Welcome: –

Call to Worship: – 

(Psalm 121) 

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where will my help come?

Help will come from the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth.

God will not let you fall, your protector is always awake.  He never dozes or sleeps.

The Lord will guard you, He is by your side to protect you.

The Sun will not burn you during the day, nor the Moon harm you during the night.

The Lord will protect you from all danger, He will keep you safe.

God will protect you as you come and as you go, now and forever.

Comment on verses from Psalm 121

This Psalm commences with the question by a traveller:

  “When I look up to the hills through which I need to travel, with all of the unspoken and unknown dangers and risks for the traveller, with its steep paths, deep ravines and hidden gorges being the ideal hiding places for wild beasts and robbers, who will be there to help me to meet these threats to my safety and to get me through these dangers?”

  This is not to be understood as a rhetorical question, but one of real concern for the traveller.  They are clearly expressing their anxieties about the journey and their insecurities about successfully completing the purpose for their travelling and of returning home.

  We are encouraged to read the Psalm as if it is a second person who is providing the answer:

  “Help will come from the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth.”

  This straightforward answer is one about which nobody can say is baseless.  They are saying, “If there is anyone who can help, then it is God, God who, as Creator of all that is, of Heaven and Earth, has demonstrated His authority and power; but who, as our carer and comforter, has demonstrated His inexhaustible and everlasting kindness and compassion for us.”  This knowledge removes every doubt or hesitancy on the part of the traveller and provides the reassurance for which they were seeking as they commenced their journey.  Having a belief that we, as God’s creatures, are safely in his hands, is the source of a firm confidence to move forward in life.  This not just ‘head knowledge’ but a conscious decision to submit oneself to God’s over-riding and over-reaching will and power and love.

  On the same basis, by making that same commitment to submit ourselves to God’s will and purpose, we, too, have the assurance, that in all of our comings and in all of our goings, we experience God’s protection and God’s guidance, until we safely return home again.  This grand vision of God should not just be a source of comfort for us, but be a motivation for offering to God of our worship and adoration.

  Let us come together then for worship with the unshakable knowledge that God is our Keeper, every time, everywhere, now and forever.

  (Artur Weiser in The Psalms p745 to 747) 

Prayer of Praise    

  Almighty God, your creative power is revealed in the myriad of wonders in the World around us, your authority is revealed in the order and the balance in Time and Space, your righteousness and wisdom are revealed in your Holy Word, your steadfast love is revealed in your covenant relationship with your People throughout History to the present time. 

  In the beginning, your Spirit swept across the face of the waters, bringing order and beauty out of chaos.  You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. 

Through the waters of the Red Sea you delivered your People from suffering and oppression.  At the foot of your sacred Mount Sinai you called your People to truth and holiness.  In the words of your prophets you called your People to a life of justice and compassion.  Through the lives of your saints you taught your People wisdom and faithfulness.

Though we often turn away from you, your love remains sure and certain.  In the fullness of time you sent your only Son, Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection was the means for our salvation and the Salvation of all of Humanity.

  (A Great Prayer of Thanksgiving) 

  Compassionate God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, how can we come with anything other than praise and adoration for you.  That you should so care for us is beyond our imagination, that You should promise to protect and provide for us is beyond our comprehension.  Loving God, it is right to give you thanks and praise, for you alone are the true and living God.  May we always be a faithful People dedicated to your worship and service.  May we always be ready to trust and obey you as you call us to a life of discipleship.  Amen.

You are invited to join in the singing of 2 Songs:

The first song is: ‘I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever’  from Scripture in Song vol 2 number 404

James Fillmore

The second song is: ‘All that I can do’ from Scripture in Song volume 2 number 405

The words are printed below:

Verse 1 of 3

When the Father sent His son

to live with us our lives to mend,

Placed His love upon the altar

That with him we might ascend.

Chorus

And all that I can do is thank Him,

All that I can do is pray.

All that I can do is lift my hands

To sing His praise.

Verse 2 of 3

Lord, the blessed life you give me,

And the holy road you choose,

Lead me all the way to Calvary,

And I’ll only follow you.

Chorus

And all that I can do is thank you,

All that I can do is pray.

All that I can do is lift my hands

To sing your praise.

Verse 3 of 3

Lord, I only want your blessing

As I’m sitting at your feet.

Nothing in this World can move me

From your holy seat.

Chorus

And all that I can do is thank you,

All that I can do is pray.

All that I can do is lift my hands

To sing your praise.

And all that I can do is thank you,

All that I can do is pray.

All that I can do is lift my hands

To sing your praise.

Ted Sandquist

Prayer of Confession   

Merciful God, we know that we have failed to obey the call of Jesus to love you and one another with our whole being;

But we come also to you as one who reaches out to us with healing and reconciliation. 

We confess, O God, our readiness to affirm our belief in your guidance,

Yet we fear to move into the unknown on behalf of the Gospel.  We find that it is risky enough trying to shape our own future.

We confess that we want to experience the new life that the Spirit breathes into us so that we too can give shape to that future. 

Yet we fear that it may disturb our present comfort too much.

 Break through our resistance and our fear, merciful God,

With your perfect and all-reaching love; forgive our sins and our mistakes.  May we hear and respond to your call, your promises, and your leadership in our lives with heightened enthusiasm and deepened faith.

Merciful God, forgive our lack of trust in you; help us when we hesitate, and strengthen us where we are weak. 

Blow your Spirit afresh into our hearts and our minds so that we have the courage to follow Jesus wherever he leads us.   Amen.

  (ShortGuideforDailyPrayer2009.pdf) 

Assurance of Forgiveness 

(Romans 4: 5b) 

The Apostle Paul tells us that “it is God who declares the guilty to be innocent”, that it is our faith “that God takes into account in order to put (us) right with him”.  Having confessed our sins before God and having professed our faith and trust in God and His grace, let us hold onto the promise that God has heard our prayers, that God has listened, and that God has forgiven us.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer of illumination 

(from Uniting in Worship Book 1 number 13 & 14 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

Genesis 12:

1  The LORD said to Abram,

“Leave your Country, your relatives, and your Father’s home, and go to a land that I am going to show you.  2  I will give you many descendants, and they will be a blessing.

3  Those who bless you I will bless, but those who despise you I will curse.  And through you I will bless all the Nations of the Earth.”

4  When Abram was 75 years old he started out from Haran, as the LORD had told him to.

Romans 5:

What shall we say, then, of Abraham, the Father of the Jewish race?  What was his experience?

2  If he was put right with God by the things he did, he would have something to boast about – but not in God’s sight.  3  The Scripture says:

“Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.”  (Genesis 15: 6) 

4  A person who works is paid their wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that they have earned.  5  But the person who depends on their faith, not on their deeds, and who believes in God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is their faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with Himself.

13  When God promised Abraham and his descendants that the World would be his inheritance, He did so, not because Abraham obeyed the Law, but because Abraham believed and was accepted as righteous by God.  (Genesis 17: 4 to 6, 22: 17 & 18)  14  For if what God promises is to be given to those who obey the Law, then people’s faith means nothing and God’s promise is worthless.  15  The Law brings down God’s anger; but, where there is no Law, there is no disobeying the Law.

16  And so the promise was based on faith, in order that the promise should be guaranteed as God’s free gift to all of Abraham’s descendants – not just to those who obey the Law, but also to those who believe as Abraham did.  17  As Scripture says:

“I have made you Father of many Nations.”  (Genesis 17: 5) 

So the promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed – the God who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did not exist.

[Today’s English Version, New English Bible]

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

John 3:

1  There was a Jewish leader named Nicodemus, who belonged to the Party of the Pharisees.  2  One night he went to Jesus and said to him,

“Rabbi, we know that you are a Teacher sent by God.  No one could perform the miracles you are doing unless God were with him.”

3  Jesus answered him,

“I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4  “How can a grown person be born again?” Nicodemus asked.  “He certainly cannot enter his Mother’s womb and be born a second time!”

5  “I am telling you the truth,” replied Jesus, “that no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.  6  A person is born physically of Human

Parents, but they are born spiritually of the Spirit.  7  Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must be born again.  8  The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from nor where it is going.  It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

9  “How can this be?” asked Nicodemus.

10  Jesus answered,

“You are a great Teacher in Israel, and you don’t know this?  11  I am telling you the truth: we speak of what we know and report what we have seen, yet none of you is willing to accept our message.  12  You do not believe me when I tell you about the things of this World; how will you ever believe me, then, when I tell you about the things of Heaven?  13  And no one has ever gone up to Heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from Heaven.”

14  As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up,  15  so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.  16  For God loved the World so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.  17  For God did not send His son into the World to be its Judge, but to be its Saviour.

[Today’s English Version]

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

You are invited to join in singing the Hymn: ‘O Come and dwell in me’  [AHB315  MHB554]  from Wesley’s Hymns number 367

Charles Wesley

Sermon

Slide 1

  This is a Battle Droid, a character from the Star Wars movie series, a robot developed on the planet Geonosis as the backbone of the army of the Separatists, the Worlds who opposed the rule of the Galactic Republic.  Being a robot and acting on pre-programmed instructions, they were mindlessly loyal soldiers that were easily controlled.  As such, they had no concept of trust, nor did they have the capacity to choose not to obey the instructions given to them.

Slide 2

This is a Clone Trooper, a genetically engineered person, developed on the planet Kamino to form the military force of the Galactic Republic.  As such, they were the enemies of the Battle Droids.  Each Clone Trooper looked the same because, as the name implies, they were clones.  But they were individuals, each having their own character and the capacity to think for themselves and to reason for themselves.  Yet, they were trained and conditioned to be soldiers, totally obedient to whoever gave them orders and who totally trusted the orders that were given to them, even though, as it turned out, they were, in time, used by the Supreme Chancellor in his quest to usurp the authority of the Senate and to assume control of the Galaxy. 

(https://www.starwars.com/databank/clone-trooper)

  Of course, this is all covered in a series of fanciful stories, written to present a particular set of circumstances and themes.  But there are similarities with the Old Testament account of Abram, or Abraham as he was later known.

Slide 3

The call of Abram – Genesis 12: 1

(https://media.istockphoto.com/id/179008693/photo/abram-hears-command-from-god.jpg)

We can be certain that Abram was not like an unthinking, pre-programmed Battle Droid, nor like the trained and conditioned Clone Trooper.  We can be certain of this because Abram made several notable errors of judgement during the time that he was dwelling in Canaan, that had very serious consequences for him at the time and also right up to today.  At one time he misled the Pharoah of Egypt to believe that Sarai was his sister and not his wife.  On another occasion, he misled King Abimelech of Gerar in the same belief, that Sarai was his sister and not his wife.  We need not go into any detail, but on each occasion, when the falsity was revealed, Abram had to do some quick explaining so that he could escape severe punishment. 

  My belief is that Abram’s greatest error was in agreeing to Sarai’s suggestion for her slave girl, Hagar, to bear the child that God had promised to Abram.  This was an effort by Abram and Sarai to achieve, by their own efforts, what God had promised that He would do for them, at the time that He chose to act.  Ishmael, the son of Abram and Hagar was born, but he was not the child who God promised would be the means by which God would bless all the Nations of the Earth.  We read in Genesis 17: 15 and 16, that this blessing by God would come through a son born to Sarai, a son whom we know as Isaac.

  Never-the-less, we see in Abram the same display of obedience and trust exhibited by a

Battle Droid or a Clone Trooper. 

  Abram was doing quite nicely in the city of Haran, in northern Mesopotamia, having earlier moved there from Ur in Babylonia with his father, Terah, his nephew, Lot, and, presumably, his brother Nahor and his wife Milcah  (Genesis 11: 31, 24: 4 & 15)  .  We read that, while he was living at Haran, Abram had acquired wealth and a significant number of servants  (Genesis 12: 5b)  .  We can infer that Abram had also acquired the means to successfully manage his wealth and to continue to provide for his many servants.

  But, out of the blue, so to speak, God said to Abram:

“Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s home, and go to a land that I am going to show you.”  (Genesis 12: 1) 

  It is important to note that this command, for it was a command from God and not a request, gave no indication as to where they would be journeying, nor who or what they would find when they arrived.  It also involved considerable cost, for their leaving involved Abram relinquishing any share in the home and grazing lands that his father, Terah, had established at Haran, it involved relinquishing any close contact with the members of his immediate family from that time onwards, and it involved the relinquishing of the stability and reassurance and ease of life offered to them by the established life and lifestyle at Haran.  Such a relocation also required a considerable physical effort, for we read that Abram was not young, being 75 years old at this point in time.  However, given that Abram lived for another 100 years, until he was 175 years old  (Genesis 25: 8)  , we may presume that he had more energy and vitality than we presume his age at that time appeared to indicate.

  Upon a consideration of such ‘costs’, we would not be surprised if we read that Abram questioned this call from God, or, at the very least, sought for God to clarify details about their journey and of their destination.  But we do not see Abram doing any such thing.

  We do read that God promised six things, for God said to Abram:

“I will bless you with many descendants”  (Genesis 12: 2a)  ,

“they will become a great Nation”  (Genesis 12: 2b)  ,

“I will bless you and make your name famous  (Genesis 12: 2c)  ,

“Those who bless you I will bless”  (Genesis 12: 3a)  ,

“Those who despise you I will curse”  (Genesis 3b)  , and

“That through you I will bless all the Nations of the Earth.”  (Genesis 12: 3c)  .

  Nothing is recorded as to how God specified when or in what manner these promises would be fulfilled, nor do we read that Abram sought any such clarification.  What we read is:

“Abram started out from Haran, as the LORD had told him to.”  (Genesis 12: 4a) 

  We are to understand, then, that Abram placed his trust in God and unquestioningly obeyed God’s Call.  But, did this mean that Abram obeyed God only because of what Abram would get out of the venture, that is, God’s promises of blessings for Him?  Or did this mean that Abram obeyed God’s call only because Abram could presume, by the Law of Probability, that God could lead him and Sarai, his ‘wealth’ and his servants safely throughout their journeying, and that God could establish them safely and prosperately wherever God was to lead them?

  Or are we to understand that Abram obeyed God’s Call to him simply because God was his God?  Could we understand that Abram obeyed the Call of God as an act of worship, that in his obedience Abram was saying, “Because God said it, I will do it.”?  Could we understand that Abram obeyed the Call of God irrespective of whatever outcomes would eventuate for himself, or Sarai, or his wealth or his servants, because obeying God was fulfillment in itself?

  Later we read that, when God reiterated His promises to Abram, even though there was no evidence that these promises would be fulfilled any time in the near future, “Abram put his trust in the LORD, and because of this the LORD was pleased with him and accepted him.  (Genesis 15: 6)  Later we read that, on the occasion when Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac upon an alter on Mount Moriah in obedience to another Call of God, even though it meant the death of his beloved son, Isaac, and a loss of all of the blessings that God had promised would flow through Isaac, an angel sent by God stopped him at the moment of sacrificing Isaac and commended Abraham saying:

“Now I know that you honour and obey God.”  (Genesis 22: 12b) 

Slide 4

Paul writing his letters to the Churches

The Apostle Paul makes it clear in his writings that Abraham’s faith was not conditional upon what God could do for him.  Paul makes it clear that Abraham believed God because of his faith in God, and, because of his faith in God, God accepted him as righteous.  In his Letter to the Church in Rome, Paul quotes these words of Moses in Genesis 15: 6  (Romans 4: 3, Galatians 3: 6) 

Later in this Letter, Paul writes:

“(Abraham’s) faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God’s promise; his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God.  He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what He had promised.  That is why Abraham, through faith, “was accepted as righteous by God”  (Romans 5: 20 to 22)  .

  Geoffrey Wilson writes in his Commentary on the Letter to the Romans:

“Abraham simply believed God, he rested (his faith) on the bare promise of God.  ….  Righteousness was reckoned to Abraham as a matter of grace and not of debt.  It was not acquired by (Abraham’s) own merit, but conferred upon him by (God’s) sovereign grace.”  (Geoffrey Wilson in Romans p67) 

  We must pause and consider how close was Abram’s relationship with God.  We read that God spoke to Abram many times  (Genesis 12: 1, 7, 17: 1,9,15, 22: 1)  ,and as we read these passages they read as if God spoke to Abram  on a ‘face-to-face’ basis.  Abram had such a close relationship with God that he spoke face-to-face with God.

  Abram communed with God, and was able to commune with God because of his faith in God and his trust in God and his obedience to God, to the extent that, irrespective of whatever faults Abram may have had, God responded by forgiveness, by conferring righteousness upon Abram, and by demonstrating His love for Abram and his family.

  But most significantly, because of the close relationship that God had with Abram, God was able to work His will and purpose for the World through the life and actions of Abram, through to the birth of the Messiah, God’s son, Jesus the Christ, the descendant of Abram, who was the means by which God blessed and is blessing the whole World.

  For Abram, it was to God to whom he deferred ownership of all that he was and had, it was to God to whom he offered the rule of his life and the authority to make the decisions that directed his future, the future of his family, and the future of his descendants.  Abram did this, not out of fear, nor was it done begrudgingly, but willingly, because Abram had experienced the power and authority of the one true Creator God, Abram and experienced the all-encompassing and inexhaustible lovingkindness of God and responded by his unqualified trust and obedience of God.

“One night Nicodemus went to visit Jesus”  John 3: 2

This was at the centre of the problem with which Nicodemus was grappling.  His was the mindset that:

‘I am a Jew, of the race to which God promised to bless, and to hold as His chosen People for all generations.  And, furthermore, I ensure the continuity of this acceptance and merit before God by my efforts, in my obedience to every element of The Law and in my following of all of the requirements and rites of the Sacrificial worship in the Temple.’

  Yet, the teachings of Jesus troubled him.  There was something in the message that Jesus spoke to the crowds who inevitably gathered around him, which troubled Nicodemus, for it indicated that, in spite of all of his learning as he became of Pharisee, there was something lacking in his understanding of what it meant to be close to God, to be accepted by God.

  In the discussion that Nicodemus had with Jesus, he finds Jesus telling him that “No one can experience (a close relationship with) God in their lives, no matter what their race or their degree of piety may be, apart from the experience of new birth; for neither racial privilege nor the punctilious observance of religious practices can remove the sin that is inherent in every child of Adam.  …  For all of religious training and theological learning, he has yet to comprehend that God’s creative powers are not limited to the material and physical realms, for there also exists the realm of the spirt in which God is also at work.”

  (Randolph Tasker in John  An Introduction and Commentary p67) 

  Paul sought to make this clear to the Church in Rome.  Abram had a close relationship with God before there was a ‘Jewish race’, before the Law of God was given to Moses on Mt Sinai, and before there was an established any rituals and rites of sacrificial worship.  Abram had a close relationship with God because he was open to “the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit”, because of “the implantation of new life” in his heart, as William Hendriksen writes  (William Hendriksen in The Gospel of John p134)  .

  Walter Brueggemann writes that, for Nicodemus, although he acknowledges that “the miraculous deeds of Jesus are proof of God’s presence with him”  (John 3: 2)  , faith, to him, came from weighing the evidence and drawing logical and sane conclusions.  There is no hint of commitment or risk, the very things that characterised the faith of Abram.  (Walter Brueggemann et al in Texts for Preaching – Year A p198) 

  In his Gospel, John adds his Commentary to the words of Jesus recorded for us as this discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus.  John explains that faith means a “commitment to the One whose death (on the cross of Calvary) reveals the things of Heaven, the need for an openness to the uncontrollable wind of God and the embracing of the newness that the Spirit works in the hearts of those who trust and obey God”.  (Walter Brueggemann et al in Texts for Preaching – Year A p198 & 199) 

  This is the same invitation that is issued to all people of all lands in every Age. 

  I will leave you with this poem by David Sper:

“When we’re reborn, made new in Christ,

It should be plain for all the see

That God has changed us from within

And placed us in His family.”

  (Our Daily Bread 1 March 2007) 

Amen.

Offering

Offering Prayer    

‘For the life that you have given’  TiS774 

[This YouTube clip is for another hymn but is used here for the tune, so disregard the words – only the one verse is needed.]

For the life that you have given,

For the love in Christ made known,

With these fruits of time and labour,

With these gifts that are your own:

Here we offer, Lord, our praises;

Heart and mind and strength we bring;

Give us grace to love and serve you,

Living what we pray and sing.

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Prayers for Others

Loving God, knowing your love for all of Humanity, especially your compassion for the needy, we come to you with our cares and our concerns.

We bring to you our prayers for the World around us and for people individually.

We pray for the Leaders of Nations, for those who wield the influence over others and make the decisions that affect so many people. 

May they heed your gentle call to bring about stability and prosperity to their Lands.  May they not yield to the temptation to exercise power so as to accumulate wealth or to oppress others.  May they seek to bring about peace between Nations and not to make a grab for land and resources.

  We pray for the poor and the homeless, for all who have been left behind and are forgotten, for the defeated and the broken hearted, for those who are sick in body, mind and spirit. 

Befriend, comfort and heal them.  Grant them the confidence to put their trust in your promises to care for and to protect them. 

  Have mercy on those whose anger and resentment holds them back from fullness of life.  Help those who hurt but cannot forgive, those who hold onto a bitterness that is eating into their soul and darkens their existence. 

Show them the way to forgive and to forget.  Bring to them a release from their burden and a relief from their cares.

  We pray for the peacemakers of our World, for those who act to bring about reconciliation and the resolution of conflict, for those who focus is on building up relationships and of breaking down barriers. 

Give to them the strength for their endeavours and the encouragement to persevere.

  We pray for Your Church in this and every Land, those who confess their faith in you as their Lord and Saviour, no matter what language they speak, no matter what hymns they sing, no matter how they worship. 

Please sustain and guide them so that your people will not grow weary of doing what is right, or of proclaiming your word of grace and mercy to all, or of confronting discrimination.  May your Church indeed be the bearer of your divine light to shine on all Nations to show the way to the deliverance from sin and reconciliation with you and each other.

Make us loving towards our neighbours, eager to forgive and to heal. 

May we radiate your presence to those who we meet in the streets of our neighbourhood or in the aisles of the shopping centre.  May we show love and hospitality in all we do and say.

(Prayers for the Seasons of God’s People Year A p60,  Leading Intercessions pp8, 10, 11 & 12)

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

You are invited to join in singing the Hymn ‘God is everywhere’ from  Pitcairn Hymns number 14  MHB57

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

Verse 1 of 5

In all my vast concerns with Thee

In vain my soul would try

To shun your presence, Lord, or flee

The notice of your eye.

Verse 2 of 5

Your all-surrounding light surveys

The times I stop and start,

My public walks, my private ways,

The secrets of my heart.

Verse 3 of 5

My thoughts lie open to you, Lord,

My purpose and intent,

Before my lips pronounce the word

You know the sense I meant.

Verse 4 of 5

With confidence, so deep and high;

I safely do abide,

Within your circling arms I lie

Enclosed on every side.

Verse 5 of 5

So let your grace surround me still,

Just like a castle wall,

To guard my soul from every ill;

Your love won’t fail or fall.

Isaac Watts  (adapted)

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 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.

You are invited to join in singing the Hymn ‘Standing on the Promises’ from  Alexander’s Hymns no. 3 number 160

Russell Kelso Carter

Benediction    

‘Keep your sense of wonder bright,

Never cease to feel surprise

So much beauty and delight

Over and around you lies.

Do not take for granted all

Blessings which upon you fall.

Pause sometimes, and praise the Lord

For His bounty on you poured.’

(‘Blessings’ Day 11 in Sunlit Ways by Elsie Campbell)

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

Benediction Song

“By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered”  TiS617

[This hymn is sung to the tune Finlandia – only the one verse is to be sung.]

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

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  (adapted)