, the storms of life in all their forms and we give thanks for the opportunity we have to worship and celebrate this day. May we be surrounded with a very real sense of the sacred as we spend this time seeking together.
PROCESSIONAL HYMN Let All the Beauty
Words: Dana McLean Greeley, Tune: ‘Danby’, LM
- Let all the beauty we have known illuminate our hearts and minds.
Rejoice in wonders daily shown, in faith and joy, and love that binds.
- We celebrate with singing hearts the loveliness of sky and earth,
the inspiration of the arts, the miracle of ev’ry birth.
- Life’s music and its poetry surround and bless us through our days.
For these we sing in harmony, together giving thanks and praise.
SILENCE
WELCOME
E te whānau a te Karaiti,
ngā mihi aroha ki a tātou katoa.
Kia ora tātou.
Talofa lava.
Talofa.
PRAYER OF AWARENESS
The spirit of Creativity God has hovered over the waters… and today we invite the elements of the storm to gather with us.
The wild winds and the dark clouds, the lightning flash and the thunder roll.
We invite the hurricane to join us in wonder:
the fierce gales and blinding rains, the crashing waves and swaying trees.
But with our invitation we note that we have questions.
Where is Creativity God in all of this? In the storm? In the cyclone? In the tsunami?
In the thunder of the storm,
or in the stillness after the storm?
There is a song in creation.
It has always been the gift:
the gift of every voice
oft unsung by most.
Listen again to hear the song:
its changes and its returns,
life passing into life,
a moment when earth and song and mind
become living and dead as one.
LIGHTING THE RAINBOW CANDLE
We light the rainbow candle to show that we are an inclusive community and also for our children.
TIME WITH CHILDREN Ellen Murray
BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
Sung as they go to the Rainbow room to hear stories, ask questions and have fun together.
HYMN We Are the Earth…
Words: Kenneth L Patton, Tune: ‘Ein’ Feste Burg’
- We are the earth upright and proud; in us the earth is knowing.
Its winds are music in our mouths, in us its rivers flowing.
The sun is our hearthfire; warm with the earth’s desire,
and with its purpose strong, we sing earth’s pilgrim song;
in us the earth is growing.
- We lift our voices, fill the skies with our exultant singing.
We dedicate our minds and hearts, to order, beauty bringing.
Our labour is our strength; our love will win at length;
our minds will find the ways to live in peace and praise.
Our day is just beginning.
THE PEACE “Peace be with you”
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 Margaret Rushbrook
Hebrew Bible Jeremiah 8: 18–9: 1
Intro: ‘Is this loss of joy a loss of imagination?’
Contemporary reading
Intro: ‘Why is this post Covid storm a time for imagination?
The Australian musician Nick Cave said of Covid –
“Together we have stepped into history and are now living inside an event unprecedented in our lifetime. Every day the news provides us with dizzying information that a few weeks before would have been unthinkable. What deranged and divided us a month ago, seems, at best, an embarrassment from an idle and privileged time. We have become eyewitnesses to a catastrophe that we are seeing unfold from the inside out. We are forced to isolate – to be vigilant, to be quiet, to watch and contemplate the possible implosion of our civilization in real time….”
Gospel Reading Luke 16: 1 – 13
Intro: Given that the master is not a metaphor for ‘God’ and that the economic system presumed by the parable is not capitalism. And given that all parables have a concern for what God’s Reign might look like, ‘Imagination is required for interpretation’
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
REFLECTION: Rev Doug Lendrum ‘Storm as Precursor to Life and
the Art of Imagination’
HYMN Imagining Stars
Words: G Stuart Tune: ‘Stuttgart’. 87.87
- When, at night, the stars shine on us
light years from our tiny earth,
songs and psalms provoke the questions
of our fragile human worth
- These gigantic specks are burning
balls of fire, as at play;
stars in billions share their light and
thus create a Milky Way.
- We still gaze in raw amazement,
contemplating timeless space;
numberless, the stars keep stories
hidden from our human race.
- Tiny holes in heaven’s flooring
letting light beyond shine through;
stars invite us to imagine
what it is we cannot view.
- Myst’ry stride across the canvas
of the picture we might paint;
sacredness is grandly present;
let us praise without restraint.
THE OFFERING “Hyfrydol” R Prichard (1811 – 1887)
People remain standing as the offering is brought forward and placed at the front.
OFFERING PRAYER
We give thanks for imagination as the catalyst for valuing the old and inviting us to risk the new. We give thanks for the opportunities in the early morning, to greet the day. To notice the sunrise, sky, and the weather. To take a few deep breaths and step outside, breathe in the air, and take in the sights and sounds. We give thanks that we can notice if birds or other natural neighbours are out and about. We can visit with plants and see what they’re up to, and we can even care and tend them a bit, all as well as walk or exercise within the creation.
We give thanks for imagination as an alternative to a world with cell phones, things to do, money to make, problems to solve, conflicts to avoid, and we can imagine a world of peace, adventure, wonder and beauty. We can welcome ambiguity, difference, struggle, storm, unfairness, inequity and value the flower’s beauty, the unexpected change, the unlikely outcome. We can marvel at the complexity without fear.
We give thanks for the choices we have to act differently in the interests of the plants, trees, or water; we can choose not to increase our carbon footprint, we can choose to see and love the natural and the beautiful and the immediacy of the natural world around us. We can enjoy meals that have no harmful waste, that are wonderful in taste, texture and aroma. We can give thanks for those who share our lives with us.
We give thanks for the sunset, the moon, and the night sky. We can take time to sit outside to observe them and feel the night air remembering the gifts we received from the Earth that day and maybe even read a few poems that invite us into the natural world and to share our discoveries with a loved one something we are grateful for, or perhaps an experience from your day. Amen.
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 Sweden and the Christian Council of Sweden. We hold all refugees in our hearts. We pray in particular for the 122 refuges still detained in Nauru. We give thanks for progress that has been made and pray that their calls for justice might yet find a compassionate response. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name the James McDowall (list) and Nicole McKee (list). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of the Pahiatua – St Paul’s Union Church (Presbyterian-Methodist).
COMMUNITY PRAYER
God – heart of the world:
revealed through every aspect of creation:
understood through our awareness.
May we honour the holiness of creation and act accordingly
so that your love is reflected in the way we live.
May we always be thankful for the food we eat
and the friends we have.
May we forgive those who transgress against us
and be forgiven for our own.
In the freedom of love may we live as your heartbeat
and not be compromised by hesitation.
Through our freedom, may your justice
be seen and heard and experienced
forever and ever.
HYMN Hurricane, WOV 431
Words: Andrew Pratt Tune: ‘Martyrdom’
- The mingled tears of memory,
of present grief and fear,
reminders for humanity
that death is always near.
- The hurricane, the tidal wave,
the terrorist attack,
that fracture faith, unsettle hope,
can cause belief to crack.
- For where is God? And what is love
within this finite frame,
where life is trampled underfoot,
destroyed by winds that maim?
- Can God be found in broken lives,
where chaos seems to rule?
Forsaken on a cross Christ hung,
made wisdom look a fool.
- His broken hands reach out to heal,
through human hands today;
compassion sees the need for love
and God still makes a way.
- And so, amid these mingled tears
we cling to those who care,
and in the silence come to feel
the love of God is there.
WORDS OF PARTING
Remembering again the elements – storm and silence, we shall imagine how to care for our Pale Blue Dot called Earth.
We will wonder at the elements around us and imagine our future.
We will protect those of our fauna kin and imagine a new relationship.
We will empathize with the Oceans and imagine our interdependence.
We will be sensitive to the cries of creation and imagine a new Jerusalem.
We will imagine and celebrate life!
SUNG AMEN
POSTLUDE “St. Clement”/Fanfare/God Save The King
THANK YOU
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THANK YOU
Thank you Peter Franklin