WE GATHER IN GOD’S PRESENCE:

Lighting the Candle:

Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness

but will have the light of life.’ –

Let us be mindful of each other as we engage in worship,

those who worship at home

and those who worship in the chapel:

Greeting:

The Lord be with you AND ALSO WITH YOU

We Focus on God     Romans 5

¹ Therefore, since we are justified by faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

² THROUGH WHOM WE HAVE OBTAINED ACCESS 

TO THIS GRACE IN WHICH WE STAND;

and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 

⁵ and hope does not disappoint us,

BECAUSE GOD’S LOVE HAS BEEN POURED INTO OUR HEARTS THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO US.

⁶ For while we were still weak,

at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 

⁸ BUT GOD PROVES HIS LOVE FOR US

IN THAT WHILE WE STILL WERE SINNERS

CHRIST DIED FOR US.

We Sing: TIS 115 BEHOLD THE AMAZING GIFT OF LOVE  5vv

Prayer

Creating and sustaining God,

giver of life in all its forms,

we offer you praise and thanks

for the life generated for us

through the faithfulness of Jesus

to your desire for reconciliation

between yourself and us…

We come to echo the worship offered you

by the heavenly host

as we exult in awe at the wonder of our salvation.

We gratefully draw on your gifted grace

to encourage us in our life of obedience

to your will for us and creation.

therefore we pray as our Lord taught us to pray:

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 LISTEN FOR A WORD FROM GOD

Scripture   

PSALM 17

Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry;
    GIVE EAR TO MY PRAYER FROM LIPS FREE OF DECEIT.
² From you let my vindication come;
    LET YOUR EYES SEE THE RIGHT.

³ If you try my heart, if you visit me by night,
    IF YOU TEST ME, YOU WILL FIND NO WICKEDNESS IN ME;
    my mouth does not transgress.
⁴ As for what others do,

BY THE WORD OF YOUR LIPS
    I HAVE AVOIDED THE WAYS OF THE VIOLENT.
⁵ My steps have held fast to your paths;
    MY FEET HAVE NOT SLIPPED.

⁶ I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
    INCLINE YOUR EAR TO ME, HEAR MY WORDS.
⁷ Wondrously show your steadfast love,
    O SAVIOUR OF THOSE WHO SEEK REFUGE
    FROM THEIR ADVERSARIES AT YOUR RIGHT HAND.

ROMANS 4:20-5:21

20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore his faith ‘was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ 23 Now the words, ‘it was reckoned to him’, were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God

¹⁰ For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. ¹¹ But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

¹² Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— ¹³ sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. ¹⁷ If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. ¹⁹ For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justificationleading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In this is the Word of the Lord   WE HEAR AND REJOICE, O LORD

MATTHEW 14:13-21

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. ¹⁵ When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ ¹⁶ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ ¹⁷ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

This is the Gospel of our Lord  PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST

Prayer of Confession[1]

Holy and merciful God,

you know us better than we know ourselves.

Lord have mercy LORD HAVE MERCY

As we come before you now,

believers and doubters alike,

we all share a deep need,

for we are all lost without your grace.

Search us, O God, and know our hearts,

test us and know our troubled thoughts.

Christ have mercy CHRIST HAVE MERCY

Give us true repentance.

Forgive us all our wrongs.

Transform us by your Spirit to live for you each day,

to learn to serve each other

and, through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord,

to come at last to the haven of our salvation.

Lord have mercy LORD HAVE MERCY

Declaration of Reconciliation

Through Paul, God’s word to us is:

God proves his love for us

in that while we still were sinners

Christ died for us;

one man’s act of righteousness

leads to justification and life for all in God;

through our Lord Jesus Christ,

… we have now received reconciliation.

so we say with joy in our hearts   THANKS BE TO GOD

Passing the Peace.. as we raise our hands in blessing to those unseen…
The peace of the Risen Lord be with you all  AND ALSO WITH YOU.

We Sing:  TIS 217 LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVES EXCELLING 3VV

Contemporary Word   THE GOD OF LIFE

It is 1985, over two million people have gathered in open space

to honour their overseas visitor.

Victor and Irene Chero have been given a friendly introduction

by Bishop German Schmitz, pastor of the area.

Speaking in the name of the settlers

in Villa El Salvador and of the shantytowns of Lima,

these two members of the Christian Workers’ Movement

begin their greeting to John Paul III by saying,

“Holy Father, we are hungry”.

The simplicity and frightfulness of these opening words

set the tone for all that follows.

We suffer affliction, we lack work, we are sick.

Our hearts are crushed by suffering

as we see

our tubercular wives giving birth,

our children dying,

our sons and daughters growing up weak and without a future.

The reality of unjust and premature death

is described in utterly unadorned language.

Out of it comes, with renewed force, a profession of faith:

But despite all this, we believe in the God of life.

We struggle for this life in the face of death.[2]

They went on to describe that this journey of struggle

was always undertaken as a people of faith,

with the church as companion…

a people who hungered for God as well as bread.

They concluded with a plea expressed as a confident hope:

that our hunger for God

and our hunger for bread will both be heeded.

John Paul III replied, first repeating what he heard:

there is here a hunger for God;

there is here a hunger here for bread…

The crowd responds with exclaiming, Yes, Yes!!

The Pope continued:

Everything must be done

to see to it that this daily bread is not lacking,

for such bread is a right,

a right expressed when we pray the Our Father:

give us this day our daily bread’.

Then he went on to say in his hesitant Spanish,

which, to the hearers, 

only gave greater import to what he said…,

I want this hunger for God to remain,

but I want the hunger for bread to be satisfied.

I want means to be found to supply this bread,

I want there to be none who go hungry for daily bread:

people should be hungry for God

but not starved for their daily bread.[3]

The situation in Peru was such,

that some six years before, in 1979,

a 1000 pastoral workers signed a declaration:

God shows himself to be the God who gives life,

preserves it, defends it, rescues it from oppression,

and makes it permanent in the risen Christ.

We believe in the Lord, and therefore believe in life[4].

Their words voice their mindset,

both echoing the Apostle Paul,      (Romans 5:3-5)

who, reflecting on his own life and its trials states:  

knowing that suffering produces endurance, 

and endurance produces character,

and character produces hope, 

and hope does not disappoint us,

because God’s love has been poured into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

The Apostle Paul knows

of the struggle for life in the face of death!

Furthermore, Paul accurately puts his finger on the origin of this death!

sin came into the world through one man,

and death came through sin,

and so death spread to all because all have sinned (5:12).

Paul’s diagnosis names sin as the underlying cause for death,

not merely our physical death,

but all death…

that is anything and everything which kills the life

which God intends for creation, its creatures and humanity!

This life which God offers, when it flourishes,

Paul describes as the Glory of God…

this life is contained within the hope

which does not disappoint,

the hope which overcomes any despair

which surfaces when suffering strikes…

or when suffering is the constant day to day experience

within which we fear we might drown….

Paul asserted: we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God! (5:2)

We have waded through Paul’s sobering and exciting words

over the past few weeks,

coping with undertows

pulling us in all directions,

threatening to overwhelm us

till the surging wave of God’s faithfulness to us and creation

has us riding high with Paul

Therefore, since we are justified by faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

through whom we have obtained access 

to this grace in which we stand; (5:17,18)

Jesus Christ, Paul asserts, is God’s champion

who defeats humanity’s oppressive tyrant, sin!

Sin, which Paul imagines as an entity,

much as we today imagine, for example, “THE MARKET”.

We attribute this theoretical construct a life of its own;

“leave it to the market to sort’…

even a personality, it seems,

“we cannot upset the market” 

we even give this entity ‘forces’,

the market forces will correct any anomalies…

and ultimately, we worship a figment of our imagination,

rather than the creator…

urging each other to trust the market!

We do well to recognize with Victor and Irene that

We struggle for this life in the face of death!

Sin, Paul argues, brings death!

Paul picks up the consequence

of Adam’s disobedience to God’s warning not to eat

from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil,

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,

for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’

(Genesis 2:15-17 and ch.3).

This story develops a sharp sense of human responsibility

for the disruption of God’s good creation.^[5]

This death, the consequence of, and price for sin,

meant to take place the moment the command was disobeyed,

would invade creation and humanity;

like a cancerous cell, used to be the analogy;

like a Covid19 virus, would be an up to date analogy…

infecting not only the person,

but effecting the whole of life,

our economic arrangements and social cohesion

and personal interactions,

so that life to be lived

becomes an existence fearful of a death to be avoided…

That which was labelled very good has become broken, infected. ^[6]

The consequence of the entry of sin as described by God,

as a power onto and into the world, (Genesis Ch3)

through the door of human disobedience,

homes in with unwavering aim on the areas of life

where we are meant to find most joy and fulfilment.[7]

Every conceivable relationship has been disrupted:

among the animals; between an animal and humans;

between the ground and humans;

between human beings and God;

between an animal and God;

within the individual self (e.g., shame).

More abstractly, one could speak of humiliation,

domination and subordination,

conflict, suffering, and struggle.

The sentences touch every aspect of human life:

marriage and sexuality; birth and death;

work and food;

human and nonhuman.

In all of these areas, one could speak of death encroaching on life.^[8]

Sin infects our human efforts to manage God’s gifted creation

and its resources…

so we have accepted as normal

that which should be recognized as travesties of God’s intentions!

For example, the rapacious exploitation of creation’s wealth

to enrich a few in disgusting ways,

whilst millions starve,

struggling for life in the face of death!

Governments of whatever ilk,

ignoring God’s intentions for each person, family, community

to be assured of shelter, food security and health,

for creation can sustain such if stewarded appropriately.

Until recently we accepted ‘domestic’ abuse and violence 

as a private intra family issue

(especially within certain Christian circles…)

Only now have we begun to become seriously aware

of how we of the white skinned race

have taken onboard insidious racist assumptions

used to exploit the human resources

(e.g. as slaves then, now as indentured workers)

and natural resources of peoples and territories of other races.

(e.g. the whole European colonial expansion,

the nations’ race for foreign lands to exploit,

an underlying reason for WW1 …)

The imagery of cultivation hampered by ‘thorns and thistles’

may be adjusted into an imagery for modern times,

of human economic and social theories and arrangements

meant to perhaps bring well-being,

being hampered by persons without wisdom,

without integrity, without heart and without compassion(1:31).

Paul has reminded us that no one is uninfected,

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God  (3:23)

and so, we hold up as role models those who excel

in these pursuits of callous self-interest and greed,

fulfilling Paul’s observation:

yet they not only do them

but even applaud others who practise them (1:32)

Paul drives home the nexus between sin and death repeatedly.

(see chapter 5 v.12 and vv15-21, a fuller focus on sin is in chapter7).

Emphasizing this bad news first,

strengthens the incredibly positive contrasting good news,

Jesus brings life! Eternal life!

with eternal describing both this life’s quality as well as quantity!^[9]

Eternal life which fulfills the glory of God for each of us!

Jesus Christ through his faithful obedience

to God’s desire for reconciliation between God and us,

even at the cost of his life,

has annulled the powerful consequence of the initial disobedience,

creation’s and humanity’s infection with sin and death.

(check the Romans text for this morning again at your leisure!)

Paul reminds us that what motivates God is the love of God for us!

God proves his love for us

in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. (3:23)

The actions of Jesus in the Gospel text

describing healing and feeding the masses,

give clear expression to this love of God,

for what Jesus does, God does…

God meets our need

for hunger of God, and our need for hunger of bread!

In the eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup

this love we remember:

its cost we lament, its achievement we celebrate!!  AMEN

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

We Share Our Community Life 

Prayers of the People

God of our salvation,

hear us as we pray for this world within which we live and serve you,

Grant all nurture of mind and will that each may thrive.

Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

hear us as we pray for your people who constitute the body of Christ,

grant us all nurture through your word by your Spirit

that we might truly serve as Jesus did…

Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

hear us as we pray for all who hunger for bread,

struggle for this life in the face of death,

Grant us the will to be the agents to meet these needs

Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

hear us as we pray more specifically for those near and dear to us,

as we recall their struggles and ill health, their despair at times

and at other times their patience and hope…

       we name these in the silence of our hearts, or aloud

                           PAUSE

Grant us the grace to bring them comfort and affirmation

Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

In the name of Christ Jesus we beseech you, AMEN

SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION

We Sing: TIS 533 I COME WITH JOY TO MEET MY LORD 5VV

We Bring Our offering to God

setting aside our gifts to support the local and wider work of the church

and bless our gifts in an act of praise…

The Words of Institution (1 Cor 11)

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: 

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,

 ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 

“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

 ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,

 “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; 

do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 

²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,

you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you!

AND ALSO WITH YOU

Lift up your hearts

WE LIFT THEM TO THE LORD!

Let us give thanks to the Lord Our God

IT IS RIGHT TO GIVE GOD

OUR THANKS AND PRAISE

It is indeed right to offer praise to you, O God,

for you are the One

who calls things that don’t exist into existence (Romans 4.17)

and having created all,

and having commissioned humanity

to enjoy life and every fruit of your work,

except for one…

you walked and talked with our forbears

till that time of disobedience,

when they opened the gate to death…

However you are the One

who gives life to the dead (Romans 4:17)

and from all the families on earth

you called one specific couple, Abraham and Sarah,

through whom you would bless all the nations,

for from them would descend Jesus Christ,

the one whose faithful obedience to your vision for all

has annulled the power of death;

so now with angels and archangels and the whole heavenly host,

and all your saints on earth and in heaven,

we join in singing the song of your unending praise

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY LORD,

GOD OF GRACE AND MERCY,

HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE FULL OF YOUR GLORY.

HOSANNAH IN THE HIGHEST.

BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES

IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!

HOSANNAH IN THE HIGHEST.

We praise you for Jesus

who is filled with compassion for us,

who acted to heal and feed the body,

to heal and nurture the mind,

who takes the little we offer

to meet the needs of crowds…

You are the One who rectifies the ungodly, (Romans 4:5)

through Jesus who endured the death due to all,

whose resurrection by your hand broke death’s power

and therefore the power of sin over us;

setting us free in grace to a life of faithful obedience.

Great is the mystery of faith.

CHRIST HAS DIED;

CHRIST IS RISEN;

CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN.

Gracious God,

as Jesus challenged his disciples

to meet the needs of the crowd

trusting your creative generosity,

so enliven us to offer

what we have and who we are

to meet the need of those around us,

trusting you to transform our little

into sufficient and more!

To you now and always

be the glory in the church

and in Christ Jesus to all generations,

in the communion of the Holy Spirit,

one God now and ever,   AMEN

The Present Christ (Rev.3:21)

it is Jesus who invites himself to sup with us here,

joining us if we but say the word:

Here I am! Jesus said, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, 

I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

COME, LORD JESUS

The Distribution of the Bread

My body, broken for you, Jesus said.

Do this for the remembrance of me…

The Distribution of the Cup

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood; Jesus said

do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me

Prayer                          Generous and welcoming God,

in Jesus Christ

you desire to embrace all.

Grant us of your own

generous Spirit

that we might speak

words of invitation

and practise actions of welcome

in a Spirit of hospitality

to bring all within your embrace.

May they and we enjoy feasting

at your table,

revelling in your gracious gift

of abundant life,

to the praise and glory of your name. AMEN

WE GO OUT TO SERVE GOD

We Sing: 625 I NEED YOU LORD, FOR I HAVE SEEN   4vv

organ music only, no words, no singing

1. I need you, Lord, for I have seen
   what life, if led by you, may be;
   come, be my master, make me clean
   from all my sin’s impurity.
2. Show me yourself through life’s dark maze
   when doubts bring darkness, fears are strong;
   give me your strength, that all my days
   may know the triumph over wrong.
3. Help me to see you where you are,
   among the weary, sad and lost;
   give me a warm, responsive heart,
   to love them, too, at any cost.
4. In serving you where’er you lead,
   I’ll share your cross, your servant be:
   until I find that all my need
   is met when I your face shall see.

Clifford George Taylor 1915–94 alt. Words © A. Taylor

Sending Out

We go as a people

overwhelmed by the task asked of us,

to love the Lord our God

with all our heart, and mind and soul,

and our neighbour as ourselves!

We go as a people

only to conscious of the little we have to offer,

yet bringing that little unreservedly to our Lord

to bless as he blessed the loaves and fishes

and multiplied them to feed the hunger of a huge crowd!

We go as the people of that Christ!!

Blessing   (sung to “Morning Has Broken”).

Christ be beside me,
Christ be before me,
Christ be behind me,
King of my heart.
Christ be within me,
Christ be below me,
Christ be above me,
never to part.

Christ on my right hand,
Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me,
shield in my strife.
Christ in my sleeping,
Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising,
Light of my life.

this blessing is attributed to Saint Patrick.

It may be sung to the Gaelic tune BUNESSAN TIS 156

---

[1] a traditional prayer adjusted

[2] This account from: Gutierrez, Gustavo (1991) The God of Life  (pp. xi-xiii)  Maryknoll N.Y. Orbis Books

[3] ibid p. xii

[4] ibid p. 190 n.1

^[5] Fretheim, T. E. (1994–2004). The Book of Genesis. In L. E. Keck (Ed.), New Interpreter’s Bible (Vol. 1, p. 359). Nashville: Abingdon Press.

^[6] Galambush, J. (2018). Reading Genesis: A Literary and Theological Commentary (p. 33). Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing.

[7] Gibson, John C.L.(1981)  Genesis Volume 1, (pp. 136,137) Edinburgh: St.Andrew’s Press

^[8] Fretheim, T. E. (1994–2004). The Book of Genesis. In L. E. Keck (Ed.), New Interpreter’s Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 362–363). Nashville: Abingdon Press.

^[9] De Boer, M. C. (2013). Paul’s Mythologizing Program in Romans 5–8. In B. R. Gaventa (Ed.), Apocalyptic Paul: Cosmos and Anthropos in Romans 5–8 (p. 10). Waco, TX: Baylor University Press. In Romans 5, the issue is not the resurrection of the dead but “life,” ζωή (vv. 17, 18) or “eternal life,” ζωὴ αἰώνιος (v. 21). Those “who receive the abundance of grace, i.e., the free gift of justification, will reign in life” (v. 17). The “one act of justification for all people is for justification of life” (v. 18). Grace “more than abounded” (v. 20) so that it “might reign through justification for eternal life” (v. 21).