July 18, 2021

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

ORGAN PRELUDE

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

We come to re-weave the unravelling fabric of community,
To re-connect once more with the larger human family,
To find once more that place of calm.
To remind ourselves that we belong.
And to remember what it is we belong to.

 

SILENCE –preparing to worship.

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Let us celebrate life in the presence we name God

PROCESSIONAL HYMN                                                                         ‘Now Be Aware’

Words © 1965 Iris McCoy, Tune: Mit Freuden Zart, public domain , Sing a New Song 27

 

1. Now be aware, and glory in

this fellowship with others.

That learns to give and take with grace:

where there is life it gathers.

It deepens joy, it eases strain,

it heartens those who live with pain.

Each strengthens each, together.

 

2. The wordless touch where sorrow is.

The sharing of a vict’ry:

the flash of mind when insight leaps

to truth, provoked by query.

The freedom of our fellowship

accepts us as we are, and this

is God’s own gift of liberty.

 

 

3. Now be aware that hearts and hands

and minds are rich when sharing:

for here within this fellowship

the strength of God is growing.

Now life has reason, love has powers

beyond our own, for into ours

the love of God is flowing.

WELCOME 

Kia ora tatou.

Kia ora.

 

 

INTERLUDE 1
GATHERING
We are called as a community of faith,
a supportive community,
in which we love into being
new possibilities for one another,
calling out of each other
the best we have to offer.
In doing so we follow the pattern of Jesus,
who accepts us as we are,
while drawing us on to realise what we could be.
In worship we build the community
where the fostering of new possibilities
can come to birth and grow.
PRAYER
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 Jim Cunningham
BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
Children you may return to sit with your family or find some do activities to do from the cupboard at the back of the church.
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.

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INTERLUDE 2
THE WORD IN TEXTS Valerie Rhodes
Hebrew Bible Exodus 20: 2-17
The Decalogue – 10 Commandments
Metrical Psalm 139 (sung) Words: Ian Pitt-Watson
Music: WOV 182 Sursum Corda
1. Thou art before me, Lord, thou art behind,
and thou above me hast spread out thy hand;
such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too high to grasp, too great to understand.

2. Then whither from thy Spirit shall I go,
and whither from thy presence shall I flee?
If I ascend to heaven thou art there,
and in the lowest depths I meet with thee.

3. If I should take my flight into the dawn,
if I should dwell on ocean’s farthest shore,
thy mighty hand would rest upon me still,
and thy right hand would guard me evermore.

4. If I should say “Darkness will cover me,
and I shall hide within the veil of night”,
surely the darkness is not dark to thee,
the night is as the day, the darkness light.

5. Search me, O God, search me and know my heart,
try me, O God, my mind and spirit try;
keep me from any path that gives thee pain,
and lead me in the everlasting way.
Gospel Luke 14: 1-6
Contemporary reading “Christpower”
by John Shelby Spong.
Jesus for the Non-religious/292
Look at him!

Look not at his divinity,
but look, rather, at his freedom.
Look not at the exaggerated tales of his power,
but look, rather, at his infinite capacity to give himself away.
Look not at the first-century mythology that surrounds him,
but look, rather, at his courage to be,
his ability to live, and
the contagious quality of his love.

Stop your frantic search!
Be still and know that this is God:
this love,
this freedom,
this life,
this being;

And
when you are accepted, accept yourself;
when you are forgiven, forgive yourself;
when you are loved, love yourself.
Grasp that Christpower
and dare to be yourself!

That is, I believe, the pathway to God,
the God whom I have encountered in the
profoundly human Jesus.
Shalom!
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture and story
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
REFLECTION ‘Who is this Jesus?’ Jim Cunningham
HYMN ‘Who is this man?’
Author: Mary Pearson
Music: Londonderry Air (Trad) CH4 729

1. 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?

2. 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 for every race,
who showed to each the courage of their nature
to care and tend each lonely and each suffering face?

3. Who is this man who spoke to men of gentleness,
showed them all the children at his side;
who taught of love and justice for all people,
who 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.

4. 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.

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INTERLUDE 3

OFFERTORY MUSIC
OFFERING HYMN Tune: Duke Street WOV 24
Willing hands, to lead the blind,
heal the wounded, feed the poor.
Love embracing all our kind,
charity with liberal store.
OFFERING PRAYER
Wairua Tapu, Creative Spirit,
as we bring our gifts,
koha of hand and heart,
inspire us to bring to life
our vision of manu whenua
where everyone is valued and understood;
where the gifts of the Spirit bud and flower
and bear the Spirit’s fruit. 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 Hungary and the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary. 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 Hon Judith Collins (Papakura), Hon Kelvin Davis (Te Tai Tokerau). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of St Timothy's Presbyterian Church, Titahi Bay.
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

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INTERLUDE 4

CALL TO SERVICE
You are sent in the daring of God,
to bless the world with JUSTICE.
You are sent in the intent of God,
to bless the world with PROMISE.
You are sent in the longing of God,
to bless the world with HOPE.
You are sent in the love of God,
to bless the world with GOOD NEWS.
You are sent in the reign of peace,
to bless the world with SHALOM.
HYMN CH4 198 ‘All are Welcome’
Words and music: Marty Haugen
Reprinted with permission under One License A-623996. All rights reserved

1. Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live;
a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive,
built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions: All are welcome in this place.

2. Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus: All are welcome in this place.

3. Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine and wheat:
a banquet hall on holy ground, where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space,
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us: All are welcome in this place.

4. Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;
Let us bring an end to fear and danger: All are welcome in this place.

5. Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard
and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace;
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter: All are welcome in this place.
BLESSING
SUNG AMEN
POSTLUDE Fugue in D Major BWV 532
by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)