October 24, 2021

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

PRELUDE                                                               Movements from Magnificat Suite

by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (French contemporary of Bach)

 

CALL TO WORSHIP                                                                          Elizabeth Weinberg

Let us pray…

 

Dear Lord

 

Beautiful is the day when the sun beams down, warms our skin and unfurls the newest flower.

Beautiful is the day when the raindrops fall hard on our rooftops, sharing with us a new rhythm, and filling the farmers with joy.

 

Dear Lord

 

Beautiful is the day when the winds rise up, carrying birdsong across the tree tops, and proving to us nature knows how to dance.

Beautiful is the day when it is safe to gather together, share in fellowship, and build community.

 

Dear Lord

 

Whatever should greet us—

the sun and the flower

the rain and its rhythm

the wind and its dance

togetherness and fellowship

—today is a new day. And it is beautiful.

Amen. ”

 

SILENCE

Let us celebrate life in the presence we name God

PROCESSIONAL HYMN                                                       FFS 47 ‘Maker of Mystery’

Words: Marnie Barrell.  Tune:  Down Ampney WOV 310

1. Maker of mystery,

dreamer of what will be,

well-spring and fertile ground of all our growing:
tending the buried seed,
foreseeing every need,
you draw us into life beyond our knowing.

 

2. Christ, strong and living vine,

spreading through space and time,
deep rooted in the love of God our mother:
dying, you live and share
your strength with us, to bear
ripe fruit in season for the life of others.

 

3. Wild Spirit, springing green,

coiled in the depths unseen,
promise of fruit within the seed maturing:
new life, you grow and swell,
burst from the outgrown shell,
hundredfold yield in every age ensuring.

 

4. Living and loving God,

sing in the pulse of our blood,
help us to know you in your own creation,
love you, the life of all,
serve you and hear your call
from our first forming to our full salvation.

WELCOME

E te whānau o Te Karaiti

Ngā mihi aroha ki a tatou katoa.

Kia ora!

 

PRAYER Heather-Rose

THE LORD’S PRAYER IN TE REO MĀORI

E tō mātou Matua i te rangi
Our Parent in heaven
Kia tapu tōu ingoa.
Your name is holy
Kia tae mai tōu rangatiratanga.
May your Leadership arrive here
Kia meatia tāu e pai ai
Your will be done
ki runga ki te whenua,
On Earth
kia rite anō ki to te rangi.
As in heaven
Homai ki a mātou āianei
Give us today
he taro mā mātou mō tēnei rā.
Food for this day
Murua o mātou hara
Forgive our sins
me mātou hoki e muru nei
As we also forgive
i o te hunga e hara ana ki a mātou.
Those who sin against us
Aua hoki mātou e kawea
kia whakawaia;
Carry us away from all that seduces us
Engari whakaorangia mātou i te kino:
Save us from evil
Nōu hoki te rangatiratanga,
te kaha, me te korōria,
Yours is the leadership, the power
and the glory
Ake, ake, ake. Amine

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LIGHTING THE RAINBOW CANDLE
TIME WITH CHILDREN Rosemary Lawrence
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.
INTRODUCTION TO HYMN Pat Booth

HYMN ‘I feel the winds of God today’
Words: Jessie Adams (1863-1954)
Tune: Petersham CH3 528
1. I feel the winds of God today;
today my sail I lift,
though heavy oft with drenching spray
and torn with many a rift:
if hope but light the water’s crest
and Christ my barque will use,
I’ll seek the seas at his behest
and brave another cruise.

2. It is the wind of God that dries
my vain regretful tears,
until with braver thoughts shall rise
the purer, brighter years;
if cast on shores of selfish ease
or pleasure I should be,
O let me feel your freshening breeze
And I’ll put back to sea.

3. If ever I forget your love
and how that love was shown,
lift high the unfurled flag above;
it bears your name alone.
Great pilot of my onward way,
you will not let me drift;
I feel the winds of God today;
today my sail I lift.

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THE WORD IN TEXTS John Harper
Hebrew Bible Psalm 126 NRSV
A Harvest of Joy
A Song of Ascents.
1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
3 The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.

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REFLECTION “What seed shall we sow?” Fiona McDougal
OFFERTORY MUSIC Movement from Magnificat Suite
by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault

OFFERING HYMN AA 127 ‘Take my gifts’
Words © 1992 Shirley Erena Murray, (Admin. by Hope Publishing Company)
Music: ©1992 Colin Gibson Hope Publishing Co.
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
All that we have and are we return to you.
Our gifts our skills, our energy. our love.
And as token of that offering
receive now this money and this food,
to be used for the work of peace and justice in our world.
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 Ken Irwin
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Kiribati and Nauru and the Kiribati Protestant Church. 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 Steph Lewis (Whanganui), Anna Lorck (Tukituki). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Westmere Memorial Church, Whanganui.

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 FFS 24 ‘God in the Darkness’
Words © 1997 Elizabeth J Smith Music Tune Christe Sanctorum WOV 2 vs x 3
Reprinted with permission under One License A-623996. All rights reserved

1. God in the darkness, God beyond our knowing,
patient creator, seed in secret growing,
rock of the living water ever flowing:
come and renew us.

2. God in the darkness, God in all our grieving,
friend of our tears, companion never leaving,
drawing us past the limits of believing:
come and renew us.

3. God in the darkness, God of holy dreaming,
giver of hope, and pledge of our redeeming,
Spirit of truth, our memory and meaning;
come and renew us.

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BLESSING Elizabeth Weinberg
As we leave here today, may we be intentional about sowing seeds of kindness, care, and compassion to ourselves and towards one another, so when we pass a garden filled with joyful people, we can nod, knowing we were a part of its creation because we were part of its planting. Amen.
SUNG AMEN
POSTLUDE Plein jeu; Caprice sur les grands jeux
from Magnificat Suite, by Clérambault