February 26, 2023
WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
PRELUDE
“Salix” by Percy Whitlock (1903 – 1946)
GATHERING
We come to be opened by visions that can enlist us
in larger causes and more caring actions.
We come to hear stories that might takes us into a deeper kind of
integrity, and reconnect us with our better selves.
So may the warmer fullness that we seek
fill our hearts, our minds and our spirits.
Let us worship the One we name God
SILENCE
OPENING RESPONSES
Let there be joy in our coming together this morning.
Let there be compassion heard in the words we speak,
and love in the songs we sing.
Let there be silence for the voice within us and beyond us.
Let there be trust in our coming together.
PROCESSIONAL HYMN
‘From all that dwell below the skies’ CH4 146
Tune: LASST UNS ERFREUEN
Words: LM and Alleluias
- From all that dwell below the skies
let the Creator’s praise arise:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let the Redeemer’s name be sung
through every land, in every tongue:
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
- Eternal are your mercies, Lord;
eternal truth attends your word:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Your praise shall sound from shore to shore
till suns shall rise and set no more:
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
WELCOME
E te whānau a Te Karaiti,
Ngā mihi aroha ki a tātou katoa.
Kia ora tātou.
Talofa lava
Talofa.
OPENING PRAYER
Fire of the Spirit,
purify our hearts that we may truly love our neighbour.
Light of the Spirit,
guide our path that we may walk in truth.
Flame of the Spirit,
fill us with a passion for justice.
Peace of the Spirit,
gather us together in celebration.
May we bring love where there is little or no love.
May we bring truth when there is but pretence and falsehood. 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
We light the rainbow candle as a sign of our inclusivity and for our children.
FAMILY TIME Frank Cook
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 Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
New Testament Reading Matthew 4:1-11
Contemporary Reading ‘For times of disaster and tragedy’
by Bronwyn White
This has been a week of horror and of joy
of tragedy and acts of unselfishness and courage.
Around the world, here in New Zealand, but today especially
we think of all places affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, lives have been lost.
We have been reminded of our vulnerability, our humanity
as nations and individuals.
We are stunned by the destruction of lives and buildings
landmarks and communities.
We are made aware of grievances—
religious and cultural, economic and political—
for which peaceful solutions have not been sought
and violence has been used as if it’s a solution.
We give thanks for the bravery and generosity of ordinary people
—rescue crews, police, fire fighters, medics, social workers—
people who have donated blood and food and blankets—
people pulling together to support each other
in grief and generosity.
In our nation, our communities and homes
we remember that conflict resolution and peaceful solutions
rely on our being mindful
of our own and others’ humanity.
May we treat others as we would be treated, were we in their shoes.
May we be the change, the peace,
the justice that we seek.
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
HYMN ‘Jesus tempted in the desert’ CH4 338
Tune: WOV 165II BLAENWERN
Words: Herman Stuempfle, Jr.
- Jesus, tempted in the desert,
lonely, hungry, filled with dread:
‘Use your power,’ the tempter tells him;
‘turn these barren rocks to bread!’
‘Not alone by bread,’ he answers,
‘can the human heart be filled.
Only by the Word that calls us
is our deepest hunger stilled!’
- Jesus, tempted, at the temple,
high above its ancient wall:
‘Throw yourself from lofty turret;
angels wait to break you fall!’
Jesus shuns such empty marvels,
feats that fickle crowds request:
‘God, whose grace protects, preserves us,
we must never vainly test.’
- Jesus, tempted on the mountain
by the lure of vast domain:
‘Fall before me! Be my servant!
Glory, fame, you’re sure to gain!’
Jesus sees the dazzling vision,
turns his eyes another way:
‘God alone deserves our homage!
God alone will I obey!’
- When we face temptation’s power,
lonely, struggling, filled with dread,
Christ, who knew the tempter’s hour,
come and be our living bread.
By your grace, protect, preserve us
lest we fall, your trust betray.
Yours, above all other voices,
be the Word we hear, obey.
REFLECTION
‘Temptation and Wilderness Experiences’ Rev Dr Fei Taule’ale’ausumai
HYMN ‘Tell my people I love them’ AA 132
Words: Leonard Barlotti
Music: arr. Jan Harrington and Guy Jansen
Tell my people I love them;
tell my people that I care.
When they feel far away from me,
Tell my people I am there.
- Tell my people I came and died
to give them liberty;
as they abide in me
they will be really free!
2 Tell my people where-e’er they go
to claim my risen power;
my peace and joy and love
is for them hour by hour.
- Tell my people who grieve and mourn
that I allowed the night
of darkness to descend,
but I am still the Light.
- Tell my people to share their wealth
and fight the sin of greed;
care for the refugee;
the hungry they’re to feed.
- Tell my people throughout the world
to strive for peace today,
show love for enemies,
be servants of the Way.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
We believe in a God
who is never confined to our imaging,
is never in bondage to our beliefs,
and never held fast in our dwelling places.
Our God is the mystery
of Divine and human bound together,
of power and vulnerability,
of crucifixion and resurrection.
Our God is the wonder of truth and compassion,
of liberation and responsibility
of eternal wisdom and costly grace.
We celebrate this God
who leaps free of all our boundaries
in love stretching out from horizon to horizon,
and in mercy bending deep
into fragile human hearts.
OFFERTORY MUSIC “Державний Гімн України”
(National Anthem of Ukraine)
OFFERING HYMN ‘Give thanks with a grateful heart’
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One,
give thanks because He’s given many gifts to us.
And now let the weak say I am strong,
let the poor say I am rich,
because of what our God has
done for us, give thanks.
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
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Afghanistan and all those working towards peace in Afghanistan. We hold all refugees in our hearts and pray in particular for those who are still detained in Nauru. We give thanks for recent progress and pray that their calls for justice might yet be answered with compassion. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name Hon Phil Twyford (Te Atatū) and Sam Uffindell (Tauranga). Here in the Central Presbytery we pray for the leaders and people of Waitara – Knox Presbyterian Church.
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 ‘Who is this man?’
Tune: LONDONDERRY AIR
Words: Mary Pearson
- Who is this man who gave to women dignity
in partnership of worth and equal grace?
Who listened to the stories that they told him,
and honoured each, whatever was their place:
who let them choose to come and join his company
and learned with them God’s love of every race,
who showed to each the courage of their nature
to care and tend each lonely and each suffering face.
- Who is this man, who spoke to men of gentleness
and showed them all the children at his side:
who taught of love and justice for all people,
and took a towel and washed away their pride?
In him they saw the strength of truth and mercy,
and how he trusted God to be his guide,
knew how he led them through misunderstanding,
and then forgave them when they ran away to hide.
- Who is this man who gathered people to him
and touched their lives along each dusty way,
who spoke to all with passion and with peacefulness
and valued all their ordinary days.
Who is this man, who at the day’s long ending,
would draw apart to wait on God and pray?
Who in the mystery that knows no ending,
would find God’s wisdom
and would know God’s words to say?
- Who is this man who calls us now to follow,
a shadow presence asking us to be
companions on the way through this life journey,
to live in truth, to set our tired world free?
So, let us find each other now in partnership,
with ears to hear and eyes awake to see,
that we might grow in grace and understanding,
and walk beside that man who comes from Galilee.
BLESSING
On our heads and our houses
the blessing of God.
In our coming and going
the peace of God.
In our life and believing
the love of God.
At our end and new beginning
the arms of God to welcome us
and bring us home.
SUNG BLESSING
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 through you and me.
May the God of safe homecomings, welcome you and me.
SUNG AMEN
POSTLUDE “Toccata – Suite Gothique, Op.25”
by Léon Boëllmann (1862 – 1897)
THANK YOU
Peter Franklin