Welcome

You are invited to listen to, or join in singing ‘Come on and celebrate’ ( SIS 481) 

Gathering

Come and find peace in the Lord.
Put behind you the troubles you bring with you.
Empty your mind of anger and regret.
Focus on God’s love for you,
and for all your sisters and brothers,
and be ready for worship.

And we pray together

Loving God, as we come to worship you,
forgive us as we forgive one another;
stir in us that flow of love from brother to sister,
sister to brother, and back again.
Help us to nurture it in one another,
God of all, we come to offer you the best of ourselves:
to take hold of mercy and let go of fear,
to take hold of generosity and to let go of resentment,
to take hold of forgiveness and to let go of sin,
to take hold of gratitude and to let go of grudge,
to take hold of all your very self,
in Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Amen.

Through God’s Holy Word we have learnt that..

The Lord is merciful and loving,
slow to become angry and full of constant love.
He does not keep on rebuking;
    he is not angry forever.

Through God’s Holy Word we also know that…..

He does not punish us as we deserve
    or repay us according to our sins and wrongs.
As high as the sky is above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who honour him.
As far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our sins from us.

Through god’s Holy Word we receive comfort that…..

 As a father is kind to his children,
    so the Lord is kind to those who honour him.   

(Psalm 103:8-13)

You are invited to listen to, or join in singing the praise hymn TIS 183 ‘Sing of the Lord’s Goodness’

Introduction 

Our Bible readings for today take us once again to the topic of forgiveness.

The first reading from Genesis tells of that time of reconciliation when Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers. It really is the climax of one of the great and wonderful narratives of the Old Testament. It is one with which we are very familiar from our Sunday School days. Despite what harm his brother have done to him, in the confidence of knowing that God is with him, he forgives their past deeds.

The Romans reading shows us that we are all one in the family of God. All are loved and accepted by God and therefore we have no right to set up divisions that exclude others who don’t quite fit our way of thinking.

Our Gospel reading takes us to the heart of forgiveness.  Because we are in Christ forgiven, we are to live a new way of life where we acknowledge we are forgiven much, and as a result we are to continually show forgiveness towards others.   

 It may be difficult at times but in God’s strength we are called to “put off the old and put on the new”, in purpose and in practice.   Let us pray.

Creator God, living Saviour, enlivening Spirit,
your generosity far outweighs our deserving.
Your grace is far more beautiful than our imagining.
Your forgiveness far exceeds our understanding.
So, we bow our heads and open our hearts,
as we offer you our lives in adoration and thankfulness.
Remain seated. Sing along as the Spirit leads you.

We reflect on the words of this song that will lead us into a time of prayer. ‘Lead me to the cross’ (Source 189)

Prayer of Confession

Incredible God, forgive us we pray when we are reluctant to let
go of the things that have been done to us that hurt. Help us to
understand more fully what it is to forgive,
and heal us.

Forgive us when we justify our own mistakes but are harsh in
our judgements of others. Help us to understand them better
from the way that you treat us. Help us to understand more fully
what it is to forgive,
and heal us.

Forgive us when we could offer forgiveness but withhold it.
Help us to understand more fully what it is to forgive.

Forgive us, heal us and help us grow into the likeness of your Son
Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.
Amen.

 Assurance of Forgiveness

Gracious God,
there are debts to you and to others that we cannot pay.
There are mistakes that we cannot undo.
There are words that we cannot unsay.
But because you forgive us, we can take another step,
face another day with confidence,
and rejoice at your love for us and for all creation.
Amen.

Bible Readings

Genesis 50:15-21 GNT

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

After the death of their father, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still hates us and plans to pay us back for all the harm we did to him?” So they sent a message to Joseph: “Before our father died, he told us to ask you, ‘Please forgive the crime your brothers committed when they wronged you.’ Now please forgive us the wrong that we, the servants of your father’s God, have done.” Joseph cried when he received this message. Then his brothers themselves came and bowed down before him. “Here we are before you as your slaves,” they said.

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid; I can’t put myself in the place of God. You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened. You have nothing to fear. I will take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them with kind words that touched their hearts.

Romans 14:1-12 J.B. Phillips New Testament

 Again, one believer thinks some days of more importance than others. Another considers them all alike. Let everyone be definite in their own convictions. If believers especially observe one particular day, they do so “to God”. The person who eats, eats “to God”, and thanks God for the food. The believer who fasts also does it “to God”, thanking God for the benefits of fasting. The truth is that we neither live nor die as self-contained units. At every turn life links us to God, and when we die we come face to face with him. In life or death we are in the hands of God. Christ lived and died that he might be the Lord in both life and death.

 Why, then, criticise your fellow believer’s actions, why try to make him look small? We shall all be judged one day, not by each other’s standards or even our own, but by the standard of Christ. It is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God’. It is to God alone that we have must answer for our actions.

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

Matthew 18:21-35 (J.B. Phillips New Testament)

 Then Peter approached him with the question, “Master, how many times can my brother wrong me and I must forgive him? Would seven times be enough?”

“No,” replied Jesus, “not seven times, but seventy times seven! For the kingdom of Heaven is like a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When he had started calling in his accounts, a man was brought to him who owed him millions. And when it was plain that he had no means of repaying the debt, his master gave orders for him to be sold as a slave, and his wife and children and all his possessions as well, and the money to be paid over.    

At this the servant fell on his knees before his master, ‘Oh, be patient with me!’ he cried, ‘and I will pay you back every penny!’ Then his master was moved with pity for him, set him free and cancelled his debt.

“But when this same servant had left his master’s presence, he found one of his fellow-servants who owed him a very little. He grabbed him and seized him by the throat, crying, ‘Pay up what you owe me!’ At this his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and implored him, ‘Oh, be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ But he refused and went out and had him put in prison until he should repay the debt.

When the other fellow-servants saw what had happened, they were horrified and told their master the whole incident.

Then his master called him in. “‘You wicked servant!’ he said. ‘Didn’t I cancel all that debt when you begged me to do so? Oughtn’t you to have taken pity on your fellow-servant as I, your master, took pity on you? And his master in anger handed him over to the gaolers till he should repay the whole debt.

This is how my Heavenly Father will treat you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.”

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Message

An acquaintance of mine, by the name of Scott, was the chair of church council at Nambour. Sunday by Sunday he would deliver the church notices just before the service. In handing over to the minister, he would simply say,

“Now Let go and let God.”

It seemed as though he was saying that God was only active in our lives when we worshipped together on a Sunday morning. Scott obviously did not mean that, for it was really a reminder that we should always live out our faith in our daily lives.

Previously in Matthew 18 we read snippets of teaching.

• Jesus teaches that we are to come to God as little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
• That we are not to be a stumbling block to faith to anyone.
• That we all are important to God and that it brings him joy to bring even the lost back to him.
• That there is a proper way to deal with church difficulties and that God is with us as we make decisions

²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

When Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Jesus is not telling us to keep a tally of grievances and a check list where we can keep the score. 

He is telling us that right way is to live not just in church and say godly things  and think godly thoughts.

As in the song we are to be “living every day by the power of Your love”

As we are taught to pray without ceasing our whole life becomes on of prayer and so our whole lives exercise forgiveness without ceasing.

Not 7 times or 70 times but 70 times 7 to the nth degree.

Forgiveness means letting go of all things.

We are reminded
“So that if, while you are offering your gift at the altar, you should remember that your brother has something against you, you must leave your gift there before the altar and go away. Make your peace with your brother first, then come and offer your gift.”

We know from experience hanging on to your grievances is not a good thing.

We know that it is a hard thing to do, but following Jesus instructions, it is what we must do. “Let go! And Let God!”

Remember the story from Vanuatu. The man walking down the road carrying his heavy load of copra. Another man driving a utility truck stopped to give him a lift in the back of the ute. Gratefully he hopped aboard but soon he noticed the man in the back riding along still with the heavy load on his shoulders. Such was his habit and lack of understanding he did not realise that he could actually put the load down, rest his weary body, and let the ute do all the work.

Sometimes we are like that and hang onto the things that weigh us down. We are called to forgive as Jesus forgave even though it sometimes is difficult

 We are called to lay down all the obstacles, our burdens in order that we find freedom in Christ Jesus.

God provides the foundation to build a new life together in the here and now.

The wise man built his house upon the rock and the house on the rock stood firm.

We too, must build our lives on this solid ground.

As we celebrate 150 years as a community of faith. We must realise that people in our generation live in an entirely different way when compared to our early pioneers, but the message is still the same.

How do we build our house on the Lord Jesus Christ in this generation? We live in a far different, always changing, society which is sometimes difficult to negotiate and keep up with all the changes. Yet here we are, and we must be the people God has called us to be.

If we “Let go and let God” we are acknowledging that God’s forgiveness makes it possible for us to make the changes we need to make whether individually or as a congregation together. 

 The words in this song “Let us build our lives” reminds us that the wisdom of scripture is the way to go.

In Psalm 127 we learn that

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

This song is response to the Amazing Grace and Mercy shown to us. The Lord says to us “All are welcome” and so we are welcomed and so welcome all who seek the Lord.

You are invited to listen to, or join in singing ‘ Let us build a house’   Marty Haugen

Remember that in Psalm 127 we learn that

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

This song is response to the Amazing Grace and Mercy shown to us. The Lord says to us “All are welcome” and so we welcome all who seek the Lord.

Join in when you have picked up the simple melody.

 Offertory

From our hearts we can say

“Lord, we give you today what is already yours.
You provide so much for us,
blessings pressed down, shaken together, running over.
we are thankful that you grant us the ability to give,
and cheerful hearts to do it.”

Our offering will now be received.

Dedication

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to give,
which we do with joyful, grateful hearts.
We look at the needs of the world,
and our offerings are small.
May they be like yeast,
gifts that grow in your kingdom,
bringing a rich harvest of righteousness.
We pray this in Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Intercessory Prayer for Others
God of all hope and love,
we stand under your forgiveness and praise you,
we are bowled over by your generosity and praise you,
we are in awe of your mercy and praise you,
we are reassured by your understanding and praise you,
we are confident of your faithfulness and praise you,
we are the people we are and the people we can become
because of you – and we praise you.
For all your blessings, for all your patience, for all your love,
we praise you in Jesus’ name.
Amen.

Jesus’ parables inspire us to pray for those who forgive us,
for big things and small…
for those who do not forgive, no matter what…
for those who do not know how to forgive…
for those who do not want to forgive…
for those who have not been forgiven.
God of forgiveness, for them all, we pray.

Lord God, we pray for our world and its people.
So many different cultures, colours, languages
– but we are all your children, all special in our own right.
Whatever our gender, race, colour or creed, we all belong to you.
We all need your love.
We pray that we might learn to live in harmony with each other,
to recognise that even someone halfway around the world is still
our neighbour in your sight. Far or near, we all belong to you.
We all need your love.

With today’s technology we have access to news from afar,
almost before it happens. Help us not to become blasé about
the situations we see, but to pray and care faithfully for all concerned.
In war or peace, we all belong to you.
We all need your love.
We pray for those near and dear to us: protect them, wrap them
in your loving arms, and in sorrow and in joy, be with them.
Near or far, we all belong to you.
We all need your love.
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 sing ‘God Give You Joy’  (All Together Everybody 294)(unfortunately we were unable to find a YouTube clip for this song, which will be sung in the church to a guitar accompaniment).

God give you joy and lead you on ahead

God give you wisdom for the path you tread

May he fit you for each task

And wrap you in his love

God give you joy always

God give you faith to lean on him each day

God give you peace to trust him and obey

May he fit you for each task

And wrap you in his love

God give you joy always

God give you peace when troubled times are near

God’s presence be with you to drive out fear

May he fit you for each task

And wrap you in his love

God give you joy always

God give you joy and fill you with his power

God be your strength and helper hour by hour

May he fit you for each task

And wrap you in his love

Benediction

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians 4 verses 8 and 9 he writes

Here is a last piece of advice.

If you believe in goodness and if you value the approval of God,

fix your minds on the things which are holy and right

and pure and beautiful and good.

Model your conduct on what you have learned from me,

on what I have told you and shown you,

and you will find the God of peace will be with you.

And may the blessings of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you always.

Amen.

Going Out Song  ‘You shall go out with joy’