December 6, 2020

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

GATHERING

We gather here today,

each from our own homes and families, work and lives,

bringing fresh experiences, old troubles and future excitements.

Some have come quietly and thoughtfully,

some wondering or weary,

Some happy and glad

to be with each other, to share who we are and to open to

what may become.

We have travelled on different tracks,

wandered far and near,

but choose to be together here,

to walk together a wise and ancient path,

a way of truth and life.

 

PROCESSIONAL HYMN COC 30 (i) ‘Look toward Christmas’
Words © Shirley Erena Murray, Music © Jillian Bray 1996 (3 verses)

1. Look toward Christmas!
Advent is here:
welcome December
changing the year,
whistle up, shepherds!
saddle up, kings!
chorus up, angels,
flexing your wings.

Refrain: Sing, sing alleluia! Sing, sing alleluia!
Sing, sing out the Story,
sing about hope and peace!

2. Set the world singing,
make the world glad!
Now is the reason
not to feel sad,
hear John the Baptist
shout to prepare:
Good News is coming,
earth, be aware.
Refrain
3. Mary and Joseph
soon is the day,
ready the donkey,
start on your way:
you are the chosen,
willing to trust,
joyful your burden
carrying Christ.
Refrain

WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
CWS ADVENT CANDLE LIGHTING Janet Newdick
PRAYER
Spirit of love,
we hear within our hearts your call to us.
In our longing for the profound realities of life,
and our wonder at the beauty around us,
we know your nearness.
Through our experiences of love
and in our yearning for what is good and true
we feel your presence.

There are times we have been distracted by the pull of other voices
and been drawn away from
the direction we truly want go.
In the wildernesses of our lives we have become disorientated
and lost our sense of purpose and direction.
Sometimes we have acted hastily,
returning to well worn paths
of doubt and fear.
But we have had adventures too,
times of exploration and learning
as we risked walking on unknown ground
and down beckoning alleyways
to places new.
Our wandering has led us to fresh horizons
and unplanned experiences,
opening our minds
and expanding our consciousness.

Be with us in the busyness of this Advent season,
that we may hear your voice
resonating richly within us,
creating each day, a way to walk.

May we be led to places of refreshment and healing
as we dip our toes cautiously, or plunge boldly
into the joyful flow of life
and the sparkling pools of shared wisdom,
present in this place.
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
CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PLAY

HYMN COC 8 ‘Child of Christmas story’
Words: © 1992 Shirley Erena Murray, Hope Publishing Company
Music © 1992 Richard Madden

1. Child of Christmas story,
stable straw and star,
small and sweet and gentle,
tell us who you are.

2. Child whose baby finger
round our own is curled,
come to melt our hearts,
and come to change the world.
3. Child of Jew and gentile,
child of white and black,
teach us how to love you,
teach us what we lack.

4. Child of Mary's courage,
birthed in human pain,
tell us what your name is,
be our hope again.

BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
We give thanks for the life and energy you bring to our community.
May each of your Christmases be filled with fun, happy times with your whānau, good food and presents.
We bless you. Amen.
THE WORD IN TEXTS Hamish Dick and Liz Weinberg
Gospel Mark 1:1-8 NLT
CONTEMPORARY READING “Blessing the Way”
by Jan Richardson

With every step
you take,
this blessing rises up
to meet you.

It has been waiting
long ages for you.

Look close
and you can see
the layers of it,

how it has been fashioned
by those who walked
this road before you,

how it has been created
of nothing but
their determination
and their dreaming,

how it has taken
its form
from an ancient hope
that drew them forward
and made a way for them
when no way could be
seen.

Look closer
and you will see
this blessing
is not finished,

that you are part
of the path
it is preparing,

that you are how
this blessing means
to be a voice
within the wilderness

and a welcome
for the way.

RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
INTRODUCTION TO REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY
WELCOMING MICHAEL PARKER
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.
INVITATION TO COMMUNION
St Andrew’s is an open community and all are invited to Christ’s table.
Wherever you are on your faith journey, wherever you have come from and wherever you are going to, whatever you believe, whatever you do not believe, you are welcome to participate in the communion. This is God’s meal for all people.
COMMUNION HYMN COC 48 ‘Where is the room?’
Words ©Shirley Erena Murray Music ©David Dell 1993 AA154

1. Where is the room,
where is the house of Christmas?
Where shall we welcome Jesus,
where are the signs of home?
Where are the signs of home?

2. Let Christ have space,
place at the heart of living,
centre for birth's new breathing,
cradle for hope and peace,
cradle for hope and peace.

3. Let there be room,
room for the friend and stranger,
room without hurt or anger,
room for whoever come,
room for whoever come.

4. Let love be here,
love from the Christmas stable,
love at our open table,
love to be shared all year,
love to be shared all year.

COMMUNION LITURGY

Communion is served by intinction. You are invited to come to the front of the church and receive the bread, or a gluten-free cracker, taking a piece large enough to dip into the wine (silver cup) or grape juice (pottery cup). Eat the bread dipped in wine or juice.
Or, remain in your seat to be served if mobility is difficult. If you don't wish to receive communion, please remain in your seat – we’re glad you are here with us.

Opening responses:

In this waiting season – in a time between times when hope seems distant
we gather to remember one
who called out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way.”
In this waiting season– in a time between times
when living seems restricted.
we gather to remember one
who embraced constraint while waiting for birth.
In this waiting season– in a time between times
when joy seems curtailed,
we gather to remember one
who shared a feast while waiting for death.

Approach:

Emmanuel,
God with us in the past,
as we recount your story
teach us that waiting
is not dead time but a dreaming time through which new ideas and
insights are engendered.
Emmanuel,
God with us in the present,
as we share your supper
teach us that waiting
is not lost time but a liminal time
within which new possibilities and patterns take form.
Emmanuel,
God with us in the future,
as we celebrate your Vision,
teach us that waiting
is not quiescent time but a quickening time
from which new life and love emerges.
Emmanuel,
God with us in all time,
as we look for your coming
teach us how to inhabit this waiting time.
Confession:
Emmanuel
through your Presence you have shown us
what it is to live imaginatively, love expansively and act creatively.
We confess that sometimes we have waited without thought
and so have stifled fruitful possibility ...
silence
We confess that sometimes we have waited without generosity
and so have constricted fruitful connection ...
silence
We confess that sometimes we have waited without hope
and so have limited fruitful action ...
silence
We confess that sometimes we have simply been
too busy or too distracted to wait and so have missed your moment ...
silence
And so as we look once more for you,
forgive the poverty of our waiting,
touch our dreaming, stretch our living and energise our acting that we may be ready for your coming.
Invitation:
This is the table of Emmanuel –
a place where bread and wine remind us how to live and love
as those who inhabit God’s time,
and work to build a peaceful world.
A place where we recognise that the one for whom we wait is also the one who is already, and always,
here with us.
So come
whether you are watching for the dawn, or dreading first light, whether you are waiting with hope, or hiding your face,
come with quiet confidence
because here
it is Emmanuel who watches
for our coming,
and who waits with love and joy
to welcome us in.
Communion narrative:
The story of Emmanuel
is the story of God –
waiting to inhabit time, and lived among us,
so that we might re-imagine life.
It is the story of Jesus –
waiting to be betrayed,
who shared supper with his friends blessing and breaking bread (bread is broken)
and pouring and sharing wine (wine is poured)
so that we might re-imagine love.
It is the story of one
who knows what it is to wait,
and who shows us what it is to wait well.
Thanksgiving:
And so, taking this bread and wine,
we remember and celebrate the waiting
which began to change the world;
and we join our voices
with all who still wait and work
for that change to come to completion:
The sharing of the gifts:
Bread and wine are shared.
Closing words:
May the peace of Emmanuel,
the dynamic peace of imaginative dreaming, the challenging peace of radical loving,
the powerful peace of engaged action,
fill you to overflowing
in this season of waiting.
Pat Bennett (Adapted)
OFFERING PRAYER (said together)

As we have shared these gifts of bread and wine so we share what we have been given with others, money, energy and time. May these sustain and encourage those who journey on rough roads this Advent. 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 Cameron Smart
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of China and the China Christian Council. We remember the detainees of Manus and Nauru Islands, yearning that their cases be resolved. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name David Seymour (Epsom) and Dr Gaurav Sharma (Hamilton West). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Marton.

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 COC29 ‘Light of lights beholden’
Words and Music © Jenny McLeod 1983 AA89 (2 verses)

1. Light of lights beholden
we from days of olden
sang this song
for to understand
that peace upon this planet
was pledged to come.
Each to other, sister, brother,
born for life and song,

2. Darkness all around us,
light has always found us,
light will come
where the dark is deepest,
greater light will keep us
safe from harm.
Troubled times will always find
a voice of troubled doom,

Chorus - look towards the light and carry on:
let the simple heart and hope among us
keep our family strong,
let the simple heart and hope among us
keep our family strong.
BLESSING

Bless to us, O God, the road that is before us.
Bless to us, O God, the friends who are around us.
Bless to us, O God, your love which is within us.
Bless to us, O God, your light which leads us home.
SUNG AMEN

POSTLUDE Chorale Prelude on "How brightly shines the morning star”
by Dietrich Buxtehude (1637 - (1707)