October 14, 2018
WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
GATHERING
Whatever the language, Love is the word which binds us to each other
Whatever language we know, Love is the context in which we gather
However we name it, Love is what holds us together
However we may seek to hide, Love searches until we are found
Love conquers all
And the truth will set us free
So may it be
AMEN
PROCESSIONAL HYMN ‘Celebrate the Life we’re given’
Words © 2015, 2017, Susan Jones, Tune WOV 577 Austria
Celebrate the Life we’re given
Grace on grace, where love abounds
Celebrate the world around us
Blue and green, where birdsong sounds
Celebrate sun’s rise and setting
‘cross the harbour, over hills
Everything reflects its making
Beauty, love, joy; each heart fills.
We choose to live lives of meaning
even when the sky turns grey.
We choose to continue journeying
Cis and trans, bi, straight and gay.
We choose wrestling doubt or danger,
Trials may shadow, haunt our way.
But we know that we’re companioned,
Love walks with us, every day.
WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
PRAYER
Litany used at the 2018 Presbyterian General Assembly
Thursday 4 October 2018 – prepared by Rev Dr Kerry Enright
Based on Ephesians 2:13 -3: 2
Great God of all, when the British troops crossed the Mangatawhiri River
to subdue the Waikato iwi, our nation was divided in two.
Christ, forgive and unite.
When the colonial government confiscated the land of tangata whenua
including those whose guardianship it had promised to respect, our nation
was divided in two.
Christ, forgive and unite.
When the police arrested Rua Kenana and government troops invaded the
peace-making community of Parihaka, our nation was divided in two.
Christ, forgive and unite.
When the homes of Pacific peoples were raided at dawn from the 1970s to
the 1980s, our nation was divided in two.
Christ, forgive and unite.
When the government imposed a poll tax on Chinese arriving in New
Zealand, discouraging settlement, our nation was divided in two.
Christ, forgive and unite.
When women are not paid equally or treated justly or their lives made safe
or their gifts valued, our nation is divided in two.
Christ, forgive and unite.
When the government reduced benefits in 1991, the gap between rich and
poor widened overnight and remains today, our nation divided in two.
Christ, forgive and unite.
When our nation fails to overcome child poverty and reduce imprisonment
rates and improve the educational outcomes for all people, our nation is
divided.
Christ, forgive and unite.
When our church reflects the divisions of our nation, our church is divided.
Christ, forgive and unite.
Silence …
“That Christ might create in himself one new humanity … we pray, come
Lord Jesus, come, come soon, come now, come here, flood our hearts and
spirits with love and compassion.
Amen
JESUS PRAYER Jim Cotter paraphrase on card
LIGHTING THE RAINBOW ROOM CANDLE
TIME WITH CHILDREN Sue McRae
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 Valerie Rhodes
Hebrew Bible Genesis 32: 22-32
Gospel Luke 5: 1-11
Contemporary reading From Spirituality Today: Reclaiming the Buried Life
by David Tacey, La Trobe University, addressing
National Council of Priests of Australia, Parramatta NSW July 14th 2010
https://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2011/09/spirituality-today-reclaiming-the-buried-life-david-treacy/
These are spiritual dark ages, and a new style of religion has to be found. The task of religion is far more difficult today: it has to lead people within themselves, into their heart lives, to find that part of them that is capable of developing faith. The head or intellect has pushed faith away, with its belief that it can get on well without it. The role of religion in dark times is to draw faith out from people, and not instil it into them, from above. This involves us in the art or science of spiritual education, noting that ‘education’ derives from the Latin educare, meaning to lead out or draw forth. This is how religion needs to be conducted today, if it is to make sense and to gain existential purchase on people’s lives. the light of the divine is lost in the darkness of the human interior, and we have to be prepared to go in there, make contact with it, and lead it out. Religion that operates in the old-style, imposing itself from above, will no longer work, and if we persist in that style, the religious traditions are doomed. Opening up to the interior person is the future of religion and the tradition that can achieve this first is the one that will be assured of a strong and noble future. Reappropriating the mystical traditions, monastic techniques and styles, and pathways of interiority and contemplation, is the way ahead.
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks
REFLECTION ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2018 Lynne Dovey
HYMN AA128 ‘Tama ngakau marie’
Traditional Maori hymn
Tama ngakau marie, Son of a peaceful heart,
Tama a t’Atua, Son of God,
Tenei tonu matou, here we are,
Arohaina mai Love us.
Murua ra nga hara. Take away our sins.
Wetekina mai, Undo these evil ties,
Enei here kino, which bind us.
Whakararu nei.
Takahia ki raro, Trample under foot
Tau e kino ai; whatever is evil
Kei pa kaha tonu, lest the power remain
Ko nga mahi he. of the evil deeds.
Homai he aroha, give us love,
Mou i mate nei. for you who died
Tenei ra, e Ihu, this day, Jesus,
Takina e koe. You lead us.
Tenei arahina, This is the pathway
a tutuki noa: to the end through
puta I te pouri, the darkness to receive
whiwhi hari nui. great joy.
Tama ngakau marie, Son of a peaceful heart,
Tama a t’Atua, Son of God,
Tenei tonu matou, here we are,
Arohaina mai Love us.
REFLECTION ON REFLECTIONS ON GA2018 Susan Jones
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH FOR SILENT REFLECTION Susan Jones
In a church
where power and domination ‘over’ seem to be winning
We affirm ‘left-handed’ power, the quiet and the creative
In a church
where exclusivist, siege mentality seems to be dominant
We affirm the lifting of the drawbridge to invite others in
In a church
which seems more like a club than a group of disciples
We affirm opening up the club to everyone
In a church
where only some are brave enough to read and study and learn more
We affirm those who reach for learning and enlightenment
In a church
which seems to want to define itself only in terms of heterosexuality
We affirm all orientations and genders are loved and included here
In a church
which resists the Feminine and risks losing its soul
We affirm that
all men and women are equally female and male
and we are all called to be whole as the divine is whole.
OFFERING PRAYER (said together)
So many tasks needing to be done, so many people are needing to be fed.
These offerings of food and money are our contributions to the doing of those tasks and the feeding of people. We give them out of faith and gratitude.
May these gifts achieve what they have been given to do.
May blessings follow in their wake
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 Sandra Kirby
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Israel and Jewish people throughout the world. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name Simon Bridges (Tauranga electorate) and Simeon Brown (Pakuranga electorate). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and members of Presbyterian Women Aotearoa NZ (PWANZ) (formerly APW).
PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S on card
HYMN FFS 67 ‘We are many, we are one’
Music and Words: © 1998 Colin Gibson
We are many, we are one,
and the work of Christ is done
when we learn to live in true community,
as the stars that fill the night,
as a flock of birds in flight,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine;
as the branches of a tree,
as the waves upon the sea,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine.
All division is made whole
when we honour every soul,
find the life of God in every you and me,
as the fingers of a hand,
as the grains that form the sand,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine;
as the threads upon the loom,
as a field of flowers in bloom,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine.
We will join creation's song,
make a world where all belong,
build as one in peace and loving harmony,
as the voices of a choir,
as the flames within a fire,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine;
as the snowflakes in the snow,
as the colours of a bow,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine.
BLESSING
SUNG AMEN
THANK YOU Bruce Corkill
Our musician today
Unless otherwise specified all our music is used by permission CCLI Licence 341550
Words/music to new hymns and gathering statement, prayers and affirmation are original unless acknowledged. If Susan Jones is the worship leader any liturgy will have been written by her. These words can be used in other worship and small group situations without seeking permission. Please acknowledge the source.
AUDIO REFLECTIONS
Sunday reflections are usually available on our website.
https://www.standrews.org.nz/category/sunday-gathering