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3rd June 2024 at 7.06pm
Creek crossing along Dalton Highway Alaska
On our holiday to Alaska last year, we crossed this ‘nondescript’ creek on a day trip from Fairbanks driving north along the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle, and then south as we returned to Fairbanks. And it truly is a ‘nondescript’ creek because it has no name. Well, actually it has a name; it’s name is “No Name Creek”. Truly!

No Name Creek Alaska
The website “Alaska.com” indicates that it’s coordinates are Latitude 66.1 degrees north and Longitude 150.16 degrees west.

No Name Creek crossing Dalton Highway at Latitude 66.100 north and Longitude 150.1560 west
Here is a screen print from Google maps showing those coordinates. You can faintly see No Name Creek running from the top right-hand corner to the bottom left-hand corner. Just out of interest, you can also see that there are no prominent landmarks around this part of Alaska. It literally is, ‘in the middle of nowhere’. And the fact of not having a name other than “No Name” made crossing this creek one of the highlights of our trip.
But this creek crossing also highlights an issue commonly experienced by people; the issue of being treated as a ‘number’ and not as a person with a distinct name, of being treated as an entity rather than a person who is cognisant and rational, who has a distinct character and personality.
The author of Psalm 71 writes to God saying,
“Sovereign LORD, I put my hope in you; I have trusted in you since I was young.
I have relied on you all my life; you have protected me since the day I was born. I will always praise you.
My life has been an example to many, because you have been my strong defender.
All day long I praise you and proclaim your glory.” (Psalm 71: 5 to 8)
These words are an acclamation by someone who has experienced God relating to them as a person with a distinct name. They have experienced God’s grace throughout their life, and acknowledges with praise to God that this was not something that they deserved but that it has come simply because of God’s love for them, His love for them as a cognisant, rational individual with a distinct character and personality. They state with confidence their trust in God’s unfailing love to continue to bless them in the future.
This is the God who seeks to personally relate to all people, who seeks to express His love and care for all people. This is the God who we have gathered today to offer our worship and praise.
Prayer of Praise
Bounteous God, we give thanks for this ancient and beautiful land of ours,
a land of despair and hope, a land of wealth and abundant harvests, a land of fire, drought and flood.
We pray that your Holy Spirit may continue to move in this land and bring forgiveness, reconciliation, and an end to all injustice.
We bless you, God of the Universe, for this land, for its contrasts of landscape and climate, for its abundance of wealth and opportunity.
We bless you for our history, with all its struggles in adversity, its courage and hope.
Give us, in our diversity, tolerance and respect for each other, and a passionate commitment to justice for all. Bless us so that we might be a blessing to others.
[https://www.defenceanglicans.org.au/resources/events/australia-day-26-january/]
God, Great Creator, from the dawn of Creation you have given your children the good things of our Earth.
You spoke and the gum tree grew. In vast deserts and dense forest, and in cities at the water’s edge, Creation sings your praise.
Your presence endures as the rock at the heart of our Land.
When Jesus hung on the tree you heard the cries of your people and became one with them.
The sunrise of your Son coloured the Earth anew and bathed it in glorious hope.
In Jesus we have been reconciled to you, to each other and to your whole Creation.
Lead us on, great and glorious God, as we gather from the four corners of the Earth.
Enable us to walk together in trust, into the full day which has dawned in Jesus Christ. To your glory and honour we pray. Amen.
Rev Lenore Parker, NATSIAC Life Member, A Prayer Book for Australia p.218
You are invited to listen to, or join in singing the Hymn ‘ Your way, not mine, O Lord’
(MHB515)
[This YouTube clip is for another hymn, but is used here for the tune. The words are printed below]]
Verse 1 of 3
Your way, not mine, O Lord,
however dark it be!
Lead me by your own hand,
choose out the path for me.
Smooth though it be or rough,
it will be still the best;
winding or straight, it leads
right onward to your rest.
Verse 2 of 3
I dare not choose my lot,
I would not, if I might:
choose for me, O, my God,
so shall I walk aright.
The Kingdom that I seek
is yours, so let the way
that leads to it be yours,
else I must surely stray.
Verse 3 of 3
Take my cup, and then it
with joy or sorrow fill
as best to you may seem,
you choose my good and ill.
Not mine, not mine the choice
of things e’er great or small,
be you my Guide, my Strength,
my Wisdom, and my all.
Horatius Bonar
Prayer of Confession
God our Creator, we confess that we have sinned:
we have used Creation not cherished it;
we have lived selfishly; not watched the balance of life;
we have been greedy – not sharing Earth’s gifts;
and our footprints are heavy not gentle.
Forgive us for the damage that disturbs our planet.
Grant to us to live for the World’s healing and our own,
For in you lies our hope for transformation.
(https://www.arrcc.org.au/reflect-prayers-christian)
God our Father, the One fully engaged in our lives,
forgive us for our ‘whatever’ attitude.
Forgive our nonchalance in the face of your call.
Forgive the indifference we show in regard to the suffering and life needs of others.
Forgive our apathy to join wholeheartedly in your work for justice and the common good.
Forgive our hesitancy in giving more of ourselves in loving service to people who need it from us.
Forgive our fear of really following you which we mask with false confidence in doctrine and surface spirituality
Forgive our attempts to defer guilt from not truly living out your way through Sunday religion and weekly religiosity.
Awaken real faith in us again.
Startle us anew with the power of your love.
Engage us once again in your work of love and grace.
Call us back to the transformative power of loving service and faithful witness to you, that we might know that you are in our lives, and the lives of all people,
working for good no matter whatever we do.
Call us to do whatever we can to work with you,
to do whatever is needed for the good of all,
whatever the cost, whatever can be. To your glory we pray. Amen.
(Source: Jon Humphries, Transforming Worship Facebook page, Uniting Church in Australia)
Assurance of Forgiveness
(from 1 Peter 1: 3)
The Apostle Peter reminds us that, because of God’s great mercy, He has given us new life by raising Jesus from death, filling us with living hope and keeping us safe by His power. Having confessed our sins before God, we have this assurance then that God has heard our prayers, that our sins have been forgiven and our lives made clean in God’s sight.
Thanks be to God.
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
Malachi
1 The LORD Almighty answers,
“I will send my Messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to His Temple. The Messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my Covenant.”
2 But who will be able to endure the day when he comes? Who will be able to survive when he appears? He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. 3 He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver. As a metalworker refines silver and gold, so the LORD’s Messenger will purify the Priests, so that they will bring to the LORD the right kind of offerings. 4 Then the offerings which the people of Judah and Jerusalem bring to the LORD will be pleasing to Him, as they used to be in the past.
5 The LORD Almighty says,
“I will appear among you to judge, and I will testify at once against those who practice magic, against adulterers, against those who give false testimony, those who cheat employees of their wages, and those who take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners – against all who do not respect me.”
[Today’s English Version]
This is the Word of God.
Praise to you Almighty God.
Luke 4:
20 Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All the people in the Synagogue had their eyes fixed on him 21 as he said to them, “This passage of Scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.”
22 They were all well impressed with him and marvelled at the eloquent words that he spoke. They said, “Isn’t he the son of Joseph?”
23 He said to them, “I am sure that you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ You will also tell me to do here in my hometown the same things you heard were done in Capernaum.
24 I tell you this,” Jesus added, “a prophet is never welcomed in his hometown. 25 Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three and a half years, and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. 27 And there were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease who live in Israel during the time of the Prophet Elisha; yet not one of them was healed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 When the people in the Synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger. 29 They rose up, dragged Jesus out of town, and took him to the top of the hill on which the town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff, 30 but he walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.
[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 ‘He is able to deliver thee’
Verse 1 of 3
‘Tis the grandest theme through the Ages rung;
‘tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue;
‘tis the grandest theme that the World e’er sung,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”
Chorus
He is able to deliver thee,
He is able to deliver thee;
tho’ by sin oppressed
go to Him for rest,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”
Verse 2 of 3
‘Tis the grandest theme in the Earth or main;
‘tis the grandest theme for a mortal strain;
‘tis the grandest theme, tell the World again,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”
Chorus
He is able to deliver thee,
He is able to deliver thee;
tho’ by sin oppressed
go to Him for rest,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”
Verse 3 of 3
‘Tis the grandest theme, let the tidings roll,
to the guilty heart, to the sinful soul;
look to God in faith, He will make thee whole,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”
Chorus
He is able to deliver thee,
He is able to deliver thee;
tho’ by sin oppressed
go to Him for rest,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”
William Ogden
Sermon

“Bear Safety in Alaska’s National Parklands” brochure
National Parks Service U.S. Department of the Interior
I have mentioned this brochure previously. It is titled “Bear Safety in Alask’s National Parklands and is issued by the National Park Service of the U.S.A. Department of the Interior. Guidelines that it contains covers such topics as:
Bear signs to watch for
Minimise the risk of having your gear destroyed
Basic Bear Safety Tips
What should you do if you encounter a Bear.
All of the places where we stayed in British Columbia, Alberta and Alaska, ensured that you were aware of their Bear safety instructions and had cans of Bear Spray available for loan from the Service Desk if you planned to go for a walk on one of the trails on their property. One of the port calls during our cruise was to Icy Straight Point where we had booked places on a ‘Bear sighting excursion’. Before we boarded the bus, we were instructed not to take any lollies with us because a bear can smell them from quite a distance. And the whole of the time we were at the lookout site adjacent to a creek, we were accompanied by someone with a loaded rifle. Such was the precautions the tour operators took to ensure our safety. It was a waste of effort though because we were too early in the salmon season to see any bears.
But the reality is that such recommendations and precautions are provided to you because of the very real potential for encountering a bear while in the forested areas. There is a very real danger from not reading and implementing the words that are given to you for instruction and guidance into safe and right living in a bear environment, or of becoming blase about the risks of encountering a bear.
The latter part of the Old Testament writings, those that covered the time following the return of the exiles from Babylon to Judah, illustrate for us how the people of Judah became blase about reading and implementing the words that had been given to them for instruction and guidance into safe and right living in the social and cultural and political environment in which they lived.
Many commentators on the writings of Isaiah argue that chapters 56 to 66 were written at a time after the return of people from Babylon to Judah. We read the writer of these chapters stating:
“The Sovereign LORD, who has brought His People Israel home from exile.” (Isaiah 56: 8a)
Against the background of Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed by the Babylonians, and of the civil and religious life of Jerusalem totally disrupted by the population being sent into exile (2 Kings 25: 8 to 12, 2 Chronicles 36: 17 to 20, Jeremiah 52: 12 to 16) , we infer from Isaiah chapters 56 to 66 the reality of a rebuilt city, of a rebuilt Temple, of reintroduced Temple worship, and of a reintroduced sacrificial system, for we read:
“I will bring you to Zion, my sacred hill, give you joy in my House of Prayer, and accept the sacrifices you offer on my alter.” (Isaiah 56: 7a)
But despite this renewal in the physical and social and cultural and religious life of the people, there is evidence that they had not mended their ways, and were repeating the same sinful actions of their forebears.
“Come here to be judged, you sinners!”, God declares. (Isaiah 57: 3a)
And Isaiah includes the words of God outlining a litany of their sins.
“All the leaders who are supposed to warn my people are blind. These leaders have no understanding.” (Isaiah 56: 10a & 11b)
“You take smooth stones and worship them as gods. You set up your obscene idols just inside your front doors. You wear yourselves out looking for other gods, but you never give up.” (Isaiah 57: 6a, 8a & 10a)
“The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers. Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?” (Isaiah 58: 3b & 4)
“You go to Court, but you do not have justice on your side. You depend on lies to win your case. You are always planning evil, and can hardly wait to do it.” (Isaiah 59: 7a)
“you have broken the Covenant I made with you” (Malachi 2: 8b)
And we hear the Prophet Malachi accusing the people, saying:
“the People of Judah have broken their promise to God” (Malachi 2: 11a)
And Malachi presents a similar litany of the people’s sins.
The Priests were presenting “blind or sick or lame animals” to be sacrificed, “showing contempt” for God. (Malachi 1: 7 & 8)
The teachings of the Priests “had led many to do wrong”. (Malachi 2: 8b)
Many men had divorced their Jewish wives so as to marry foreign women who worshipped idols and foreign gods. (Malachi 2: 11 to 15)
The people were questioning the lovingkindness and faithfulness of God by asking, “Where is the God who is supposed to be just?” (Malachi 2: 17b)
And it was evident that there were some “who cheat employees out of their wages, and who take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners.” (Malachi 3: 5)
It is against this background that God declares to both Isaiah and Malachi that He would act to remedy this situation.
God declares that would act “when the right time comes”. (Isaiah 60: 22b) It would not be at the time chosen by the People of God, but by God Himself, as He plans and implements.
God declares that He would send His chosen and consecrated agent, His ‘Messiah’ (Isaiah 61: 1a) , not just “to bring Good News” (Isaiah 61: 1a) , but to be an integral part of God’s actions “to heal, .. to bring release and freedom from bondage, .. to bring comfort, joy and gladness, .. (and) to save His People”. (Isaiah 61: 1 to 3)
But, the wider vision of who God calls and welcomes as His People is made explicit in the words of Isaiah, for we have God declaring:
“My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all Nations.” (Isaiah 56: 7b)
And we are to understand this in two contexts.
God declares that He will accept “those foreigners who become part of His People (and who have returned from exile with them), those who love Him and serve Him, who observe the Sabbath and faithfully keep His covenant.” (Isaiah 56: 7)
But, then God adds His promise “that He will bring still other people to join (the Jews as those God chooses to call His People)”. (Isaiah 56: 8)
All of these things were recorded in the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. They were clear words of intent from God.
God would act as He saw was the appropriate time.
God would act as He saw was appropriate, through his chosen and anointed Messiah.
God would act with a goal that He saw as appropriate, to call “all Nations” to Himself.
There was no excuse for the people who had gathered to hear Jesus preach in the synagogue in Nazareth, not to understand this context of the passage from Isaiah 61, from which Jesus read.
God said through the Prophet Malachi:
“I will send my Messenger to prepare the way for me.” (Malachi 3: 1a)
Two things we need to note from this passage:
God is sending a messenger to the People of God, a Messenger will be equipped and consecrated to do the will of God.
This messenger will prepare the People of God for God to come among them, for that is what the words mean.
John’s father, Zechariah, prophesised that John is that person when he said,
“You, my child, will be called a Prophet of the Most High God. You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him.” (Luke 1: 76)
Jesus declared to a crowd who had gathered to hear him preach, that,
“John is the one of whom the Scripture says, ‘God said, “I will send my messenger ahead of you to open the ways for you.”’” (Luke 7: 27)
The people who had gathered in the Synagogue at Nazareth would have known of the ministry of John the Baptist, and that he was truly a Prophet of God, called to declare the coming of the time when God would act in the World to bring about His Kingdom. They, therefore, had no excuse for not connecting John the Baptist with the prophesy from Malachi of the coming of God’s Messenger.
But, in the next verse from the words of Malachi we read:
“Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to His Temple.” (Malachi 3: 3b)
This ‘Lord who will come’, will “proclaim God’s covenant” (Malachi 3: 1c) , and will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver” (Malachi 3: 3a)
Several things to note:
The person in Malachi 3: 1 is not the same person mentioned in Malachi 3: 2. The person mentioned in Malachi 3: 1 is preparing the way for the person mentioned in Malachi 3: 2, this person being God coming amongst His people in Human form, coming to “His Temple” as we read in verse 1, coming to proclaim God’s “Covenant” as we read in verse 1, coming to judge people because of their sin as we read in verse 3, and coming to purify people from their sins as we read in verse 3.
This is the work of the Messiah who is mentioned in the passage from which Jesus reads, Isaiah 61: 1 & 2.
The people who had gathered in the synagogue in Nazareth to hear the preaching of Jesus would have been aware of this prophesy by Malachi of God in Human form coming among His people to purify people of their sins.
This is the context. The people who were present and listened as Jesus spoke were well aware of the Words of God from Scripture to which Jesus referred.

“Jesus gave the scroll back to the Attendant, and sat down” Luke 4: 20a
News of the teaching of Jesus and of miracles that he had performed had spread throughout the region; and we can understand the people’s great anticipation concerning what will happen, for we read that “all the people in the Synagogue had their eyes fixed on him” (Luke 4: 20b) , expecting Jesus to do and to say the very things about which they had heard Jesus doing and saying elsewhere, the very things that would prove to them who and what he was.
Jesus read from the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 61: 1 and 2), a passage in which God promises a time when He will bring salvation to His People and to care for the oppressed and needy (Craig Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary New Testament p199) . Then Jesus makes the bold statement, that God’s gracious promise has been fulfilled that very day, in and through the very person who had just read out the passage to them (Howard Marshall in Luke in The New Bible Commentary p896) .
The people’s initial enthusiasm changed to confusion and doubt, for they then asked amongst themselves, how can this be so, how can he possibly be the promised Messiah?
It was at this point that “they failed to recognise Jesus as the chosen servant of God” (Howard Marshall in Luke in The New Bible Commentary p896) , they failed to pay attention to what Jesus was saying, they failed to listen to the very Word of God with their hearts and not just with their ears. They failed to recall the very Words of God spoken through His Prophets Isaiah and Malachi regarding this very thing. As we have seen, Isaiah had written of God’s intent to call “all Nations” to Himself.
They presumptuously and arrogantly said to themselves,
“But we know differently, for isn’t he just the son of Joseph?” (Luke 4: 22)
What they should have said was, “Could it be as we have just heard?” And, so, their amazement at the eloquent words of Jesus (Luke 4: 22) turned to rage and hostility, (Luke 4: 28) (John Carroll in Luke p114) . The very people from Jesus’ home town of Nazareth, people who had known him virtually all of his life, sought to kill him by throwing him off the nearby cliff (Luke 4: 29)

“They meant to throw him over the cliff” Luke 4: 29b
It was beginning to dawn upon them that there were things in this new message the like of which they had never dreamed of.” (William Barclay in Luke The Daily Study Bible p44) Their incorrect interpretation of the passage from which Jesus had read, was that it “spoke not so much of the universal love of God, as of their specialness and their perceived (racial, religious, social and moral) superiority as Jews.” (Rev Gordon Jones in notes for January 20 in Notes on Bible Readings 1989 p21) . Yet, Joel Green, in his commentary, clearly explains that, at this early point in his ministry, Jesus is “asserting the universal embrace of God’s (work of salvation in the World)”, “of God’s purpose to form a people of all Nations” (Joel Green in The Gospel of Luke p208)
The response of the people of Nazareth was that they sought to silence God’s messenger because they did not like the message, because they refused to listen to the Word of God with an open mind and an open heart, and because they refused to humbly trust and obey what they had just heard from God’s spokesperson.
God’s truth had been revealed to those who had listened. But that did not guarantee its acceptance. In his short speech Jesus offered hope to a Humanity that hungered for righteousness and thirsted for reconciliation with God. But that did not guarantee that Humanity would accept the gift that God offered.
May that not be the case with us. May our ears be open to hear the Good News that Jesus has proclaimed. May our minds be open to comprehend the Good News that Jesus proclaims. And may our hearts be open to accept with praise and thanksgiving the Good News that Jesus proclaims, such that with the Psalmist, we can say with total commitment and with total confidence, “O LORD, you are my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19: 14b)
Amen.
Offering
Offering Prayer
Almighty God, as we bring these gifts, we remember that all that we have belongs to you and is given by you. We remember that it is not in holding onto your gifts that gives fulfillment but that it is found in using them to bring about your Kingdom and your will on Earth. Please bless these offerings for your service. May they be used to bring your light to the World and relief to those in need. To your glory we pray. Amen.
Prayers for Others
Lord, we thank you for the beautiful, life-sustaining gift of Creation.
We pray that, as individuals and communities, we become better stewards of what you have entrusted to us.
Lord, we pray that we will see the World through the eyes of faith.
May we bring whatever gifts we can to the work of making your Kingdom come on Earth.
Lord, we pray that the way we live our lives is guided by your values of love for people, especially the poor,
and not by the allure of having and possessing more.
Lord, we pray for those in the World already affected by extreme weather events,
we pray that Humankind responds to their need to live full and healthy lives.
Lord, we pray for our own political leaders.
May they be guided by concern for the common good, not by expediency or by vested interests.
Lord, we pray for this generation of children and generations yet to come.
May we preserve for them an environment that is able to meet their needs.
Lord, we thank you for the beauty and diversity of all that lives on earth.
We pray that World leaders will respond to the call to protect the environment, and not to use and abuse it for personal gain or ‘profit making’.
Lord, help us to trust that you are the bread of life,
and not to seek false happiness from Worldly comforts and possessions.
Lord, we thank you for providing so well for us in our society.
Keep us mindful of sharing what we have with the needy.
(https://www.arrcc.org.au/reflect-prayers-christian)
You are invited to listen to, or join in singing the Hymn ‘Lord, your word abiding’
(TiS427 AHB333 MHB308)
Verse 1 of 6
Lord, your Word abiding,
and our footsteps guiding,
gives us joy for ever,
binds us all together.
Verse 2 of 6
When our trouble’s near us
then your Word does cheer us,
word of consolation,
message of salvation.
Verse 3 of 6
When the storms are o’er us,
and dark clouds before us,
then your Word directed
and our way protected.
Verse 4 of 6
Who can tell the pleasure,
who can count the treasure,
by your Word imparted
to the simple-hearted?
Verse 5 of 6
Word of mercy, giving
nourishment for living;
Word of life, supplying
comfort for the dying.
Verse 6 of 6
O that we, discerning
its most holy learning,
Lord, may love and fear you,
evermore be near you.
Henry Baker
Sacrament of Communion
(following Uniting in Worship 2 p162 to p222)
The Peace
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
The Invitation
Christ, our Lord, invites to his Table all who love him, all who earnestly repent of their sin and who seek to live in peace with one another.
Prayer of Approach
Lord God, we come to your Table, trusting in your mercy and not in any goodness of our own. We are not worthy even to gather up the crumbs under your table, but it is your nature always to have mercy, and on that we depend. So, feed us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, your son, that we may for ever live in him and he in us. Amen.
Narrative of the Institution of the Lord’s Supper
Hear the words of the institution of this Sacrament as recorded by the Apostle Paul:
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new Covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, for the remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.’” (1 Corinthians 11: 23 to 26)
And, so, according to our Saviour’s command, we set this bread and this cup apart for the Holy Supper to which he calls us, and we come to God with our prayers of thanksgiving.
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 our thanks and praise.
With all we are, we give you glory, God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the one and holy God, Sovereign of all Time and Space. We thank you for this wide red land, for its rugged beauty, for its changing seasons, for its diverse people, and for all that lives upon this fragile Planet. You have called us to be the Church in this place, to give voice to every creature under Heaven. We rejoice with all that you have made, as we join the company of Heaven in their song:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and Earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed be the One who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
We thank you that you called a covenant people to be the light to the Nations. Through Moses you taught us to love your Law, and, in the Prophets, you cried out for justice. In the fullness of your mercy, you became one with us in Jesus Christ, who gave himself up for us on the cross. You make us alive together with him, that we may rejoice in his presence and share his peace. By water and the Spirit, you open the Kingdom to all who believe, and welcome us to your Table: for by grace we are saved through faith. With this bread and this cup we do as our Saviour commands: we celebrate the redemption he has won for us.
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Pour out the Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts of bread and the cup, that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ. Make us one with him, one with each other, and one in ministry in the World, until at last we feast with him in the Kingdom. Through your Son, Jesus Christ, in your holy Church, all honour and glory are yours, Father Almighty, now and for ever.
Blessing and honour and glory and power are yours for ever and ever. 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.
Breaking of the Bread
The bread we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.
The cup we take is a sharing in the blood of Christ.
The gifts of God for the People of God.
Lamb of God
Jesus, Lamb of God,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the World,
Grant us peace.
The Distribution
Receive this Holy Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, and feed upon him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving.
(after all have received the bread)
The body of Christ keep you in eternal life.
(after all have received the juice)
The blood of Christ keep you in eternal life.
Prayer after Communion
Blessed be God who calls us together.
Praise to God who makes us one People.
Blessed be God who has forgiven our sins.
Praise to God who gives us hope and freedom.
Blessed be God whose Word is proclaimed.
Praise to God who is revealed as the One who loves.
Blessed be God who alone has called us.
Therefore, we offer to God all that we are and all that we shall become.
Accept, O God, our sacrifice of praise.
Accept our thanks for we have seen the greatness of your love. Amen.
You are invited to listen to, or join in singing the hymn ‘One Day when heaven was filled with his praises’
Alexander’s Hymns No. 3 number 205
Wilbur Chapman
Benediction
God reassures us that we are not to be afraid of what the future may hold, because He will be there beside us. Let us then go out into the World with faith, hope and love, trusting in God’s provision and protection. Let us go into the World, to be an example to all we meet of His love and mercy for all of Humanity. 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: ‘By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered’ (one verse)
TiS617
Verse 1 of 1
By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,
and confidently waiting come what may,
we know that God is with us night and morning
and never fails to greet us each new day.
We shall remember all the days we live through,
all of our life before our God we lay.
Dietrich Bonhoffer
Translated by Frederick Pratt Green