September 5, 2021
WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
Today’s service is led by Wendy and Andrew Matthews
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to this Zoom Service.
Andrew and I will be leading this first service in the month where we celebrate Creation.
Gathering
We enter the month of Creation Sundays
Celebrating the land, the oceans, mountains and creatures.
We ponder in awe the complexity of this planet.
Let us not stop at simple admiration
But learn to limit our use of Earth’s resources
May this bright blue teardrop, hanging in vast heavens
Always pulse freely with life and love.
Hymn: As the Wind Song Through the Trees HIOS 7 (2 verses)
Music: Swee Hong Lin,
Words: Shirley Erena Murray
1. As the wind song through the trees,
as the stirring of the breeze,
so it is with the Spirit of God,
as the heart made strangely warm,
as the voice within the storm,
so it is with the Spirit of God.
Never seen, ever known
where this wind has blown
bringing life, bringing power to the world,
as the dancing tongues of fire,
as the soul’s most deep desire,
so it is with the Spirit of God.
2. As the rainbow after rain,
as the hope that’s born again,
so it is with the Spirit of God,
as the green in the spring,
as a kite on a string,
so it is with the Spirit of God,
making worlds that are new,
making peace come true,
bringing gifts, bringing love to the world,
as the rising of the yeast,
as the wine at the feast,
so it is with the Spirit of God.
Prayer: by Anne Hillman
We are all on a journey together…….
To the centre of the universe ……
Look deep
Into yourself, into another.
It is to a centre which is everywhere
That is the holy journey …
First you need only look:
Notice and honour the radiance of
Everything about you ……
Play in this universe. Tend
All these shining things around you:
The smallest plant, the creatures and
Objects in your care.
Be gentle and nurture. Listen …..
As we experience and accept
All that we really are ….
We grow in care.
We begin to embrace others
As ourselves, and learn to live
As one among many …
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.
Time for the children: Frank Cook
The Word in texts: Valerie Rhodes
The Beginning Genesis: 1: 1- 10
(Words are printed on the last page)
Contemporary Reading:
God of the Absurd
Joy Cowley, Aotearoa Psalms
For the Word in scripture
For the Word around us
For the Word within us,
We give thanks.
Reflection: Planet Earth Sunday
Andrew Matthews
Music for Reflection Peter Franklin
Prayers of the People: Ken Irwin
Circle of Prayer
We think today of the people of Israel and Jewish people throughout the world. 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 Maureen Pugh and Dr Shane Reti, list MPs. Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of - Knox Presbyterian Church, Waitara.
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: Come to our land AA26:
(3 verses) Shirley Erene Murray
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.
Refrain:
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!
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,
Refrain
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,
Refrain
Blessing:
As the koru unfurls
From tight ball to arching frond
Let your spirit expand into the God of life.
May the love of Christ ground you
For it is love that surrounds us
For love lies at the heart of the universe.
Go in peace
Serving Christ and loving Earth. Amen.
Optional page for printing
Words to the readings–
The Beginning Genesis: 1: 1- 10
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,”
and there was light.
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”
And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.”
So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.
God called the vault “sky.”
And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.”
And it was so.
God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.”
And God saw that it was good.
Contemporary Reading:
God of the Absurd
Joy Cowley, Aotearoa Psalms
God of the absurd,
Creator of the feeding of pelicans,
The flight of pukeko,
The departing of baboons,
The singing of peacocks
And the hurrying of camels,
God of everything quaint, funny, incongruous,
You are the God who made me
And knows me through and through.
No one better than you
Understands the contradictions
Of the sublime and the ridiculous
That is me. So,
When I am experiencing the tension
Of opposites, and am buried deep
In self-examination, please stop me
From taking myself too seriously.
Tune my ear to the laughter
Of your Universe,
And help me to understand it
As my own.
For the Word in scripture
For the Word around us
For the Word within us,
We give thanks.
THANK YOU
THANK YOU Peter Franklin
our musician today