Order of Service Pentecost 8 2018

July 15, 2018

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

 

GATHERING
Scripture travels through law to history to wisdom,
We arrive at the prophets in scripture’s library
Who and what is prophecy? Is it about now and or the future?
The prophetic imagination has enhanced our world and our faith
How do the prophets then inform us as prophets today?

PROCESSIONAL HYMN ‘Ancient words ring through the aeons’
Words © 2018 Susan Jones Tune: Hyfrydol WOV 148 (ii)
Ancient words ring through the aeons
Urging, chiding, giving praise;
Prophets all, both men and women
led the people through life’s maze;
They were those who lived the message
of the true life, spirit-filled;
They were leaders through life’s passage
They showed strong, courageous will.

Living simply, prophets focus
on the truth and how to live;
They read well the heart of the people,
marching to the Word, they give
warnings, guidelines for true living,
bravely they speak truth to power;
they see through pretence and posture,
they see when our leaders cower.

Knowing truth requires right action,
speaking out, and staying true
to those principles so ancient,
knowing me and knowing you.
May we too, like them, imagine
worlds where true compassion reigns,
where love shows its many faces
where rights, justice, are sustained.

WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.

PRAYER AND JESUS PRAYER Jim Cotter paraphrase on card

LIGHTING THE RAINBOW ROOM CANDLE

TIME WITH CHILDREN Graham Howell

BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
We send you to the back of the Church to use the activity bags and have fun.
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 Jim Cunningham

Hebrew Bible Hosea 2: 16-20

Gospel Mark 6: 1-6

Contemporary reading David Alton writing about Robert Kennedy
https://davidalton.net/2011/08/09/to-seek-a-newer-world-robert-kennedy/

Kennedy’s own passionate analysis was not silenced by his assassin. The civil rights he advocated are now commonplace; … Robert Kennedy’s Catholic faith, his belief in human dignity and the common good animate the text [of his book To Seek a Newer World]. It is tempting to wonder whether, had he lived, if in another ten year he would have been forced to compromise that faith … But, mercifully, in 1968 he was not required to make that tryst.

The book takes its title from some stirringly beautiful lines penned by the Victorian poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson in his poem “Ulysses”,
Come, my friends.
‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world….
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are—
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

By invoking Ulysses Kennedy perfectly catches the thought that every generation has to seek a newer world and that whatever calamities may befall us individually, or collectively, we should not allow them to incapacitate us; that we should be ready to take on impossible odds….
Kennedy uses the words of Albert Camus to remind us that although we may not be able to solve every injustice it is a poor excuse for failing to solve any of them:
“Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children. And if you don’t help us, who else in the world can help us do this?”
During the 1968 campaign for the Presidency this sense of refusing to accept the inevitability of how things are was challenged by Kennedy again and again. In what became a defining remark he said: [quoting George Bernard Shaw]“Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why’? I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not’?”
This idea of the active citizen taking on a rotten and decaying system of politics and seeking its renewal was based on a view of citizenship which was rooted in Kennedy’s love of the ancient world and the purity of public service. He insisted that every claimed right had to be matched by a duty…
“Since the days of Greece and Rome when the word ‘citizen’ was a title of honour, we have often seen more emphasis put on the rights of citizenship than on its responsibilities. And today, as never before in the free world, responsibility is the greatest right of citizenship and service is the greatest of freedom’s privileges.”

RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks

SOLO Jamie Young
Recitative & aria: “Ye people, rend your hearts” and
“If with all your hearts” from Elijah by Mendelssohn”

REFLECTION ‘Prophecy, Poetry and Imagination’ Susan Jones

OFFERING

OFFERING HYMN SUNG AS THE OFFERING PRAYER
AA 62 ‘Here we bring, small or great’
Music © Colin Gibson
Words © Shirley Murray © 1992 by Hope Publishing Co.
Here we bring, small or great,
gifts to offer on this plate,
what we’ve earned, what we own,
tithe or token, bread or stone,
REFRAIN:
Jesus said, “Have a care – your heart will always be
where your riches are, where your riches are.”

Food and drink, things obsess,
drug us to false happiness;
what we keep, what we give,
tells the truth of how we live. Refrain:

Moth and rust breed decay,
thieves break in and steal away;
love and trust need no hoard,
richest treasure can’t be stored, Refrain:

Wild flowers grow, birds find seed,
God attends to each one’s need;
as we share, all can live,
as we love, we learn to give, Refrain:

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 Lois Robertson

CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Greece and the Church of Greece. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name list MPs Angie Warren-Clark and Michael Woodhouse. Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Otaki Waikanae Presbyterian Parish.

PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S on card

HYMN AA 85 ‘Let justice roll down like a river’’
Words & Music: Colin Gibson © 1994 Hope Publishing Company
Refrain:
Let justice roll down like a river,
let justice flow down to the sea;
let justice roll down like a river
let justice begin through me.

Justice for all who go hungry,
crying to God to be fed,
left in a world of abundance
to beg for a morsel of bread. Refrain

Justice for those who are homeless,
victims of war or of need,
trapped on the borders of nowhere,
lost in the canyons of greed. Refrain

Justice for all who are powerless,
yearning for freedom in vain,
plundered and robbed of their birth-right,
silently bearing their pain. Refrain

BLESSING AND SUNG AMEN

POSTLUDE The Stars and Stripes Forever
by J.P. Sousa (1854 – 1932)

THANK YOU Peter Franklin
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.