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.
Welcome
Acknowledgement of Country
As we gather together in this time and place, let us acknowledge the (First Peoples) Dharawal people who have gathered, baked bread, shared food nourished each other here in story and song for thousands of years. We pay our respects to their elders, past and present, who have handed down stories, songs, recipes and wisdom. Let us learn from the First Peoples of this land, listening to their innate knowledge of how to live in this land in harmony with all living things.
Lighting of the candle
In this place we light the candle to remind us that as we meet, Christ is in our midst, Christ is the light of the world and Christ is our hope.
Call to Worship
The psalmist says in Psalm 130
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. for with the Lord there is steadfast love.
Let us come before God in worship. Let us wait on God in hope and love.
Opening Prayer
Jesus said: I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
You, O God, create our lives. You provide our bread; you quench our thirst. Create this day in us to walk in your love.
O Christ, join us in our quest, O Christ, we share the bread together, O Christ, be food for our minds.
Eternal God, creator of time, sustainer of soul, liberator of the oppressed, feed us the bread of Christ, bringing true communion with you, making our joy complete.
Amen
Song one – Lord Jesus of Loving Hearts
Prayer of Confession
Patient God, we have so many questions and doubts. You know our protests and queries before they even reach our lips. We confess we do not always trust your ways. We confess we sometimes think we have the answers. We confess we don’t always get it right.
Words of Grace
Gracious God, we lay our questions and our doubts at your feet. Be with us as we continue to learn to trust. Your grace surrounds us, and we are grateful
First Bible Readings – 2 Samuel 18 : 5-9, 15, 31-33 and 1 Kings 19 : 4-8
The king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders concerning Absalom. So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. The men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest claimed more victims that day than the sword. Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.
…And ten young men, Joab’s armour-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
Message Part One
Song Two – Lord Hear My Praying
Second Bible Reading – Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’
Message Part Two
Responsive prayer
Compassionate God, We are quick to fill the spaces with our own questions and answers. As we bring our prayers before you today we fall silent and allow your Spirit to work. We bring this earth, your creation, to mind. We are left speechless by our own part in its destruction and the scale of the problems.
We fall silent before you, God. Still the clutter of our questions that we may hear your voice.
We bring the nations and their leaders to mind. We are left speechless by the struggles for power, the violence and injustice in every corner of our globe.
We fall silent before you, God. Still the clutter of our questions that we may hear your voice.
We bring your church, the body of Christ, to mind. We are left speechless by our inadequacies and dashed hopes of renewal and transformation.
We fall silent before you, God. Still the clutter of our questions that we may hear your voice.
We bring our families and friends to mind. We are left speechless by the illness, the grief, the conflict and our feelings of helplessness.
We fall silent before you, God. Still the clutter of our questions that we may hear your voice.
Amen.
Prayers of the people
Offering
We give our offerings to provide for our community here and beyond these doors, in the Sutherland Shire, in Sydney, in Australia and in the world. Giving is via direct debit, or by using the QR code or the cash box near the door at the back.
Let’s pray that the money we give might bring not just physical relief and comfort but also the message of God’s love and acceptance to those who receive it.
Generous God, we give thanks to you for the gift of life each day. You are the bread of life, sustaining and filling with goodness. We bring these, our gifts, and our lives to you. May they be used to feed others, both physically and spiritually, that the abundance of your love maybe known in our world. Amen
Benediction
Bread of life, we have been fed by your word, filled with your Spirit, and encouraged by each other’s presence.
As we leave this place to return to the world where people hunger, let us take the manna of your abundant love to share.
Give us eyes to see those who are hungry, ears to hear their stories, hands to give, receive and hold and hearts to love without judgment.
We go with the blessing of our compassionate God, giver and sustainer of life.
Amen.
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