Welcome: –

Call to Worship: – 

(Psalm 63: 1 to 8) 

God, you are my God, I seek you,

my soul thirsts for you,

my flesh faints for you,

as drought-stricken land weakens without water.

Yet in the sanctuary I looked upon you and saw your power and your glory.

My mouth is full of praise, for your steadfast love is better than life.

I will bless you as long as I live, I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

Day and night I meditate on you, O God, filled to overflowing with joy and praise.

I sing for joy and cling to you, my help and my strength.

O God, you are our God, for you we long.

Some writers attribute this Psalm to David, when he was living in the southern wilderness of Israel while on the run from King Saul, who was intent on killing David.  Because of his circumstances David was separated from the Sanctuary of God which was back in Jerusalem, and, therefore, he was unable to attend the daily worship of God.  Therefore, we can understand his language of desiring God and of thirsting for God, and of longing to be at the Sanctuary of God so that he could experience God’s presence.  (Leslie M^cCaw & Alec Motyer in Psalms in The New Bible Commentary p489) 

We too can share the same desire to be close to God and to know the very presence of God with us as we gather today.  Let us have that reassurance that God is here with us, and let us sing of our praise to Him and offer our adoration to the God who love us.

Prayer of Praise 

Gracious and bountiful God, source of all good things, we are in awe of your generosity towards us; we are thankful to you for the everyday things that we need to live.  We are also thankful for the special things that come our way that makes our life bright and cheerful.  We fill our bodies with rich food and sweet drinks yet we still hunger and thirst for more – for you.  And, so, we praise you for taking the initiative to replenish and renew our lives.  We acknowledge that you are the maker of all that is, seen and unseen, of all that is on Earth and all that is in the Universe around us, of all that is simple and of all that is complex, of all that we can understand and of all that is beyond our comprehension.  We come honouring you as the one true creator God.  You established a new and everlasting covenant of grace in the person of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.  Through him we seek you and find you, O God.  Through him we call on you and know that we are heard.  For, through him, the distance between your thoughts and our thoughts, your ways and our ways, is spanned by your divine love. 

God of compassion, source of true tenderness, we are in awe of your loving kindness towards us; we are thankful to you for your care in our times of need, we are thankful for your protection of us in times of strife.  We rely upon your promise to be the source of our strength and to be there beside us to support us.  With gladness and rejoicing we acclaim you as our God.  We praise and adore you, as we offer this prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord and our Saviour. Amen. 

You are invited to listen to, or join in singing 2 songs:

“Open our eyes Lord we want to see Jesus”  Scripture in Song vol 2 number 185 / 390

Bob Cull

‘I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever’ 

Scripture in Song vol 2 number 199 / 404

James Fillmore

Prayer of Confession   

  Merciful God, we come before you knowing that we have failed you in so many ways.

  We confess that there is so much in our lives, in our thoughts, in our words, and in our actions, that displeases you and saddens you.

    Forgive us for when we have failed to listen to you, when we have turned away from you and pretended that we can no longer hear your voice.  When our thoughts are not your thoughts and our ways are different from your ways. Forgive us for when we have refused to take your advice, when we have turned away from you and pretended that we knew all the answers. And yet your mercy is so great that you keep giving us another chance to cultivate our identity as people shaped by your thoughts and your ways.

  Forgive us, O God when we are tempted to shape our behaviour and our lifestyles by other than the way, the truth and the life of Jesus.  for when we have failed to trust you, when we did not have the courage to obey you, when we have turned away and rejected your love. 

    Forgive us for when we have failed to be your witnesses to the World around us.  Forgive us for when we were more afraid of stepping on people’s toes than on challenging their self-assurance. When we have adapted or lowered our standards

  Forgive us for when we have failed to be your calming voice in the surrounding turmoil, for when we have failed to be your revealing light in the surrounding darkness.  Have mercy on us.

    Forgive us for our pride that prevents us from stooping low to help someone or from getting our hands dirty.  Forgive us for not being regular in reading your Word or spending time in prayer with you.

  Forgive us for when we are not excited when a new day dawns, because each day is a gift from you to be treasured. When we use the stress of daily ‘busy-ness’ as an excuse to turn away from examining what discipleship really means for us personally  and as members of a faith community.

    In your mercy forgive us our sins and our shortcomings. Provide ways for us to turn our lives around so that we might daily bear the fruits of repentance. Merciful and gracious God, strengthen us with your Spirit so that we willingly turn towards you, thinking your thoughts and following your way in our conversations and our relationships.

Help us to bring forth fruits worthy of our calling as followers of Jesus Christ. This we pray in his name. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness   

The prophet Isaiah calls on the wicked to give up their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to God who will have mercy on them and abundantly pardon them. (Isaiah 55:7)  And we  believe that –  “ Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners”  (1 Timothy 1:15) The good news therefore is this: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer of illumination 

(from Uniting in Worship Book 1 number 13 & 14 p599) 

  Prepare our hearts, O Lord, to be guided by your Word and the Holy Spirit, that in your light we may see your mercy and grace, that in your truth we may find freedom, and that in your will we may discover peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Bible Readings

Isaiah 55:

1  The LORD says, “Come, everyone who is thirsty – here is water!  Come, you that have no money – but grain and eat!  Come!  Buy wine and milk – it will cost you nothing!  2  Why spend money on what does not satisfy?  Why spend wages and still be hungry?  Listen to me and do what I say, and you will enjoy the best food of all.

3  Listen now, my People, and come to me; come to me, and you will have life!  I will make a lasting covenant with you and give you blessings I promised to David.  4  I made him a leader and commander of Nations, and through him I showed them my power.  5  Now you will summon foreign Nations: at one time they did not know you, but now they will come running to join you!  I, the LORD your God, the holy God of Israel, will make all this happen; I

will give you honour and glory.”

6  Turn to the LORD and pray to Him now that He is near.  7  Let the wicked leave their way of life and change their way of thinking.  Let them turn to the LORD, our God; He is merciful and quick to forgive.

1 Cor. 10:1-13

1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. ² They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³ They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴ and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. ⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”^[a] 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹ We should not test Christ,^[b] as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰ And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

¹¹ These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. ¹² So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ¹³ No temptation^[c] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

Luke 13:

1  At that time, some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God. 

2  Jesus answered the, “Because these Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?  3  No indeed!  And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did.  4  What about those eighteen people in Siloam who were killed when the tower fell on them?  Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem?  5  No indeed!  And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did.”

6  Then Jesus told them this parable:

“There was once a man who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard.  He went looking for figs on it but found none.  7  So he said to his gardener, ‘Look for three years I have been coming here looking for figs on this fig tree, and I haven’t found any.  Cut it down!  Why should it go on using up the soil?’  8  But the gardener answered, ‘Leave it alone, sir, just one more year: I will dig around it and put in some fertilizer.  9  Then if the tree bears figs next year, so much the better; if not, then you can have it cut down.’”

[Today’s English Version]

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

You are invited to listen to, or join in singing the song:

‘As the deer pants for the water’

Message

I love figs.  Mum and Dad have always liked figs.  At Christmas time Mum would always include dried figs in her “Tupperware Party Susan”.  I continued the tradition in our “Christmas Tupperware Party Susan”.  Then, I enjoyed fresh figs.  Mum and Dad used to drive to a farm on the Sunshine Coast to get some.  I think they are a delicacy.

  One day I found a fig tree at Bunnings.  Our fig tree spent some time in a pot, and it managed to survive.  Eventually I decided to transfer it to our garden.

Our clay soil isn’t the best, but over the years we’ve have tried to nourish it.  And we do manage to grow things, when we remember to take the time and care for them.  The weeds grew in and around the plant for a while, and then I was pleasantly surprised to see that the fig plant was still alive.  In fact, it had started spreading out.

  I had envisioned it growing up, but no, ours was growing over the mowing strip.  I could just imagine that the little low lying branches would accidently get snapped when the mower or edger would go past.  However, Geoff kindly put some blocks of wood inside the mowing strip and also some other supports to encourage the branches to grow up and away from the path and into the garden.  I’m not sure what our tree will look like.  Its shape may be odd.  I don’t know how tall it will get, but at the moment, it has some new shoots and new tiny leaves.  It’s still alive!  I’m not sure if or when any figs might appear on it.  However, I am willing to try to keep it faithfully growing by caring and nurturing it in the hope that, one day, I’ll be able to pick some figs to enjoy.

  In the readings today, it can be seen that it’s no use claiming to live with faith and hope with all that God supplies us, while at the same time being filled with fear and anxiety.

  Particularly in the Gospel reading, Jesus is earnestly questioned by people confused with fear.  Two disasters are mentioned which horrified the Nation.  Some Passover Pilgrims from Galilee were butchered by Roman troops in the Temple while slaying their sacrifices.  It describes the blood of those making offerings mingling with the blood of the offerings.  And a tower had collapsed and crushed 18 innocent bystanders.  These reminded Jesus of the horrors of Judgement Day.

  The coming of Jesus brought crisis.  Jesus was coming with a different viewpoint.  The people are asking why God allows these things to happen.  From my readings, one reason suggested was that people wanted to see Jesus’ reaction.  Jesus dismisses outright the notion that the chance misfortune of a natural disaster, or the suffering which results from disease or accident, is somehow related to faith or rather, the lack of faith, or personal sin. His response was to contradict the Orthodox Jewish view.  Rather, the Jewish Nation, as a whole, was sinful in God’s sight, and its members would all suffer the fate of sinners if they did not repent.  If the Jewish Nation kept on seeking an Earthly kingdom and rejecting the Kingdom of God, they could only come to one end. The Nation which chooses the wrong ways will, in the end, suffer for it.  The Nation will reap the fruit of its choices.  The Nation which rebels from God is on the way to disaster.

  God graciously provided a window of opportunity for repentance.  The situation of the Nation resembled that of an unfruitful tree which was only ripe for destruction.  The parable of the fig tree is an image of a warning for conversion.  The tree promised much but produced no fruit.  I read that it takes three years for the fig tree to mature, so no fruit is taken in that time.  Craig S Keener writes that according to rabbinic interpretation of Leviticus 19:23 fruit from newly planted trees was forbidden for three years.  The tree in this parable was given three years to fruit, so it would actually be about six years old.  It had hidden its rich creative powers, as if terrified to bring forth fruit into a hostile environment.  So, the owner of the tree gives up after three years and ordered, “Cut it down, why should it take up precious space and produce nothing?”

  The ground it occupied was possibly a favoured position and could well be utilized for something more fruitful.  The soil may have been shallow and poor, but the tree had been given the chance to bear fruit.  But the gardener answered ” Leave it alone, sir, just one more year (which would make it seven years old); I will dig around it and put in some manure.  Then, if the tree bears fruit next year, so much the better, if not, then you can cut it down.  Uselessness invites disaster.  It will be eliminated.  Nothing which only takes out can survive. The fig tree drew strength and sustenance out of the soil, but produced nothing.  Just as the owner was prepared to let the worker feed it and give it a chance, God was prepared to appoint a further limit of time for Israel to repent.  If they failed to respond, their fate would be their own responsibility.

  In Halley’s Bible Commentary it is suggested that perhaps the vinedresser (or gardener) represents Jesus as an advocate to God’s patient mercy for undeserving Israel.  Jesus may have used The Barren Fig Tree parable to illustrate the patience of God with Jerusalem, whose day of doom was fast approaching, and with individuals generally.  John Carroll writes that Jesus is directing his ministry and issuing his call to re-order life for full participation in God’s realm.  Fruit bearing represents repentance.  The conversion of imagination and practice that aligns with God’s ways is required.  Jesus reminded people that they would be judged according to the opportunities they had been given.  Jewish teachers debated whether Israel’s repentance could change the set time of the end, but they agreed that God could suspend his judgement if he saw repentance, according to Craig  Keener.

  If – such a small word, and yet so significant.  In the parable the gardener says “If it bears” and “if not”.  It is a difference between life and death, productivity and unfruitfulness.  “If” throws the burden upon the tree, upon the person or people.  We are nourished – fed by God’s word and Spirit – converting that nourishment into fruit should therefore be a natural response.

  In each of the readings, the nourishing grace of God is described, but also the demands of that nourishment is spelled out.  An everlasting covenant of love is declared in the Isaiah passage and hearers are called by God to listen and to seek to live faithfully.  Those who are nourished at God’s table are to hunger for God’s ways of justice and mercy.  The nourishing God of the Exodus and the sacraments, according to Paul, demands faithfulness in all that we do in our lives.  And in the Gospel, Jesus warns each of us that there is no room for complacency when it comes to bearing fruit.  John Carroll comments that “Jesus extends life-restoring grace to sinners, but summons them to repentance to a re-ordered life not to persistence in a disordered life.”

  Jesus’ way is to give a person chance after chance, but there is a final chance.  If we refuse chance after chance, the day may come when we, by deliberate choice, have shut ourselves out from God, says William Barclay.

  The judgments fell on the Israelites as a warning.  We have the advantage of learning from the Israelites’ experiences and knowing the full revelation given by Christ.  But, as with the Israelites, self confidence which saps wholehearted devotion to the Lord easily leads to a fall.  The Christian is not exempt from temptation.  Temptation comes in testing and trials.  God allows these experiences to stretch and strengthen faith.

  Media headlines bombard us with so many disaster stories.  The increase in terrorist bombings throughout the World; earthquakes and landslides with their resultant loss of life; global warning which is dangerously raising the Earth’s temperature; rivers and oceans becoming perilously polluted; destructive family situations forcing children to live on the streets; violence and crime make it unsafe to be out at night.  The realisation that something alien within us threatens our health.  We, too, might be tempted to ask the question “Why do you let these things happen to us, God?”

The lessons we learn in life won’t answer all our questions, but they do reveal a God who is vitally interested in the things that concern us, and they give us some clues as to how to respond and live our lives.

  Like the tree, we shall be judged for our lack of fruitfulness, and the judgment that we will experience comes at the point of our negativity, our refusal to be involved with, or our “putting off because it’s too risky” anything that may be necessary to produce the fruits of our relationship with God in Jesus Christ. 

  Fortunately, as in the parable of the fig tree, we find, like the tree, that we get a second chance to hear and to respond to God’s gracious guidance and dynamic direction for our lives.  Let us not squander it.  Let us make the most of it.  Amen.

You are invited to listen to, or join in singing the Hymn:

“I will sing the wondrous story” 

(TiS233  AHB173  MHB380) 

Francis Rowley

Offering

Offering Prayer    

We worship you, O God, through these gifts and our lives. May they be used to nourish lives with grace and mercy. May the fruit of your Spirit be evident in all we do and say as followers of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen

Prayers for Others

Lord God, we come before you now thinking of others, near and far.

Our hearts are heavy as we think of so much conflict in various parts of the world. We ask Lord God, that You would stir in the hearts of those who have control over negotiations regarding Ukraine and Russia.   May Yor Spirit move there and have  control over  negotiations.   We pray especially for those who have lived with suffering and death for so long.

   Lord , hear our Prayer.

We think as well, of course of Israel and Gaza – you know the situation there.  Move in the hearts of those controlling decisions and negotiations. And also Lord God, may the ordinary folk – the ones who have experienced the loss of their families and loved ones, be given a resilient spirit to enable them to look forward to a more peaceful future.

            Lord , hear our Prayer.

Lord God, we think of the countries where Your Name is not known.  We pray for the safety of those who are committed to spread Your Name.  Keep them safe, especially in countries where Your Name is not wanted, as Your Holy Spirit touches their hearts.

            Lord, hear our Prayer.

Father God, we pray for our own country – our governments, as decisions are made promoting the best outcomes for the various segments of society.   We pray for those on the land… that their well being and stamina might be encouraged as they battle harsh climatic extremes at times.  We pray that their personal health and well being might be maintained and we give thanks for organisations such as Frontier Services, that we support, where chaplains and others travel many kilometres each day to encourage and support these folk and remind them of Your close presence.

            Lord, hear our Prayer.

Father God, we pray for our younger generation who are going to be the leaders of tomorrow.   Fill their hearts with determination to have peace, understanding and tolerance  within our families.   Guide the parents who are struggling in this regard.   May loving support and guidance be found for both parties that the family units in our country, can be places of love and understanding.

We ask all these prayers in the name of Christ, our Saviour, Amen

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 listen to, or join in singing the Hymn:

‘Have Faith in God’

Benediction    

Go into this week

brimming over with the grace of God,

nourished by the love of Jesus Christ,

implanted with the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Benediction Song ‘Now unto him’ –

Barnabas Church

Verse:

Now unto Him who is able to keep you,
Able to keep you from falling,
And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory,
With exceeding joy. 

Chorus:

To the only wise God our Saviour,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever. Amen.