Welcome
Welcome. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, wherever you’ve come from, wherever you’re going to, whatever is in your heart you are very welcome.
Happy Mother’s Day to the Mums and grandmothers here this morning. We are so glad you are here with us and very thankful for the blessing of each one of you. And while today is a day we celebrate our beautiful mums; we also think of those for whom Mother’s Day today is not a celebration for many reasons and uphold individuals we know and others not known to us personally but recognized as in need of our prayers.
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the Dharawal people the traditional owners of these lands and pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging particularly women and girls on this Mother’s Day. We gather, attentive to their wisdom of living in harmony with the land and waters and in commitment to the ongoing journey of reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. May we continue think of to pray for and connect with First Nations Peoples.
Lighting the Christ Candle
Light has conquered darkness; Love has conquered hatred and Peace has conquered fear. Jesus is our Light, our Hope and our Peace.
Opening Prayer
From different lives, different weeks, with different hurts, different dreams, we come together today with hope. Gracious and Loving God, as we come to worship today, encourage us to love our true selves. To cherish that deep soul which yearns for communion with you. We pray that we would hear your voice and our hearts and minds be opened and changed by You. May we reach for you with a joyful worship which overflows with wonderment and love. Together we come to worship Amen!
Song – Be Still for the presence of the Lord Piano and congregation sings
Be still for the presence of the Lord
The Holy One is here
Come bow before Him now
With reverence and fear
In Him no sin is found
We stand on holy ground
Be still for the presence of the Lord
The Holy One is here
Be still for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around
He burns with holy fire
With splendour He is crowned
How awesome is the sight
Our radiant King of light
Be still for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around
Be still for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place
He comes to cleanse and heal
To minister His grace
No work too hard for Him
In faith receive from Him
Be still for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place
CCLI Song # 120824 David J. Evans
© 1986 Thankyou Music (Admin. by SHOUT! Music Publishing Australia) For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI Licence # 31951
Prayer Of Confession
Gracious God
We open our hearts to you this morning and offer the truth of our lives:
The fear that stifles us
The prejudice that blinds us
The ignorance that hobbles us
The doubt that plagues us
Help us we pray that we will
Find Courage in unlikely places
See the world with new and gracious eyes
Move to those places where love is needed
Tell us again who you are,
for we have failed to listen.
Show us again who you are,
for we are blind, distracted.
Call us again, in your voice,
for we tuned in to others.
Jesus, we are stubborn,
slow to learn, and we ask
again: forgive us.
Hear the Good news – We are an Easter People forgiven and freed, to go out into the world and be loving and gracious, Hopeful people of God.
Bible Reading Psalm 23 Traditional
23 The Lord is my shepherd
I have everything I need.
2 He lets me rest in fields of green grass
and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.
3 He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths,
as he has promised.
4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness,
I will not be afraid, Lord,
for you are with me.
Your shepherd’s rod and staff protect me.
5 You prepare a banquet for me,
where all my enemies can see me;
you welcome me as an honoured guest
and fill my cup to the brim.
6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life;
and your house will be my home as long as I live.
Psalm 23 – A rewritten Psalm by Rebecca Garrett Pace, read by Sue
Jesus is my shepherd, and I honestly feel sorry for him, because I can be quite a stubborn sheep.
I shall not want. Or that’s the way it should work, but yet I always want for more. I’m working on it.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. Jesus is teaching me how to care. To care for myself, so that I can then care for others. To care for the earth, so I can live in green pastures with still waters and not make a mess of them just because I can. To care for my soul, which is fed by gratitude and joy and kindness.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Unfortunately he keeps talking too softly for me to hear him, (or maybe I am not listening properly) so I keep having to guess what the right paths are, and go on a hunch, and ask for forgiveness when I get it wrong.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil — well that’s just wishful thinking. I fear all the time. All the things. So much fear. But I am learning how to sit in the darkness, and be open to what I might learn from it, and really the most important bit is that…you are with me.
Your music, your friendship, your wisdom, your words, your kindness, your presence through others – they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, and you tell me that there’s extra room at the table, and it’s actually your table and not mine, so I should scoot over and make room and invite my enemies to eat with me and give them the last piece of homemade bread and extra butter because that’s what you would do. Which is annoying but I know you’re right.
You anoint my head with oil – you protect and love me, you nurture, you guide, you heal me. My cup overflows. God, I am grateful. I am so incredibly overwhelmed by goodness in my life.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
And when the goodness and mercy are obscured, O God, help me know you’re still there. Always. Forever. Amen.
SONG My shepherd will supply my need
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
My shepherd will supply my need
Jehovah is his name
In pastures fresh he makes me feed
Beside the living stream
He brings my wandering spirit back
When I forsake his ways
And leads me for his mercy’s sake
In paths of truth and grace
When I walk through the shades of death
Thy presence is my stay
A word of thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away
Thy hand in sight of all my foes
Doth still my table spread
My cup with blessings overflows
Thine oil anoints my head
The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days
O may thy house be mine abode
And all my work be praise
There would I find a settled rest
While others go and come
No more a stranger or a guest
But like a child at home
CCLI Song # 5602711 Isaac Watts | Mack Wilberg © Words: Public DomainMusic: 1995 Hinshaw Music, Inc. (Admin. by Integrity Music Ltd) For use solely with the Song Select® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.comCCLI Licence # 31951
BIBLE READINGS
John 10:22-30
22 Then came the Festival of Dedication[a] at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[b]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Acts 9:36-43
36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”
39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
SERMON: Kathy brings us a sermon entitled How Long O lord Must we wait? based John 10:22-30 and Acts 9:36-43 by Rev Alison Sampson (with some minor changes for local context). Alison is the minister at Sanctuary, in Warrnambool, Victoria
Prayer of illumination God our helper, guide us into and through your word, that we might be shaped by your message to us today and transformed to live out your love in your world. Amen.
As we reflect on these words and the words of Jesus and the Acts of the Apostles lets listen, sing or tap along to the song God of Justice Love and Mercy
SONG –God of Justice, Love and Mercy
God of justice love and mercy
Pour Your wisdom on our souls
By Your all sustaining power
Keep our spirits strong and whole
Lift our eyes to see Your vision
Of a world in urgent need
Grant us courage then to follow
Bringing comfort with each deed
God of justice love and mercy
With compassion let us care
As we come in humble weakness
May Your strength be ours to share
Press our hearts to know the struggle
Of the ones we cannot see
Brothers sisters all who suffer
May Your kindness set them free
God of justice love and mercy
Send us out and make us bold
As we strive for Your high calling
Let our hands Your mercy hold
You have blessed us with abundance
Gifts to share with those in need
Father Son and Holy Spirit
May we follow as You lead
CCLI Song # 7054986 Edwin M. Willmington
© 2015 Shepherd’s Staff Worship Music For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI Licence # 31951
OFFERING – And in response to Jesus’ example and ministry we give to the life of the church and the life of our community. We have a box at the back of the church as you walk in and out for cash offerings and there are details in the bulletin for direct electronic giving. We also give thanks for the gifts of food for Project Youth.
Gracious God
We give in grateful thanksgiving for all that God has given us.
In the upside-down world of the gospel,
we measure our wealth not by what we have,
but what we can give away.
Let us give generously, gifts of money, of food, the work of our hands, our hearts, and our lives
To bless your church, your people, and your creation. AMEN
PRAYERS FOR OTHERS
Gracious God,
Hear the cry of those who are hungry; hungry for justice, and dignity, hungry for freedom, and love.
Lord, in Your love … Hear our prayer
Hear the cry of those who are alone; those who grieve a relationship broken by death or human failing, those who live in the isolation of a hospital room, a prison cell, a frail body, a confused mind.
Lord, in Your love … Hear our prayer
God whose breath is life itself, we pray for a just and caring use of your creation; a fair sharing of its abundance, an ethical searching of its mysteries.
Lord, in Your love … Hear our prayer
You are with me, and comfort me, even when the darkness of the world looms large.
We pray for those who seek the truth; those who cannot speak, and those who cannot be heard, and those we name in the silence of our hearts, that the light of your Word may shine in the darkness, which overshadows their lives.
Lord, in Your love … Hear our prayer.
Hear the cry of those trampled by racial or religious intolerance, disoriented by homelessness, defeated by unemployment;
Lord, in Your love … Hear our prayer
God of justice and compassion you are with me always
Enlarge our vision of life, and make us bold in our hope, accepting today in the hope of the new day which you bring in the risen Christ.
God in Community, Holy in One, we offer these prayers and pray as Jesus has taught us,
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be your name;
Your kingdom come;
Your will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are Yours,
now and forever.
Amen.
(Source: Adapted from a prayer Jeff Shrowder, 1998)
BENEDICTION
As you go into this week,
May your mouth speak of God’s goodness.
May your arms hold those in need.
May your feet walk toward justice.
May your heart trust its worth.
May your soul dance in God’s grace.
May your build community and break down barriers
And may this be your rhythm – again and again and again
In the name of Jesus – Love itself, Go with courage, go with heart, go in peace.
AMEN
BLESSING SONG – May our lives and our prayers be one
May our lives and our prayers be one
As our hopes shape the roads we walk on
And when our work and our dreaming’s done
May our lives and our prayers be one
Within the rhythm of our days
We take the time to muse and pray
The fears we face the tears we taste
We view in light of holy grace
We name our deepest hopes and dreams
For those we love and all in need
We picture how the world could be
We live the change we want to see
CCLI Song # 7022137
Paul Somerville
© 2013 Somerville, Paul
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI Licence # 31951
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