Welcome:  –

Passing the Peace:  –

As we gather for worship let us remember that we are one people in Christ Jesus.  We are all welcomed by God into His presence and graced by His mercy.  Let us, then, be united in our worship of God and in our fellowship together, and uplift our hands to greet those both here and those in their homes with these words:

May the peace of God be with you.

And also with you.

Call to Worship 

(from Psalm 32: 1, 2, 5 to 8, 9, & 10) 

‘Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.

Happy is the person whom the LORD does not accuse of doing wrong and who is free from deceit.

I confessed my sins to the LORD, I did not conceal my wrongdoings.

I confessed them to the Lord and He forgave all my sins.

Those who are loyal to God should pray to the Lord in times of need;

Then, if a great flood of trouble comes rushing in, it will not reach them.

God is my hiding place; He will save me from trouble.

I sing aloud of God’s salvation, because He protects me.

The LORD will teach us the way we should go;

God will instruct us and advise us.

Those who trust in the LORD are protected by His constant love.

Those who are right in God’s eyes, be glad and rejoice because of what the LORD has done.  Those who obey God shout for joy!’

Comments on Psalm 32

These verses describe the great satisfaction and joyous freedom of the soul whose sin has been covered, cancelled and cleansed by the wholly righteous Lord.  By the simple act of confession, sin in all of its aspects, the outward action, the rebellious disobedience and the inner corruption of the soul, is completely forgiven, and cleansed away so as to remain no longer an issue between God and the sinner.  By repentance and forgiveness, one’s relationship with God is renewed, opening the person to receive God’s divine protection amid the storms of life, to receive God’s counsel and instruction for Godliness and right living, and to receive God’s peace which springs from a purity of heart and mind and soul.

  (Leslie McCaw and Alec Motyer in Psalms in the New Bible Commentary p470 & 471) 

  As we gather for worship, let us humble ourselves before Holy God, let us place our trust in the God whose love is steadfast, and let us rejoice because of what our loving God has done for us and for all of Humanity.

Prayer of Praise  

(from An Aust Prayer Book, Leading Intercessions p14, Prayers for the Seasons of God’s People Year A, Invocations and Benedictions p22, Opening Prayers p20) 

  God of abounding grace, it is you whom we come to worship.  We cast aside all of our idols and false gods so that we are not tempted to turn away from you.  You are the eternal, righteous giver of life; and we have come to give you praise.

  You dwell in glory, yet you chose to make that glory visible in the most astonishing way – in and through a Human person – Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.  Through him, you shared our Human struggles, for he was tempted in every way as we are.  He was able to confront and survive the wilderness experiences of life because His trust in you provided the strength He needed.  We come before you, O God, as people who frequently stumble, but we gather here in the wonderful knowledge that you never fail us. 

  You surround us with your steadfast love so that we may no longer hide in fear.  You shelter us under your arm and preserve us with your love.  You sustain us by your living Word, so that we may remain true to your calling to be your obedient disciples.  You strengthen us through your Spirit as we seek to humbly serve You.  Accept our heartfelt prayers and praise, now and always.  In your name we pray, Amen.

You are invited to join in singing two Songs:

The first is: ‘Jesus is Lord’  from Scripture in Song volume 2 number 360

David Mansell

The second song is: ‘Open our eyes Lord we want to see Jesus’ from  Scripture in Song Volume 2 number 390

Bob Cull

Prayer of Confession 

(from Drescher p22, Hostetter p60 and p61, Leading Intercessions p14, Opening Prayers ) 

Gracious and merciful God, we are all too aware of the emptiness in our lives, of the sins that ensnare us even while they are promising life, and of the way the Tempter entices us and leads us away from you.

We repent and are sorry.

We would like to make our own rules by which to live our lives, but we cannot escape the fact that our new rules do not measure up to your established Laws.

We repent and are sorry.

Forgive us for living below the best we know, for being unwilling to change even some of our simpler habits of daily life.

We repent and are sorry.

Forgive us for ignoring the beauty of the places in which we live and work, and for misusing your Creation solely for our wanton pleasure.

We repent and are sorry.

Renew us in these Lenten days, washed clean of sin, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and sustained by your living Word.

May we remain true to your calling and serve you alone.  Through Jesus Christ, our liberator from sin.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness 

(from Romans 5: 17b & 19b) 

The Apostle Paul tells us that all who repent of their sins receive God’s grace and are put right with God, through the obedience of Jesus Christ.  Having confessed our sins and trusting in God’s mercy, we have the confidence in knowing that our sins have been forgiven and our lives renewed by God.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer of illumination 

(from Uniting in Worship Book 1 number 12 p599) 

  Prepare our hearts, O Lord, to receive your Word.  Silence in us any voice but your own.  In hearing these words may we perceive new truths that you seek to teach us, and may we perceive your will that you seek for us to follow, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Bible Readings

Genesis 2 and 3:

15  Then the LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and care for it.  16  He told him, “You may eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden,  17  except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is evil.  You must not eat the  fruit of that tree; if you do you will certainly die.

1  Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the LORD God had made.  The snake asked the woman,

“Is it true that God has forbidden you to eat from any tree in the Garden?”

2  The woman answered,

“We may eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden,  3  except for the tree in the middle of the Garden.  God has forbidden us either to eat the fruit or to touch the fruit; if we do we shall die.”

4  The snake said,

“Of course you will not die.  5  God knows that as soon as you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, and know what is good and what is evil.”

6  The woman saw how beautiful was the tree and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise.  So she took some of the fruit and ate it.  Then she gave some to her husband and he also ate it.  7  As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked.  So they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.

Romans 5:

12  Sin came into the World through one man, and his sin brought death with it.  As a result, death has spread to the whole Human race because everyone has sinned. 

Adam was a figure of the one who was to come.  15  But the two are not the same, because God’s free gift is not like Adam’s sin.  It is true that many people died because of the sin of that one man.  But God’s grace is much greater and so is His free gift to so many people through the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.  16  And there is a difference between God’s gift and the sin of the one man.  After the one sin, came the judgement of ‘Guilty!’, but after so many sins comes the undeserved gift of ‘Not guilty!’ 

17  It is true that through the sin of one man death began to rule because of that one man.  But how much greater is the result of what was done by the one man, Jesus Christ!  All who receive God’s abundant grace and are freely put right with Him will rule in life through Christ.

18  So then, as the one sin condemned all Humanity, in the same way the one righteous act sets all Humanity free and gives them life.  19  And just as all people were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man, in the same way they will be put right with God as a result of the obedience of the one man.

[Today’s English Version, New English Bible]

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

Matthew 4:

1  Then the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.  2  After spending 40 days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry.  3  Then the Devil came to him and said,

“If you are God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread.”

4  But Jesus answered,

“The Scripture says, “Man cannot live on bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks.”  (Deuteronomy 8: 3) 

5  Then the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple,  6  and said to him, “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down, for Scripture says,

‘God will give orders to His angels about you; they will hold you up with their hands, so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’”  (Psalm 91: 11 & 12) 

7  Jesus answered, “But the Scripture also says,

‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”  (Deuteronomy 6: 16) 

8  Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the Kingdoms of the World in all their greatness.

9  “All this I will give you,” the Devil said, “if you kneel down and worship me.”

10  Then Jesus answered, “Get away from me, Satan!  The Scripture says,

‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him!’”  (Deuteronomy 6: 13) 

11  Then the Devil left Jesus, and angels came and attended to his needs.

[Today’s English Version, New English Bible]

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

You are invited to join in singing the hymn ‘O for a heart to praise my God’ TiS568 AHB476 Wesley’s Hymns number 343

Charles Wesley

Sermon

  Alternatives!  The Macquarie Dictionary defines the word alternative as:

“affording a choice between two things”

  (The Macquarie Dictionary  New Budget Edition 1985 p15) 

  Everyday, we make choices between alternatives don’t we; what breakfast cereal to eat in the morning; jam or honey on our piece of toast; do we push the snooze button on our alarm once or twice before we get out of bed?

  Did you know that Sheila is going on another holiday?  She is leaving on Saturday 11^th March on a 14 day return cruise to New Zealand.  While on her cruise, Sheila will be faced with the need to choose between alternatives.

Screen 2

  Sheila will need to make some choices as to what excursions on which she and her travelling companions will venture at each of her ports of call.  I compiled a list of the alternatives that are available to them and dropped it in to her last Thursday afternoon.  I did mention at the time that there was one alternative that I did not include.

Screen 3

  ‘ziplining’ during their day at Auckland.  I didn’t list it as an alternative because …. ,well , perhaps you can discuss it with Sheila at morning tea.

  Oh, and you may have seen the reports in the Newspapers that, in some countries, so as to deal with the high price of petroleum, public transport systems are looking at alternative fuels, including grasses and herbs.  The transport authorities are the first to admit, though, that the program has had some failures,

but, on the bright side, at least the trains run on thyme. 

  There have been recent articles in the Media about alternatives being offered in our Society that, to me, are not ‘laughing matters’.

  But first, I’d like to explore the meaning of the word ‘alternative’ in more detail.

  The 1977 reprint of the Third Edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary has this as their definition of “alternative”, the meaning of which is: 

“an offer of two things, the choosing of either of them involving the rejection of the other, with the inherent understanding of permission to choose any of what is being offered”

  (The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary  Third Edition reprinted with corrections 1977 p54) 

  The two elements that this definition brings out which are of importance to us today are:

Firstly, the choosing of one of the two alternatives offered involves the rejection of the other.  With Sheila and her cruise, she cannot go on two excursions at the same time, therefore she must choose one and reject any others that take place at the same time.

Secondly, there is the inherent understanding that the person choosing one of the alternatives offered has permission, the unencumbered freedom, to choose any of what is being offered.  Again, with Sheila and her cruise, all the excursions offered to her are valid alternatives for her to choose and she has the freedom to make a choice from what is offered, as she sees fit.

  This sounds all well and good on face value, but there are deeper implications when we look at things in the light of today’s passages from Scripture.

  In today’s passage from Genesis 3: 6, we read of Eve being enticed to eat the fruit of the tree which God had commanded her and Adam not to eat, of Eve developing a desire to eat it, and then of Eve picking the fruit from the tree and eating it.  At the close of this verse we then read:

“Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it.”

  I had previously read Genesis 3: 6, but I cannot recall realising that, in this verse, Adam was called Eve’s “husband”.  By a simple, uncomplicated reading of this verse then, by implication, Eve was Adam’s “wife”.

  The word translated as “husband” in this verse is the Hebrew word “ish”.  (‘eesh’ in Strong’s Concordance – OT376)  This word is consistently used throughout the Old Testament writings to refer to the husband of a wife as we understand the terms being used in the context of a marriage relationship.

  This word appears in the Masoretic Text, a text dating from the early Middle Ages of the 24 Books of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, written in the original Hebrew and Chaldean languages; the Text accepted as the Standard Text upon which are based many English versions of the Old Testament, including the Good News Bible (Preface pxiii) , The New English Bible (Introduction pxv) , The New Revised Standard Version (To the Reader pxvi) , and the New International Version (Preface pxii).  The Interlinear Bible lists the Hebrew words of the Masoretic Text and the English translation of these Hebrew words, word for word, line for line.  As you read the Hebrew and as you read the English translation, the last part of Genesis 3: 6 reads:

“and she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband and he ate”.  (The Interlinear Hebrew / Greek and English Bible Volume One edited by Jay Green p7)   

  The reading of ‘husband’ is not inferred nor is it assumed, nor has it been added later so as to make the meaning of the verse clearer.  The word is an integral part of the original text.  Although elsewhere in the Old Testament this Hebrew word is sometimes translated as “man”, the context of Genesis 3: 6 implies that this word, as it is used in this verse, must be translated as “husband”.  (Merrill Unger and William White in Nelson’s Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament p242)

Why am I taking the time to stress this information?  Because I am confident that “husband” was the term applied to Adam by Moses in this verse, when Moses compiled the Book of Genesis  (Luke 24: 27 & 44 and John 5: 46)  ,based upon the oral accounts passed through the generations of the People of Israel from the time of the descendants of Adam.  It was not a later insertion by later editors of the Old Testament books.  Why do I think that this is important?

  Upon this reading, we are led to understand that when God created Adam and Eve, He intended for them to live together in a marriage relationship.  It was in the context of this marriage relationship between a man and a woman that God “blessed them and said ‘Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the Earth.’”  (Genesis 1: 28a)  It was in the context of this marriage relationship between a man and a woman that God perceived Eve to be “a suitable companion to help (Adam)”  (Genesis 2: 18b & 20b)  , so that Adam would not live alone in the World in which God had placed him.  (Genesis 2: 18a)  It was, in part, in the context of this marriage relationship between a man and a woman that, at the end of the sixth day of Creation, God “looked at everything He had made and was very pleased.”  (Genesis 1: 31a) 

  This was the form of intimate interpersonal relationship that God intended for Human Society, with no option for any alternative form of intimate interpersonal relationship.

  We can understand, then, the depth of disappointment recently expressed by the Archbishops of 10 of the 42 provinces of the global Anglican Communion, namely, the Archbishops of South Sudan, Sudan, Chile, Congo, the Indian Ocean, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Uganda, Alexandria, and Melanesia, in their expressing of their disagreement to the recent vote taken at a recent meeting of the General Synod of the Anglican Church to approve the offering of prayers for God’s blessings for same-gender couples.

  In a joint statement, these Archbishops claim that the Anglican Church has “departed from the historic faith passed down from the Apostles” and has “drifted into false teaching”.  Anglican leaders reject archbishop of Canterbury after same-sex marriage decision: ‘False teaching’ (msn.com) 

  They claim that the Church is acting “falsely” and “unfaithfully” in its willingness to offer prayers for God’s blessings on alternative forms of intimate interpersonal relationships which God had not intended for people, an action aimed more at seeking for the Church to remain relevant to the wider society than for the Church to be a witness to the wider society. 

  The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade was held in Oxford Street Sydney yesterday.  

The ‘catchcry’ of the movement behind this parade is the acceptance and inclusion of ‘diversity’.  Diversity exists in many aspects of our Society.  Some people go on cruises for their holidays, some people choose an alternative holiday.  Some people enjoy ‘ziplining’, while others prefer to keep their two feet on the ground at all times.

  The movement behind The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras proclaims that the fact that there exists in our Society a diversity in the manner by which two individuals seek to live out an intimate interpersonal relationship, is, by itself, the justification for accepting and including any and all forms of intimate interpersonal relationships. 

  We can see how such a stance conforms to the definition of the word “alternative” in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, which we have read earlier.

  The acceptance of the alternative that any and all forms of intimate interpersonal relationships are acceptable, implies a rejection of the other alternative that God designed and ordained only the one expression of intimate interpersonal relationship, that between a male and a female in the context of a marriage relationship.

  The acceptance of the alternative that any and all forms of intimate interpersonal relationships are acceptable, implies the inherent, unencumbered freedom for people to consider “alternative views about family, gender identity and sexual orientation”, as Angela Shanahan expressed in an article in last weekend’s The Weekend Australian, in effect, to choose a way of life in isolation of any consideration of an obligation to comply with God’s intensions at Creation and with God’s standards for relationships. 

  We see a similar demand for the freedom to choose just such an alternative in a recent article in last week-end’s Sunday Mail, titled “Secular kids in wasted study”.

Sunday Mail 19 February 2023 p3

  The article quotes a Tracey Tully, secretary of the Teachers Professional Association of Queensland, who states that “religious education was often a ‘waste of time’ for non-participation students”, who “would potentially spend the hour playing games”.  This is echoed by a spokeswoman of a Parental Group, Alison Courtice, who goes even further, stating that “non-participating students were not allowed to learn anything new during RI”.

  Hence we gain a glimpse of the antipathy felt by some towards anything to do with Christianity, to the extent that they make the claim that children not participating in RI are disadvantaged by not being given the opportunity to be taught any curriculum based learning during this one hour of school time, and are, in reality, facing active discrimination by being prevented from being given the opportunity to be taught any curriculum based learning during this one hour of school time.  But we can also see that the parents who have chosen the alternative of their children to not participate in RI, have, in making this choice, rejected the alternative opportunity for their child to be exposed to anything relating to the God of the Bible.

  The article concludes with a further statement by Alison Courtice, who said:

“RI could have a place in the curriculum if used to teach students about different cultures.  If religion is going to be included, it should be in a comparative way.”  But, we need to understand that the very mention of the alternative to RI of curriculum based learning of “different cultures” and of “comparative religion”, presumes the freedom to treat all religions as the same, as of equal worth and essence, and implies the freedom for the individual to choose a belief system to their liking or to not choose any belief system.

  These two instances in the Media, firstly about people choosing to live in alternative intimate interpersonal relationships of any shape or form, and, secondly, about parents choosing an alternative to RI learning for their children in a school environment, highlight the two factors we saw earlier in the definition of the word “alternative:

Firstly, that the act of choosing an alternative involves the rejection of the other alternative,

And, secondly, that there is the inherent understanding that the person choosing one of the alternatives offered has the unencumbered freedom, to choose any of what is being offered.

  We see these two factors at work in today’s passages.

“Then she gave some to her husband and he also ate it.”  (Genesis 3: 6e) 

  Take note of the manner in which Satan, in the guise of the “snake”, conversed with Eve.  Satan asked the absurd question:

“Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the Garden?”  (Genesis 3: 1b) 

  The question is absurd, because, except for grains from grasses, fruit would have comprised most of the diet of Adam and Eve.  But Satan asked it in this way so as to raise questions in the mind of Eve about God.

  Never-the-less, Eve replied by quoting the instructions of God, for she replied:

“We may eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden, except for the tree in the middle of the Garden.  God has forbidden us either to eat the fruit or to touch the fruit; if we do we shall die.”  (Genesis 3: 2) 

  The trap has been set, for Eve has allowed herself to be engaged in prolonged conversation with Satan about God, without talking to God or with God.  In doing so, Eve has enabled Satan to talk about ‘theology’ about God rather than about obedience to God.  (Walter Brueggemann in Genesis p48) 

  Firstly, Satan questioned the integrity of God, the truthfulness of God’s instruction:

“That’s not true,” Satan replied, “you will not die.”  (Genesis 3: 4) 

  But no justification is given by Satan for saying that Adam and Eve will not die if they ate the fruit, nor for questioning God’s truthfulness, because Satan’s sole intent was to raise further doubts in the mind of Eve as to the real basis of God’s relationship with her and Adam.

  And as if to give the answers to the questions Eve had in her mind about God, Satan then added:

“God said that because He knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad.”  (Genesis 3: 5) 

  ‘God is a jealous god.’, Satan infers, ‘He seeks to hoard all the World’s wisdom for Himself, all of the knowledge of “what is good and what is bad.”’ 

  ‘God is hindering you becoming the person you could be.’, Satan infers, ‘You can make the choice to become like God and to gain the same wisdom and knowledge.’

  And it is here that Satan presents an alternative view of reality to Eve, an alternative understanding of what is and of what could take place, an alternative that rejects the truthfulness of God’s words, that rejects the integrity of God, that rejects the lovingkindness that underlies God’s relationship with her.  Satan reinterprets God to be “a devil and a liar”, Satan reinterprets “the way of the curse of death” as “the way of blessing and life”.  Satan reinterprets the circumstances away from one of following God’s spiritual direction to one of moral development, Humans assuming the likeness of God.”  (Meredith Kline in Genesis in The New Bible Commentary p84)  Instead of Discipleship to God, Satan presents the alternative of self-development, of being self made.  (Derek Kidner in Genesis p63) 

  It is here that Satan suggests that Eve has the unencumbered freedom to make whatever choice she desires.  And it is to Eve’s desires that Satan focuses her attention and her thoughts.  Whatever it is that appeals to her desires, Satan infers, should direct her actions and her choices.

  And we see that that was how Eve made her choice.

  Eve saw “how beautiful was the tree”  (Genesis 6a)  , it had aesthetic appeal to her emotions.  Eve saw “how good its fruit would be to eat”  (Genesis 3: 6b), it had an appeal to her bodily appetite.  Eve “thought how wonderful it would be to become wise”  (Genesis 3: 6c), it had an appeal to her mind and spirit.  (Henry Morris in The Genesis Record p114) 

  Eve responded to this appeal of the fruit, “so she took some of the fruit and ate it.”  (Genesis 3: 6d)  “Instead of believing and obeying God’s Word, instead of talking it over with The Creator, Eve listened instead to a creature, Eve questioned, doubted and finally rejected God’s Word, in favour of the temptation to body, emotion, mind and spirit which the fruit represented.”  (Henry Morris in The Genesis Record p113, Derek Kidner in Genesis p68) 

  Walter Brueggemann writes:

“Lent is a time to sort out what is the voice of life and what are the countervoices of death.  Satan, the snake, has no real gift to give.  In contrast, Satan was the means through which the gift of life was forfeited through a false presentation of reality.  Eve and Adam misperceived their relationship with God, and therefore misperceived their place in the Garden.  The Genesis account is not only an expose of the consequences of listening to falseness and acting upon falseness, it is also an invitation back to listening to the single voice that speaks of truth and calls for trust and obedience.  (Walter Brueggemann et al in Texts  for Preaching Year A p185) 

“After spending 40 days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry.”  (Matthew 4: 2) 

(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/11/04/21/48/painting-1023419__340.jpg)

  Satan succeeded in demolishing the intimate relationship God had with Adam and Eve, by enticing them to act counter to the Word of God.  Could Satan do likewise and demolish the intimate relationship God had with His son, Jesus, and entice Jesus to act counter to the Word of God?

  We read that Jesus was led into a wilderness area, that he fasted for 40 days and nights and that he “was hungry”.  (Matthew 4: 1 & 2)  Jesus was at his lowest, physically and emotionally and mentally; ripe for Satan to engage in conversation with Jesus as Satan had done with Eve in the Garden and had raised doubts about God in her mind. 

  The Word of God reveals the deceit and malevolence of Satan, the true nature of Satan and of Satan’s actions in the World.  It is to the power and truthfulness of the Word of God that even Satan must submit and obey.  It is to the power and truthfulness of the Word of God that people respond to the message of God’s grace and offer of redemption.  May we rely upon this power and truthfulness of the Word of God and respond with trust and obedience to God.

  Randolph Tasker writes:

  “To escape the way of the cross by being disobedient to the vocation of the suffering Servant, despised and rejected by humanity, upon whom was to be laid the sins of us all, was Jesus’ greatest temptation.”  (Randolph Tasker in Matthew p54) 

  Paul reminds us that:

“All people were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of the one man, Adam.  However, they will all be put right with God as the result of the obedience of the one man, Jesus Christ.”  (Romans 5: 19) 

  In this time of Lent, we are reminded that the disobedience of Adam brought with it the inevitability of death.  However, the obedience of Jesus Christ brought with it the promise of life, life abundant, life in all its fullness, life eternal, because  “the power of God’s grace is immeasurably greater and more extensive even than the power of sin.  (Walter Brueggemann et al in Texts  for Preaching Year A p189) 

  I will leave you with this poem by Dennis De Haan:

“Man gropes his way through life’s dark maze;

To gods unknown he often prays,

Until one day he meets God’s Son –

At last he’s found the Living One.”

(Our Daily Bread February 17 2007)

Amen.

You are invited to join in singing the hymn ‘Father of Heaven, whose love profound’  TiS131  AHB60  MHB38

Edward Cooper

Offering

Offering Prayer    

“For the life that you have given”  TiS774  

[This hymn is being sung to the tune Austria .]

[This YouTube clip is for another hymn so disregard the words – only the one verse is needed.]

For the life that you have given,

For the love in Christ made known,

With these fruits of time and labour,

With these gifts that are your own:

Here we offer, Lord, our praises;

Heart and mind and strength we bring;

Give us grace to love and serve you,

Living what we pray and sing.

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Prayers for Others

We pray for peace.
We lament violence around the world. 
We plead for the ceasing of violence and the establishment of peace.
We pray that you might give us a desire for peace and a willingness to work and hope and pray for peace each day.

We pray to God with deep concern for Turkiye and Syria
torn apart and devastated by the great earthquake
with such a large number of victims,

stunned by the enormity of the damage;
shocked by the extent of the ruins.

Lord, with tears and broken hearts we pray

for families who have lost loved ones.
Give strength and wisdom for search and rescue teams searching for victims amidst the rubble.
Give foresight to save those who are still under the ruins;

for medics, doctors and nurses, give the ability to care for those who are injured;

for volunteers who come from various places, give courage to help the victims together.

God, the source of strength,
give a ray of hope for Turkiye and Syria
in the midst of a disaster that is being experienced.

God of Wisdom, give us unity to feel the suffering and sorrow
experienced by communities in Turkiye and Syria.

We pray for the Leaders of Nations, for those who wield the influence over others and make the decisions that affect so many people. 

May they heed your gentle call to bring about stability and prosperity to their Land.  May they not yield to the temptation to exercise power so as to accumulate wealth or to oppress.  May they seek to bring about peace between Nations and not make a grab for land and resources.

We pray for the poor and the homeless, for all who have been left behind and are forgotten, for the defeated and the broken hearted, for those who are sick in body, mind and spirit. 

Befriend, comfort and heal them.  Grant them the confidence to put their trust in your promises. 

Have mercy on those whose anger and resentment holds them back from fullness of life.  Help those who hurt but cannot forgive, those who hold onto a bitterness that is eating into their soul and darkens their existence. 

Show them the way to forgive and to forget.  Bring them a release from their burden and a relief from their cares.

We pray for the peacemakers of our world, for those who act to bring about reconciliation and the resolution of conflict, for those who focus on building up relationships and of breaking down barriers. 

Give them the strength in their endeavours and the encouragement to persevere.

  We pray for Your Church in this and every Land, those who confess their faith in your as Lord and Saviour, no matter what language they speak, no matter what hymns they sing, no matter how they worship.  Please sustain and guide them so that your people will not grow weary of doing what is right, of proclaiming your word of grace and mercy to all, and of confronting discrimination. 

May your church indeed be the bearer of your divine light to shine on all Nations to show the way to the deliverance from sin.

Make us loving towards our neighbours, eager to forgive and to heal. 

May we radiate your presence to those who we meet in the corridors of our residence here or in the aisles of the shopping centre.  May we show love and hospitality in all we do and say.

Loving God, we bring these prayers to you, trusting in your compassion and care.  To your glory we pray.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil,

For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

Now and forever.  Amen.

You are invited to join in singing the song ‘Count your blessings’ from Alexander’s Hymns no. 3 number 153

Johnson Oatman jr

Benediction 

(from John Drescher Invocations and Benedictions p22) 

Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, for great is the free gift of God’s grace; and great is the love that surrounds those who put their trust in the Lord.  Go out now into the World and walk in the way of obedience and love.

And may the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you always.  Amen.

Benediction Song

‘By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered’  TiS617

[This hymn is sung to the tune Finlandia – the clip is for another hymn, but is used here for the tune – only the one verse is to be sung.]

Verse 1 of 1

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,

And confidently waiting come what may,

We know that God is with us night and morning

And never fails to greet us each new day.

We shall remember, all the days we live through,

All of our life before our God we lay.

Dietrich Bonhoffer

Translated by Frederick Pratt Green  (adapted)