THEME: SEEING GOD AT WORK AND AMONG US – A MIRACLE OF LOVE

Scripture Readings: Deuteronomy 6:1-9, Ezekiel 36:24–30, John 13:31-35

WELCOME –

SONG 1         Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Lord’s house.

1. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Lord’s house

Welcome, welcome, welcome in the name of the Lord

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Lord’s house

Rejoicing for the Lord is here.

• Welcome friends and neighbours to the Lord’s house…………
• Welcome young and old to the Lord’s house ………………
• Welcome everybody to the Lord’s house ………….

PASSING THE PEACE

And so we welcome each other saying together that familiar greeting.

The peace of the Lord be with you

And also with you.

LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE

We light the Christ candle which reminds us that Jesus said “Lo, I am with you to the end of the age. With us as we worship together today and also with us as we journey through the week. With us as we sing, pray and hear His word for us and also present in our daily everyday lives. We are his people living out His gospel of love.

PRAYER

All around us new life is emerging,
though we may not see it yet.
All around us, God makes things new.
Let us open our eyes and see –
see the new things God is doing,
see God at work in and among us!

God of our past, present and future,
help us to see you at work in your creation –
as flowers lift their heads to the sun,
or trees shake their leaves.
Help us to see you at work in our daily lives,
in our routines and choices,
in our growing and our changing.
Help us to see you at work in all things.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.

 SONG 2                    TIS 147 To God be the Glory (sung to you tube clip)

 We read in Luke that……

³⁷ When Jesus came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁸ “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”^[b]

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

⁴⁰ “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Let us read the words form Psalm 148

This is the “I’ve been everywhere” version (24 x) of reasons we shout our praises to God.

Psalm 148

¹ Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens.
    Praise him in the heavens above.
² Praise him, all his angels.
    Praise him, all his angels in heaven.

³ Praise him, sun and moon.
    Praise him, all you shining stars.⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens.
    Praise him, you waters above the skies.⁵ Let all of them praise the name of the Lord,
    because at his command they were created.
⁶ He established them for ever and ever.
    He gave them laws they will always have to obey.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all the deepest parts of the ocean.
⁸ Praise him, lightning and hail, snow and clouds.
    Praise him, you stormy winds that obey him.⁹ Praise him, all you mountains and hills.
    Praise him, all you fruit trees and cedar trees.
¹⁰ Praise him, all you wild animals and cattle.
    Praise him, you small creatures and flying birds.

¹¹ Praise him, you kings of the earth and all nations.
    Praise him, all you princes and rulers on earth.
¹² Praise him, young men and women.
    Praise him, old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord.
    His name alone is honoured.
    His glory is higher than the earth and the heavens.

¹⁴ He has given his people a strong king.
    All his faithful people praise him for that gift.
    All the people of Israel are close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

INTRODUCTION – THE GREATEST TREASURE

“You all have a little treasure chest.” It was my hand out at my Religious Instruction lesson. I am not allowed to hand out religious tracts, invitations to church activities and other God stuff, so I try to come up with other little messages that are fun and wholesome that fit in with the school ethos and general principle of good living we share as a society.

The story was parable of the greatest treasure where a man sells all he has to by the field with the greatest treasure. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,”

So if our treasure is found with God who loves us and cares for us then our treasure chest is so full that there is enough to share without running out. – It will always be topped up to overflowing. A treasure chest filled with Godly love not rubble and stone.

Just as Elijah and the widow of Zarapeth found out during the famine that raged at the time.

⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ¹⁰ So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”¹² “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

¹³ Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

As the words on the treasure box says. “Love – Treasure to Share” and on the back “No locks on this box (you can’t keep it to yourself) – and “The more love you share, the more that’s there.”

SONG 3 – Search me O God  –  (Altogether OK No 394)

Words: Leigh Newton based on Psalm 139  Music: Leigh Newton based on Ludwig van Beethoven (La Pathetique)
© 1993 Leigh Newton PO Box 1008, Uraidla  SA Australia

For those at home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZrloocavLU

1. Search me O God
and know my anxious heart.
Behind me and before me,
you lay your hand upon me.

2. Where might I hide
to flee you tender touch?
No darkness or the ocean
hides me from your devotion.

Chorus
You know my every need,
You know my thoughts, my joy, my crying,
God your wisdom ways
Surround me at my birth, my dying.

3. Woven by you
deep in my mother’s womb.
That moment of conception
you knew my life’s direction.

4. Search me O God
and purify my ways.
O teach me love surpassing,
guide me in all that’s lasting.

Chorus
You know my every need,
You know my thoughts, my joy, my crying,
God your wisdom ways
Surround me at my birth, my dying.

5.  Search me O God
and know my anxious heart.
Behind me and before me,
you lay your hand upon me.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

From our hearts let us make our confession to almighty God:

Lord, you gave a commandment to love one another.
You loved your disciples of old; you love us today.
You will continue to love into eternity.
Help us each day to give life to your words
by sharing and showing your love to one another.
It’s not always easy and often we slip up.
Sometimes what we say can be hurtful.
Sometimes what we do can cause pain.

We are sorry, Lord, for saying or doing what we shouldn’t.
Forgive us, and help us to live out your words in our lives today.
Help us to speak and show your love to one another
and sow it forward into the future.
Amen.

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

Jesus knows our flaws yet loves us unconditionally.
We are assured of his forgiveness.
He has wiped our slate clean.
New beginnings beckon.
Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.

As we prepare to hear the bible readings today let us pray together.

Holy one,
open our hearts and minds
By the power of your Holy Spirit
That, as the scripture are read and proclaimed,
We may hear your Word with joy

BIBLE READINGS

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ² so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ³ Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Ezekiel 36 : 24 – 30

²⁴ “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. ²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. ³⁰ I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine.

Reader: Lord, may your Word live in our hearts.

All: And bear a plentiful harvest to your glory

John 13:31-35

³¹ When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. ³² If God is glorified in him,^[a] God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

³³ “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Reader:         We have been drawn to Christ’s light, and the way of the gospel is open before us.

All: We journey together and learn to trust Christ. We grow to believe in Christ and love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength.

MESSAGE

Scripture tells us right from the beginning that mankind was to live in relationship with God.

It was a relationship established by God that mankind could choose to enter.

Made in the image of God they walked in the garden, enjoyed each other’s company they developed a wonderful relationship until the rot set in. Failure, mistrust, and disobedience became the order of the day. Despite humankind’s best endeavours with heroic faithful leaders and periods of repentance, somehow could not maintain the level of faithfulness God required. Sometimes they turned completely away.

Even when given new starts and clear instructions they just couldn’t.

Our Deuteronomy reading couldn’t be any clearer.

I’m giving you a new start. A great place to live which you will enjoy on the proviso that you will trust me. Keep all the decrees and commands, be careful to obey them and all will go well with you. This what I promised you.

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Don’t forget this!  This is how you will remember. Don’t be knuckle heads. Remember which side your bread is buttered. The Shema which perhaps became Israel’s version of the Lord’s prayer, prayed morning and night. Somehow the “with all your heart” and the “commandments to be on their hearts”, did not sink in.  Without their commitment and obedience to God there could never be a relationship.  The consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and lack of trust remained, no matter how hard mankind tried to shake it.

The Ezekiel reading demonstrates the creative nature of God as he shows how changes can be made.

Ezekiel 36 : 24 – 30

²⁴ “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. ²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. ³⁰ I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine.

 The imperative to .^[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Is repeated by Jesus when debating with legal eagles of the day.

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ‘ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

This summary of what we know as the 10 commandments repeats the need for a commitment to a relationship with God but also our neighbour. And we go the parable of the Good Samaritan to further understand this.

We continue to understand that we love God firstly but also include loving our neighbour.

Godly love – It is a type of love done with a great deal of thought, in which a person thinks through the effects and consequences of his actions to their ultimate end.

Jesus is the reason we even know what love is. In laying down His life for us, He taught us everything we need to know about true love. Love is self-sacrificing, generous, unending, not a temporary feeling or attraction. Because of God’s love for the world, we know love is also undeserving and often unreciprocated.

The ancient Greeks had anywhere between four and eight different words for love

Love is and always has been a complex concept. Is it an emotion, a state of being, a choice, an ability, a gift, a force, or all of the above? All mixed up in the brokenness of relationships.

Jesus has dealt with the problem of sin and broken relationships, the big story of his death and resurrection allows a new life to put together a broken world.

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

And we love not in our own strength, but the strength given to us when we enter that relationship with God and behold God places in us a new heart

And we become a new creation. The old has passed away and we put on the new life.

New life gives us new beginnings and the Spirit in us allows us to  

All very human in their nature but the “agape” word for love points to the godly love that goes with the heart of our covenant relationship with God and others.

We go out into the world to BE God’s people.

We go out into the world along pathways Jesus has prepared beforehand.

We go out into the world filled with God’s Spirit

We go out with joy knowing that all our needs are met.

We go out free without baggage that holds us back

We go out without preconceptions and carefully laid plans.

We go out without feeling the need to justify ourselves for our lives tell the story.

We go out into the “every day “, knowing God’s love and commitment towards us ready to honour that love and commitment with our lives, ready to trust Him every inch of the way.

Full of that confidence we are open and ready to listen to others without condemnation and condescension in our attitude.

We also go out into the world without pretending that we are something that we are not.

We are ready to listen to problems that have no ready-made answer and are ready to listen again and again seventy times seven times more.

This is the love and care that comes out of our treasure chest for the more we share, the more that’s there.

As a congregation, we are small, age and health issues might be getting the best of us. We can’t choose 70 to send out with the message that the kingdom of God is at hand. We don’t have great programs, music, and technology to attract a younger generation.

But each of us can be God’s people in many places, in places that Jesus has prepared for us to love, care and listen and allow God to speak into the lives of those around us. We are blessed so that we can be a blessing.

We live in a world where outwards successful appearances are all important. We as God’s people must make sure that we don’t slide into that thinking.

In coming to Bald Hills Uniting, the little church, up near the shops, opposite the school l have found love and commitment. I have found faithful people, committed to the Lord, who meet to worship in Spirit and truth.

Over many years, nearly 150 faithful followers of Jesus have gone out from this congregation blessed with changed lives. We still are blessed to be a blessing. 

Our treasure chest is filled with godly love and “the more we share, the more that’s there.” 

We are now going to watch video of a song called “Truth be told” I heard it a couple of times on radio 96five. And I’d like to share it with you.

Take note of the words and the challenges. It opens with the words …. 

Lie number one you’re supposed to have it all together
And when they ask how you’re doing
Just smile and tell them, “Never better”

Lie number 2 everybody’s life is perfect except yours
So keep your messes and your wounds
And your secrets safe with you behind closed doors

Truth be told. The truth is rarely told, now

I say I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say it’s under control but it’s not
And you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

It then challenges us to look at the way we present ourselves as a church.

In humility the gospel is shared and we can say the Kingdom of God is hand.

For we know that church is not just on Sunday but wherever two or three are gathered. Where is God active in the world? When and where we are least aware of it. In the midst of the pain and suffering that exist in the everyday life around us.

Let the Truth be Told

SONG 4  REFLECTION   Truth be told – Songwriters: Matthew West / Andrew Pruis

Lie number one you’re supposed to have it all together
And when they ask how you’re doing
Just smile and tell them, “Never better”

Lie number 2 everybody’s life is perfect except yours
So keep your messes and your wounds
And your secrets safe with you behind closed doors

Truth be told
The truth is rarely told, now

I say I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say it’s under control but it’s not
And you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

There’s a sign on the door, says, “Come as you are” but I doubt it
‘Cause if we lived like it was true, every Sunday morning pew would be crowded
But didn’t you say the church should look more like a hospital
A safe place for the sick, the sinner and the scarred and the prodigals
Like me

Well truth be told
The truth is rarely told
Oh am I the only one who says

I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say it’s under control but it’s not
And you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

Can I really stand here unashamed
Knowin’ that you love for me won’t change?
Oh God if that’s really true
Then let the truth be told

I say I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say it’s under control but it’s not
And you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
Yeah I know

There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

OFFERTORY

Our freewill offering will now be received.

DEDICATION PRAYER 

We say together

Lord and giver of every good thing.

We bring to you our lives and gifts for your kingdom.

All for transformation through your grace and love

Made known in Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Amen

SONG  5  TIS 650 Will you let me be your servant

PRAYERS FOR OTHERS

We pray, dear God,

for places where there is division and for countries in the grip of war…may your Holy Spirit bring peace;

for countries where there is religious persecution…

may your Holy Spirit bring unity;

for towns and cities where gang warfare brings fear…
may your Holy Spirit bring hope
         for communities where there is inequality…
may your Holy Spirit bring dignity;

         for workplaces where there is insecurity…
may your Holy Spirit bring confidence;

        for homes where there is brokenness…
may your Holy Spirit bring healing;

        for churches where there is dilemma…
may your holy Spirit bring life:

         to your glory.
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.

Let’s join our voices together and celebrate God’s wonderful gift of love.

A love so great that he gave his only Son so that we may join with him in his eternal life.

SONG  Come on and celebrate SIS 481 Source 75

BENEDICTION from Ephesians 3:16-21

We pray that out of his glorious riches God may strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being,so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. and we pray that we, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

SENDING OUT

As we go out of the door think of it no as an exit from our church but an entrance. We are entering the week and the everyday nature of life in all its ups and downs. We are renewed and equipped to be God’s people whenever and wherever we go.

This song shares the excitement and joy of going out from the confines of our church building and the worship we share together.

There is a warning “This video shows images of young people.”

Rescue  sung by Rend Collective  -play as we leave