October 19, 2020

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

Wilderness Sunday

Today’s service is led by Rev. Ross Scott

GATHERING

We invite the Wilderness to worship with us:

Volcanos and lakes, Ruapehu and Taupo

The deep fiords, the southern Alps.

 

We invite the flora to sing in the sun:

Kōwhai and Nikau Palm

The Totara and Pohutukawa .

 

We join with the fauna of the coast in praising God:

Hectors Dolphin and Fir Seal,

Dotterel and Royal Albatross.

 

We invite the Ancestors of the land to join us in praise:

The song of the Huia, the stomping of the Moa,

The roar of the Cromwell Gorge.

 

We call the ecosystems of nature to celebrate with us,

connecting us with our origin.

Nourishing and sustaining all life on Earth.

 

We celebrate the song of the wilderness!

Sing, Wilderness, sing!

(Adapted. Norman Habel/soc)

Act of Awareness

In all our living, may we be freed

to see things afresh,

to be more fully alive,

and have the courage to keep faith in

the future of the earth.

 

 

 

 

 

PROCESSIONAL HYMN                                                         AA 26 ‘Come to our land’

Words © 1992 Shirley Murray

Music by Colin Gibson, © 1992 Hope Publishing Company

 

1. Come to our land, come to our hearts

Spirit of peace, Spirit of truth

bring in the spring, the hope and the green,

Spirit of growth and Spirit of youth.

 

Chorus    And all our people will sing together:

Wairua Tapu, holy your name,

there’s one great Spirit in all creation,

one great Spirit of God!

 

2. Come to our land, come to our hearts

Spirit of life, breath of new birth,

teach us to care for water and air,

Nourish the seed and cherish the earth,   chorus

 

3. Come to our land, come to our hearts

Spirit of bush, Spirit of bird,

speak to the soul of Aotearoa

joy in your world, and joy in your Word,   chorus

WELCOME 

Kia ora tatou.

Kia ora.

 

PRAYER
Can we take a moment to remember a part of the New Zealand landscape that has been diminished in your life time. Be it a bird, plant or a geographic feature. Think of coast lines, of open space that is not what it used to be.

Prayer of Confession
As we hold memories of what was,
We remember and confess
that we have become alienated from Earth and have witnessed much that has changed.

We also confess that much has been done to restore the damage .
Much has been done to reduce the exploitation of our islands and the planet.

(Silently recount the things you are doing.

Things like:
Replanting of native bush
Preservation of bird life, living without a cat
Increasing our dependency on renewable energy
Driving electric cars
Fencing of rivers and streams
Working towards a predator free New Zealand
Reducing international travel
Clearing invasive species
Reducing our personal carbon foot print.
Reducing plastic use.
Increasing the use of natural fibres)

And the list goes on
Our love and respect for the planet is increasing

We confess the good we are doing to restore the planet and we recognise a lot more needs to be done.

We commit to God and to the planet to do better.

Absolution
Christ, teach me to increase my love for Planet and see the Planet as my home.
I speak for Christ:
I invite you to come home to the planet by rejoicing in the Wilderness.
Shalom! Shalom!
We are coming home!
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

PASSING THE PEACE
Traditionally we shake hands to pass the peace and say “peace be with you. Now that Covid is here
we ask that you pass the peace without shaking hands.

HYMN ‘Climate is Warming’
Words: © 2009 George Stuart
Music: NSW: Toronto. G Stuart, Tune “The Ash Grove” SNS2 44(v1-3)

1. As climate is warming
will bees keep on swarming ,
if we just continue to damage the earth?
Will birds and sea-creatures,
with beautiful features,
forever be lost by denying their worth?
Will trees and each flower,
succumb to the power,
of poisons and toxins we put in the air?
As ice-caps diminish,
a sign of the finish,
we must meet this crisis and show that we care.

2. If we start to measure
some things that we treasure,
it may cause us anguish to let these things go.
For comfort and leisure,
our life-style and pleasure,
we claim we have earned and don't wish to forgo;
but we can all ponder
and face what we squander,
then start to make change in the way that we live.
We can curb excesses,
each harms and oppresses
the poor and the weak; we take what they don't give.

3. To greenhouse emissions
we make our additions
and by them we foster some possible gloom.
But with perseverance
we can make a diff’rence;
we can work to limit the fuel we consume.e
We'll tell each law-maker
that every green acre,
is ours to look after and not to destroy.
God's bounty possessing,
we're stewards of blessing;
we meet our commitment with challenging joy.
4. With nature so fragile,
yet dazzling and fertile,
we ponder its beauty, its charm and its grace.
Evolving triumphant,
with life so abundant,
confounded we are with so much to embrace.
Yet these green-house gases
pollute in their masses;
we need to decrease them; we know that we should!
When nature is bleeding,
we hear urgent pleading
to change our behaviour; we know how we could!

5. If we stop this warming,
then bees will keep swarming
and sweetness of honey remains for our taste.
Then birds and sea creatures
and hills and sea beaches,
will stay in their magic, unharmed by our waste.
The charm every hour
of trees and each flower,
will bring us to silence in wonder and awe.
With God so surrounding
in beauty astounding,
we kneel in God's presence to praise and adore.

INTRODUCTION TO THE WILDERNESS

THE WORD IN TEXTS John Morgan

Hebrew Bible Joel 1:8–10, 17–20

Epistle Letter to the Romans 8:18–27

Gospel Matthew 4:1-11

Contemporary reading Come of Age.
The case for Eldership in a time of Trouble
From Stephen Jenkinson. 2018 page 172

‘The wild is sustained by our willingness not to go there, or live there, or plunder the place, or imagine it as a natural resource. We could do so, and we do, but the reciprocity of the covenant bits not to, and continuing to do so finally will compromise our capacity to be cultured humans more than it will compromise the wild, as we may now be seeing.’

RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
REFLECTION ‘A young mans initiation in the wilderness.’ Rev. Ross Scott
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

Let us centre our minds and our hearts.
All: We are one with the universe.
We are one with the sun and the stars.
We are one with the land and the seas.
We are one with the One who is mystery…
(Silence)
We are one with the Flora of the sea and land
We are one with the crops of the fields and trees of the rainforest
We are one with the Fauna of the sea and land
We are one with the animals of our farms and the microbes of our bodies
We are one with the One who is mystery…
(Silence)
OFFERING PRAYER
All that we are and all that we have is an expression of God’s love, it is a gift from the planet.
and so we offer this money and this produce, along with our love in action for our neighbour and the whole of creation as a gift of appreciation.
May they bring hope and restoration.
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 not already in the order of service, 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 Maxine Cunningham
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Burundi and the the National Council of Churches of Burundi. We remember the detainees of Manus and Nauru Islands, yearning that their cases be resolved. In New Zealand, we remember those who work this election season; candidates, members of political parties and voters. Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of St Anselm's Union Church, Karori.
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 ‘I am Your Mother’ (Earth Prayer)
Words and Music: © 1996 Hope Publishing Company
Words: Shirley Erena Murray Tune: Bunessan WOV 91
1. I am your mother: do not neglect me!
Children, protect me - I need your trust;
my breath is your breath,
my death is your death,
ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

2. I am your nurture: do not destroy me!
Love and enjoy me, savour my fruit;
my good is your good,
my food is your food,
water and flower, branches and root.

3. I am your lodging: do not abuse me!
Tenderly use me, soothing my scars
my health is your health,
my wealth is your wealth,
Shining with promise, set among stars.

4. God is our maker : do not deny God,
Challenge, defy God, threaten this place:
life is to cherish –
care, or we perish!
I am your mother, tears on my face. . . .
BENEDICTION
As a chef gathers ingredients
As a gardener gathers seed
As a poet gathers images
As a musician gathers instrument
As a scholar gathers arguments
As a writer gathers stories
As a preacher gathers text
So God gathers people for service
BLESSING
SUNG AMEN