This week’s service
Thank you to Kathy and John for this morning’s service which includes some commentary on the Religious Discrimination Bill. We were also encouraged to reflect on the questions – who needs salvation and blessing today and who might Jesus be saying woe to? And what does this mean for us as we live out God’s Love, Grace and Hope in our faith community and as individuals?
BIBLE READINGS
Luke 6:17-26
PSALM 1 paraphrase by Bruce Prewer – Ian
The good life belongs to those who can say ‘no,’
who are not sucked in by sarcasm and sin,
but get their kicks from the Lord’s law of love,
practising it by day and night.
Such people are like the vigorous vineyards
planted along the Riverland*,
immune to seasons of heat and drought
and yielding a rich vintage.
The godless don’t have it so good;
they are like bulldust in the wind.
They cannot stand up to testing times,
nor find peace among loving friends.
Truly good people have their roots in God,
but the scoffers are rootless.
The Lord smiles on the good person’s path,
but all the evil will come to ruin.
* Riverland: a verdant irrigation area along the Murray River.
© B.D. Prewer 2000
Those whose roots are in God
are like a tree planted beside a flowing stream,
whose leaves do not wilt or wither
and which in season yields sweet fruit.
Friends, put down your roots,
deeply put down you roots and drink deeply.
Amen.
May God help us to do so!
SONG We Abide in You Porters Gate
Thanksgiving Prayer – Kathy
Religious Discrimination Bill reflection – John
SONG –Arms Open Wide – David and Dale McGregor
Bible Reading Luke 6:17-26 – Ian
Blessings and Woes
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
SONG – John
SERMON – John McKinnon
SONG – Beauty for Brokenness
Offering Prayer – Kathy
Prayers for others – Bruce
A Franciscan Benediction Kathy
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers,
half -truths, superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice,
oppression and exploitation,
so that you will work for justice, equity and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed
for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war,
so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them, and change their pain to joy.
And may God bless you with the foolishness to think
that you can make a difference in the world,
so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.
As you leave this space, 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.
And may this be your rhythm — again and again and again
In the name of Jesus, Go with courage, go with heart, go in peace.
Amen. SONG – May our lives and our Prayers be one
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