OUR VISION "Strengthened by God's spirit, we learn, live and celebrate
as followers of Jesus Christ, reaching out to help our world wide
community, sharing God's love and hope."
WE GATHER TO PRAISE GOD
TO PONDER:
God, stay with me, let no word cross my lips that is not your word, no
thoughts enter my mind that are not your thoughts, no deed ever be done
or entertained by me that is not your deed.
Malcolm Muggeridge
MUSICAL PRELUDE:
(A time for quiet reflection and preparation for worship)
HYMN: "
Come In, Come In and Sit Down"V.U. 395
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP:
HYMN: "
Holy, Holy, Holy" VU 315
A PRAYER OF APPROACH Leader:
God of Christ Jesus, please hear our prayers for the human family in its
happiness or its distress. Gather us up into the reconciling fire of your
love, that we may be purged of all that fosters misery, and inducted into
everything that creates love, joy and peace.
Women:
We commend to you those who feel ground down or broken,
isolated or alienated.
Men:
We commend to you the hungry or homeless, anxious or in agony.
Women:
We commend to you those who through terrorism and war
are shattered and despairing.
Men:
We commend to you the frightened and insane,
the dying and grieving.
Women:
We commend to you the tempted and the fallen,
the fearful and the faithless.
Men:
We commend to you the church with its truth and error,
its faith and its fear.
Women:
We commend to you all who love Christ,
and work for his way of reconciliation, justice, compassion, and peace.
Everyone:
God of Christ Jesus,
we submit these prayers to your refining fire.
Purify all that pleases you for the service of your kingdom of grace,
where no good thing is discarded, and no loving deed wasted. For your
love's sake. Amen.
SUNG RESPONSE:
Search me, O God, and know my heart today,
Try me, O Saviour, know my thoughts, I pray;
See if there be some brokenness in me;
Cleanse me from every wrong, and set me free.
SERVICE OF LIGHTING THE CANDLE:
Leader: We light the Christ Candle today to remind us that Jesus call
us to love our neighbour as God loves us.
People: May the light of this candle remind us that as we love our
neighbour, we demonstrate how much we love him.
ANTHEM WE HEAR GOD'S LOVING WORD FOR US
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Leader:
Living God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
People: Open our hearts that we might truly hear your Word. Open our minds that we might understand your Word.
Open our spirits to your Spirit that we might apply your Word to our
daily living.
Leader:
Bless us, renew us, change us! Amen
RESPONSIVE PSALM: PSALM 3 Leader:
O God, the obstacles that confront me today are so many And even as they
press in upon me, there are people about me who laugh at my childlike
dependence on You.
People: They claim that my faith is futile, that God is not interested
in my petty problems.
But, God, You have surrounded me with Your love. You envelop me with concern and undergird me with grace. Leader:
When I reach out for You, You are close enough to hear and to respond.
People: Whether I am awake or asleep, You are near to me and will watch
over me. I do not have to be afraid of these problems that assail me.
Leader:
The conflicts of my life will not separate me from You. I constantly seek
Your deliverance from all that hurts or hinders.
People: You are able to rid my life of everything that may threaten my
relationship to You.
You will in Your own good time set me free from every human fault and frailty. Leader:
But even while I seek Your ultimate deliverance, help me to sense Your
presence and power in the midst of my many conflicts.
From Psallms Now by Leslie Brandt (A contemporary expression of what
the Psalmist would have said if he was living in the twentieth century)
MESSAGE: "How to be a Good Neighbour"
POST MESSAGE PRAYER Leader:
Lord, make us instruments of Your peace;
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that we may not so much seek to be
consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying
that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
(- St. Francis of Assisi)
Everyone: Cause me to make a difference, Lord, in someone's
life today. Through deep commitment to Your Word, help me
reach out, I pray.
Help me to make a difference, Lord; Guide me to one in
need; And with pure love may I respond, that hungry soul to
feed. Use me to make a difference, Lord, whether at work or
play; Showing response to Jesus' love in all I do and say.
Bless, as I make a difference, Lord, all whom you send my
way. Give them a sense of Your great love; Use me, O Lord,
I pray.
(- Gary Venables)
HYMN: "I'd Like to Teach The World to Sing"
I'd like to build the world a home
And furnish it with love
Grow apple trees and honey bees
And snow white turtle doves
I'd like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
I'd like to hold it in my arms
And keep it company
I'd like to see the world for once
All standing hand in hand
And hear them echo through the hills
For peace through out the land.
SONG
: "There is a Redeemer" sung by Deborah Hiley
OFFERTORY RESPONSE:
V.U. 552
For food in a world where many walk in hunger, for friends in a world where
many walk alone, for faith in a world where many walk in fear, we give you
thanks, O God
PRAYER FOR PEACE:
Leader: Almighty God, Lord of all compassion,
events over the two years remind us that we continue to live in a broken
and deeply divided world.
We cannot comprehend what drives people to acts of terror and destruction,
and to a willingness to kill and maim innocent people.
People: As Jesus commanded, we pray for our enemies and those who wish us ill; we pray for an end to hatred and needless violence; we pray for children left orphaned, and bereaved parents;
we pray for those who live with physical and mental scars of terrorism.
Everyone: Pour your Spirit on us to enable us and all your people to work for justice and true peacemaking, In the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
HYMN: "
Let There Be Light" V.U. 679
COMMISSIONING AND BLESSING
POSTLUDE
: (
A time to quietly reflect on all that you have experienced this morning
)
