March 21, 2021

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

GATHERING

Life is a process of growth and development.

We continue to grow and to learn, or we begin to die!

These are the choices.

There is no middle ground.

In worship we can become aware of the areas of our lives

where growth is needed.

At the same time we draw from others

the help and insights we need to keep growing         

and we share with them our gifts and strengths

they need for their growth.

May our worship keep us alive, flexible

and ready for new possibilities and opportunities.

Let us worship in the presence of the One we name God.

 

PROCESSIONAL HYMN FFS 32 ‘God who sets us on a journey’
Words: Joy Dine (1937 – 2001) © Revd Mervyn Dine. Reproduced with permission;
Music: WOV 165(ii) Blaenwern

1. God who sets us on a journey
to discover, dream, and grow,
lead us as you led your people
in the desert long ago;
journey inward, journey outward,
stir the spirit, stretch the mind,
love for God and self and neighbour
marks the way that Christ defined.

2. Exploration brings new insights,
changes, choices we must face;
give us wisdom in deciding,
mindful always of your grace;
should we stumble, lose our bearings,
find it hard to know what’s right,
we regain our true direction
focused on the Jesus light.

3. End our longing for the old days,
grant the vision that we lack –
once we’ve started on this journey
there can be no turning back;
let us travel light, discarding
excess baggage from our past,
cherish only what’s essential,
choosing treasure that will last.

4. When we set up camp and settle
to avoid love’s risk and pain,
you disturb complacent comfort,
pull the tent pegs up again;
keep us travelling in the knowledge
you are always at our side;
give us courage for the journey,
Christ our goal and Christ our guide.

WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
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 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 is here
we ask that you pass the peace without shaking hands.
HYMN AA 59 ‘He came singing love’
Music and Words Colin Gibson © 1994 Hope Publishing

1. He came singing love
and he lived singing love;
he died, singing love
He arose in silence.
For the love to go on
we must make it our song;
you and I be the singers.

2. He came singing faith
and he lived singing faith;
he died, singing faith.
He arose in silence.
For the faith to go on
we must make it our song;
you and I be the singers.

3. He came singing hope
and he lived singing hope;
he died, singing hope.
He arose in silence.
For the hope to go on
we must make it our song;
you and I be the singers.

4. He came singing peace
and he lived singing peace;
he died, singing peace.
He arose in silence.
For the peace to go on
we must make it our song;
you and I be the singers.

THE WORD IN TEXTS Rosemary Lawrence

Mark 15: 21-39
The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus

Mark 16: 1-8
The Resurrection of Jesus

RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
REFLECTION Jim Cunningham
The Last Week: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
HYMN FOR LENT HIOS 8 ‘Autumn comes in all its fullness’
Words and Music: William L. Wallace Arr: Barry Brinson
© New Zealand hymnbook trust 2009, 3 verses
Reprinted with permission under One License A-623996. All rights reserved

1. Autumn comes in all its fullness
harvesting both land and hearts.
Autumn has its birth in winter
in the stillness where life starts.

Refrain: Every death brings hope of birthing,
every birth enfolds life’s end,
for the seasons of our living
mirror patterns nature penned.

2. Autumn gives us time for choosing
seeds which bear the richest fruits,
fragile life which we can nurture
into just or vain pursuits. Refrain

3. Buried in autumnal endings
lies the shoot that bursts the tomb,
for the letting go in autumn
sows the seed that births the bloom. Refrain
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.

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 Ellen Murray
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Egypt and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt. 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 Naisi Chen and Karen Chhour, list MPs. Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Otaki Waikanae Presbyterian Parish.
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 ‘A body broken on a cross’
Words: Brian Wren © 1989 Hope Publishing Company
Tune: Melita WOV74
1. A body, broken on a cross,
with watching women’s helpless grief,
and men in heedless, headlong flight,
through fear, despair or disbelief —
in this, though still we find it strange,
are life, and hope, and power to change.

2. A people weaponless and weak,
not many wealthy, great or wise,
but women, laborers and slaves,
absurd to Greek and Roman eyes,
their Caesar’s rages could forgive,
out-die, out-suffer, and out-live.

3. And still today, abroad, at home,
from suburb or from shanty-town,
the Spirit’s new, surprising word,
in ours or other faiths, or none,
our sad routines will disarrange
with gospel-hope of power to change.

4. When disillusion chains our feet
and might and money turn to dust,
when exile, desert or defeat
have left us nothing else to trust,
at last our spirit understands
the strength of peaceful,
nail-scarred hands.

5. A nation drifting in decline
can turn to just and loving ways,
and people empty, bruised, ashamed,
can find rebirth to joy and praise,
and churches, wakened, can exchange
a huddled death for power to change.

BLESSING
SUNG AMEN
POSTLUDE “Minuet” from “Music for the Royal Fireworks”
by G.F. Handel (1685-1759)