Welcome:  –

Introduction: –

  Tuesday, 31^st October, makes the anniversary of Martin Luther initiating reform in the Christian Church 506 years ago.  As such I have chosen to commemorate this significant event in the life of the Church by having the Reformation as our focus today; in our prayers, in our hymns, and in our message.  Martin Luther wrote several hymns, two of which we will sing today.  It has been said that “His hymns influenced the development of singing songs in church with contemporary melodies (some of them having apparently been bar tunes).”  [https://desperatepreacher.com/reformationday.htm]  Interestingly, this took place 200 years before Charles Wesley did the very same thing within the then young Methodist Church.

  One of the Martin Luther’s hymns which we will sing today is one based on the passage in Matthew 6, containing The Lord’s Prayer.  Rather than saying the Lord’s Prayer as the conclusion to our Prayers for Others segment, today we will remain seated, as normal, and sing it instead. 

  On one of the Web sites that I consulted during the week, the author, a Rev Frank Schaefer, wrote:

“We as Protestant Christians celebrate Reformation Sunday not only because of our History, but also for what we are privileged to believe in.”  [https://desperatepreacher.com/reformationday.htm] 

  On that basis, let us gather together to worship our God with joy in our hearts, celebrating our shared heritage of Protestant worship patterns and teachings, but, also, humbled by our shared understanding that we all stand before God, who seeks to be our God, and to love and guide us.  (Leviticus 18: 1 & 4, 19: 2)  That was the call of God to the People of Israel during their Exodus journey, and it is the call of God to us as we undertake our journey of life.

Call to Worship    

On our pilgrimage of faith, in a changing and uncertain World,

we do not walk alone: the Lord God is with us.

We remember all those who taught us faith,

especially the witness of the Reformers as expressed in various ways.

God of grace, by whose love the World exists,

show us your face once again and reveal to us your glory.

Rev Sandy Boyce  Uniting Church in Australia Minister (Deacon).

(https://pilgrimwr.unitingchurch.org.au/?p=313)

[excerpts from UCA Basis of Union (1992)]

Prayer of Praise    

We give thanks to you, Almighty God, for the gift of the Holy Spirit whose light brought new understanding of both the Living Word and the written Scripture.

We give you thanks for the reminder of your consistent grace and mercy through Jesus Christ.

We thank you, Almighty God, for open hearts that were prepared to hear and receive the good news of freedom in Christ.

We give thanks for our continued freedom in the Son to share that same news of salvation made available to Humanity through your grace and Christ’s faithfulness.

We remember, Almighty God, the lives that were lost in the struggle to reform the Church on Earth.

We remember also the lives that have been lost today for daring to believe in you.

We thank you, Almighty God, for the instruction that comes through our Church’s heritage- the catechisms, the understandings of the leaders and thinkers and inspirers of the past, the gift of community, and a deeper appreciation of the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Holy Baptism.

We thank you for the presence of Jesus Christ in us, with us, and for us, and for the support of the Holy Spirit, ever-reforming us.

God of stability and change, we thank you that true reformation is always your work and always being done in us out of your love.  We are ever reformed by the work of your love.

We are ever reformed by the work of your love.  Amen. 

(from RevGalBlogPals – Lutheranjulia 31/10/2013 prayers)

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘The Church’s one foundation’  (TiS457  AHB385  MHB701)

Samuel Stone

Prayer of Confession   

Merciful God, you have raised Jesus from death to be the power of love always in our midst.

We confess our failure to fully entertain and trust his love.  Forgive us.

We have not loved you, God, with his joyous enthusiasm.  We have not loved others with his burning compassion.

We have not even loved ourselves sufficiently to fully nurture our own lives in the love and liberty of Christ Jesus.  Forgive us.

Our characters are stunted, our achievements flawed, our peace is fractured, and our happiness is diminished.

God of mercy, please overthrow those feelings and thoughts which have become barriers against the inflowing of your truth and love.  Please enter the stubborn and fearful corners of our being with your light and your forgiveness.

Restore us to the joy of your salvation and renew a right spirit with us, through Christ Jesus our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness 

  The Psalmist writes of  God saying:

“You place our sins before you, our secret sins where you can see them.”  (Psalm 90: 8) 

  But they also say of God:

“You showed your people that you are a God who forgives.”  (Psalm 99: 8b) 

  We have confessed our sins before God, sins that He already knows and which we cannot hide from him.  But we have also confessed our faith in the saving grace of God to forgive our sins.  So, let us be assured that God has listened to our plea and has forgiven us.

Thanks be to God.

Reformation of Worship

By Pastor Steven – Wright Church

https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1004352686/vector/martin-luther-with-his-95-theses-in-wittenberg-1517.jpg

  October 31^st 2023, marks the 506th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the “95 Theses” to the door of the church in Wittenberg in 1517 — a signal event often viewed as launching the Protestant Reformation.  Many churches will be commemorating and celebrating this anniversary, but this strikes some as odd.  A Roman Catholic friend once asked me how it was that Protestants could celebrate one of the greatest schisms in the history of the Church.  I replied that we don’t celebrate separation.  The Reformation was a tragic necessity given the condition of the Church at the time.  We celebrate the fact that the Reformation was a time of recovery and renewal in doctrine and practice.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the matter of worship.

  The words of a modern Roman Catholic can help us understand the necessity of the reformation of worship in Luther’s day.  Josef A. Jungmann, one of the leading Roman Catholic liturgical scholars of the 20th century, outlined the state of late medieval European piety in a 1959 journal article entitled, “Liturgy on the Eve of the Reformation.”  While noting some external signs of vibrant liturgical life (active participation in events of the church calendar, and the multiplication of gothic cathedrals, etc.), he acknowledged many signs of weakness and decline.

  One key problem was the shift from worship by the people to worship by and for the clergy: “the liturgy was a liturgy for the clergy … [even] in the churches in which the worship of the faithful should have been the primary concern.”  Literal barriers entered the sanctuary, such as the rod screen behind which the clergy conducted the mass.  Then there was the language barrier, with the services conducted in Latin that the people could not understand.  Jungmann admits, “The role of the laity was to all intents and purposes that of a spectator.”  One example of this was the lack of congregational participation in the music of worship.  He notes disapprovingly that there was “a choir of clerics singing the music belonging to the people!”

  Participation in the sacrament of the eucharist changed from partaking of the elements to merely gazing upon them: “Because the faithful no longer wanted to communicate or dared to (the clergy did not encourage frequent reception, to put it mildly), they wanted to see the sacred Host.”  This led to the practice of eucharistic veneration and a similar visual fascination with relics of the saints.  An increasingly superstitious approach to worship developed which “stressed mere physical presence at Mass in order to gain its fruits.”

  In such a state of affairs, Josef Jungmann admits: “It was not hard for Luther to strike a destructive blow against such a system.  At least at the outset, he and the other reforming influences already at work in the Church were undoubtedly moved by genuine religious concern.  Luther demanded a return to a more simple Christianity.”

  While the Roman Catholic Josef Jungmann was no apologist for the Protestant cause, he evidenced clear insight into the conditions that spurred the Reformers into action.

  John Calvin, for example, made the reformation of worship a top priority.  When addressing the question of “by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing existence among us,” he answered, “a knowledge, first, of the mode in which God is duly worshipped.”  In Geneva, Calvin restored worship to the congregation by conducting services in the language of the people and urging their participation in prayers, praise, and the eucharist.  He redressed superstitious practices involving the saints, relics, and theatrical ceremonies.  True worship, he reasoned, was to be based on God’s Word and not Human whims.  Calvin wrote of worship, “We may not adopt any device which seems fit to ourselves, but look to the injunctions of Him who alone is entitled to prescribe.”

  The Reformation recovery of Biblical worship and the renewal of proper congregational participation in the liturgy are things worth celebrating.  We should not take for granted faithful preaching of Scripture in a language we can understand and the privilege of praying and singing praise to God together each Lord’s Day.  These things had once been denied to God’s people, and they are among the many gifts that have come down to us from the Reformation.  Let us celebrate this heritage, and, more importantly, live in light of it.  Let us enter into worship with hearts and minds fully engaged in honouring God, learning from His Word, and being assured at His sacramental table.  When we do so, we will carry on the great legacy of the Reformers.  Soli Deo Gloria!  To God alone be the glory!

Copyright 2017 Covenant Presbyterian Church   3720 N Highland Ave. | Jackson, Tennessee

(https://www.cpcjackson.org/2017/10/12/the-reformation-of-worship/)

A Reformation Day Prayer

Lord God of hosts, the Refuge of every sinner and the Strength of all who put their trust in you, we praise you for having made us partakers of the blessings of your Reformation.  Without any merit on our part, you have sent your Holy Spirit into our hearts and brought us to faith in your dear Son, Jesus Christ.  You have made known to us the perfect merit of Christ.  You have directed our faith to rest on the exceedingly great and precious promises of your Gospel.  You have revealed the beauty of your grace, which rescued us from a just condemnation and assured us of certain salvation in Christ.  Grant us your grace that we may receive your forgiveness with thanksgiving.  Use us as your witnesses in bringing the message of pardon in Christ to people everywhere.  Open our eyes to a better understanding of your Word and a deeper appreciation of your grace that our faith in Christ Jesus may grow and flourish with the fruits of righteous living.  Amen.

Rev. Frank Schaefer

(https://desperatepreacher.com/reformationday.htm

Prayer of illumination 

Almighty, gracious Father, for as much as our whole salvation depends upon our true understanding of your holy Word, grant to all of us that our hearts, being freed from worldly affairs, may hear and comprehend your holy Word with all diligence and faith, that we may rightly understand your gracious will, cherish it, and live by it with all earnestness, to your praise and honour, through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

(Prayer of Martin Bucer: 1538)

(https://www.reformedworship.org/article/september-1991/pioneer-reformed-worship-celebrating-500th-anniversary-martin-bucer)

Reformed Worship 21 © September 1991 Worship Ministries of the Christian Reformed Church.  Used by permission.

Bible Readings

Leviticus 18 & 19:

1  The LORD told Moses  2  to say to the people of Israel,

“I am the LORD your God.  3  Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you.  4  Obey my Laws and do what I command.  I am the LORD your God.”

1  The LORD told Moses  2  to say to the community of Israel,

“Be holy, because I am holy.”

Hebrews 11 & 12:

1  To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.  2  It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God’s approval.

1  As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us.  So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on  to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us.  2  Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on  whom our faith depends from beginning to end.  He did not give up because of the cross!  On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God.

(Today’s English Version)

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

Matthew 22:

34  When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together,  35  and one of them, a Teacher of the Law, tried to trap him with a question.

36  “Teacher,” he asked, “which is the greatest Commandment in the Law?”

37  Jesus answered,

“’Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  (Deuteronomy 6: 5)  38  This is the greatest and the most important Commandment.

39  The second most important Commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’  (Leviticus 19: 18)  40  The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the Prophets depend on these two Commandment.”

(Today’s English Version)

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘Love divine, all loves excelling’  (TiS217  AHB148  MHB431)

Charley Wesley

Sermon

‘robots are not coming to take out jobs but rather help us work’

  I once read two Newspaper articles about robots.  One, written by a Bruce McDougall, has the startling headline, “Robots put paid to a career for life”.  In the article he warns, “Every Australian will have to go back to school for retraining because of automation and the relentless advance of artificial intelligence”.  The second, written by a Glen Norris, has the headline, “Robots here to help in workforce”.  In this article he quotes an Executive Manager of Deloitte Australia, Cindy Hook, who states “Robots (and artificial intelligence) are not coming to take out jobs but rather help us work, … work (is) changing but new technology should not be feared”.   Two articles on the same subject matter, but two very different conclusions.  What are we to make of them?  How do we validate the differing claims in them?  Which one do we believe?  Which one holds more credence?  Or can they both be correct?

Memorial to Martin Luther outside St Mary’s Church (Marienkirche) at Prenzlau, northeast Germany

  For those living during the Reformation, this was the same problem that they faced.  It was a time when you were forced to make a decision, one way or the other.  Do they hold on to the established teaching and style of worship of the Church or do they heed the call of those who seek to reform the teaching and the worship of the Church?  But on what basis could they make a decision?  Historians claim that it was a time ripe for change.  To quote one source, “There was widespread dissatisfaction with practical abuses in the Church at all levels.  The lower clergy were criticised for being theologically ignorant and for not fulfilling properly their priestly duties.  The higher clergy were also attacked for being as theologically ignorant as the lower clergy and for subordinating spiritual duties for political interests.  …  Renaissance Popes often acted more like Italian Princes than the successors of Peter.  Some were immoral and ostentatious in their living, politically ambitious, and concerned with their own fame and the well-being of their relatives.”  (Ivor Thomas in an article on the Reformation in Encyclopedia International volume 15 p337) 

  Interestingly, in a speech that Pope Francis gave in 2016 in the context of the holding of an ecumenical dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church he indirectly acknowledged these failings of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16^th Century that the leaders of the Reformation sought to address.  In this speech Pope Francis said:

“With gratitude, we acknowledge that the Reformation helped give greater centrality to sacred Scripture in the Church’s life.”

“The spiritual experience of Martin Luther challenges us to remember that apart from God we can do nothing.  “How can I get (to experience) a gracious God?”  This is the question that haunted Luther.  As we know, Luther encountered that gracious God in the Good News of Jesus, incarnate, dead and risen.  With the concept “by grace alone”, he reminds us that God always takes the initiative, prior to any human response, even as he seeks to awaken that response.  The doctrine of justification thus expresses the essence of Human existence before God.”

(From the Homily of Pope Francis at Lund in 2016)

Retrieved from: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/10/31/full-text-popes-homily-at-service-for-500th-anniversary-of-reformation/

(quoted in Commemoration Prayer Service – 500 years since Martin Luther )

https://www.faithcentral.org.nz › 2015/11

  However, there was not the same level of understanding by the average person living in the 16^th Century of the issues involved when it came to theological matters.  In 1516, Erasmus of Rotterdam published a new Latin translation of the Bible based on his research of the best available Greek texts of the New Testament.  In his translation Erasmus translated the Greek word “metanoeite” into the Latin word “resipiscite” meaning “repentance”, rather than following the traditional interpretation as the Latin word “poenitentium”, meaning “to do penance”  (Strongs NT3340 & 3341).  (refer to such New Testament references as Matthew 3: 11, Luke 24: 47, Acts 11: 18, Romans 2: 4, Hebrews 6: 6, & 2 Peter 3: 9) 

  This was significant in that it replaced a trust in the Sacrament of Penance, whereby the worshipper could earn God’s grace by acts of penance or by purchasing indulgences, with an understanding of forgiveness of sin as an act of divine kindness to those who admitted their wrongs before God, trusting in God’s grace. 

  Brendan Cook, in an appreciation of the consequences of this work by Erasmus, writes that “Martin Luther was thrilled by this new translation of “metanoeite” by Erasmus, for he was only too glad to hear that the word did not mean what the Church had always claimed it did; one of the greatest Scriptural obstacles to his own theory of sin and repentance had been removed”.  (from Brendan Cook, The Uses of Resipiscere in the Latin of Erasmus: In the Gospels and Beyond)  But Erasmus and Luther were scholars.  They could read and understand Greek and Latin.  The average person could not.  Neither did the average person have the Bible in their own language, and if they did, the chances were that they couldn’t have read it anyway.  They had no way of determining for themselves the meaning of a Biblical passage.  Whose opinion they chose to accept depended upon who they considered deserved their greater trust.  To some extent, whose side they chose to show allegiance depended on the level of risk to their safety and the wellbeing of themselves and their family, for it was not a time when alternative views were widely accepted by either side in the call for reform within the Church.

“when they heard the reply of Jesus, the Pharisees were amazed;”  (Matthew 22: 22) 

(https://media.istockphoto.com/id/471889647/photo/scribe-listens-to-jesus.jpg)

  In today’s passage from Matthew 22, we see a similar conflict, a conflict between two people who were equally well versed in the languages in which the Old Testament was written.  There was no love lost between Jesus and the Pharisees.  As early as Matthew 5 we read of Jesus criticising the Pharisees concerning how they were living out “what God requires” of them  (v20)  .  In Matthew 15 we read how the Disciples seek to warn Jesus that the Pharisees had been offended by some teaching of Jesus.  “Don’t worry about them” was the reply from Jesus  (vs12 & 14).  In Matthew 21: 28 to 22: 14, we read of three parables of Jesus through which he was critical of the behaviour and the attitudes of the Pharisees.  One writer argues that Matthew is writing against a background of persecution of the first-century Church instigated by the Pharisees and Jewish religious leaders  (Douglas Hare in Matthew p258)  , made so vivid to us when we read of Paul’s persecution of Christians prior to his meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.

  It is upon this background that we gain an understanding of the reasons behind why the Pharisees were seeking to “trap or test Jesus by asking questions”, with what can only be described as a hostile or malicious intent (refer to Matthew 16:1, 19:3, & 22:35)  .  In a variety of situations, the Pharisees were seeking a response from Jesus that they could claim was treasonable and, therefore, grounds for having him arrested by King Herod, or, alternatively, a response that was so unorthodox that it would lessen Jesus’ popular appeal, of which the Pharisees were only too familiar, as we read in Matthew 21:26.  In today’s passage, where the Pharisee asks Jesus “What is the greatest or most important commandment in the Jewish Law  (Matthew 22: 36)  , it appears that they were seeking a response from Jesus that would render him liable to a charge of blasphemy.  One Commentator writes that Matthew was thinking “of a view common in some circles of first-century Judaism that, since all commandments are of equal importance in God’s eyes and are to be observed solely for God’s glory, it is sinful to argue that some are more important than others on the basis of some merely human standard of judgement”  (Douglas Hare in Matthew p258)  .

  The reply by Jesus indicates that his focus was not on a legalistic reading of the Old Testament, but rather on an understanding that love is at the heart of the whole of the Old Testament writings  (Robin Nixon in Matthew in the New Bible Commentary p844)  and should therefore be our dominant motivation  (Randolph Tasker in Matthew  An Introduction and Commentary p 212)  .  Jesus replies, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and most important Commandment”  (Matthew22: 37 & 38)  .  Here, Jesus is quoting from the Book of Deuteronomy 6: 5.  Here, Jesus is stating that people are to put God first in their lives, that the most important thing is our attitude towards God,  (Henry Halley in Halley’s Bible Handbook p382)  , that God is to be loved unreservedly with every faculty of our being  (Randolph Tasker in Matthew  An Introduction and Commentary p 212)  .

  But, Jesus continues, there is a second important commandment, one that follows on from the first, one that is a natural consequence or result from the first  (Randolph Tasker in Matthew  An Introduction and Commentary p 212)  .  “The second most important commandment is like it”, Jesus states, “love your neighbour as you love yourself”  (Matthew 22: 39)  .

  Jesus, again, is quoting from the Old Testament, this time from Leviticus 19: 18.  Here, Jesus is stating that “we cannot love God in any real sense without also loving our neighbour who is made in God’s image as are we”  (Randolph Tasker in Matthew  An Introduction and Commentary p 212)  .  “Such a radical love for one’s neighbours, which includes a love for one’s enemies, those with whom we are in conflict, makes sense only to those whose love for God empowers them to imitate the Creator’s generosity towards all people and the Creator’s deep and genuine concern for their needs.  Such a love for one’s neighbours is a display that we are God’s children  (Douglas Hare in Matthew p260)  .

  Jesus is making it clear to his questioners that God is the ultimate point of reference for Human life, that this love for God must find a practical expression, be it in acts of service for others or an intense involvement in their struggles for justice, and that what is owed to God and to neighbour is not to be seen as the carrying out of a specific Law, but as a total approach to life  (Walter Brueggemann et al in Texts for Preaching  A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV  Year A p541 & 542)  .

  When Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses onto the door of the Church in Wittenberg, he hoped to spark discussion and renewal within his beloved Church on just such approach to life, which he feared the Church had forgotten and which it had replaced with a Pharisaic style legalistic sense of keeping the laws and practices of the Church.  He wanted people to discover the wideness of God’s grace in Christ.  He longed for them to come to know the saving power of God  (Michael Jensen in Eternity October 2017 p 5)  .  The resulting movements led by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Bucer, and other Reformers, helped renew a focus on Scripture, faith, grace, Christ, and God’s glory.  (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship – resources for 29/10/2017) 

The ‘Five Solas’ of the Reformation:

salvation is by grace alone (sola gratis),

through faith alone (sola fide),

in Christ alone (solus Christus),

according to Scripture alone (sola scriptura),

for God’s glory alone (soli Deo gloria)

(https://desperatepreacher.com/reformationday.htm)

  Dr Janice McRandal, in an article in the October 2017 edition of Journey magazine, writes that “it is in Luther (that) we find a reinvigoration of the understanding that faith entrusts itself to a future that we cannot see, but (it is) a future in which we will always be the beloved children of God, even when we sin.

  Such faith involves a readiness to be embraced by divine mercy, despite everything around us, a readiness to love and to serve without the anxiety of securing a future we can see or that we have earned”.  (Journey magazine October 2017 p14)  

  Rev. Frank Schaefer, in a Reformation Day sermon, states:

“We, as Protestant Christians, celebrate Reformation Sunday not only because of our History but also for what we are privileged to believe in.”

(https://desperatepreacher.com/reformationday.htm)

  “The Reformers reminded the Church that salvation is by grace alone (sola gratis), through faith alone (sola fide), in Christ alone (solus Christus), according to Scripture alone (sola scriptura), for God’s glory alone (soli Deo gloria).” 

(https://sola5.org/the-five-solas-of-the-reformation/)

  “The importance of this doctrine in Protestant theology was underlined by Martin Luther, in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, where he writes:

‘If the Pope would concede that God alone by His grace through Christ justifies sinners, we would carry him in our arms, we would kiss his feet.’”

  Charles Spurgeon was an influential Baptist preacher who live in the United Kingdom in 19^th Century.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon)  Clayton Kraby, in an on-line article about Charles Spurgeon, writes:

‘Spurgeon’s teaching also reflected his steadfast belief in the “Five Solas” of the Reformation.’

  Clayton Kraby quotes from one of the sermons of Charles Spurgeon in which he said:

‘In terms of understanding the faith and proper practice of Christianity, there is nowhere outside of Scripture that we look to. To do so is not to gain insight, but to lose sight of what God has given for our instruction. If we do not acknowledge the truth of Scripture, we have ‘erred from the faith.’

(C.H. Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit. Vol. 36, (Banner of Truth Trust, 1970), 278)

(https://reasonabletheology.org/ch-spurgeon-and-the-five-solas-of-the-reformation/)

  Pope Francis in his 2016 speech, reflected on the need for Protestants and Roman Catholics to, together, learn the lessons from the Reformation, where he said:

“We Christians will be credible witnesses of mercy to the extent that forgiveness, renewal and reconciliation are daily experienced in our midst.  Together we can proclaim and manifest God’s mercy, concretely and joyfully, by upholding and promoting the dignity of every person.  Without this service to the World and in the World, Christian faith is incomplete.  As (Protestants) and Catholics, we are conscious that without God we can do nothing.  We ask His help, so that we can be living members, abiding in Him, ever in need of His grace, so that together we may bring His Word to the World, which so greatly needs His tender love and mercy.”  (From the Homily of Pope Francis at Lund in 2016)

Retrieved from: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/10/31/full-text-popes-homily-at-service-for-500th-anniversary-of-reformation/ (quoted in Commemoration Prayer Service – 500 years since Martin Luther )

https://www.faithcentral.org.nz › 2015/11

  May that inspire us as we move into our future as a Congregation and as members of God’s Church.  Amen.

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word’  (TiS436)

This YouTube clip is for another hymn, but is used here for the tune. The words are printed below.

Verse 1 of 3

Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word;

curb those who by deceit or sword

would wrest the Kingdom from your Son

and bring to nothing all he’s done.

Verse 2 of 3

Lord Jesus Christ, your power make known,

for you are Lord of lords alone;

defend your holy Church, that we

may sing your praise eternally

Verse 3 of 3

O comforter of priceless worth

grant one mind to your flock on Earth,

support us in our final strife,

and lead us out of death to life.

Martin Luther

translated by Catherine Winkworth

Offering

Offering Prayer    

“For the life that you have given”  TiS774 

[This YouTube clip 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

God of Grace and God of Glory, on this Reformation Sunday, we give you thanks for the Saints who have gone before us.

We remember those who faced trouble and trial, and even death, for the sake of the message of your mercy and in the spirit of Pentecost, the right to hear and read the Scriptures in their own languages.

We pray for those who now face trouble, trial, even death, for those members of the body of Christ who face persecution, for your beloved children everywhere—regardless of tradition—who live under the threat of religious persecution.

We pray for people who are facing neglect, oppression, or cultural pressure, that you will bring about social justice and opportunities for economic and personal development.

We pray that all may hear the good news of the Prince of Peace in ways that resonate, and cause peoples of all Nations to drop their weapons and their focus on defences for the sake of the coming of your Kingdom.

We pray that you may help us not only walk in the shoes of our forebears, but fill them.  May all of us gathered here today be as captivated by the life you have given us in Christ that we are freed to reach our friends, neighbours, and enemies with your unconditional love.

Rev. Ryan Slifka  St. George’s United Church in Courtenay, British Columbia

(https://united-church.ca › worship-liturgical-season › reformation-Sunday)…

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: look with compassion on the whole Human family;

take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggles and confusion to accomplish your purposes on Earth; that, in your good time, all Nations and Races may serve you in harmony around your Heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord.     

(https://www.faithcentral.org.nz › 2015/11 )

We pray for the peoples of the Caribbean.

  We are thankful for the natural beauty, climate, and distinctive cultural practices of these islands, for how churches have responded to disasters and served all in need, for how liberation from colonialism and oppression has been pursued through music, words and actions, and for the leaders of the ecumenical movement who have come from this region.

  We pray for those devastated by disasters, that their lives, communities and eco-systems might be rebuilt, for the strengthening of all who faithfully witness through word and deed to the gospel, for all those affected by crime and addictions, and for good governance and smooth transitions between political leaders.

  Gracious and compassionate God, faithful to all your promises, supplier of our needs,
may we never underestimate the value of all that you afford us; nor the usefulness of the endowments you give for the realization of your purposes.
May we never so take for granted the gifts your bounteous grace provides as to become victims of the callousness that produces an abundance of waste.
And save us, we ask you, from becoming purveyors of the careless and irresponsible disposal of the waste we produce.

(© Neville Callam, Jamaica)

  We pray for a strengthening of the churches that form the Antigua Christian Council and the United Evangelical Association of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas Christian Council, the Anglican Church in Barbados, the Pentecostal Churches and the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba, the Council of Churches on Curaçao, St Eustatius and St Maarten, The Council of Evangelical Churches of Haiti, The Jamaica Council of Churches and The Jamaica Association of Evangelicals, the Council of Churches of Puerto Rico, of Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Committee of Churches on Surinam, and the Christian Council of Trinidad, that they will be an effective witness of these islands.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will impede the attractiveness of the Rastafarian group and Voodoo, the Afro-Haitian cult, the Converted Baptists on Saint Vincent, so that people will cease to attend their gatherings.

(https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/prayer-cycle/the-caribbean)

  We pray for The Leprosy Mission International’s Board of Trustees and International Director, as they work hard to provide leadership to TLM Offices across the world, leading, inspiring, facilitating, and enabling them to defeat leprosy and transform lives.  May their work be guided by God and by the love and compassion that typify God’s character.

The Leprosy Mission Prayer Diary 2023.pdf

We pray for those who will recommence Religious Instruction classes at Bald Hills State School this year.  Guide them in the words to say and the approach to take with the children in their classes.  May the Holy Spirit challenge the children in the RI classes to come to a closer relationship with you.

We pray for Kylie Conomos, the Scripture Union Chaplain at Bald Hills State School, that she is refreshed and rested over these holidays.  Please guide and equip her as she seeks to address the concerns and needs of children, parents and teachers at the school.

We pray for those who we have not seen for some time and who are unable to attend worship.  Please guide and comfort them in their particular circumstances.  May they be aware of your care for them as they meet what each new day brings.

Lord God, we bring these prayers to you, trusting in your lovingkindness.  To your glory we pray.

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Lord’s Prayer as a Hymn ‘Our Father, God in Heaven above’  TiS550

 [This YouTube clip is for another hymn of 5 verses but is used here for the tune.

Verse 1 of 4

Our Father, God in Heaven above,

we your family through your love,

your name be hallowed: help us, Lord,

to keep in purity your Word.

Your Kingdom come: yours let it be

in Time, and through eternity.

Verse 2 of 4

And may your will on Earth be done

as it is done before your throne.

Curb flesh and blood and every ill

that sets itself against your Will.

Give us this day our daily bread,

whatever for this life we need.

Verse 3 of 4

Forgive us all our sins, we pray;

take all their burdening guilt away,

as we the sins of those forgive

who us by their offences grieve.

When testing comes on every hand,

Lord, give us strength that we may stand.

Verse 4 of 4

Deliver us from evil days;

throughout our lives, protect our ways.

And when we die, grant calm release,

and take us home to you in peace.

Thus, in your name and at your Word

we say: Amen, O hear us, Lord.

Martin Luther

translated by Catherine Winkworth

condensed by David Schubert

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘Lift high the cross’  (TiS351  AHB271)

Benediction    

Go out into the world,
living in the light of Christ!
By the power of the Spirit
do all the good you can
by all the means you can
in all the ways you can
in all the places you can
at all the times you can
to all the people you can
as long as ever you can

—words attributed to John Wesley

A Service for Reformation Sunday by Rev. Ryan Slifka  The United Church of Canada

(https://united-church.ca/worship-liturgical-season/reformation-sunday)

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

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Benediction Song

“I am His, and He is mine.”  Alexander’s Hymns No. 3 number 193

Wade Robinson