Welcome: –

Call to Worship: –

(from Psalm 91: 1 to 4 & 14 to 16) 

Whoever goes to the LORD for safety, whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty, can say to Him,

“You are my defender and protector.  You are my God; in you I trust.”

He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers, He will cover you with His wings;

You will be safe in His care; His faithfulness will protect and defend you.

God says, “I will save those who love me and protect those who acknowledge me as LORD.

When they call to me, I will answer them;

When they are in trouble, I will be with them.

I will rescue them and honour them.  I will save them.”

Comment on Psalm 91

This Psalm proclaims God’s powerful and solemn assurance of His salvation.  Those who seek to find refuge in God and who place their trust in God will not do so in vain, for God’s promise of providing safety and a shelter in times of strife is guaranteed to be fulfilled, for God is the Almighty, the transcendent and supreme Being of all of Heaven and Earth.  Yet, God also yearns for a close personal relationship with us, and longs for us to express our love and our devotion towards Him.  His desire is for us to proclaim with sincerity and faith, “You are my God, in you I put my trust.”  (verse 2b) 

  (Artur Weiser in The Psalms p605 to 607) 

  So, upon that understanding, let us gather today to offer our worship and our praise for the LORD our God, upon whose faithfulness to save us we can rely. 

Prayer of Praise

 (from Moira Laidlaw Liturgies Online Year C, Prayers for the Seasons of God’s People Year C p175 to 177) 

 Almighty and glorious Lord, we meet to worship you and to give you our praise.  Your Word reminds us that those who put their hope in you find love and a restored soul.  For we trust in you, O God, and in you alone.  We rejoice that your love for us is stronger than our fears.  We rejoice that the life and light of Christ penetrates the darkest and most fearful corners of the World, giving hope and strength to those who seek after you.  Your Word provides a light to our path.  It guides our thoughts and our actions so that we can live a life of morality, of justice, of gentleness and of purity.  For the person who seeks after your Word finds a treasure beyond all value, a treasure that promises eternal satisfaction and contentment.

  Sovereign God, you give life to all things.  You give order and pattern to your Creation, to what we can see close by around us, to what we can glimpse in the night sky, to what we can only discover through a microscope.  Your glory and majesty are seen in the knowledge and the wisdom behind how all created things are formed; it is seen in the authority behind the Laws of Nature that guide how the smallest cell replicates itself or how the planets in our Solar System orbit the Sun; it is seen in the power of the great ocean waves or the fiery volcanic eruption. 

  Loving God, we give thanks for your willingness to be in an intimate relationship with each one of us.  We give you thanks that you hold each of us equally dear to yourself.  We give you thanks that your love for us is beyond our comprehension, yet we see it clearly in your gift of life to us, made so evident through the sacrifice of your Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross, so that our sins can be forgiven and our lives restored to fellowship with you.  We give you thanks for life though we do not deserve it, nor can we ever earn it.  We give you thanks on the basis that you give because you love.  May our lives be a faithful confession of our adoration towards you, so that all the World will acknowledge you and give you the praise and honour due to you as our living and loving God.  Amen.

We sing 2 songs:

The first song is ‘Oh how I love Jesus’  Scripture in Song volume 1 number 73

Frederick Whitfield

The second song is: ‘Therefore the Redeemed of the Lord shall return’  Scripture in Song volume 1 number 79

Ruth Lake

Prayer of Confession 

(from Moira Laidlaw Liturgies On-line Year C, Invocations and Benedictions p143, Prayers for the Seasons of God’s People Year C p175 to 177 ) 

Merciful God, we come before you humble and contrite, knowing that we have failed to be the person who you seek for us to be, knowing that we have failed to be a witness to your grace and mercy with those we meet in our daily lives.

We confess that we just presume that you are there with us each day.  We fail to stop to talk with you, we fail to share our deepest feelings and hurts with you, we fail to give you praise for our joyful moments and our happiest occasions.  Merciful God, forgive our sins.

Merciful God, we acknowledge that there are many things which cloud our vision so much that we fail to notice people in need.  Our busyness and our personal priorities lead us to put our needs ahead of the pressing needs of those around us.

We confess that too often we close our eyes to the things we do that are hurtful to our family and friends, to the things that hinder our fellowship with those with whom we are supposed to meet to share worship, to the things that harm our relationships with those with whom we live and work.  Merciful God, forgive our sins.

Merciful God, you challenge us to live by your Gospel, yet we fail to practice with our lives what we proclaim with our lips.  We seek the apparent security and comfort in the things we can gather around us and are blind to how temporary and transient these things really are.

We confess that too often we value someone’s worth by their job or their status or their wealth, and neglect that it is you who gives value to each individual regardless of who or what they are.  Merciful God, forgive our sins. 

In your mercy, O God, guide our thoughts so that they may be filled with the knowledge of

your presence.  Guide our words, so that all who hear them may be drawn closer to you.  Guide our actions, so that you are evident in all that we do.

Transform our lives into lives offering true worship to you and true service to others.  In your name we pray.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness  

(from 1 Timothy 6:13) 

Paul writes to Timothy reminding him that it is God who gives life to all things, and renewed life to all who repent of their sins.  Having confessed our sins before God, let us rest with the assurance that God has indeed heard our prayers, that He has forgiven us and has restored His life in us.

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 perceive 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

Deuteronomy 15:

7  And Moses said, “Now, people of Israel, listen to what the LORD your God demands of you:

‘If in any of the towns in the land that the LORD your God is giving you there is a fellow Israelite in need, then do not be selfish and refuse to help him as much as he needs.  8  Instead, be generous and lend him as much as he needs.  9  Do not refuse to lend him something, just because the year when debts are cancelled in near.  Do not let such an evil thought enter your mind.  I you refuse to make the loan, he will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be held guilty.  10  Give to him freely and unselfishly, and the LORD will bless you in everything you do. 

11  There will always be some Israelites who are poor and in need, and so I command you to be generous to them.’”

1 Timothy 6:

6  Well, religion does make a person very rich, if they are satisfied with what they have.  7  What did we bring into the World?  Nothing!  What can we take out of the World?  Nothing!  8  So then, if we have food and clothes, that should be enough for us.  9  But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction.

10  For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil.  Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.

11  But you, Timothy, man of God, avoid all these things.  Strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.  12  Run your best in the race of faith, and win eternal life for yourself; for it was to this life that God called you when you firmly professed your faith before many witnesses. 

17  Command those who are rich in the things of this life not to be proud, but to place their hope, not in such an uncertain thing as riches, but in God, who generously give us everything for our enjoyment.  18  Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share with others.  19  In this way they will store up for themselves a treasure which will be a solid foundation for the future.  And then they will be able to win thew life which is true life.

[Today’s English Version]

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

Luke 16:

19  Jesus said to the Pharisees,

“There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day.  20  There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man’s door,  21  hoping to eat bits of food that fell from the rich man’s table.  Even the dogs would come and lick his sores.

22  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in Heaven.  The rich man died and was buried,  23  and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side.  24  So he called out, ‘Father Abraham!  Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!’

25  But Abraham said,

‘Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things.  But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain.  26  Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone crossover to us from where you are.’ 

27  The rich man said,

‘Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father’s house  28  where I have five

brothers.  Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.’ 

29  Abraham said,

‘Your brothers have Moses and the Prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.’

30  The rich man answered,

‘That is not enough, father Abraham!  But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.’

31  But Abraham said,

‘If they will not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.’”

[Today’s English Version]

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Passing the Peace

Whether we gather in person in our Church building or whether we gather in spirit in our homes, we remain one body, one people of God, one in fellowship and one in worship.  With that in mind, let us uplift our hands and greet those both here and those who cannot be here:

May the peace of God be with you all.

And also with you.

We sing the Hymn  ‘Come let us, who in Christ believe’  MHB333  Wesley’s Hymns number 208

[This hymn is sung to the tune St Bernard. This YouTube clip is for another hymn, but has the tune for this hymn]]

Verse 1 of 3

Come let us, who in Christ believe,

Our common Saviour praise,

To him with joyful voices give

Our worship and our praise.

Verse 2 of 3

He now stands knocking at the door

Of every sinner’s heart;

The worst can keep him out no more

Nor force him to depart.

Verse 3 of 3

Through grace we listen to his voice,

Yield to be saved from sin;

In sure and certain hope rejoice

That he will enter in.

Charles Wesley

Sermon

Screen 1

“It’s money… I remember it from when I was single.”
– Billy Crystal

  Billy Crystal, the American entertainer once said,

 “It’s money… I remember it from when I was single.”

  (https://prosperitythinkers.com/personal-finance/fifty-financial-jokes/) 

Screen 2

“If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.”
– Earl Wilson

  Earl Wilson, an American journalist and author, once remarked,

“If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.”

  (https://prosperitythinkers.com/personal-finance/fifty-financial-jokes/) 

Screen 3

“How much did John D Rockefeller leave behind when he died?”

  A story goes that when John D Rockefeller, one of the richest men in the history of American business and commerce, passed away, one man was curious about how much

he had left behind.  Determined to find out, he set up an appointment with one of Rockefeller’s aides and asked,

“How much did John D Rockefeller leave behind when he died?”

  The aide replied, “All of it.”

  (number 866 in 1500 illustrations for Biblical Preaching by Michael Green p238) 

Screen 4

“For the love of money is the source of all kinds of evil”  (1 Timothy 6: 10) 

  Paul uses an apparently well-known proverb of his time to give a warning to Timothy, when he wrote,  “For the love of money is the source of all kinds of evil”  (1 Timothy 6: 10)  or, as one writer puts it, “evils of every kind are rooted in the love of money”.  (John Kelly in The Pastoral Letters p137)  Paul warns of the “foolish and harmful desires” that become a trap for the rich and “which pull them down to ruin and destruction”  (1 Timothy 6:9)  , desires that cause many to wander away from the faith and that result in broken hearts and many sorrows, or, as the New English Bible reads, “causes people to spike themselves on many thorny griefs”.  (1 Timothy 6: 9 & 10)  Why is this so?

Screen 5

Jesus talking with the Pharisees – Luke 16: 14

  Luke records a time when Jesus confronts some Pharisees about the things that really matter to God, the things that really matter in a person’s life.  Jesus had been talking to his Disciples about making a choice between serving God or serving money, for, as Jesus explained to them, they cannot serve both  (Luke 16: 13)  .  We read that when some Pharisees overheard Jesus talking about this “they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money”  (Luke 16: 14)  .  It was quite common for a Pharisee to be wealthy and to enjoy the benefits of what wealth could give them.  Wasn’t their wealth clear evidence to them that God had richly blessed their lives?  Jesus and his Disciples lived in poverty, totally dependent upon the welfare and the generosity of others?  Wasn’t this clear evidence to the pharisees that God’s blessing was not upon Jesus and his disciples?  To the thinking of the Pharisees, for Jesus to suggest that money could get in the way of their relationship with God, when they considered that money was God’s way of blessing them, only showed, as far as they were concerned, the ignorance that Jesus had in his understanding of how God relates to people, and, to the Pharisees, demonstrated that deep down Jesus was conscious of his lowly position compared to the Pharisees and was endeavouring to cover it up.  As one writer puts it, is it any wonder then that “they howled in derision”, for in spite of the criticism that they had faced from Jesus in the past, on this occasion the Pharisees “felt secure in their superiority”.  (Stuart Briscoe in Parables of Luke  Patterns for Power p151 & 152) 

Screen 6

Illustration of Lazarus at the rich man’s gate by Fyodor Bronnikov, 1886

“a poor man named Lazarus used to be brought to the rich man’s door”  Luke 16: 20 

  As Jesus did when he wanted to teach a truth to sometimes recalcitrant listeners, he told them a parable.  In this case, it was a parable of an unnamed rich man and of a poor man named Lazarus.  “(The) rich man dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day”  (Luke 16:19)  .  In direct contrast, “Lazarus, covered in sores, (was) brought (begging, each day,) to the rich man’s door, hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man’s table.”  (Luke 16: 20 & 21)  .  In death, the situation is reversed, for we find Lazarus feasting in Heaven, seated beside Abraham, while the rich man is in pain and anguish in Hades, the Land of the Dead.  ‘Why am I here while Lazarus is with you?’ the rich man asks Abraham in confusion and anguish.  Abraham replies “While you were enjoying your life of luxury every day, having everything that you could ever want, you were oblivious to the needy condition of those around you.  Lazarus, the beggar, desired nothing more than the scraps from your table, but you gave no conscious consideration at all either to his plight or to his needs.”  (Luke 16: 25)  .

  It is here that Jesus is making his point to the Pharisees.  For what is important to God is what is in the heart, how you perceive your responsibility is to the needy in your locality, according to the love that God demonstrates equally and generously to all people and according to the pattern of life that God seeks for you to follow.  As Abraham tells the rich man, “Your brothers have the writings of Moses and the Prophets to warn them (concerning what God expects is to be their attitude and their behaviour towards the needs of others); your brothers should read the Scriptures and determine (therefore) how they should correctly act to fulfill the will of God for their own lives.”  (Luke 16: 29)  .

  What exactly was this warning given to the people of God in the writings of Moses and the Prophets?  One passage where such a warning is found is Deuteronomy 15: 7 to11.  We read that they are “not to be selfish and refuse to help the poor”, as we read in the Good News Bible, or as the Authorised Version reads, “to harden their heart” towards them or “to shut their hand from them”.  In contrast, God exhorts them to actively seek out those who are destitute and in need and to “be generous (towards them) and to lend them as much as they need”, “to give to them freely and unselfishly”.

  David Payne, in his Commentary, argues that what is contained in this short passage is not so much a decree or demand from God regarding their interactions with “the poor” among them, but “a design for life”, where God has expounded people’s moral and social obligations and responsibilities towards the needy who will always present among them.  For the ideal that God is striving is the “elimination of poverty” among His people  (David Payne in Deuteronomy p93 & 94)  .  George Manley and Roland Harrison highlight that the message that God is seeking to convey to the Israelites was that “charity should proceed from (their) heart, as it does from God  (George Manley and Roland Harrison in Deuteronomy in the New Bible Commentary p220)  .

  It is here that Jesus finds fault with the pharisees.  “You are the ones who make yourselves look right in people’s sight,” Jesus accuses them,” but God knows your heart.”  (Luke 16: 15a).  With their words the Pharisees presented a positive picture of their leadership of people in God’s way.  Within their heart, though, they sought after something far different.  Jesus reveals to them that, in their love of money, they were placing great value on things that “are worth nothing in the sight of God.”  (Luke 16: 15b)  (Stuart Briscoe in Parables of Luke  Patterns for Power p153)  .

Screen 7

“I command you to be generous towards the poor and needy”  Deuteronomy 15: 11

  The love of money develops pride within a person, an overconfidence in what they can achieve by themselves.  (Alan Stibbs in 1 Timothy in the New Bible Commentary p1176)  .  It promotes the self above anyone or anything else.  It promotes a focus on comfort and status and position and power and privilege.  It promotes a trust in what is uncertain, the characteristic insecurity of wealth.  One’s life becomes centred around the attaining and the retaining of wealth, to the exclusion of one’s worship of God and one’s service to others.  This is the opposite to what Paul maintains is paramount for what a Christian is to seek, the living of a quiet and peaceful life  (1 Timothy 2: 2a)  .  Earlier in his letter to Timothy, Paul stresses the need to show reverence towards God and of showing proper conduct towards others  (1 Timothy 2: 2b)  .  Didn’t Jesus commend the Teacher of the Law when he responded to a question from Jesus that the most important Commandment was to love the Lord your God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength; and that the second is to love your neighbour as you love yourself  (Luke 10: 25 to 28)  .

  Paul warns of false teachers, those who teach heretical doctrines that do not agree with the true words of our Lord Jesus Christ”  (1 Timothy 6: 3)  , doctrines different to that which had been passed on by those first believers, those who knew Jesus personally and who had walked with Jesus while he was on Earth.  Such false teachers, Paul argues, “think that religion is a way to become rich”  (1 Timothy 6: 5b)  .  By this he refers to their willingness to charge fees for the giving of religious advice and for the performing of religious services, not out of a desire to serve God but out of a desire to acquire wealth”  (John Kelly in The Pastoral Letters p135)  . 

  In 1 Timothy 6: 6 we read that, for Paul, religion makes a person very rich, if they are satisfied with what they have, that is, without coveting anything,  (Alan Stibbs in 1 Timothy in the New Bible Commentary p1175)  or, as some translations put it, “godliness with contentment brings gain”.  We read the same advice in Hebrews 13: 5 where we read that “we are to be satisfied with what we have”.  Paul writes ”if we have food and clothes, that should be enough for us”  (1 Timothy 6: 8)  or as the New English Bible reads, “so that we may rest content”.  The Lord knows our basic needs and will provide for them.  This is a trust upon which we can be assured.  It is for us to be satisfied here in the World as long as we have food and clothes  (Alan Stibbs in 1 Timothy in the New Bible Commentary p1175)  .  Paul’s assertion is that this is the way to realise satisfaction  (Alan Stibbs in 1 Timothy in the New Bible Commentary p1176)  .  It is the message we read in Psalm 23: 1.  “The LORD is my Shepherd, I have everything I need.”  It is the message Jesus told his disciples in Luke 12: 30.  “So don’t be upset or overly concerned about what you will eat and drink, .. your Father (in Heaven) knows that you need these things.” 

  Paul asks two questions.  Firstly he asks, “what did we bring into the World?”  And his answer is, “nothing”  (1 Timothy 6: 7a)  .  Secondly, he asks, “what can we take out of the world?  And his answer is again, “nothing”  (1 Timothy 6: 7b)  .  It was to this reality that the aide to John D Rockefeller alluded.  These are the identical questions that Job asks  (Job 1: 21)  , as does the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes  (Ecclesiastes 5: 15)  .

  What Paul is saying is that material wealth is not a part of our abiding self, nor is it transferable to the life beyond  (Alan Stibbs in 1 Timothy in the New Bible Commentary p1176)  .  Money has its purposes, its uses, but, alone, by itself, it cannot give the World colour or value or enjoyment or meaning.  Paul, in this passage, talks of the proper attitude towards money, but he also tells us of something of far greater value than money, of a richness far greater than what money can give.

  Paul talks of holding on to the truths about God’s great work of salvation, accomplished through Jesus Christ.  “You must teach and preach these thing” Paul tells Timothy in 6: 2b.  Paul clearly states his position on this earlier in his letter, where he writes, “For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and Humanity together, the man Christ Jesus.”  (1 Timothy 2: 5 & 6a)  .  So then, what is ultimately of value must relate to how we respond to this saving act of God.  Alternatively, what is not of value is what leads us away from a proper response to this saving act of God. 

Screen 8

“But you, Timothy, man of God, avoid all these things.  Strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.’  1 Timothy 6: 11

  Paul warns of false teachers who condemn themselves by their conceit and their lack of understanding, whose actions lead to strife and evil thoughts.  (Alan Stibbs in 1 Timothy in the New Bible Commentary p1175)  Flee from this Paul warns Timothy  (1 Timothy 6: 11a)  .  Actively pursue instead, Paul tells Timothy, those Christian virtues that build up individuals and that enable the work of God to be carried out in the community.  Paul encourages Timothy to strive for six things :

-righteousness, that is, being absolutely upright and impartial in one’s dealings with others,

-godliness, that is, a devout and correct religious attitude, a reverence towards God,

-faith, in the accepted belief in a saving God and a redeeming Christ,

-love, so as to reflect the very nature of God in our relationships and our dealings with others,

-endurance, a patient endeavour in our involvement in doing God’s work, and

-gentleness, the same gentleness and kindness as is shown to us by our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

  (1 Timothy 6: 11b)  (Alan Stibbs in 1 Timothy in the New Bible Commentary p1176), John Kelly in The Pastoral Letters p18 & p140)  

  It has been said that money makes the World go around; however, it has also been noted that it is chocolate that makes the World sing.  May we be the chocolate that generates life and joy in our small corner of the World, may we be involved in generous and beneficial causes to alleviate the needs of others with whom we come into contact, may we be involved in a striving for a righteous life and not material riches, a life that pursues the true and wholesome teaching about our Saviour God and his redeeming Son.  May we find that if this is our religion, then we are very rich indeed.  Amen.

We sing the hymn ‘Son of God, eternal Saviour’  TiS606

[This hymn is sung to the tune Hyfrydol.]

This YouTube clip has organ music only.  It is for another hymn, but the tune is for this hymn]

Verse 1 of 4

Son of God, eternal Saviour,

Source of life and truth and grace,

Son of Man, whose birth incarnate

Promised peace to all our race.

Christ our head, who, throned in glory,

For us all will ever plead,

Fills us with his love and pity,

Heals our wrongs, and helps our need.

Verse 2 of 4

As you, Lord, have lived for others

So may we for others live;

Freely have your gifts been granted

Freely may your servants give;

Yours the gold and yours the silver,

Yours the wealth of sea and land,

We but stewards of your bounty

Held in trust as from your hand.

Verse3 of 4

Come, O Christ, and reign among us,

King of love and Prince of peace;

Hush the storm of strife and passion,

Bid its cruel discords cease;

By your patient years of toiling,

By your silent hours of pain,

Quench our fevered thirst for pleasure,

Shame our selfish greed for gain.

Verse 4 of 4

Son of God, eternal Saviour

Source of life and truth and grace,

Son of Man, whose birth incarnate

Promised peace to all our race.

In your love you prayed the Father

That your people should be one,

Grant, O Christ, our hope’s fruition,

Here on Earth your will be done.

Somerset Lowry

Offering

Offering Prayer    

“For the life that you have given”  TiS774 

[This hymn is being sung to the tune Austria – there is no introduction.]

[This YouTube 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

Let us come before God with our cares and our concerns.

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

In a world where a great gulf separates rich and poor, we pray for a new spirit of caring.  Give to those who have authority in the rich Nations the desire to aid Nations in need.

Have mercy on the destitute who have no shelter and no means to sustain themselves.  Have mercy on the rich whose love of money has led them into evil ways.  Please lead them back to know the true wealth of a love and caring for others.

  (Raymond Chapman in Leading Intercessions p117)  

We pray for National, regional and local officials, that they may serve with honesty and with respect for the Law.

We pray for the sick and the ailing, for the maimed and the crippled, for those with unsound minds and troubled souls, that all may experience your healing and wholeness.

We pray for humble leadership of your Church, that they will seek to be strengthened by your spirit so that they can lead effectively and according to your will and purpose.

  (David Hostetter in Prayers for the Seasons of God’s People Year C p176 & 177) 

We pray for the peoples of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay.

We are thankful for individuals, churches and other organizations who remain committed to seeking healing, justice and truth, for the furthering of human rights and democratic institutions, for the ways in which those of different faiths and ethnicities are working together for the common good and for the needs of people and creation, and how churches, from out of what people are experiencing, have led global ecumenical work for an economy that serves life.

We pray for a greater respect for Indigenous people and greater acceptance of all peoples across bounds of ethnicity and religion; for the protection of children from violence and abuse, and recognition of their rights and dignity, for effective help and empowerment for those who live in poverty and other marginalizing situations; for those who protect and care for the region’s threatened soil, forests, waters, and glaciers; for truth and justice in continuing investigations to find those responsible for crimes against humanity, and continued healing for those affected; for economic development that benefits all and effectively addresses the systemic factors that impede it.

Prayers

God of life,
you put in human beings
the imprint of your image and likeness
and made us to participate with you in your creation.
Forgive our incapacity to respect and protect life in all its forms. 

God of justice,
you call us to travel this path
which is the only route leading to true peace.
Forgive our daily acts of injustice
which condemn many, many persons to death
by hunger, exclusion and war,
and lead us to the abyss of endless violence. 

God, incarnate in history,
forgive us because we imprison you in our dogmas,
limiting you to our religious institutions
and crucifying you alongside the vulnerable of our time. 

O God, strengthen us in our daily work for a world more just,
accepting differences, built on diversity.
Renew our commitment to peace with justice,
a commitment which denounces the arrogance
of those who believe that they are powerful
and own the lives of all the rest.
Give us a vision to banish violence in all its forms.
Establish as the foundation of our lives,
and the lives of our people, respect, equality, truth and justice.

(Bishop Nelly Ritchie, Buenos Aires, Argentina. © Red de Liturgia del CLAI; English transl. Terry MacArthur, WCC)

O God, Lord of the wind and the sea,
of the mountains and the valleys,
of the world and of the church:
in the midst of fear and insecurity
give us trust and hope in you. 

We live in a world
where the gales of power
blow strong enough to shake life itself,
where from the arrogant and the interests of the powerful
roll the waves of injustice and violence. 

We pray for those suffering
because of their poverty, their ignorance,
their limitations,
because of their colour or status, social or sexual.
We think of your church sailing on a sea
where the waves of racism, militarism, sexism
and economic marginalization hurt human life. 

Take care of your church and put in it
a sincere love for those who suffer,
a clear vision of your will,
healing, pastoral words for the needy,
and a valiant, prophetic proclamation
against those who create violence and pain. 

O God, rebuke the uncontrolled wind of terrorism and war.

Turn it towards peace and human development
so that in place of lies, truth is strengthened,
in place of weapons, there are schools for all children,
in place of luxury, the world adorns itself
with bread for the hungry
and life blossoms everywhere. 

O God, Lord of the wind and the sea,
may your strong mercy calm the whole earth.
In the name of Jesus Christ.

(© Bishop Aldo M. Etchegoyen, Evangelical, Methodist Church of Argentina.)

Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay | World Council of Churches (oikoumene.org)

We thank you for an effective and vibrant prison ministry within Argentina, that is bringing the Gospel message to the inmates.  We pray for your continued support for prison chaplains when they visit prisons, and for the inmate4s as they seek to live out their faith while inside prison.

We thank you for the growth of involvement of churches in Argentina’s National Council of Christian Evangelical Churches, and the promotion of a unity among believers, which is essential for growth and revival within churches.

We pray for a maturing of the indigenous church within Argentina, and for sensitivity to this on the part of expatriates in the agencies working with these churches.

We pray for support and guidance for the ongoing translation programmes involving indigenous languages within Argentina.

We pray for moral leadership of Paraguay, willing to lead the country with wisdom and uprightness.

We pray release from superstitious traditionalism within the church in Paraguay, and its bondage to pre-Christian deities and customs.

We pray for the development of strong leadership within churches in Paraguay, who have a vision for working with both indigenous communities and those who live in the cities.

We pray for safe completion of current translation projects within Paraguay, and for an effective distribution of the resulting Scripture.

We pray for an effective ministry in Uruguay through Christian radio and TV programs.

We pray for a spiritual awakening in Uruguay, and that the evangelical churches will be prepared to take advantage of every opportunity to present the Gospel.

We pray that you will hold back the influence of spiritualists and non-Christian sects that seek to present an errant message to Uruguayan society.

  (Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk in Operation World) 

We pray for the work of the Church of North India among the excluded castes in the slum areas of West Bengal and Amritsar that is supported by World Vision.  We pray for your blessing on the community and wellbeing programs, on the efforts to provide better access to medicines and health services, on the provision of social empowerment schemes and services, for the centres providing remedial education, for the training to strengthen teaching skills, and for the enabling of self-help group to access training on financial management and income generation.

Project Update: Empowerment of excluded castes in Punjab and West Bengal, India – UnitingWorld

We pray for the new Scripture Union run SUPA club that is being set up at Larapinta Primary School in Alice Springs.  We pray for the leaders and a good start to the program.

We praise you God for new lunch time groups run by Scripture Union starting in Western Sydney primary schools.  We pray this would be a blessing to the young people involved.

We pray for chaplains as they find new ways to connect and support the families of their schools communities.

We pray for the success of Scripture Union run September Camps throughout Queensland, for the safety of those participating, for guidance or the leaders and helpers, and good health for all who attend these camps.

SU Prayer-Guide-Sep-2022-Brisbane.pdf

We pray for the Religious Instruction classes at Bald Hills State School, that the Holy spirit will reveal to the children who attend the classes that God is real and that His love for them is real.  Please encourage those who lead the classes that they will have the right words to say so that a convincing message to given.  We pray that they will be supported by the Administration staff of the School in the successful leading of these classes.

We pray for Kylie Conomos, the chaplain at Bald Hills State School, that she will be encouraged and supported in her task of caring for the needy and troubled children at the School, and of ministering to their families.

We pray for those whom we have not been able to worship with us recently. We ask that they may feel your close presence with them each day, that they will experience your support and encouragement as they journey through life in this time of uncertainty and change.

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

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.

We sing the hymn ‘Count your blessings’  Alexander’s Hymns No. 3  No. 153

Johnson Oatman jr

Benediction    

Let us go into the World with the assurance of God’s love and presence with us at all times.  Let us go into the World striving for righteousness and for right living.

Let us go into the World rejoicing because God’s us as we have never been loved before.

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

Benediction Song

“Now to him who loves us saves us”  TiS771

(only the one verse is needed)

Now to him who loved us, gave us

Every pledge that love could give,

Freely shed his blood to save us,

Gave his life that we might live,

Be the Kingdom

And dominion

And the glory evermore.

Samuel Miller Waring