Welcome: –

Call to worship: –

In the letter to the Hebrews 10:25 it says “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.” As we meet together may we listen to the words of Scripture anew and worship with heart and soul in Spirit and Truth.

Sharing the peace

And so we greet each other with the love of christ and say to each other

The Peace of the Lord be always with you

And we also reply

And also with you

We sing the song   ‘Let us build a house where love can dwell’

Let us worship God together in prayer:    

God, source of life and strength,
we approach you with longing hearts and addled minds.

May you lift our faces to see you,
even when the world is puzzling and unclear.
Help us to know you better;
and draw close to us today.

Lord, you are our keeper,
the one who watches over us,
you are always present,
ever loving, ever faithful.

You are creator and redeemer.
We praise you
for your kindness and justice,
and for all that you are.

Lord, as we meet to worship and to bring our prayers.
Teach us to be patient as we wait for your response.

We know that you hear all our prayers,
however they are made and whoever we are.
Give us faith to trust your awesome love and care for us.
Amen. 

We sing the song ‘Create in me a clean heart’ 

Psalm 51:10 -12 Keith Green Source 669

Let us pray together

Prayer for forgiveness

Lord, forgive us when we have closed our eyes
to the things that matter,
when we have prioritised the trivial surface matters
over urgent needs and deep-seated injustice.
Forgive us when we have chosen to look away
from those who need us the most.
Forgive us when we have stretched ourselves so thin
that we do not have time and energy
for that which you call us to do and to be.
Forgive us and restore us, we pray.
Give us what we need to live, love and pray persistently,
in the power and counsel of your Spirit. Amen.

And knowing and trusting in God’s forgiveness we can thankfully pray

Loving God,
we know you hear us.
You not only hear us,
you accept us as your children,
surrounding us with grace and forgiveness.
Thank you for your unconditional love.
Amen.

Bible Reading:

Psalm 121.

 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;

 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

A Reflection – Liz

I was sitting in bed having a quiet and reflective moment thinking about persistence in prayer and what Adrian Plass, one of my favourite authors, might have said on the subject.  For some reason my thoughts then turned to Charles Wesley’s mother who if stories are to be believed spent a lot of time sitting in a corner with her apron over her head praying for her children.

My next thought was “where did she get the time to do that?” if she had eleven children.  I had three and some days barely had time to go to the toilet without company never mind sit down by myself for any length of time.  My prayers were often uttered on the run, with that particularly dangerous one, “God, give me patience” a frequent request as I dealt with Vaseline on the carpet or a snowstorm of baby powder and other manifestations of the amazing creativity of small minds. 

It is a dangerous prayer because God doesn’t hand us a plateful of patience to be used as needed: he puts us in situations where we are to learn our capacity for patience and how to exercise it.  Three children and, eventually, a working life as a primary school teacher, gave Him plenty of scope for those opportunities.

They came as I looked after two boys with asthma, requiring medications – lengthy stints with a nebulizer – four times a day an exercise for their patience and mine.  One of them also had a squint which entailed patching his “good” eye for four hours a day.  His disapproval at this inconvenience was made manifest even though he couldn’t talk at the time. He was faster than Quick Draw McGraw with his thumb and finger, and if I turned my back, he could flick his patch off and he would transform from grouch to Mr. Happy in a matter of seconds.  He was little but he was quick.  His sister, bless her, would present me with the discarded patch which never stuck as well as it had the first time.  And so it went on!  Stick, pull off repeat!

Praise God he now has perfect sight in both eyes and both he and his brother are now longer quite as reliant on asthma medication as they were in their youth.  I give thanks for answers to prayer and the faithful prayer group at Woombye who prayed for our family for many years.

This group, of which I was part, prayed through the thick and thin of family life and, in particular, for our wayward, wannabe rock drummer eldest son who dabbled in ‘pot” plants for a while.  Growing them on the shed roof wasn’t a good idea, and suspicions were aroused one morning when a teenage leg appeared to find its way down a ladder followed by the rest of him, unbeknownst to him in full view of his parents having their early morning cuppa, and at a time when all normal teenagers were dead to the world.  The discussion that followed was frosty and required that degree of fortitude developed by parents over many years.  He was wayward for a while, but many prayers later he is forty- five with a wife, three children and two dogs who teaches at Trinity College in Gladstone, has a strong faith which he shares with his family and teaches drums in his spare time.

He has also grown from being a teenager who, if I asked him to do something, would not even show by as much as a twitch that he had heard me, while he lay on his bed reading a book.  Infuriating, and cause for another muttered prayer.  He now cooks -very well, is capable of cleaning, doing the washing, knows how to use the iron (in my eyes nothing short of a miracle) and load the dishwasher.  God is good!  God is also teaching him patience as he works through the ups and downs of teen-age children, with the bonus of modern technology which is something that we didn’t have to cope with so much. 

He is what he is because of God’s work in his life and the persistent prayers of many, and for that I give thanks.

We sing the song: TIS 650 ‘The Servant Song’

Prayers of the people

Loving God, knowing your love for all of Humanity, especially your compassion for the needy, we come to you with our cares and our concerns.

We pray for the Church, that we may be persistent in prayer and attentive to your invitation to greater discipleship.

We pray for fidelity, that you will sustain us as we encounter challenges and keep us faithful to the virtues of the Gospel in our decisions and actions.

We pray for the Synod and Presbyteries, that the Spirit will guide their conversations and inspire them with insights that will promote the wellbeing of the people and the growth of their faith.

We pray for a greater love of the Scriptures, that our hearts may desire to hear and learn your Word and be open to the insights it offers.

We pray for all who have no voice or standing in society, that we may be aware of all who are forgotten and passed by, and raise their needs and aspirations before others.

We pray for all judges and lawyers, that you will guide their work so that justice may be served and the injured assisted.

We pray for all who support us in our journey of faith, for family, friends, and fellow believers, that you will renew and strengthen each of us so that your work may be more evident in the World.

We pray for all who proclaim the Word, that your Spirit will guide them in offering convincing and encouraging insights so that all may come to know and love you more deeply.

We pray for all who are growing weary in seeking justice and for all who are working to assist them, that the Holy Spirit will give them strength and help them to persevere.

We pray for all who are caught in desperate situations, for refugees seeking a new life and new opportunities, and for those struggling with addictions, that you will hear their cries, bring them to freedom and help them begin a new life.

We pray for all who feel so crushed by life that they despair, that they may sense your nearness and love and find someone with whom to share their pain.

We pray for all who are recovering from natural disasters, that you will strengthen them, renew their spirits and guide them in restoring their lives and livelihoods.

We pray for members of our Governments, that you will guide their search for the truth and give them wisdom to recognize it.  May their words and actions bring honour to you and display respect for others.

We pray for peace, that you will turn the hearts of World leaders from violence and help them to take bold steps to promote peace and provide for the safety of the innocent.

Copyright © 2020. Joe Milner. All rights reserved.<br> Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal or parish use. https://liturgy.slu.edu/29OrdC101622/ideas_other.html

Grant to all of us who have known your forgiveness a forgiving disposition that we may speak to others with compassion and bring to those who are weary consolation and encouragement.

May our manner of life day by day commend Christ to those with whom we interact.

Please bring healing and relief to those who are ill or who are anxious for the welfare of family or friend.  Grant encouragement to the  depressed and sorrowful, courage to the fearful and peace of mind to the overwrought.

  (David Hostetter in Prayers for the Seasons of God’s People Year C P186 & 187) 

We pray for the peoples of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico.

We are thankful for the distinctive cultures, for indigenous and other groups who have resisted injustice and human rights violations, for church leaders who have spoken out and acted on behalf of the poor and marginalized, and for developments that improve life for all, while also caring for the environment.

We pray for stable, democratically elected governments committed to the peace and wellbeing of all, for comfort and healing for the families and loved ones of those who have been killed or disappeared, and that those responsible will be brought to justice, for stopping corruption, drug traffic, and violence, and those who profit from such activities, and for improved economic life and trade policies so that people will not be exploited and can pursue livelihoods in these countries rather than migrating elsewhere for work.

Prayers

Statement of faith

We believe in God, the creator of oases and springs of water in the midst of deserts, who provides resting places of blessing for all God’s creatures and in whose hands we are protected from all evil.

We believe in Jesus Christ, source of life, living water, who satisfies the thirst of those who thirst for peace, who gives strength to the weary and purpose to those who have lost their way in life.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the balm of consolation, companion on the way, who gives strength when we are about to faint and inspires us to continue on the way.

In consideration of what God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, has done this day and throughout our lives, we commit ourselves, as persons whom the grace of God has changed, to accompany others who are at moments of desert in their lives, in situations of pain and times of sadness.
  (Red Crearte Workshop, Mexico 2014) 

Seed of life

Lord, in this world
you have sown the seeds of life
in the hearts of our daughters and sons,
seeds which are growing slowly and quietly,
seeds whose fruit is the strengthening of hope.
But weed seeds have also been sown.
Their fruit is sadness, sorrow and death.
They try to suffocate all efforts to build a different world.
We draw closer to you in prayer
so we can perceive these situations
which discourage and confuse, causing dejection.
Equip us to uncover and denounce evil
without hurting the lives of those sowing love and justice.
Fortify the weak stalks
so that hope and patience flower in us,
to follow you without ever halting our sowing.

  (© Betty Hernández Carrillo, Mexico. English transl. Terry MacArthur © WCC.) 

Morning prayer for peace

God of life,
in the early light of this new day
I want to treasure the opportunity you give me
to wake up enveloped in your peace.
I know that today I will face many different situations.
The world, unfortunately, has not changed much
since last night, which you prepared for me to rest.
But knowing that your peace accompanies life encourages me.

Son of Peace,
today, make of me an announcer of your peace,
which breaks down hatred, egotism, abuse, lies, intolerance,
which ends the conflicts between peoples,
families and persons,
which reconciles all human beings with God,
with themselves, and with all who surround them,
making them new women and men.

Spirit of Unity,
gather in this humble prayer
the prayers from all your people in the world,
that your peace, your justice and your mercy enfold us
and enable us to live as one,
the new humanity of peace.

(© Betty Hernández Carrillo, Mexico. English transl. Terry MacArthur © WCC.)

Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico | World Council of Churches (oikoumene.org)

We pray for renewed life in the churches of Belize, to address the issue of nominal faith.  We pray Spanish speaking immigrants with their superstitions and superficiality, the Mayan with their underlying paganism, and those descended from African slaves with their black magic.

We pray for the successful completion of translation projects in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, that through access to Scripture in local languages, the Church is able to effectively communicate the Gospel with indigenous peoples.

We pray for the effectiveness of the training received by Church leaders in  these countries, that they will be equipped to lead the Church to face the issues that have arisen from decades of oppression and corruption, and from centuries of injustice and poverty.

  (Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk in Operation World) 

We pray for Ian, that you will bless the time that he is spending teaching RI, so that the message of your love and grace is being presented to the children.

We pray for Kylie Conomos, that you will encourage and guide her as she seeks to be a source of comfort and support for the children, parents and staff at Bald Hills State School.  Help her to be a light to guide others to your love and grace for them.

We pray for those who have been unable to worship in person with us, that they may know your support and comfort for them each day.  We ask that you keep them in good health and good spirits.

Eternal God, you know our problems, and have promised that you will help us to solve them.  You know what we lack, and have promised to meet our needs.  Help us to depend upon you day by day and to call upon you when life gets hard.  Loving God, we bring these prayers to you, trusting in your compassion and care.  To your glory we pray.

Lord’s prayer

Our Father in heaven, 
Hallowed be your name, 
Your kingdom come, 
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.  

Give us this day our daily bread. 
Forgive us our sins,  
as we forgive those who sin against us. 
Save us in the time of trial  

And deliver us from evil. 
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,  
now and for ever. 
Amen

Bible Readings

Luke 18.1-8 

The Parable of the Widow and the Judge

 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged. “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. And there was a widow in that same town who kept coming to him and pleading for her rights, saying, ‘Help me against my opponent!’ For a long time the judge refused to act, but at last he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people, yet because of all the trouble this widow is giving me, I will see to it that she gets her rights. If I don’t, she will keep on coming and finally wear me out!’”

 And the Lord continued, “Listen to what that corrupt judge said. Now, will God not judge in favour of his own people who cry to him day and night for help? Will he be slow to help them? I tell you, he will judge in their favour and do it quickly. But will the Son of Man find faith on earth when he comes?”

2 Timothy 3.14 – 4.5 

Paul writes to Timothy

But as for you, continue in the truths that you were taught and firmly believe. You know who your teachers were, and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living,so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.

 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and because he is coming to rule as King, I solemnly urge you to preach the message, to insist upon proclaiming it (whether the time is right or not), to convince, reproach, and encourage, as you teach with all patience. The time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear. They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends.But you must keep control of yourself in all circumstances; endure suffering, do the work of a preacher of the Good News, and perform your whole duty as a servant of God.

Thank you Lord for these words for us from you.

May these words of God join with our hearts as we seek to understand his message to us.

Message

 The lawyer Dennis Denuto defending the Kerrigan’s home in court offered as a justice reason to rule in favour to save their home, their castle

It’s the constitution, its Mabo, it’s justice, it’s law It’s the vibe

Last time I spoke here I talked about how revolutionary it was for Jesus to say that God goes out to seek and save the lost; to meet people where they are at in their messy lives. It was totally against the Pharisees’ concept of people becoming pure – coming in repentance, hoping that they will be acceptable to God, fearing that they will be turned away.

Jesus told the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, teaching that God who goes out to search, and rejoices when the lost are brought home.

Even when reading the earlier writings in the Old Testament, we see God going out to meet with Abraham, and later confronts Moses. You can add many more. The Pharisees surely should have known that. It’s the vibe.

Jesus left the heavenly realm to become human in our earthly place. God going out to save us and bring us home.

Peter recognised this when he met Jesus after a night of fruitless fishing; the amazed Peter left nets and followed him; later to confess that Jesus was “the Son of the living God.”

Jesus did not set himself up in the temple and say “you come to me pure and holy with repentant hearts” but first met people in their distress and difficult circumstances.

Jesus went out and met people on the road. There was the blind man Bartimaeus who cried out. He met with lepers, outcasts beyond the town limits. He met the Samaritan woman by the well in the town square. He met and stayed in people’s homes as with Mary and Martha and Lazarus.  He sought out Matthew the tax collector in the tree and invited himself to dine with Matthew in his house.  The list goes on.

Jesus did not leave people as they were, abandoned to their own devices and desires. The invitation was always there to follow him. The more time they spent with Jesus, the more they learnt, the more confident they became, the more they felt that they could live out their lives in his ways, in the full knowledge that God loved them. And if asked why and how, they could reply from firsthand experience, just as the man was healed and made whole on the Sabbath. “I don’t know how. All I know is that once I was blind but now I see.”

It’s the vibe

And finally, from our readings today we hear a parable that urges us to be persistent in prayer and persevere in our daily struggles with faith and everyday life and never be discouraged.

 And similarly, in Paul’s letter to Timothy we see the same

As he writes “I solemnly urge you to preach the message, to insist upon proclaiming it (whether the time is right or not), to convince, reproach, and encourage, as you teach with all patience.”

Patience? Ask God for patience and you are sure to get an opportunity to exercise it. 

We are not left alone. Jesus, when he returned to the Father,  promised to send the Holy Spirit to come amongst us, who will guide and encourage us. This is the God who walks with us to give us enjoyment in good times and encouragement in difficult times. We are given glimpses of hope when all seems lost.  We are strengthened along the way.

And we are called to go out.  Each of has a unique part to play as we are guided by the Holy Spirit, who will guide us and enrich every situation.

I once heard a minister talk to a parade of school children. This minister said nice things but concluded that if students and their families needed help they could come and receive help at the church. I am thankful that we understand that we need to engage children at their school, and over the years school chaplaincy has become imbedded in schools in every state.  We go out to speak, as we support our Chaplain Kylie at Bald Hills State School, the school across the road. Kylie plans to visit us on Sunday 13 November.

The Rev John Flynn was born in1880 and was ordained as a Minister of the Presbyterian Church in 1911.

Throughout his training, Flynn continued to develop an interest in working in the Outback and helped other Presbyterian Ministers like Donald Cameron and Andrew Barber with missionary work in rural and remote areas throughout Victoria and South Australia.

 His travels took him further into the outback and later became head of the Australian Inland Mission.The purpose of the Australian Inland Mission was to minister to the spiritual, social and medical needs of people in the Outback.

 In 1917, the seeds of an aerial mission were sown. For the next ten years, Flynn campaigned for an aerial medical service. His vision was to provide a ‘mantle of safety’ for the people of the bush, and his vision became a reality when his long-time supporter, H V McKay, left a large bequest for ‘an aerial experiment’ which enabled Flynn to get the Flying Doctor Service airborne.

The legacy of John Flynn and the RFDS lives on today.

Our Flying Chaplain Michael and his wife – go out. They can’t say “If you need help, find me at the church, a day’s drive away.  By the way, you can come to the services at Cloncurry on Sundays at 9.00.”

Winton and other outback communities struggle to provide ministry. Once it was seen as a priority to go out, and many a dedicated young minister did it tough in remote and rugged places. Somehow, we struggle to maintain our own ministry in the cities and towns. Have we lost our way and dependence on the guidance of our Lord?

Our congregation is larger than we think. Our small seed that we sow in supporting Frontier Services will grow, and in doing so enlarge our congregation many times. “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 9:10

Now Peter, who was called to follow Jesus, failed many times even though he professed his faithfulness. At the end Jesus came to (went out to) meet him at the beach and repeated the question “Do you love me” three times. Peter replied “Lord, you know I do.” Peter is then commissioned to “feed my sheep”

In this case it is God who is persistent, persevering with Peter.

“Come Share a Damper with Me” written by Norman Habel tells this story in a very Australian way. 

And likewise, God persists and perseveres with us, walking with us, and encouraging us along the way. We also encourage one another as Paul did for Timothy. We are called to go out beyond ourselves to encourage those who we meet along the way.

It’s not a set of doctrines. It is not a highly developed knowledge of scripture. It is not a holy huddle of possessive believers. It is not trying to obtain unobtainable perfection.

 It is the vibe. It’s right. For we know that God loves even you and me and it is He who sorts things out for us.

 Sending Out

1 Corinthians 2:6,7 ; Ephesians 1:3

Just as we received Christ Jesus as Lord, we continue to live our lives in him….

Strengthened in the faith as we were taught, and overflowing in thankfulnes;

thankful that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.

And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen