October 23, 2022

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

Today’s service is led by the Rev Dr Fei Taule’ale’ausumai

PRELUDE

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

Life is a journey, on many different roads.

We have come here today

from east and west

and north and south

each of us bringing that which is God within us.

We arrive at this place and time

our paths merging.

We meet as the family of God.

As we move forward in faith,

exploration brings new insights

and we must face changes and choices.

We need courage for the journey

and vision to discover, dream and grow.

The Spirit of God is moving among us

SILENCE

PROCESSIONAL HYMN                         “Love Divine all loves excelling” WOV  148ii
                                                                           Tune: Hyfrydol, Words & Music © Charles Wesley

 

1. Love divine, all loves excelling

    joy of heaven, to earth come down,

    fix in us thy humble dwelling,

    all thy faithful mercies crown:

    Jesu, thou art all compassion,

    pure unbounded love thou art;

    visit us with thy salvation,

    enter every trembling heart.

 

2. Come, almighty to deliver,

    let us all thy life receive;

    suddenly return, and never,

    never more thy temples leave:

    thee we would be always blessing,

    serve thee as thy hosts above,

    pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,

    glory in thy perfect love.

 

3. Finish then thy new creation,

    pure and spotless let us be:

    let us see thy great salvation,

    perfectly restored in thee:

    changed from glory into glory,

    till in heaven we take our place,

    till we cast our crowns before thee,

    lost in wonder, love and praise.

 

GATHERING

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

to reconnect once more to the larger human family,

to find once more that place of calm,

to remind ourselves that we belong,

and to remember what it is that we belong to.

Let us celebrate life in the presence we name God.

 

WELCOME 

E te whānau a te Karaiti,

   ngā mihi aroha ki a tātou katoa.

Kia ora tātou.

Talofa lava.

      Talofa.

 

 

 

PRAYER

O God, you are the gathering one

who calls us into community with each other,

to love and work, support, and heal.

You are the gathering one

who calls us into community with all people,

to bring justice and hope, freedom, and truth.

You are the gathering one

who calls us into community with the whole creation,

to live in harmony, to cherish and renew.

We worship you, the God who makes us one.

For our community gathered here,

for the spirit that called us together and drew us to this place:

we give thanks.

For moments we have shared with others.

for times we have reached out across barriers of distance and fear,

for times when others have reached out to us:

we give thanks.

For our weaving together out of many separate selves,

this hour of celebration and reflection,

this community of faith and hope:
we give thanks this day. Amen.

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  

FAMILY TIME                                                                                                  Cam Smart

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-19 is here we ask that you pass the peace without shaking hands.                                                                               

THE WORD IN TEXTS                                                                                                   Barrie Keenan

Hebrew Bible                                                                          Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22

Gospel/New Testament                                                                           Luke 18:9-14

Contemporary reading                                                 Make us a Prejudiced people

By Stephen Brown (Seeing Christ in Others)

 

Lord God,

make us a prejudiced people:

passionate

to pursue your loving justice;

passionately opposed

to all that obscures the hope

and destroys the purpose

and denies the reconciliation

that is our will for us.

 

Lord God,

make us a prejudiced people:

ready to speak up for

all that is good and true in your sight;

ready to speak out against

all that is an abomination to your eyes.

 

Lord God,

make us a prejudiced people:

turned to

the light of Christ;

turned from

the darkness of our own misdeeds.

 

Lord God,

make us a prejudiced people:

united

to seek to do and bear your will;

divided

from all that distracts us from being the

people you intend.

 

RESPONSE

For the Word in scripture,

for the Word among us,

for the Word within us,  

we give thanks.

 

HYMN                                                       “I heard the voice of Jesus say” WOV  500

                                                                                      Words: Horatius Bonar ©  Music Kingsfold ©  3 verses

 

1. I heard the voice of Jesus say,
   ‘Come unto me and rest;
   lay down, thou weary one, lay down
   thy head upon my breast.’
   I came to Jesus as I was,
   so weary, worn and sad;
   I found in him a resting place,
   and he has made me glad.

 

 

2. I heard the voice of Jesus say,
   ‘Behold, I freely give
   the living water, thirsty one;
   stoop down and drink and live.’
   I came to Jesus, and I drank
   of that life-giving stream;
   my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
   and now I live in him.
3. I heard the voice of Jesus say,
   ‘I am this dark world’s light;
   look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
   and all thy day be bright.’
   I looked to Jesus, and I found
   in him my star, my sun;
   and in that light of life I’ll walk
   till trav’lling days are done.

REFLECTION                 Who are you?                          Rev Dr Fei Taule’ale’ausumai

HYMN                                                         “Will you offer me compassion” AA  160

                                                                                                                                     Words © 1993 John Weir

Music © 1993 Douglas Mews

1. Will you offer me compassion?

Will you walk the road with me?

Brother, sister will you feed me

ripe fruit from the Mercy Tree?

 

2. Will you utter words of comfort?

Will you bless me with your peace?

Mercy is the gift I long for:

mercy from the Mercy Tree.

 

3. I do not deserve your loving,

brother, sister, yet I plead –

I am human, I have need of

mercy from the Mercy Tree.

 

4. If you offer me your friendship,

if you make your peace with me,

mercy will most surely touch you:

mercy from the Mercy Tree.

 

OFFERTORY MUSIC                  From Pastures Green by PHC Lucas and AJ Duncan

OFFERING HYMN                                        “Here we bring small or great” AA 62 v 2

                                                                                Words: Shirley Murray, Music: © Colin Gibson

Food and drink, things obsess,

drug us to false happiness,

what we keep, what we give

tells the truth of how we live. 

Refrain

 Jesus said, “Have a care – your hearts will always be 

 where your riches are,  where your riches are.”  

OFFERING PRAYER

Faithful God, you ask us to be faithful people.

In this community, you ask us to be people of justice.

In this community, you ask us to be people of mercy.

In this community, you ask us to be people of peace.

Be with us as we try to be faithful

in large ways and in small ways

so your eternal community may come in every way.

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                                                          Johan Van der Merwe

CIRCLE OF PRAYER

We think today of the people of Tanzania and the Christian Council of Tanzania. We hold all refugees in our hearts. We pray 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 Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (List) and Terisa Ngobi (Ōtaki). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Patea – St Luke’s Co-operating Church (Presbyterian-Methodist).

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                                                         “When I needed a neighbour” WOV  558

                                                            Words and music: © from Green Print for Song 1963 Stainer & Bell Ltd

•  

1. When I needed a neighbour, were you there, were you there?

When I needed a neighbour, were you there?

Chorus:

And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter.

Were you there?

 

2. I was hungry and thirsty, were you there, were you there?

I was hungry and thirsty, were you there?

Chorus

 

3. When I needed a shelter, were you there, were you there?

When I needed a shelter, were you there?

Chorus

 

 

4. Wherever you travel, I’ll be there, I’ll be there.

Wherever you travel, I’ll be there.

And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter.

I’ll be there.

 

SUNG BLESSING:                                               “May the God of new beginnings” FFS  49

   Words © 2000 John Murray, Music © 2000 Colin Gibson

Reprinted under One License A623996. All rights reserved

 

May the God of new beginnings start with you and me.

May the God of continuing story speak through you and me.

May the God of infinite wisdom shine in you and me.

May the God of safe homecomings welcome you and me.

 

BLESSING

Go seeking healing for yourselves and the world.

We will go boldly and ask.

Go, be courageous and touch the world with God’s love.

We will go boldly, and risk.

Go, rejoice in the wholeness that is the power of God.

We will go boldly and give thanks.

Go in peace and bring peace to others.

We will go boldly and live in peace.

 

SUNG AMEN

POSTLUDE                                                     Toccata in D minor (Dorian)  by JS Bach

 

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