You can watch the bible readings and sermon here, or scroll down to read the rest of the Sunday prayers and content, and watch this video at the point it occurs during worship.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
We gather on Dharawal country. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of these lands and pay our respects to Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
We recognise the past atrocities against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this land and that Australia was founded on the genocide and dispossession of First Nations people. We acknowledge that colonial structures and policies remain in place today and recognise the ongoing struggles of First Nations people in dismantling those structures. The struggle to seek justice, to remember and address this nation’s past is ongoing and is a necessary requirement for the individual and collective healing process.
We support the Uluru Statement from the Heart to achieve justice, recognition and respect for First Nations people and a referendum to enshrine a First Nations Voice in the Constitution. We accept the invitation contained in the Statement to walk together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.
WELCOME
Friends, you are welcome in this place as I am welcome. Our time together is God’s gift to each of us. We come with what we know of and have experienced in life, we come seeking to discover what we don’t yet know about God and God’s hopes and dreams for our lives. Whether we believe or don’t believe, whether we know much or not at all, all are welcome. We declare in Jesus’ name that this is a safe physical, emotional and spiritual environment for all who search for meaning and purpose in life, regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality, or abilities.
God, you invite us to experience your goodness today and every day.
You welcome us when we are full of joy and when we are in despair.
You welcome us when we feel alive and when we feel dull inside.
You bring us into your love and into your community.
We do not take your invitation for granted, God of all goodness.
We know ourselves welcomed, and we rejoice.
Amen.
LIGHTING THE CANDLE
We light the Christ candle to symbolise Jesus in our midst. Lord Jesus, illuminate our hearts with the warmth of your Love, enlighten our minds to understand and be surprised and challenged, shine in our lives as a congregation and as individuals, that we may act as a beacon which always points to your glory.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Another Sunday, another new day, another week. Thank you that we can come as we are, joys and worries, warts and all. Thank you for each other. May we encourage, inspire and renew each other by our fellowship and presence here.
Come, let us live in the love of God.
Come, let us sing of God’s goodness.
Come, let us speak of God’s faithfulness.
Come, let us pray in hope.
Come, let us worship together.
Come, all are invited, all are welcome.
HYMN
Christ is our light! the bright and morning star
covering with radiance all from near and far.
Christ be our light, shine on, shine on we pray
into our hearts, into our world today.
Christ is our love! Baptised that we may know
the love of God among us, swooping low.
Christ be our love, bring us to turn our face
and see in you the light of heaven’s embrace.
Christ is our joy! Transforming wedding guest!
Through water turned to wine the feast was blessed.
Christ be our joy; your glory let us see,
as your disciples did in Galilee.
Christ is our living water, quenching thirst
Rain on this land, may nature see re-birth
Fill our parched souls with hope and healing love
Come Holy Spirit, come affirming dove.
Highland Cathedral
Leith Fisher Iona community
CONFESSION
Pause to reflect
Psalm 86 1-10, 16,17
A prayer of David.
1 Hear me, Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; 3 have mercy on me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord,
for I put my trust in you.
5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
6 Hear my prayer, Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy.
7 When I am in distress, I call to you,
because you answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;
no deeds can compare with yours.
9 All the nations you have made
will come and worship before you, Lord;
they will bring glory to your name.
10 For you are great and do marvellous deeds;
you alone are God.
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
show your strength in behalf of your servant;
ABSOLUTION
This is the best of all:
When we are empty, God fills us;
When we are disheartened, God is compassionate;
When we are wounded God brings healing;
When we confess our sin, God forgives.
In Christ, through Christ and because of Christ,
Our sins are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
You refill the cup of life, O God.
In Christ we find refuge and strength.
BIBLE READINGS – Genesis 21: 8-21
Matthew 10: 24-39
HYMN: The God of Abram praise
Daniel ben Judah (Jewish poet in Rome, Italy translated by a Welshman)
The God of Abraham praise,
who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of Everlasting Days,
and God of Love;
Jehovah, great I AM!
by earth and heaven confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred name
forever blest.
The great I AM has sworn;
I on this oath depend.
I shall, on eagle wings upborne,
to heaven ascend.
I shall behold God’s face;
I shall God’s power adore,
and sing the wonders of God’s grace
forevermore.
The heavenly land I see,
with peace and plenty blest;
a land of sacred liberty,
and endless rest.
There milk and honey flow,
and oil and wine abound,
and trees of life forever grow
with mercy crowned.
The God who reigns on high
the great archangels sing,
and “Holy, holy, holy!” cry
“Almighty King!
Who was, and is, the same,
and evermore shall be:
Jehovah, Lord, the great I AM,
we worship thee!”
United Methodist Hymnal, 1989
REFLECTION
Video clip from Rabbit Proof Fence
OFFERTORY
We offer you ourselves, our time, this money, and our talents. Humbly we ask you to accept and use to your glory. May we as individuals and as a church be good stewards of all you have given to us.
Amen
NOTICES
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE LORD’S PRAYER from the New Zealand Prayer Book.
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 earth!
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, 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.
DISMISSAL
We take a risk
and we place ourselves
at the service of the Gospel
knowing that to do so
will involve us in a struggle
that is both inner and outer,
knowing that we have come
to a point where we cannot
make sense of life without God.
We take a risk today
by leaving this community
to go and create community,
knowing that to do so
will put us in conflict
with those who seek their own self-interest.
We take a risk today
that in going our separate ways,
You, Jesus Christ, come with us
and that is all that matters.
So send us out now,
we are ready to leave with You. Amen.
HYMN: Now thank we all our God
Catherine Winkworth (b. Holborn, London, England, 1827; d. Monnetier, Savoy, France, 1878) is well known for her English translations of German hymns; her translations were polished and yet remained close to the original. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany, in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women’s rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used in many modern hymnals. Her work was published in two series of Lyra Germanica (1855, 1858) and in The Chorale Book for England (1863), which included the appropriate German tune with each text as provided by Sterndale Bennett and Otto Goldschmidt. Winkworth also translated biographies of German Christians who promoted ministries to the poor and sick and compiled a handbook of biographies of German hymn authors, Christian Singers of Germany (1869).
Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom this world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us,
to keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
of this world in the next.
All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son and Spirit blest,
who reign in highest heaven
the one eternal God,
whom heaven and earth adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.
Psalter Hymnal (Gray), 1987
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