WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

GATHERING WE PRAY:

Come into this gathering place!                                                           Rex Hunt

Come in and find peace and rest,

inspiration and aspiration,

fellowship and love.

Come in and find light for your darkness,

a friend’s touch for your loneliness,

and music for your soul.

Come in and let our hearts sing
for all the blessings that are ours this day.

SILENCE

PROCESSIONAL HYMN                                                            “In this familiar Place.”

                                                                                          Words and Music: Colin Gibson AA 72

In this familiar place

know the mystery of your grace.

 

Refrain:

For the love that I receive,

for the truth that I believe,

I praise and thank you

for this here and now.

 

In halting song and word

the music of your voice is heard

 

Refrain

 

Among these friends of mine

I taste the company divine.

 

Refrain

 

Within this narrow sphere

I learn that you are everywhere.

 

Refrain

WELCOME 

Kia ora tatou.

Kia ora.

 

PRAYER"Spirit of Life" Barbara Hamilton-Holway
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 Cameron 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.

MOTHER MOTHER TO BE PLAYED ON THE POWERPOINT
https://michaelcallen.bandcamp.com/track/mother-mother
Words and music by Cris Williamson From Legacy -Bottom disc, June 14, 1996 Sung with Cris Williamson and Tret Fure, Piano: John Bucchino, Bass: Tim Eschelman, Strings etc.: Greg Wells

I remember long ago
I was your one true miracle
That's what you always used to say
Oh, I
I think I'll miss you most of all
The hours are all against me now
Hard by hard
Against the day

Mother Mother
Keep me safe from harm
Come into my room tonight
And hold me in your arms
For I am still your shining child
The one you know by name
Mother
Mother

I dreamt you came into my room
All in the light of afternoon
I thought I saw you standing by
Oh I
I did not think you'd come at all
We wrote our names upon the wall
Then you turned and said goodbye

Mother Mother
Keep me safe from harm
Come into my room tonight
And hold me in your arms
For I am still your shining child
The one you know by name
Mother Mother

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THE WORD IN TEXTS Ken Irwin
Hebrew bible Genesis 14:17-20
Gospel/New Testament Mark 6:1-6 and John: 19:25-27
Contemporary reading ‘Tehanu’ from “Earthsea”series by Ursula K. Le Guin
‘Why do you not hear it [the call], then?’
‘Because I will not!’ Sparrowhawk said fiercely. ‘I was born to power, even as you were. But you and young. You stand on the borders of possibility in the Shadowland, in the Realm of Dream, and you hear the voice saying Come. As I did once. But I am old. I have made my choices, I have done what I must do. I stand in daylight facing my own death. And I know there is only one power worth having. And that is the power, not to take, but to accept. Not to have but to give.’
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.

REFLECTION ‘MUM I HAVE A JOB FOR YOU!’ Ross Scott

HYMN ‘Where Does Compassion Start?’
Words: Shirley Erena Murray Tune: ‘Love Unknown’, 66 66 4444: PAT 45
(A response to the ‘Charter for Compassion’)
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.

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.

Where is compassion's role
in cultures, 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.

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.

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OFFERTORY MUSIC
OFFERING HYMN AA 127 ‘Take my gifts’
Words © 1992 Shirley Erena Murray, (Admin. by Hope Publishing Company)
Music: ©1992 Colin Gibson Hope Publishing Company
Take whatever I can offer--
gifts that I have yet to find,
skills that I am slow to sharpen,
talents of the hand 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.
OFFERING PRAYER
Together:
All that we are, and all that we have, comes from this planet, from God
for we are made from its dust.
So we bring these offerings and ourselves:
to bring restoration to our relationships.
Male to female,
old to young,
nations to nations,
ethnic group to ethnic group,
humanity to the natural world,
and as we do so may we find peace with ourselves and with our God

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 Hong Kong and Macau and the Hong Kong Christian Council. 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 yet find a compassionate response. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name Marja Lubeck and the Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, list MPs. Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Tawa Union 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 AA113 ‘Our Life has its seasons.’
Words: © 1992 Shirley Erena Murray
Music by Colin Gibson © 1992 Hope Publishing Co.

1. Our life has its seasons, and God has the reasons
why spring follows winter, and new leaves grow,
for there’s a connection with our resurrection
that flowers will bud after frost and snow,

so there’s never a time to stop believing,
there’s never a time for hope to die,
there’s never a time to stop loving,
these things go on.

2. But there’s a time to be planting, a time to be plucking,
a time to be laughing, a time to weep,
a time to be building, a time to be breaking,
a time to be waking, a time to sleep,

but there’s never a time……

3. There’s a time to be hurting, a time to be healing,
a time to be saving, a time to spend,
a time to be grieving, a time to be dancing,
a time for beginning, a time to end.

But there’s never a time…

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BLESSING
SUNG AMEN

POSTLUDE ‘Concerto III in C Major’
BWV 594, a transcription by Bach of a Vivaldi concerto