Welcome: –

Call to Worship: –

(Psalm26: 2 & 3) 

“Examine me and test me, Lord, judge my desires and my thoughts, (and you will find that) your constant love is my guide, and that I have always sought to be led by your truth.”

  Later in the Service, we will celebrate the Sacrament of Communion.  At the commencement of the Sacrament is 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.”

  There is the clear and simple need for sincerity and openness to God when we accept this invitation to participate in the Sacrament, for how can we partake of drinking the juice and of eating the bread with a clear conscience if we are not genuine in our professing that we love God, that we earnestly repent of our sin, and that we seek to live at peace with one another.  We may succeed in our deceiving others, but we cannot hope to deceive God, who reads our mind and looks into our heart, and sees to truth behind our words.

  The author of Psalm 26 is claiming that such sincerity and openness to God is just as important for every aspect of our life.  They profess a devotion to God and an unwavering faith in God.  To verify the truthfulness of their claim, they assert that all God needs to do is to test the desires of their heart and to examine their most personal thoughts.  What God will find, they claim, is that it is God’s constant love for them that is their guide in life and that they are constantly seeking to apply God’s truth to the way they live.

  Leslie McCaw and Alec Motyer, in their Commentary of the Psalms, write that the author of Psalm 26 “asserts a sincere and consistent endeavour to walk an upright life and exhibits a “deliberate modelling“ of their life “upon the character of God.”  In our gathering together for worship, may God look at the innermost desires of our hearts and read our innermost thoughts and too see our devotion to God and our unwavering faith in God, seeking to walk an upright life and to model our life on the character of God.

  (Artur Weiser in The Psalms p242 & 243 and Leslie McCaw and Alec Motyer in Psalms in New Bible Commentary p467) 

Prayer of Praise

 (from Uniting in Worship p572 to 574 nos. 23 to 29) 

Lord God almighty, your greatness and majesty are there for all to see in the Heavens and the Earth.  All that you have created is yours to control and to direct.  You have authority over Time and Space, over History and over Nations.  You are beyond our sight, above our thoughts, infinite and eternal. 

We exalt you for the works of your hands and the wonders you perform.

  Most blessed God, your graciousness is revealed in your goodness to all peoples.  Your mercy is revealed in the life and witness of your Son, Jesus Christ, who preached good news to a despondent people seeking relief from their trials, who proclaimed to a despairing people their release from a bondage of sin and death, who befriended the outcast and the diseased who were rejected and cast aside, who denounced the oppressor and the hypocrite who lived off the lives of others.  Your great work of salvation achieved by the raising Jesus from death, which was the pinnacle of your work to reconcile a sinful humanity to yourself. 

We exalt you for the works of your hands and the wonders you perform.

  Holy Lord, you have guided and preserved us in all our ways.  You have shown us the path to take and have sustained us on life’s journey.  You have held us up in our times of trouble and have comforted us in our times of grief.  You have blessed us with family and friends, you have provided for our needs, those things we asked for and those that we did not know we needed. 

We exalt you for the works of your hands and the wonders you perform.  In reference and awe we come before you, to offer our worship and praise.  May all we do and say bring glory to your name and bear witness to your everlasting love for all people.  Amen.

Hymn

“Thy loving kindness is better than life”  Scripture in Song volume 1 number 71

[there is a short inmtroduction]

“God is so good”  Scripture in song volume 1 number121

[there is a short introduction]

Prayer of Confession   

Merciful God, you alone can judge our innermost thoughts.  You alone can see whether we trust and obey you from the desire of our heart or only keep do so outwardly. 

We confess that often we have failed to be an obedient Church.  Often, we have not done your will and have rebelled against your love.  We seek your forgiveness.

Merciful God, you alone can see whether we are driven by our Worldly desires or by our desire to love you.  You alone can see what motivates our actions. 

We confess that often we do not act with patience or gentleness.  Often, we have not loved our neighbour, nor have we heard the cry of the needy.  We seek your forgiveness.

Merciful God, you alone know whether we truly seek to be reconciled to you and to live at peace with those who live around us. 

We confess to a stubborn heart that refuses to accept that we make mistakes and that we cause sorrow for you and be a cause of discomfort for others.  We seek your forgiveness.

Merciful God, we want to experience the new life that the Spirit breathes into us so that we can have the peace of mind and soul that you have promised. 

Break through our resistance and our fear O God with your perfect and all-reaching love, so that we may hear and respond to your call in our lives. 

    Merciful God, forgive our lack of trust in you; help us when we hesitate, and strengthen us where we are weak, so that we have the courage to follow Jesus wherever he leads us. 

Forgive us, we pray, cleanse us from all of our sin, and thereby make our worship acceptable to you.  Guide us and strengthen us by your Spirit so that we may give ourselves to your service, and live this day and every day in love to one another, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness 

(from Hebrews 2: 11) 

The writer of Hebrews proclaims that Jesus Christ purifies people from their sins.  Having confessed our sins before God, let us hold onto this assurance and know with confidence that God has listened to our pleas and that God has forgiven us.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer of illumination 

(from Uniting in Worship Book 1 number 12 p599)  

  Prepare our hearts, O Lord, to receive your Word.  Silence in us any voice but your own.  In hearing these words may we perceive new truths that you seek to teach us, and may we perceive your will that you seek for us to follow, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Bible Readings

Isaiah 53

10  The Lord says, “It was my will that my servant should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness.  And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed.

11  After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain.  My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them.

12  And so I will give him a place of honour, a place among great and powerful men.  He willingly gave his life and shared the fate of evil men.  He took the place of many sinners and prayed that they might be forgiven.”

Hebrews

1: 1  In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets,  2  but in these last days He has spoken to us through His Son.  He is the one through whom God created the Universe, the one whom God has chosen to possess all things at the end.  3  He reflects the brightness of God’s glory and is the exact likeness of God’s own being, sustaining the Universe with his powerful word.  After achieving forgiveness for the sins of Humanity, he sat down in Heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power.  4  The Son was made greater than the angels, just as the name that God gave him is greater than theirs.  14  What are angels, then?  They are spirits who serve God and are sent by Him to help those who are to receive salvation.

2: 1  We must hold on all the more firmly to the truths we have heard, lest we drift away from them.  2  The message given to our ancestors by the angels was shown to be true, and anyone who did not follow it or obey it received the punishment they deserved.  3  How, then, shall we escape if we pay no attention to such a great salvation?  The Lord himself first announced this salvation, and those who heard him proved to us that it is true.  4  At the same time God added His witness to theirs by performing all kinds of miracles and wonders and by distributing the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His Will.

9  We see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, so that through God’s grace he should die for everyone.  We see him now crowned with glory and honour because of the death he suffered.  10  It was only right that God, who creates and preserves all things, should make Jesus perfect through suffering, in order to bring many people to share his glory.  For Jesus is the one who leads them to salvation.  11  He purifies people from their sins, and both he and those who are made pure all have the same Father.

[Revised Standard Version, Today’s English Version, New English Bible]

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

Mark

8: 27  Then Jesus and his Disciples went away to the villages near Caesarea Philippi.  On the way he asked them, “Tell me, who do people say I am?”  28  “Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered, “others say that you are Elijah, while others say that you are one of the Prophets.”  29  “What about you?” he asked them, “Who do you say I am?”  Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”  30  Then Jesus ordered them, “Do not tell anyone about me.”  31  The Jesus began to teach his Disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the Elders, the Chief Priests and the Teachers of the Law.  He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.”

9: 30  Jesus and his Disciples left the vicinity of Mount Hermon and went on  through Galilee.  Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was,  31  because he was teaching his Disciples, “The Son of Man will be handed over to men who will kill him.  Three days later,

however, he will rise to life.”

10: 32  Jesus and his Disciples were now on the road going up to Jerusalem.  Jesus was going ahead of the Disciples, who were filled with alarm; the people who followed behind were afraid.  Once again Jesus took the twelve Disciples aside and spoke of the things that were going to happen to him.  33  “Listen,” he told them, “we are going up to Jerusalem where the Son of Man will be handed over to the Chief Priests and the Teachers of the Law.  They will condemn to death and then hand him over to the Gentiles,  34  who will make fun of him, spit on him, whip him, and kill him; but three days later he will rise to life.”

42  Jesus called the Disciples together to him and said, “You know that the people who are considered rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority.  43  This, however, is not the way it is among you.  If one of you wants to be great, they must be the servant of the rest;  44  and if one of you wants to be first, they must be the slave of all.  45  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”

Luke 24:

36  While Cleopas and his companion were telling the Disciples what had happened on the road to Emmaus, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  44  Then he said to them, “These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the Prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.”  45  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,  46  and said to them, “This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later,  47  and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all Nations, beginning in Jerusalem.  48  You are witnesses of these things.

[Today’s English Version]

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Passing the Peace

Whether we gather for worship in the Church building on Sunday morning or whether we offer our worship in the ‘digital sphere’, it is important to recognise that, together, we remain one in Christ Jesus, we remain one in fellowship and we remain one in worship of our God.  With that thought in mind, let us uplift our hands and greet those both here and those in their homes: May the peace of God be with you all.

And also with you.

For The Young and The Young at Heart

Screen 1

“Trees”

Alfred Joyce Kilmar

  Who is familiar with the poem written by Alfred Joyce Kilmar titled “Trees”?

  When My Mum and Dad moved into residential care, we packed up what was in Dad’s bookcase.  Later, when I was looking through his books, I came across a wall hanging on which is printed this poem.  On the back is written:

To Mr B Webber, From Joan and Raymond 

  I am presuming that they were members of the Junior Christian endeavour class that my Dad led at the Annerley Methodist Church, some time in his latter high school years or in the years while he was in training to be a teacher.

  The poem has an appeal to it, so, for those who are unfamiliar with it, I will show it on the screen.

Screen 2

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

Upon the earth’s sweet flowing breast,

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray.

Screen 3

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair.

Upon whose bosom snow has lain,

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

  Details on the Wikipedia site for Alfred Kilmar state that he was an American writer and poet, whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his Roman Catholic faith.  His life was tragically cut short at the age of 31, during service in the American armed forces in France in 1918.

  According to his notes that his family retained, Alfred Kilmar wrote the poem, “Trees” on 2^nd February 1913, when the family resided in Mahwah, New Jersey.  He wrote it, they say, while working in his study which was in an upstairs room.  His desk was by a window looking down a wooded hill. 

  Hi son, Kenton Kilmar, once remarked,

“Mother and I agreed, when we talked about it, that Dad never meant his poem to apply to one particular tree, or to the trees of any special region, just any trees or all trees that might be rained on or snowed on, and that would be suitable nesting places for robins.  I guess they’d have to have upward-reaching branches, too, for the line about ‘lifting leafy arms to pray.’, rules out weeping willows.”

  The poem was widely popular from the time that it was first published in the August 1913 issue of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse which had begun publishing the year before in Chicago, Illinois and was included as the title poem in a collection of poems titled Trees and Other Poems published in1914.

  But, Alfred Kilmar also had his critics.  Both Kilmar’s contemporaries and modern scholars have dismissed Kilmar’s work as being too simple and overly sentimental and have suggested that his style was far too traditional, even archaic, so we read on Wikipedia.

  However, the popular appeal of this simple poem is likely the source of its endurance despite the continuing negative opinion of the poem’s merits from scholars and critics.  According to Robert Holliday, Kilmer’s friend and editor, the poem “Trees” speaks “with authentic song to the simplest of hearts” and that it made his reputation as a writer and poet more than all the rest that he had written put together.  That impeccable lyric made for immediate widespread popularity.”

Joyce Kilmer – Wikipedia

  I would suggest that any criticism of the poem is a deliberate attempt to focus solely on the style of the writing of the poem and not on the content of the poem.  The style of writing surely is but the vehicle used by the poet to convey a message, and I think that the message in the poem “Trees” has so important to us and mirrors what we read in the Bible.

Screen 4

“O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the World!”

Psalm 8: 1

  The last two lines of verse one state:

“A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray.”

  Surely that a guide for us, and isn’t it what Paul tells the Church in Thessalonica:

“pray at all times”  (1 Thessalonians 5: 17) 

  The last two lines of verse two state:

“Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.”

  Humanity, through Science and Technology has achieved many things, but it cannot and will not ever be able to create something out of nothing.  That is the realm of God.  And that is about what Alfred Kilmar writes in his poem.  It is to what the writer of Psalm 8 refers when they proclaim:

“O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the World!”  (Psalm 8: 1) 

  Indeed, God’s creative power and authority separates Him from Human beings and is the impetus for us to offer our praise of God.

Screen 5

“Ever since God created the World, His invisible qualities, both His eternal power and His divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made.”

Romans 1:20

  It is also to what the Apostle Paul refers in his letter to the Church in Rome when he states:

“Ever since God created the World, His invisible qualities, both His eternal power and His divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made.” 

(Romans 1:20)    

  Paul is arguing that such an observation is only natural, for when you consider the created world around us, knowing that creating such a world is beyond our capabilities, it leads to a realisation that someone of “eternal power” and “divine nature” was responsible for that creating.  Such a realisation should lead us to give God due honour and praise.

  So, let us like a tree, continually offering our praise to God and our prayers to God, for He is the one who sustains and cares for us as He sustains and cares for His Creation.

  That impeccable lyric which made for immediate widespread popularity, has also led to parodies of the poem—some by noted poets and writers.  The pattern of its first lines (I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree.) is of seemingly simple rhyme and meter and easy to mimic along with the poem’s choice of metaphors.  One of the best known parodies is “Song of the Open Road” by American humourist and poet Ogden Nash (1902–1971):

I think that I shall never see

A billboard lovely as a tree.

Indeed, unless the billboards fall,

I’ll never see a tree at all.

Joyce Kilmer – Wikipedia

Hymn

“Nothing but the blood of Jesus”  Alexander’s Hymns No. 3 number 171

[there is a short introduction]

Sermon

Screen 1

The township of Cooladdi

Shire of Murweh

88 km west of Charleville and 122km east of Quilpie

Population in 2016 was 3

  In the Shire of Murweh, in the State of Queensland, is the township of Cooladdi.  It is 88km by road west of Charleville, 122km by road east of Quilpie, and is sited just to the north of the Diamantina Development Road.  The Western Rail Line runs east-west through the township.  In 2015 the population of the township of Cooladdi was 3. They are the owners and operators of the nearby Roadhouse.  According to the 2016 census there were 16 people living in the locality of Cooladdi.

Screen 2

  If you look at Cooladdi on Google Maps you will see a lot of dirt and scrub.  There appears to be one residence on the northern part of Cooladdi, a railway station and, supposedly, an office of the local Australia Post Community Postal Agent.  Nothing else!

  With such scanty development, why is Cooladdi called a township?

  Well, believe it or not, Cooladdi was once a thriving township.  It once served as the railhead for the local pastoral community.  At one time it had a school, a post office, a police station, and it had a population of 270 people.

Cooladdi – Wikipedia

Screen 3

  The original plan of the township indicated that there were substantially more buildings in Cooladdi than exist at the present time.

  Looking at the township today does not give an indication of what once was there.  What exists there today does not explain nor illustrate what existed there in the past. To find out what was there in the past you will need to talk with those who lived there in the past and to read their eyewitness accounts of what life was like in the Cooladdi of the past.

Screen 4

the Historical Jesus

  How do we seek to understand the past of Jesus Christ?  How do we go about an attempt to find evidence to substantiate a belief in an historical Jesus.  Can we achieve this by looking at what we know about Jesus through 21^st century ‘eyes’?  Do we need to read the eyewitness accounts of people who lived at the time of Jesus Christ?

  Rudolf Bultmann writes:

“I do indeed think that we can now know almost nothing concerning the life and personality of Jesus, since the early Christian sources show no interest in either, are moreover fragmentary and often legendary; and other sources about Jesus do not exist.”  (Rudolf Bultmann in View-Point and Method in Harvey McArthur (ed) In Search of the Historical Jesus p150) 

  This author presents a rather pessimistic approach to Bible Study, in that he is suggesting that there is nothing to gain in seeking to find any Truths from Scripture because Scripture is totally untrustworthy for that purpose.

  Josh McDowell, however, writes,

“Finally I could come to only one conclusion: If I were to remain intellectually honest, I had to admit that the Old and New Testament documents were some of the most reliable writings in all of antiquity.  And if they were reliable, what about this man Jesus, whom I had dismissed as a mere carpenter in an out-of-the-way town in a tiny, oppressed country, a man who had gotten caught up in his own visions and grandeur?  I had to admit that Jesus was more than a carpenter.  He was all he claimed to be.”  (Josh McDowell in More than a Carpenter p7) 

  Josh McDowell comes to a different conclusion, that the claims of and about Jesus, as they are recorded in Scripture, are reliable and are to be trusted.

  Lee Strobel writes that “eyewitness testimony is crucial in investigating historical matters – even the issue of whether Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God.”  (Lee Strobel in The Case for Christ p20)  In his book “The Case for Christ”, he quotes Craig Blomberg, a British New Testament scholar, who writes:

“If the Crucifixion was as early as AD30, Paul’s conversion was about AD32.  Immediately Paul was ushered into Damascus, where he met with a Christian named Ananias and some other Christians.  He first meeting with the Apostles in Jerusalem would have been about AD35.  At some point along there, Paul was given the creed that he quotes in his letter to the Corinthians Church, 1 Corinthians 15: 3 to 7, a creed which had already been formulated and was being used in the early Church.  Here we have the key facts about Jesus’ death for our sins, plus a detailed list of those to whom he appeared in resurrected form – all dating to within two to five years of the events themselves!”  (Craig Blomberg quoted in The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel p35) 

  Craig Blomberg is highlighting the understanding that the New Testament accounts were not written decades after the events that took place, when memories had faded and when myths about Jesus were being conceived so as to fill in  gaps in understandings about Jesus, but, rather, were written soon after the events had taken place, while memories were clear and while eyewitnesses were still alive who could vouch for what was written and validate the events and understandings that were being recorded in the New Testament documents.

  Isn’t that what we read in today’s passage from the Book of Hebrews?  The author writes:

“The Lord himself first announced this salvation, and those who heard him proved to us that it is true.”  (Hebrews 2: 3) 

  The author is saying, ‘We have spoken with people who have themselves spoken with Jesus Christ, who walked with Jesus during his ministry, who witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus, who met and talked with the resurrected Jesus, and to whom Jesus explained the fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy in everything that he said and experienced; and that their witness to these events which they gave was so convincing that it proved to us that what they were saying was true.’

  Sidney Collett makes the comment, “The Bible is a message from God to Man, and its object is to bring Man to God.”  (Sidney Collett in The Scripture of Truth p100)  Looking at today’s passages, what is it that these eyewitnesses have written that portray God’s message to Man in a way that should bring Man to God?

Screen 5

God’s will and purpose

  We read that it is God who initiates everything about which we read:

  The Prophet Isaiah writes, “The Lord says, “It was my will”.  (Isaiah 53: 10) 

  Mark records Peter declaring of Jesus, “You are the Messiah.”, that is, God’s anointed one, whom God is sending.  (Mark 8: 29, also Luke 24: 46) 

  The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews writes, “God spoke” and “God has spoken”.  (Hebrews 1: 1 and 2) 

Screen 6

God sent his Son

  We read that God sent His Son to accomplish His will.

  The Prophet Isaiah writes of God’s “devoted servant”.  (Isaiah 53: 10 & 11) 

  Mark records Jesus saying that as the Son of Man he “came to serve”.  (Mark 10: 45) 

  The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews writes that God will be working “through His Son”.  (Hebrews 1: 2) 

Screen 7

God’s Son will suffer

We read that God’s son will undergo physical suffering.

The Prophet Isaiah writes, “After a life of suffering”.  (Isaiah 53: 10) 

Mark records Jesus saying, “The Son of Man must suffer much”.  (Mark 8: 31, 10: 34) 

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews writes, ‘Jesus (was made) perfect through suffering.  (Hebrews 2: 10) 

Screen 8

God’s Son will condemned to death

We read that God’s Son will be condemned to death.

The Prophet Isaiah writes, “He willingly gave his life”.  (Isaiah 53: 12) 

Mark records Jesus telling his Disciples that he “will be put to death”.  (Mark 8: 31, 9: 30, 10: 34) 

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews writes of “the death (Christ) suffered”.  (Hebrews 2: 9)  

Screen 9

His death will bring forgiveness of sins for all of Humanity

We read that his death will bring forgiveness of sins for all of Humanity.

The Prophet Isaiah writes, “his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness”.  (Isaiah 53: 10 & 11) 

Mark records Jesus telling his Disciple that he came “to give his life to redeem many people”.  (Mark 10: 45, also Luke 24: 47) 

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews writes that through his death, (Jesus achieved forgiveness for the sins of Humanity).  (Hebrews 1: 3. 2: 10 & 11) 

Screen 10

God’s Son will rise from death

We read that God’s Son would rise from death, thus proving to Satan and to the World his control over the powers of sin and death.

The Prophet Isaiah writes that God’s devoted servant, after his death and sacrifice, ”will live a long life”.  (Isaiah 53: 10) 

Mark records Jesus telling his Disciples that “three days (after his death) he will rise to life”.  (Mark 8: 31, 9: 31, 10: 34 and Luke 24: 46) 

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews writes of Jesus in the present tense not the past tense, that “Jesus is the one who leads”.  (Hebrews 2: 10) 

Screen 11

God’s Son will reign with God in Heaven

We read that God’s Son will be appointed to a place of honour, reigning with God in Heaven.

The Prophet Isaiah writes of God saying about His devoted servant, “I will give him a place of honour”.  (Isaiah 53: 12) 

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews writes, “After achieving forgiveness for the sins of Humanity, (Jesus Christ) sat down in Heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power, crowned with glory and honour.”  (Hebrews 1: 3, 2: 9 & 10)  

Screen 12

Our response

  Luke records the resurrected Jesus saying to the Disciples and followers of Jesus, who, three days after his death, were gathered together in the upper room, “everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the Prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.”  Then, Luke writes, Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.  (Luke 24: 44 & 45) 

  These are “the truths we have heard” so writes the author of the Letter to the Hebrews.    We who are gathered together here, too, “must hold on all the more firmly to these truths we have heard, lest we drift away from them.”  (Hebrews 2: 1)  We must be aware that any other ‘gospel’ presented to us that differs from that portrayed by the eyewitnesses of the New Testament is not trustworthy and is not from God.  Any teaching that does not reveal Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who alone died so that our sins could be forgiven, and who now sits at God’s right hand side, is false teaching and must be rejected, least it leads us astray from the truth as it is presented to us by the New Testament eyewitnesses.

  There is an accompanying warning for us, for upon hearing the good news of the Gospel, we are compelled to respond to God.  The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews goes on to say, “How, then, shall we escape if we pay no attention to such a great salvation?”  (Hebrews 2: 3) 

  Thomas Hewitt, in his Commentary on Hebrews, writes:

“for (those) who neglects God’s saving grace in Christ make light of it as if it were not worthy of (their) notice.  There is no escape for those who so act, God’s retribution is sure.”  He quotes John Calvin, saying, “Not only the rejection of the Gospel, but also its neglect deserves the heaviest punishment, and that on account of the greatness of the grace which it offers.”  (Thomas Hewitt in Hebrews p63) 

  As with the writer of Psalm 26, may we be able to be honest before God and say to Him:

  “Examine me and test me, Lord, judge my desires and my thoughts, (and you will find that) your constant love is my guide, and that I have always sought to be led by your truth.”  (Psalm26: 2 & 3)  Amen.

Offering

Offering Prayer    

“For the life that you have given”  TiS774 

[ sung to the tune Austria – disregard the words – only the one verse is needed]

For the life that you have given,

For the love in Christ made known,

With these fruits of time and labour,

With these gifts that are your own:

Here we offer, Lord, our praises;

Heart and mind and strength we bring;

Give us grace to love and serve you,

Living what we pray and sing.

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Prayers for Others

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

Almighty God, we pray for the Church, that we may be a sign of communion between you and Humanity and a means of reconciliation amongst all people.

We pray that we may grow in our awareness of our need for you and others as we face our challenges and grow toward wholeness.

We pray for healing of the tension and conflicts between women and men in our society, that you will lead us to a new appreciation of each other and help us to give witness to your plan of women and men complimenting one another as we work together.

We pray for all children, that they may be warmly welcomed into families and supported as they grow and develop into the persons you call them to be.

We pray for the grace to receive your Kingdom as a little child, that the Spirit will open our hearts to receive your love and your gift of new life.

We pray for greater respect for Human life, that all Human life, from conception to natural death, will be respected as your gift and a blessing to Humanity.

We pray for all who are struggling with troubled minds and souls, that the Holy Spirit will calm their hearts, help them know that they are loved, and help them to reach out to someone.

We pray for the work of the United Nations, that their conversations will promote peace and cooperation, develop shared understandings of the challenges that exist, and give them the courage to confront the evils that plague the Human family.

We pray for all who are suffering, that you will heal the sick, free those caught in addiction, restore those who have experienced abuse, comfort the grieving, and send relief to those entrapped by poverty.

We pray for all healthcare workers, that you will renew their strength and restore their energy that they may continue to care for the sick and be signs of hope for them.

We pray for leaders of all levels of Government, that you will give them wisdom and courage to address the crucial issues of society and to work together to address the common good.

Copyright © 2021. Joe Milner. All rights reserved.<br> Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal or parish use.  https://liturgy.slu.edu/ 

We pray for Kylie Conomos, the Chaplain at Bald hills State School, that she will be renewed in energy and enthusiasm as she commences a new School term.

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

Hymn

“Lord Jesus, joy of loving hearts”  MHB109  AHB420  TiS499 

[sung to the tune Quebec – there is a short introduction]

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.’”

  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 wine, 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.

Hymn

“My song is love unknown”  MHB144  AHB257  TiS341

[sung to the tune Love Unknown – there is a small introduction]

Benediction    

Let us hold fast to our faith and to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for in Christ God has revealed His love and compassion for all of Humanity and has revealed His power and authority over the forces of darkness in Heaven and upon Earth.  That is the source of our hope and our peace.

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

Benediction Song

“Now to him who loves us saves us”  TiS771

{there is a short introduction]

Now to him who loved us, gave us

Every pledge that love could give,

Freely shed his blood to save us,

Gave his life that we might live,

Be the Kingdom

And dominion

And the glory evermore.

Samuel Miller Waring