March 4, 2018
WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
Welcome to St Andrew’s on The Terrace
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 here.
GATHERING
We continue the journey
From bondage to freedom, from imprisonment to liberation
We walk the road with trusting faith, some for more years than others
The journey stretches us and is demanding, may we find the courage.
INTROIT COC 22 ‘Gloria’ by Colin Gibson
Sung by the St Andrew’s Singers conducted by Vivien Chiu
PROCESSIONAL HYMN ‘All people that on earth do hear’
Words © 2015 Susan Jones. Music: WOV 10 Old 100th
All people that on earth do hear, this parish has for all these years
Known all the numinous delight of faithful Love, transforming Light
Scots brought their faith to Petone Beach and celebrated Love’s wide reach
From 1840; worship’s been our way to ground Christ in our scene.
And many here found their first faith which morphs as we new meanings make
God has been constant and aloof, weaving in us both warp and woof.
O’er all our worship and our moods, Wairua Tapu always broods
forgiving ill, willing to heal, hosting at each communion meal.
For all who’ve gathered here to pray, for worshippers, and music played
for liturgy and Word preached true, we thank those faithful, brave first few.
Amen
WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
PRAYER and LORD’S PRAYER (3rd of 6 renderings of the Aramaic Lord’s Prayer)
O creative Breath,
ebbing and flowing through all forms,
Free us from all constrictions,
so that the current of thy life
may move in us without hindrance.
Empower us with thy creativity,
and clothe us with royal dignity,
So that, fully at one with the vortex of thy desire,
sacred actions pour forth from us
with each breath we release.
Renew in us this day
our lifebreath, vigour, and passion,
And untie the tangled threads of destiny which bind us,
as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.
Do not let us lose ourselves in distraction,
but by the way of the breath,
lead us into mindfulness.
For from thy depths pour forth
the Way, the Life, and the Splendour,
from age to age, it is so. Ameyn.
By Mark Hathaway and Neil Douglas -Klotz. Used with permission.
See their work on www.taoofliberation.com and wwwabwoon.com
LIGHTING THE RAINBOW ROOM CANDLE
TIME WITH THE CHILDREN Cameron Smart
BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
We send you to the Rainbow Room programme to hear stories, ask questions and have fun together.
We bless you. Amen.
PASSING THE PEACE
Feel free to pass the peace with those nearby or move to greet others further away. Passing the peace consists of shaking hands and saying “Peace be with you.” The response is “Peace be with you” or just “And with you.” Or, simply saying ‘Hello” is a good idea. Also feel free to simply observe if you wish!
THE WORD IN TEXTS Tony Kirby
Gospel Luke 11: 1-4
Contemporary reading
In an interview on the radio program Religion for Life, Lloyd Geering responds to a question about the future of rituals and worship: "We need to celebrate togetherness, and I think the value of congregational worship is that it brings people together to form a community, a unity, a body of people who are sharing the faith they have. ... The other aspect I want to emphasize is that instead of focusing in our minds on some imagined picture of God and heaven ... we need to focus upon the universe itself and upon nature. It's interesting to note that our chief festivals, which were first of all Judaized and then Christianized, actually all began as nature festivals. ... Indeed, in many ways that's what we need to return to, but they won't simply be returning to what they used to be in the ancient world. They'll be doing it in a way which is consistent with how we see the world today."
https://www.westarinstitute.org/blog/tag/lloyd-geering/
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture, for the Word among us,
for the Word within us, We give thanks
REFLECTION Lloyd Geering
HYMN AA137 ‘The Kingdom is within you’
Words and Music © 1993 Cecily Sheehy
Chorus:
The kingdom is within you, the kingdom is within you.
Why do we go searching for the answers of the mighty?
The kingdom is within you, the kingdom is within you.
Like a little seed planted in the ground, let it grow.
I will set my face to the wind, scatter my handful of seed on high.
Needn’t have to worry where the great wind takes it;
seeds will grow where ever they’re planted.
All we need is courage to keep on facing the wind. Chorus
I will set my hand to the plough; don’t look back, it’s too late now.
The fullness of the kingdom is not quite yet,
but the seed of the kingdom is here and now.
Don’t split the seed; be patient, let it grow. Chorus
OFFERING AND OFFERING PRAYER
Response: So may it be 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 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 Wendy Matthews
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Cuba and the Council of Churches of Cuba. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name List MPs Kieran McAnulty and Clayton Mitchell. Here in Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people Waitara - Knox Presbyterian Church.
PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S on card
COMMUNION HYMN AA 158 ‘Who is my mother?’
Words © 1992 Shirley Erena Murray. Music © 1993 Ian Render
Who is my mother? who is my brother?
All those who gather round Jesus Christ
Spirit blown people born from the Gospel
Sit at the table round Jesus Christ
Differently abled differently labelled
Widen the circle round Jesus Christ
Crutches and stigmas cultures' enigmas
All come together round Jesus Christ
Love will relate us colour or status
Can't segregate us round Jesus Christ
Family failings human derailings
All are accepted round Jesus Christ
Bound by one vision met for one mission
We claim each other round Jesus Christ
Here is my mother here is my brother
Kindred in Spirit through Jesus Christ
INVITATION TO COMMUNION
St Andrew’s is an open community and all are invited to Christ’s table.
Wherever you are on your faith's 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.
GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Peace be with you And also with you
Let us this day lift our hearts in joy And give thanks.
Let us give thanks for the continuity of the universe;
for the sun rising day by day, and the moon rising night by night;
for all the life with which we share this planet;
for the interactions and connections that bind us to it,
and the elements of which all is composed. Let us give thanks
And seek to live in harmony with all about us.
Let us give thanks for the flow of human history;
for the events that have shaped and moulded us
and all our sisters and brothers for the ones who question that history;
for the ones who unearth the stories of the vanquished,
the oppressed, the forgotten, the unrecorded. Let us give thanks
And take our place in the human story,
struggling for the unity of humankind.
Let us give thanks for the ones who have provided inspiration and hope;
for prophets and martyrs and poets; thinkers and preachers and healers;
for the ones who have linked thought and action;
for reformers and rebels and strikers. Let us give thanks
And join with them in the quest for justice.
Let us give thanks for all who have revealed or discovered
deep and lasting truths; let us celebrate their lives and deaths, their thoughts and writings, their continuing witness in the world today. Let us give thanks
And share in spreading this prophetic vision.
Today we give thanks for Jesus of Nazareth,
one of the channels by which God was made known to humanity.
On the night that he was betrayed, he feasted with his followers;
took bread, gave thanks and broke it
and gave it to his disciples, saying words like
‘Take this and eat it, broken for you.
Do this whenever you eat it in remembrance of me’.
In the same way, after supper, he took the cup of wine, gave thanks,
and gave it to them, saying words like
‘Drink from it all of you, the wine of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for many.
Do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’
Today we share bread and wine together
as a sign we are one humanity,
as a pledge that we will work for justice,
as a preview of that which can be
despite what is and what has been.
May the Spirit that guides us all be present in this feast,
taking this bread and wine, the concerns that we have expressed
and the lives that we lead,
transforming them all for the unity of all creation
and the service of love.
THE DISTRIBUTION
Communion is served by intinction. Please come to the front and receive bread, or a gluten-free cracker, taking a piece large enough to dip into the wine (silver cup) or grape juice (pottery cup).
One server, in the middle, has a gluten free option
Or, if mobility is difficult, remain seated to be served by the roaming server.
If you don't wish to receive communion, please stay – we’re glad you are here with us.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
The feast is ended and the work of the world lies before us.
Many who work for change suffer resistance.
So make us strong.
Many who do new things sometimes feel afraid.
So make us brave.
Many who challenge the world as it is, arouse anger.
So grant us inner peace.
So may it be
Amen
HYMN ‘A safe stronghold we may seek still’
Words © Oct 2017 Susan Jones
Music: WOV 8 Ein' feste Burg by Martin Luther
A safe stronghold we may seek still; secure and safe, a loving embrace;
We look in different places, will career and fam’ly take God’s place?
we seek a grounded life; an anchor in the strife;
a centre point of calm; hurts healed by holy balm;
Warm welcome at the gate to home.
We unwrap layers from ourselves, the baggage, stress and woundings
to find the Self which lives within where we can make deep soundings;
we find compassion, light; creative, sweet delight;
the heart which helps us thrive; where routine comes alive;
A stronghold sure, in our deepest self.
The energy we draw from there lights beacons which flame living hope
and fuels for all a warm, bright care, pushing back dark so all can cope;
and justice flows free too; compassion springs anew;
for everyone is free; loved always, you and me;
Our common wealth undisputed.
BLESSING AND SUNG AMEN
POSTLUDE March from “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”
Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883)
THANK YOU Peter Franklin
our musician today