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Prelude: Abba Father
Acknowledgement
Welcome
Gathering song 405 CP God the Creator
God the Creator, you in love made me who once was nothing but now have grown. bring the best of all my life offers; for you I share whatever I own. O Christ the Saviour, you in love called me who once was no one, lost and alone. I pledge to go wherever you summon making your will and purpose my own.
O God the Spirit, you in love made me who once was nowhere and felt unknown. I know my need of you for companion: all things can change when not on my own. And with the people summoned together to be the church in which faith is sown I make my promise to live for Jesus and let the world know all are his own.
The voice of God is heard in all the world
In troubled lands, where people hunger and fear, it speaks of compassionate action
The voice of God is heard in the church
In encouragement of each other, in support of the wider church, it speaks of community
The voice of God is heard within each one of us.
It speaks of acceptance, it speaks of forgiveness, it speaks of peace, it speaks of hope.
It speaks now; it will never be silent
Let us listen for God’s voice
Prayer of Approach
You have blessed us with the sunlit glory of summer days and a community of friends,
we praise you Creator God and we rejoice in our mutual support
You have blessed us with questioning, enthusiastic young persons and with older persons full of good sense
Male members of the Congregation Respond: Together they are our strength, O God
You have blessed us with a church that stands with the powerless
Female members of the congregation Respond: And we know it reflects your mercy and compassion, O Loving God
You have blessed us with the way of Jesus
And we strive to make the way of Jesus shine through all our venturing together, and through the path which we tread alone, eternal and ever-present God. Amen
The Collect of the Day (together)
Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people, that richly bearing the fruit of good works, we may by you be richly rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
The Proclamation of the word
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Psalm 139 You are Near Chorus: Yahweh, I know you are near, standing always at my side.
You guard me from the foe, and you lead me in ways everlasting.
Lord, you have searched my heart And you know when I sit and when I stand. Your hand is upon me, protecting me from death, Keeping me from harm. Chorus Where can I run from your love? If I climb to the heavens you are there; If I fly to the sunrise or sail beyond the sea, Still I’d find you there. Chorus You know my heart and its ways, You who formed me before I was born, In the secret of darkness before I saw the sun, In my mother’s womb. Chorus
Marvelous to me are your works; How profound are your thoughts, my Lord. Even if I could count them, they number as the stars, You would still be there. Chorus
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the church in your house:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith towards the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.
For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but as more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Gradual Hymn 397 CP Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness
Praise the One who break the darkness with a liberating light. Praise the One who frees the prisoners turning blindness into sight. Praise the One who preached the Gospel healing every dread disease. Calming storms and feeding thousands with the very bread of peace.
Praise the One who blessed the children with a strong yet gentle word. Praise the One who drove out demons with a piercing two-edged sword. Praise the one who brings cool water to the desert's burning sand. From this well comes living water quenching thirst in every land.
Praise the one true love incarnate: Christ who suffered in our place. Jesus died and rose for many that we may know God by grace. Let us sing for joy and gladness seeing what our God has done. Praise the one redeeming glory, praise the One who makes us one.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke 14.25–33
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ
Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them, ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
The Gospel of Christ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
Homily
Affirmation of Faith
We believe in God, who creates all things,
who embraces all things, who celebrates all things,
who is present in every part of the fabric of creation.
We believe in God as the source of all life,
who baptises this planet with living water.
We believe in Jesus Christ, the suffering one, the poor one,
the malnourished one, the climate refugee,
who loves and cares for this world and who suffers with it.
And we believe in Jesus Christ, the seed of life,
who came to reconcile and renew this world and everything in it.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of God,
who moves with God and who moves among and with us today.
We believe in everlasting life in God.
And we believe in the hope that one day
God will put an end to death and all destructive forces.
Source: (Gurukul Theological college, India / adapted by Keld B. Hansen 2009)
Loving God, even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she places her young near Your altar. You are attentive to all you have made. God, who listens to every living thing,
Help us listen as you do.
Loving God, help us provide refuge to every animal and plant with whom we live. Help us be attentive to all you have made. God, in whom all creation subsists,
Help us listen as you do.
Loving God, when Jesus cried out and gave up his Spirit, the earth shook and the rocks split. You are known by the whole of creation that listens to you. God, to whom all creation responds,
Help us respond to you.
Loving God, help us hear and know you just as the earth and rocks do. Help us to learn from the way in which we see creation recognise your glorious beauty. God, to whom all creation responds,
Help us respond to you.
Loving God, you are present in your creation and seek to heal her wounds. You can be found walking in the garden. Open our eyes to see you, the gardener. God, who is present with your creation,
Help us be present too.
Loving God, we often abandon your creation and cause its wounds. Help us to follow in your footsteps and learn to walk in the garden like you. God, who is present with your creation,
Help us be present too.
Loving God, who hears every voice, knows each cry of injustice, and is attentive to the suffering of the earth: teach us to listen. Loving God, who hears every voice, knows each cry of injustice, and is attentive to the suffering of the earth: teach us to listen. We pray this morning for … and we take a moment to offer to God others who are known to us either silently or aloud……
Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may listen to the world you have created and not close ourselves off from it. Reveal to us the ways in which we have failed to hear your voice in how we treat the earth. God, who listens to every living thing,
Help us listen as you do. Amen
Sharing of the Peace
If we are in Christ, we are becoming a new creation.
We see God around us. We see God within us. We give thanks to our Creator.
Let us show the caring nature you have instilled within us by greeting each other as a sign of God’s justice of peace, love, forgiveness and grace. The peace of our Creator be with you in all things.
And also with you.
You are invited to care and share peace with your neighbor, and speak a word of peace to the land in which you gather, and the creatures who share this common home.
(adapted from Celebrating Creation: Honoring Indigenous People, Kelly Sherman-Conroy, ELCA)
Offertory Hymn: 430 CP Will You Come and Follow Me
Will you come and follow me if I but call your name? Will you go where you don't know and never be the same? Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known? Will you let my life be grown in you, and you in me?
Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name? Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same? Will you risk the hostile stare, should your life attract or scare? Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?
Will you let the blinded man see if I but call your name? Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same? Will you kiss the leper clean, and do such as this unseen? And admit to what I mean in you, and you in me?
Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name? Will you quell that fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around through my sight and touch and sound in you, and you in me?
Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name. Let me turn and follow you and never be the same. In your company I'll go, where your love and footsteps show, thus I'll move and live and grow in you, and you in me.
Prayer over the Gifts
Great and holy God, accept our offering of labour and love. May we bring you true and spiritual worship and be one with you. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right to give you thanks and praise,
O Lord, our God, sustainer of the universe,
you are worthy of glory and praise.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
At your command all things came to be:
the vast expanse of interstellar space,
galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses,
and this fragile earth, our island home;
by your will they were created and have their being.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
From the primal elements you brought forth the human race,
and blessed us with memory, reason, and skill;
you made us the stewards of creation.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
But we turn against you, and betray your trust;
and we turn against one another.
Again and again you call us to return.
Through the prophets and sages you reveal your righteous law.
In the fullness of time you sent your Son, born of a woman, to be our Saviour.
He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities.
By his death he opened to us the way of freedom and peace.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
Therefore we praise you, joining with the heavenly chorus,
with prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and with those in every generation
who have looked to you in hope,
to proclaim with them your glory, in their unending hymn:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of power and might Heaven and Earth of your glory are full Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest. Blessed is one who comes in the name of the Lord
Blessed is one who comes in the name of the Lord
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord
God of power and might
Heaven and Earth of your glory are full
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, for sending us Jesus, the Christ,
who on the night he was handed over to suffering and death,
took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, gave it to his friends,
and said, “Take this, and eat it: this is my body which is given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after supper, he took the cup of wine;
he gave you thanks, and said, “Drink this, all of you:
this is my blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”
Glory to you for ever and ever.
Gracious God,
we recall the death of your Son Jesus Christ,
we proclaim his resurrection and ascension,
and we look with expectation for his coming
as Lord of all the nations.
We who have been redeemed by him,
and made a new people by water and the Spirit,
now bring you these gifts.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon this offering of your Church,
that we who eat and drink at this holy table
may share the divine life of Christ our Lord.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
Pour out your Spirit upon the whole earth
and make it your new creation.
Gather your Church together
from the ends of the earth into your kingdom,
where peace and justice are revealed,
that we, with all your people,
of every language, race, and nation,
may share the banquet you have promised;
through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,
all honour and glory are yours, creator of all.
Glory to you for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lord’s prayer: We pray our common prayer that Christ taught us.
Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
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 echoes 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 beloved community 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 forever. Amen.
(Adapted from The New Zealand Book of Prayer | He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa. This version of the Lord’s prayer was influenced by Maori theologians)
Breaking of the Bread
Creator of all, you gave us golden fields of wheat,
whose many grains we have gathered and made into this one bread.
So may your Church be gathered from the ends of the earth into your kingdom.
The Communion
Hymns during Distribution:
I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry (VU 644) I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old. I rejoiced the day you were baptized to see your life unfold. I was there when you were but a child, with a faith to suit you well; In a blaze of light you wandered off to find where demons dwell. When you heard the wonder of the word I was there to cheer you on; You were raised to praise the living Lord, to whom you now belong. If you find someone to share your time and you join your hearts as one, I’ll be there to make your verses rhyme from dusk to rising sun. In the middle ages of your life, not too old, no longer young, I’ll be there to guide you through the night, complete what I’ve begun. When the evening gently closes in and you shut your weary eyes, I’ll be there as I have always been with just one more surprise. I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old. I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold; to see your life unfold.
It Only Takes A Spark (Pass It On) It only takes a spark to get a fire going And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing That's how it is with God's love once you've experienced it You spread God’s love to everyone, you want to pass it on
What a wondrous time is spring when all the trees are budding
The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming;
That's how it is with God's love once you've experienced it
You want to sing it's fresh like spring, you want to pass it on
I wish for you, my friend this happiness that I've found
on God you can depend, it matters not where you're bound
I'll shout it from the mountain top, I want my world to know The Lord of love has come to me, I want to pass it on
Prayer after Communion
Creator, your word and sacrament give us food and life. May we who have shared in holy things bear fruit to your honour and glory, in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen
whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Blessing
Announcements
Closing Hymn: 457 CP Alleluia, Glory to God
Glory to God who does wondrous things; Let all the people God’s praises now sing; All of creation in splendour shall ring: alleluia! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
See how salvation for all has been won; Up from the grave our new life has begun; Life now perfected in Jesus, the Son; alleluia! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Now in our presence the Lord will appear, Shine in the faces in all of us here; Fill us with joy and cast out all our fear: alleluia! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Call us, good Shepherd; we listen for you, Wanting to see you in all that we do; We would the gate if salvation pass through: alleluia! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
The Dismissal
The time has now come for us to leave this sacred place. As we do, may we embrace the challenges of our lives and our world… Remembering again the smells in the air and the caress of the water… Will you care for Planet Earth? We will care for the water sources. We will be sensitive to the cries of creation and the songs of all our kin. We will celebrate life!
Postlude
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